Floods and Fishing
I was out at the Sydney FC game last weekend and had a great time. It’s good to see that areas of Sydney still have a pub on every corner and we made full use of them to and from the ground. As for the soccer I saw most goals scored and managed to escape the sudden downpour.
Speaking of which it’s been raining a treat up north and I’m saddened to hear that the resultant floods have caused widespread reports of dead fish and prawns washed up on the banks of the Richmond River. In fact the system is now closed to both recreational and commercial fishing.
This is a far cry from the days when I was a lad and a big fresh would flush the river systems out and make the resultant fishing at the river mouth and nearby beaches an absolute treat.
Outside fishing was pretty interesting as well after a flood and if you were lucky enough to troll the edges where the murky fresh water met up with the clean salt water you were always pretty much guaranteed a feed.
I remember once seeing a huge tree washed out miles offshore and it acted like a gigantic FAD providing cover for rat kingies and baitfish which in turn attracted hordes of albacore and yellowfin tuna wider out.
But alas, today with chemicals, algal blooms and artificial fertilizers it seems that a flooding is often at odds with good fishing.
I once caught a decent kilo plus bream at Shoalhaven Heads Beach after a flood in the Shoalhaven River and thought to myself at the time that it looked pretty lethargic as I pulled it from the water. It just didn’t seem to have the kick of a freshly caught bream off the beach. No doubt it had been affected by the pollutants in the fresh water at the time.
There are of course some fish that depend on floods - silver perch for instance will only spawn during floods. Up north the big wet season certainly brings on the barramundi and the locals count on a good wet season for prime fishing at the end of it.
Some research suggests that frequent freshwater flooding in the north is important for future fish populations. In fact researchers found that there was a direct link to healthy numbers of barramundi after the flooding of the Fitzroy River in 1973, 1975, 1991 and 1996. It would appear that the floods improve the habitat and the chances of the younger fish to survive.
With southern estuaries in more populated parts of the country it seems that there maybe issues with urban runoff of sediments and nutrients, heavy metals and litter throughout the systems and this peaks at times of flooding. This has a tragic impact on fish populations and hence situations as the one described in the Richmond River.
Sea you later,
Skipper Meggs