If you haven’t fished Kununurra, there’s one million reasons why you should – barramundi!
Continue reading “One million reasons to visit Kununurra and fish for big barra”
Tag: barramundi
Scott’s Spots – Kununurra, a remote treasure in WA’s vast Kimberley
A mere 45km from the Northern Territory border, remote WA town Kununurra provides a terrific base to explore parts of the vast Kimberley – WA’s northernmost region. Western Angler editor Scott Coghlan’s latest edition of Scott’s Spots pinpoints the go-to locations near Kununurra to catch big barramundi!
Continue reading “Scott’s Spots – Kununurra, a remote treasure in WA’s vast Kimberley”
Lake Kununurra brimming over with barra
There has been more great news for WA barra fishers with an extra 100,000 juvenile barra released into Lake Kununurra last week and another 100,000 fish released this week, taking the total number of barramundi stocked in the lake since 2013 to more than 850,000.
The lake has been quickly establishing itself as a world-class barramundi fishing location and local members of the Lake Kununurra Barramundi Stocking group say fish are averaging more than a metre!
Read more about the Lake Kununurra Barra stocking program here.
Last week’s stocking of 100,000 barra was funded by a
Regional Economic Development (RED) grant and the Broome Aquaculture centre did such a good job in breeding barra they ended up with twice as many fish as they needed! This provided an opportunity for even more fish to be stocked into the lake, but they needed additional funds to transport the extra fish to Kununurra.
Acting quickly from a request by Recfishwest, the Minister for Fisheries approved the use of recreational fishing licence funds to transport and stock the remaining 100,000 fish.
Read the Minister for Fisheries’ media release here.
The stocking of Lake Kununurra clearly demonstrates how well-planned stocking programs to create amazing fishing experiences can bring enormous benefits to local communities.
Avid local recfisher Curt McCartney has caught and tagged more than 100 barramundi in the Lake and says the big, fat, bronze monsters are often not difficult to find, but can provide a challenge to entice as they’re all so well fed on the lake’s abundant supply of bait fish!
Check out these sounder images showing barramundi schools hanging just off the bottom. If that doesn’t get barra nuts’ casting arms twitching – we don’t know what will!
STOP THE PRESS!
Check out this 1.3m barra caught from the lake by barra enthusiast Curt McCartney after this article was originally published!
This is just more proof that the barra stocking program is really delivering the goods.
Tagged barra caught seven years after original release in Roebuck Bay
A recent capture of a tagged barra in Dampier Creek near Broome has shown stocking programs can and do pay long-term fishing dividends.
Steve Chambers from Tackle World Broome recently reported one of his customers had caught a 76cm-long tagged barramundi in Dampier Creek.
The barra was later identified as a stocked fish from a batch of 1,000 barra released in Dampier Creek, Roebuck Bay in 2012 – as part of a stocking program funded by one of our Community Grants – click here for more info about community grants.
At the time of its release on 16 August 2012, the fish – ‘barra no.1873’ – measured 39.5cm.
It’s great to see this fish, reared by the Broome Aquaculture Centre of Kimberley TAFE, being caught and showing that the released fish are still out there and continuing to provide fishing experiences.
The fish, before their release, were screened for their high health status and were expected to have a great survival rate.
While the fish appears to have been relatively slow-growing, the recapture reflects how much of a long-term investment stocked fish like these are providing benefits to the fishing community a number of years later.
More barra stocked into Lake Kununurra
When barramundi were first stocked into Lake Kununurra in 2013, not many people imagined the quality of fishing that the lake would produce in such a short amount of time.
The abundance of baitfish and lack of predators within Lake Kununurra saw barramundi reaching one metre in length within three years of age!
Any barramundi over one metre is a phenomenal fish and a bucket list target for many fishers.
Lake Kununurra is evolving into a sensational destination for anglers to chase their first barra and is a bona fide big barra waterway that continues to produce trophy sized fish.
The stocking of Lake Kununurra has forged the waterway into perhaps WA’s best barramundi fishery.
More than 650,000 barramundi fingerlings have been stocked since the project was announced back in 2012.
We’re pleased to report that more than 100,000 more barramundi fingerlings have been stocked into Lake Kununurra this year, including many at today’s stocking event.
This year’s stocking was funded through the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund, adding to the number of great projects funded using recreational fishing licence money.
Read what the Fisheries Minister had to say about today’s stocking here.
Lake Kununurra: A world-class barra playground
As planned, Lake Kununurra is now regarded as a world-class trophy barramundi fishery (plus there are no saltwater crocs or huge Kimberley tides to deal with).
If these monsters continue to grow as expected it won’t be long before the Lake could hold Australia’s biggest barra.
If you want to keep up to date with the latest catches, check out Lake Kununurra Barramundi Stocking Group on Facebook.
If you ever find yourself lucky enough to explore the Kimberley, ensure you visit Kununurra and test your luck tracking down an iconic barramundi on the lake’s calm protected waters.
Catching a big barra is a quintessential Kimberly experience and Lake Kununurra is now one of the best places to do it!
WA Wilderness Fishing Location Producing Monsters
Here’s what we sent our members last week in our Members First Email.
Every now and then, things go exactly according to plan!
Stocking Barramundi into Lake Kununurra has been one of those times and we wanted to give you an update.
Many fishers in the Kimberley community had long held visions of catching world class Barramundi on the doorstep of town. Since the construction of the first stage of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme in 1963, Barramundi had been prevented from migrating further upstream than the Ord River Diversion Dam. An opportunity was born from this challenge – one that would bring monster fish back to local waters.
In 2013, a fish stocking project saw over 300,000 Barramundi fingerlings (7cm-10cm long) released into Lake Kununurra. Since then a further 200,000 Barramundi have been stocked, with thousands more still to come.
The result can only be described as spectacular! Fish funded from your licence money have showed growth rates never seen before in the East Kimberley, with most fish now being caught over the fabled ‘metre mark.’
We reported back in April 2015 of stocked fish being caught at 45cm-60cm.
We are pleased to report that the quality of fishing has continued with local fisher Brad Pasfield’s recent monster Barra (as pictured below). Brad’s father Dick Pasfield has worked tirelessly for many years to ensure the vision of trophy Barramundi in Lake Kununurra was realised, and we are pleased to see this vision paying dividends for both the local community and visiting fishers.
As planned, Lake Kununurra is now regarded as a world class trophy Barramundi fishery (plus there’s no saltwater crocs or huge Kimberley
tides to deal with). If these monsters continue to grow as expected it won’t be long before the Lake could hold Australia’s biggest Barra. If you want to keep up to date with the latest catches, check out Lake Kununurra Barramundi Stocking Group on Facebook.
I had the opportunity to fish up on Lake Kununurra last year with my old mate Dick Pasfield who wanted me to come up and see what he has to live with every day. Here’s the result:
If a trophy Barra is on your bucket list, make sure you visit Lake Kununurra!
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Solution for Derby Barramundi Resource Sharing
Solution for Derby Barramundi Resource Sharing
- Fishing sectors work together to achieve positive solution
- High abundances are critical to high value fishing experiences
- More Barra left in the water for local and visiting fishers
We welcome the recent announcement from Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly, providing improved recreational fishing opportunities off the Derby coast, after the Minister approved the removal of commercial barra netting for King Sound South.
Recfishwest, the local community, WAFIC (Western Australian Fishing Industry Council) and the local commercial Barramundi licence holder have worked together to present this package to Government which resolves conflict between the recreational and commercial fishing sectors.
The issue was not one of sustainability, but rather how the sustainable catch close to town was shared.
High abundances of Barramundi close to the town of Derby are critical for ensuring high value fishing experiences for this iconic Kimberley species.
In an effort to find an outcome which best meets the needs and aspirations of both recreational and commercial interests, Recfishwest and WAFIC conducted a formal mediation process involving community representatives and the commercial fisher in February of this year.
In May, as an outcome of this mediation, Recfishwest and WAFIC finalised a joint proposal to the Minister for Fisheries that proposed a set of agreed principles which included spatial separation between commercial and recreational fishing sectors as a suitable solution.
An important part of this proposal was that the agreed set of principles would be used for determining compensation for any loss incurred by the commercial licence holder, based on historic catch efforts.
Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland praised all parties involved in negotiating this outcome.
“Today we are pleased to announce that this matter has been resolved in a manner that satisfied all parties, with the use of compensatory funding from the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund,” Dr Rowland said.
“This is the first time that recreational fishing licence money has been used to resolve such a conflict in a specific area and we’re pleased it has been used in this manner that returns benefit to the recreational fishing community.”
This decision sets a precedent for the representational arms of WAFIC and Recfishwest to work with government towards agreed solutions to resource sharing issues.
To read what the Fisheries Minister said, click here.
ENDS
Resource sharing concerns for iconic Kimberley barramundi
Barramundi bonanza in Lake Kununurra
For a lot of Australians catching a big barramundi is high on their bucket list.
The iconic sportfish is a favourite target for lure fishing, and a highly regarded table fish. Striking hard and providing strong runs once hooked, barramundi put up a challenging and spirited fight as they manoeuvre around snags and launch into impressive aerial leaps attempting to shake the hook. The experience sells itself.
Most people think that to access the best barramundi fishing you need to travel to remote creek systems in Australia’s north or impoundments along the east coast.
Many regard places such as Kakadu and Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory or Tinaroo Dam in Queensland as the best option for thrill seekers chasing a barra fix.
However, you will be pleased to learn that Australia’s next big barra fishery is much closer to home, with locals and tourists already tangling with fish measuring more than the ‘holy grail’ 1m in length.
To put it into perspective, fish which were released as 5cm fingerlings three years ago are now over a metre in length!
Lake Kununurra in the State’s Kimberley is producing barramundi fishing like nothing experienced before.
Local champions have worked passionately to enable the stocking of barramundi to be a success and more than 500,000 fingerlings stocked into the lake since 2012 are now providing some of the most exciting fishing around.
The barramundi in Lake Kununurra cannot naturally reproduce in a closed freshwater system.
The fish spend their entire lives eating and growing and with no natural predators, some enormous barramundi have been able to gorge themselves to significant size on the abundance of natural bait in the system.
The stocking program which finished last year has shown us enough of what potential Lake Kununurra holds as a Barramundi hotspot. To put it into perspective, fish which were released as fingerlings three years ago are now over a metre in length!
Key stocking facilitator, Kununurra local and barramundi enthusiast Dick Pasfield said the barra fishing in Lake Kununurra was world-class and should only get better.
“Now that the stocking program has been completed and the building blocks of an amazing fishery have been laid the local stocking group will continue working to develop it into one of Australia’s premier impoundment fisheries,” he said.
Barramundi fishing is huge for Kununurra locals and the economic and social return from the stocking program will far exceed the actual cost of the program. It is a fitting tribute to the hard work and vision of the local community over the last 20 years that Lake Kununurra is now on the world sportfishing stage.
Former president of the Broome Fishing Club and Portfolio Manager at the North Regional Tafe aquaculture facilities Jeff Cooper said:
“What we have here is the start of something very exciting, the untold potential of impoundment barramundi fishing in Lake Kununurra is something we should not take for granted.
“This opportunity is unmatched and the possibilities are endless.”
Recfishwest will continue to follow Lake Kununurra barramundi developments and are in full support of realising the untapped potential of Lake Kununurra Barramundi fishing as well as assisting in the continued growth and tourism benefit to North West communities.
Resource Sharing Concerns for Iconic Kimberley Barramundi
For residents of Derby, fishing for Barramundi is an institution. The iconic Fitzroy River empties into King Sound right on the town’s doorstep, creating the perfect estuarine environment in which to target Barramundi only minutes from the boat ramp. This type of fishing experience has provided local fishers with safe, accessible, sustainable and enjoyable fishing experiences for decades.
Traditionally, local fishers have maintained an excellent relationship with local commercial fishing operators who have chosen to fish further from town in order to maintain equity between commercial and recreational fishers. These types of agreements are pivotal to the harmony of small communities who rely on accessing shared resources, which is why it is disappointing to learn that gillnet fishing for Barramundi has recently started on the doorstep of Derby following the sale of the local commercial licence.
This has created a large amount of conflict in Derby, with local recreational fishers noticing a decline in fishing quality over recent months. Derby-based Mary Island Fishing Club have been attempting to negotiate a resource sharing outcome which would restore the agreement between the community and the previous licence holder. To date, these negotiations have been unsuccessful.
Recfishwest is assisting the club and their community in their endeavour to restore equitable resource sharing for Barramundi in King Sound.
Recfishwest exists to protect, promote and develop sustainable, accessible, enjoyable and safe fishing for the benefit of the community.