Lake Lenthall UPDATE

[Big_unit]

I have just been appointed as a Ranger at Lake Lenthall and thought I would give everyone a heads up as to what is happening out there.

For Everyones Information -

Camping is not permitted at Lake Lenthall. However camping facilities are available at the nearby Wongi Water Holes which are managed & run by the EPA and QPWS.

You do require a Stocked Impoundment Permit ( SIP ) to fish Lake Lenthall.

QBFP & Police will be conducting patrols of Lake Lenthall.

Dogs are permitted at Lake Lenthall.

Visitors having boats with motors that do not comply with the current restrictions are NOT allowed through the access gates.

The Lake Lenthall access and boating restrictions we have been given are as follows -

The gate is open and manned by Security between the hours of 6:00am and 4:00pm 7 days per week. Access to Lake Lenthall outside these hours is not permitted.

Currently there are fuel-power boat restrictions on the Lake.

These are as follows -

# Maximum six ( 6 ) horse power engine size.

# Maximum four ( 4 ) knots speed limit.

# Boats with motors larger than six ( 6 ) horse power but which also have an electric motor are NOT exempt unless the outboard motor is completely removed.

# These arrangements will continue until all construction work on the dam raising and recreational improvements are complete. At that point of time is intended to have a permanent Ranger residing on site.

This policy allows fishermen and boat users to enjoy Lake Lenthall without compromising water quality or safety as opposed to eliminating recreational use of the dam.

Cheers

James

Post edited by: Big_unit, at: 2007/04/04 21:45

[Brian D]

Cheers James - happy Rangerhood.

Thanks for update. We have local (Aaron)spending Easter at Burrum River Caravan Park. Watch out for your Barra he's a bit of a gun fisho.

Is the camping ground at the water holes closer then the Burrum river c'van park?

The operation hours suck - but understandable due to construction. Is there any info on extended hours after construction?

When is the expected completation date?

What was the budget and actuals for construction?

What sort of funding is required for continious stocking?

Just a few questions - cheers mate?

[Big_unit]

Brian D wrote:

Cheers James - happy Rangerhood.

Thanks for update. We have local (Aaron)spending Easter at Burrum River Caravan Park. Watch out for your Barra he's a bit of a gun fisho.

Is the camping ground at the water holes closer then the Burrum river c'van park?

The operation hours suck - but understandable due to construction. Is there any info on extended hours after construction?

When is the expected completation date?

What was the budget and actuals for construction?

What sort of funding is required for continious stocking?

Just a few questions - cheers mate?

Wongi Water Holes are closer than Burrum River caravan park. They have an amenities block and the scenery is just magic to say the least.

When the permanent Ranger is in residence at Lenthalls, it would be open 24/7 I imagine. Im not 100% certain though.

June 30th 2007 but may be extended again.

I havent heard the costs to be honest and works are not completed.

Ask Danny about the costs for continuous stocking. Im not even certain what the FCFSA is allowed to do in that regard.

Cheers

James

[Brian D]

Thanks Mate

Who's Danny?

[Big_unit]

Brian D wrote:

Thanks Mate

Who's Danny?

BigDan123

FCFSA - Fraser Coast Fish Stocking Association.

Cheers

James

[Big_unit]

The board of WBWC meets next week, so the changes maybe coming soon. Of course I cant guarantee that.

Cheers

James

[Brian D]

Please ask a question for me - do they intend to stock up on food bait for the fingerlings they are planning to release.

I suggest release fingerlings one day and then the bait fish 2-3 days later.

[Feral]

Brian,

Latest info I've had from Big Dan is that they are having a lot of trouble sourcing Barra fingerlings, this year they are going to release only a 1000 or two, but grown out to 150mm because of this. Rest of SIP money will be spent on bass.

They have to get permission to release each species, dunno if they have permission to release other species other than bass and barra, I know they desperately want to stock Saratoga as well, but can not get permission. (Those in their are apparently the result of unauthorised activities - IE the legendary \"Midnight stocking group\" which shows up from time to time)

[Big_unit]

Feral wrote:

Brian,

Latest info I've had from Big Dan is that they are having a lot of trouble sourcing Barra fingerlings, this year they are going to release only a 1000 or two, but grown out to 150mm because of this. Rest of SIP money will be spent on bass.

They have to get permission to release each species, dunno if they have permission to release other species other than bass and barra, I know they desperately want to stock Saratoga as well, but can not get permission. (Those in their are apparently the result of unauthorised activities - IE the legendary \"Midnight stocking group\" which shows up from time to time)

There are 4000 Barra fingerlings arriving in the next couple of weeks and they will be direct release.

Cheers

James

[shaggy]

Hey guys,

what is the landbased access like around the lake?

[Brian D]

Land Based access is great - well worth the walk.

Feral and Dave - thanks that's good info.

[shaggy]

Brian - Thumbs up to ya, thanks for the info.

[Big_unit]

for some reason this board wont accept or upload my file ( rich text ), Ive got a report on the Lake but Im not typing the whole bloody thing again.

Post edited by: Big_unit, at: 2007/04/23 23:50

Post edited by: Big_unit, at: 2007/04/23 23:52

[Feral]

Big Unit,

I can bung it on my site and link to it if you like. I have PM'd you my email address.

[Big_unit]

Lake Lenthall report -

Plenty of fish are still being caught & released at Lake Lenthall even with the Lake being at 65% capacity and the water temp aapproximately 25 degrees celcius.

Casting hardbody lures & soft plastics have been successful around the lillies with the odd fish still taking spinnerbaits down deep in various places around the Lake. Landbased fisherfolk using earthworms & some secret baits have reported good catches of Eel Tailed Catfish / Freshwater Jewfish, with fish upto 480 mm being taken in shallow water. Other notable landbased catches include a 670 mm Barra off the boatramp by an 11 year old boy ( his very first Barra )and Bass ranging from 280 mm to 460 mm from the foreshore around the recreational grounds. Paul Dolan from Fraser Coast Sport Fishing Charters is having great success with clients taking both Bass & Barra on lure & fly.

Easter weekend saw good numbers of boats on the water ( 38 vessels on Easter Sunday ) with most fisherfolk recording good catches of Bass. It is great to see so many people practicing catch & release, and with this we will see the Barra reach that elusive metre mark next summer. The unofficial Lake record stands at 940 mm by a Japanese client on a Fraser Coast Sport Fishing Charter. Other visitors to the Lake have boasted of catching & releasing fish up to 910 mm, surely next summer we will Lake Lenthall Barramundi reach the sportfish target 1 metre mark.

Ill take this opportunity to remind everybody that entry to the Lake is only permitted throught the access gates, you can not access Lake Lenthall from any other point. Camping in any form at Lake Lenthall is not permitted currently, construction and clearing works are still in progress.

Currently we have a commercial Eel trapper working the Lake and to date ( 7 days ), he has trapped over 1000 kgs of live Long finned Eel. They are exported live to China where they are a highly sort after meal. The Eels are believed to heavily target our Barramundi and Bass fingerlings.

The Fraser Coast Fish Stocking Association will be releasing 4000 Barra fingerlings into the Lake in the near future.

Cheers

James [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/Lenthalls_Ranger_011.jpg

[Big_unit]

A 7.2kg Long Finned Eel, an extremely capable predator. The teeth on these guys can do some damage. [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/Lenthalls_Ranger_015.jpg

[Angus]

Oh my god.

I think that picture will make Terry droooooool.

How many shark baits is that Terry

Angus

[Terry H]

You're not kidding Angus. that 7.2kg Eel is bloody awesome. It must be huge! I have a 5kg one in my freezer, and it's almost as tall/long as I am!

Angus: that 2nd picture makes 1 bait:P

Not sure about the first picture, I have no idea about their size. If they were 2-3kg min that'd make a very nice trip.

[Big_unit]

There is 600+ kg in the first pic. Yep an average of about 3kg.

Cheers

James

[ellicat]

How long does the commercial eel trapper expect to be there ? Surely he couldn't keep that rate of catch up ...Can he ?:S

[Angus]

Problem with eels is. Even if he took the population down to zero.

Which i would bet on being impossible.

There would be 1000 back in there 12 months later.

Especially somewhere like lenthalls where there are fresh water holes and rivers close buy.

Angus

[ellicat]

Angus, Don't get me wrong, I don't have any issue with them pulling the eels out. I was just interested to know how many could be in there.

[Angus]

Ellicat: Mate sorry was not infering anything at all.

I was just making a generic comment on the amazing ability eels have to populate even remote waterways without human introduction.

For example there is a place Ash, George and i fished once. Blantantly not expecting anything as it was essenstiallyy a ditch created by bob cats that had been filled with water for a bout 3 years. However as other waterways in the area had been illegally stocked with tilapia we thought we would give it a try.

Anyway long story short, this waterwat had an abundance of fresh water eels.

Angus

[ellicat]

Yep, They're the cockroach of the fresh.

[Big_unit]

ellicat wrote:

How long does the commercial eel trapper expect to be there ? Surely he couldn't keep that rate of catch up ...Can he ?:S

2 to 3 months.

Eels are still trapping hard, today he pulled around 230 kgs from his traps. He also doesnt trap on Saturday & Sunday, so as not to interfere with recreational activities on the Lake.

I imagine that they will slow down but they have not done so yet.

[Terry H]

The eels in the first pic are all 2-3kg? holy crap how big is that container?!

I Thought it was only like maybe 30 of them at most of the smaller ones.

Wow. That'd easily cover a season of bigguns. Are similar traps allowed by recreational anglers? And if so, how do I get one:P

The reason Eels can turn up in unexpected waterways is because they can travel upstream in very shallow water (I saw them go up one of those small rock walls in the kedron brook!) Plus I hear they can also traverse across ground for a short period of time

[Big_unit]

TerryH wrote:

The eels in the first pic are all 2-3kg? holy crap how big is that container?!

I Thought it was only like maybe 30 of them at most of the smaller ones.

Wow. That'd easily cover a season of bigguns. Are similar traps allowed by recreational anglers? And if so, how do I get one:P

The reason Eels can turn up in unexpected waterways is because they can travel upstream in very shallow water (I saw them go up one of those small rock walls in the kedron brook!) Plus I hear they can also traverse across ground for a short period of time

Yep 3kg average. Most of those Eels are thicker than an average mans wrist.

The container is a 1320 gallon ( 7'11\" diameter & 4'8\" high ) poly rainwater tank, used as a holding tank.

Cheers

James

[rayke1938]

Does the eeler have to observe the horsepower and speed restrictions or does he have an excemption? When he was at baroon last year he seemed to do what he liked.

Ray

[Big_unit]

rayke1938 wrote:

Does the eeler have to observe the horsepower and speed restrictions or does he have an excemption? When he was at baroon last year he seemed to do what he liked.

Ray

He most certainly does have to observe the restrictions. I dont think this guy goes down there.

[img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/Lenthalls_Ranger_002.jpg

Small punt with a 6hp Merc, heading off to set traps.

[Tim a]

TerryH wrote:

I have a 5kg one in my freezer, and it's almost as tall/long as I am!

Like thats hard!

[Big_unit]

rayke1938 wrote:

Does the eeler have to observe the horsepower and speed restrictions or does he have an excemption? When he was at baroon last year he seemed to do what he liked.

Ray

Our guy only does local dams and some further north, he has never worked at Baroon. I checked with him today and he doesnt even know who the guy is down there.

Cheers

James

[Big_unit]

The Eel trapper is up to just over 2 tonnes of Eel in 30 days and the new record is a 9.4kg monster although he tells me that Lake Monduran is where the real monsters are - 14.5 kgs being the record up there.

Cheers

James