Today sees the start of the new licence period. Put down your 2017-18 season angling licence. Pick up your 2018-19 season licence.

As you think about where you might go on Saturday, consider the South Riana Dam on the NW Coast.

Over 23 to 25 July, we did an assessment of the brown trout population at South Riana Dam

To prepare for the assessment we released 400 adult brown trout of around 800 grams into the Dam a month ago. We clipped their adipose fin so we could identify them when we recaptured them during the survey.

Over two nights we captured 115 brown trout at an average weight of 1 kg. Ten percent of fish weighed between 1.5 – 2.5 kg. Some of the fish over 2 kg, were showing signs of old age and beginning to lose condition. The fish under 500 mm were in good condition. 

The recapture of adipose fin clipped fish was very low. This makes it unreliable to accurately estimate the population size. 

Compared to other fishery assessments over the past two years, the catch rate was moderately low at 2.13 fish per trap. This is similar to the result for the Lake Leake in July 2017 at 2.54 fish per trap, but well down on figures for Little Pine Lagoon at 4.64 fish per trap and Penstock Lagoon at 3.6 fish per trap.

So, what does this mean for the opening of the trout season at South Riana Dam. There is a better than even chance of catching a good fish if you put in a reasonable days fishing. If you are lucky, you may even hook a fish of over 2kg! Remember, there are at least an additional 400 adult fish swimming around, so give this water a go!

Length/weight relationship for brown trout, South Riana Dam 2018