Tilapia sighted at Forest Lake!

[taib]

Went for an arvo jog this arvo at forest lake to shed some unwanted Xmas & new years gift ..as i went around the lake on the western side, on "The Esplanade" bridge, i stopped to gasp some much needed air.

I looked over the small bridge there to check out the view and looked down in the water. To my absolute suprise there was a Massive Tilapia sitting still grinnin at me!!! I couldnt believe it!! I didnt think there was any big fish in there let alone a Tilapia!! I looked, and then looked again just to confirm it was definitely a tilapia and not some bass. Yep, i can confirm it was definitely a Tilapia. A few seconds later, his mate also appeared from under the weed.

Man, would love to catch em out but says no fishin there. Dam! The first one i saw would have been easy 35cm and the second one was approx the same length.

The water was only about half meter deep and crystal clear. This is a smaller area of the lake which is divided by a rock wall. Does anyone know where i am talking about? You could probably sneak a lure in from the main road at night

[taib]

well here it is... the location.

[Do$tylz]

yeah we've had a few members mention that there are fish in there. Everyones a little deterred by he "no fishing" signs though.... maybe more so a little deterred in reporting as well

[taib]

yeah, im sure there would be a few out there who actually do fish in the lake but just dont mention a word of it. Personally i think its a bit too freaky there at night. And one of my friends last year was assaulted during an attempt of robbery at night when he was trying his luck with his new girl.

[ellicat]

taib wrote:

yeah, im sure there would be a few out there who actually do fish in the lake but just dont mention a word of it. Personally i think its a bit too freaky there at night. And one of my friends last year was assaulted during an attempt of robbery at night when he was trying his luck with his new girl.

"robbery" or "rubbery" ?

[elops]

Went there collecting Tilapia DNA samples about 18 months ago (Allowed to ) place is full of stunted barred grunter. The Tilapia were illegally stocked as soon as it filled.

[ellicat]

Hard to understand the selfish, feeble-minded morons that do this.

Perfectly good natives that could have been thrown in.

[natang]

Elops do you know who approved the stocking of Tilapia there?

[Cowfish13]

It's not approved, just some knobs who think, "This lake will be far better with Tilapia in it". Similar situation with Carp populations among others

[51MPL]

heard they let u fish there if u say ur targeting tilapia and handline only. true story lol

[elops]

It was stocked with natives the first year yellas, silvers, bass, tandanus,gar next year it was a victim of the barred grunter substitution racket. The combination of tilapia, barred grunter and our friends the bass thieves means it now has tilapia, stunted barred grunter, a few spangles and gar.

[Angus]

51MPL wrote:

heard they let u fish there if u say ur targeting tilapia and handline only. true story lol

Dont know how accurate that is as I have been personally thrown out of there with Ash by the cycle police. They were polite but firm about it. Being a massive recreation area the logic i believe is they dont want left over hooks etc lying around.

Angus

[AFO]

The post has been moved from the "Saltwater" to the "Freshwater" category.

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[51MPL]

yeah ive heard of people getting thrown out but one of my friends has been allowed to fish there before, i asked him how/why? and he said just tell them your only targetting tilapia n he was allowed to keep fishing?

don't know how accurate it is but yeah

[taib]

i think if you were to fish there for tilapia, it would probably be wise to fish discreetly or during a time of day where there is no human traffic.

Im sure there is alot of people who use the lake as an exercising ground who dont fish, or know nothing about fishing or fish species, would probably tell you off if they see you fishing there, regardless if you mention you're fishing for tilapia.

The tilapias i saw yesterday would have been perfect fighting fish and would have been alot of fun on light gear.

Who knows, a "Boogie Fisherman" might just go there some nite for a fish!

[taib]

could easily stop here late at night when there is absolutely no traffic and sneak your lure in... not that im promoting fishing there

some more pics of the bridge in mention

has nice views.. and also nice fish below

[taib]

doesnt say "No Fishing" on the Bridge

[elops]

There is no fishing in the lake had to get permission from council to sample tilapia for research even though it was a Govt. department doing the sampling, had to set up barriers and signs for safety reasons.

[rosstralia46]

Same thing at berrinba wetlands across from crestmead industrial estate.

Snuck right in through the bush one arvo and landed a 38cm specimen with a ton of small ones but no fishing there apart from one pond further down unfortunately tilapia are everywhere if not will be there soon.

[Keen-as-fisho]

^^^^^^^^^^^^ I went for a drive down there on tuesday morning to launch the yak, but saw the no fishing sign and left. Which pond can you fish in? Surely they wouldn't care if I was to go for a paddle with a hand line.

[Surfingant]

I saw heaps of Tilapia in that pond above the rock wall about 18 months to 2 years ago, not long after I read a report in the local rag about a cold snap killing most of them off and promoting people catching and eating them out of there. I used to see people fishing there and when I was younger I would go down and catch yabbies with my mate, before the no fishing signs. Saw a big Tandanus cruising the shallows a couple of weeks back but not much else other than the Barred Grunter, freshie eels, Gar and heaps of turtles.

[Surfingant]

Oh and by the way, I personally wouldn't go there at night, it just ain't safe enough for me.