A free fishing festival celebrating the official opening of the trout season came to Ballarat today.
Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford opened the event, which is a key part of the Andrews Labor Government’s Target One plan for improving recreational fishing – getting more people fishing, more often.
Held at Lake Wendouree, this is the first year of the Ballarat event, which included free fishing tuition for kids, fish stocking, fun family activities and tours of the Ballarat Fish Acclimatisation Society’s trout hatchery on the banks of Lake Wendouree.
Hepburn Lagoon, Newlyn Reservoir, Moorabool Reservoir and of course Lake Wendouree are all terrific stocked fisheries that attract keen trout anglers from across the Central Highlands and Melbourne.
Free tours of the Government’s Snobs Creek fish hatchery, which breeds trout and native fish for Fisheries Victoria’s state-wide stocking program, were well also attended.
Snobs Creek grows brown trout, rainbow trout, Chinook salmon and iconic native species such as Murray cod, trout cod and Macquarie perch, and has contributed to a record stocking effort of more than 3 million fish.
That record is unlikely to last long, as Fisheries Victoria strives to increase stocking further to 5 million fish, which is a key goal of the government’s Target One Million plan and one supported by recreational fishing licence fees.
The Labor Government has delivered on its election commitment to expand the Goulburn Fishing Festival by hosting another similar event at Ballarat, Victoria’s second largest regional centre.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford
“We understand that active participation in outdoor pursuits is fun and healthy, good for families, good for mental health and contributes economically to regional communities through tourism.”
“A record 3 million fish have been stocked into Victoria’s waters to improve fishing opportunities and that number will only grow as we surge towards our target of 5 million fish in 2018.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020