By Aaron Cordy
MURRAY COD swarmed the waters of the Broken River for the first time in many years as the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) in conjunction with anglers from the Tatong Anglers Group (TAG), released an estimated 56,000 Murray Cod at five locations in the Broken River between Shepparton and Casey Weir last Tuesday.
It’ll take some time before the introduced fish will be hooked on fishing lines, and a little longer before they’re big enough to take home. Depending on water health it could be one to two years for catchable fish. For legal size, it will be three to five years.
Despite the wait, it’s still good for local anglers with the release of the Golden Perch also scheduled to go into local waterways next month.
“This section of river is below Gowangardie Weir (GW), GW is a blockage for fish migration passage. So, fisheries haven’t been stocking this because of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers. They felt that the fish could naturally migrate and get up here to spawn, but it just hasn’t been happening to any great extent,” said TAG fish stock coordinator, Noel O’Connor.
“Fish numbers above GW are really high… with great results from anglers. But this lower section is very, very poor, so the majority of Shepparton people have to travel above GW to try and land a Murray Cod. So, we decided that two-thirds of the stocking that would normally go to Benalla will go into this section below.”
