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Bushfire Update
  |  First Published: April 2009



Sorry to all the regular readers for last months missing central Gippsland report.

Due to the devastating bushfire in February, our local Strezlecki streams did not fair too well in the fires. Many people in our area lost everything. Fishing has not been a number one priority for many people in our region, yet as time has passed, a few dedicated anglers have ventured into these fire ravaged areas to see how the aquatic environment has faired.

To much surprise, Traralgon Creek, which was hit the hardest in our area by the fires, has managed to keep a healthy trout population. It’s amazing to see that despite the desperately low water level and periodic rainfalls that washed large amounts of ash into the water rendering it black and lifeless looking, that the trout have survived. Many people believed that there would be huge trout kills in these waters, but surprisingly at least a good proportion of a population remains. The fish are very hungry, obviously, and are taking anything they can get. The creek still looks atrocious in the way of water flows. There are huge amounts of debris in the riverbed, which is also hindering the flow of what little water is there. There is a forecast of some rain coming shortly in the next month, so this should help a fair bit in the way of water flow. However, no-one knows how long the threat of ash washing into the water from a severe downpour will last.

Much of the Morwell River catchments survived the brunt of the fires, and quite a few fishers have managed to land some bigger than expected trout, some of which are up to 40cm long. This is great to see.

That is a short update from the area, and next month I will have the full central Gippsland report running again.

For more information on fishing central Gippsland and how individual rivers and catchments have handled the tough start to the year, contact Will at Allways Angling in Traralgon on 03 5174 8544.

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