The Latrobe River has been stocked with Australian bass for the first time receiving 20,000 fingerlings as part of a plan to further improve freshwater fishing in Gippsland.
Victorian Fisheries Authority CEO, Travis Dowling, said Australian bass are a highly regarded recreational sportfish, native to Gippsland and Australia's east coast.
"Our statewide fish stocking program is funded by recreational fishing licence fees and the State Government's $35 million Target One Million plan to get more people fishing, more often, in more places," Mr Dowling said.
"The stocking of the Latrobe River is part of a broader program in which 20 lakes and rivers have shared in 327,500 bass fingerlings over the last few weeks.
"Lake Glenmaggie received 37,000 bass this season. The lake was amongst the first Victorian waters to be stocked with bass many years ago and, like Blue Rock Lake, now boasts some large bass well over 1kg."
Stocked waters this season were:
Avon River 5,000
Blue Rock Lake 55,000
Bullen Merri Lake 5,000
Cann River 35,500
Cowwar Weir 2,000
Ferntree Gully Quarry 1,000
Guthridge Lake 5,000
Glenmaggie Lake 37,000
Hyland Lake 1,000
Latrobe River 20,000
Macalister River 22,000
Mitchell River 60,000
Narracan Lake 5,000
Rainbow Creek 1,000
Snowy River 50,000
Tambo River 5,000
Thomson River 5,000
Timbarra River 10,000
Tyers River 2,000
Valencia Creek 1,000
Most of these bass stockings also deliver on a key element of the Gippsland Lakes Recreational Fishing Plan, which aims to restore the Lakes to a recreational fishing mecca in the years ahead by stocking, improving fish habitat and reviewing bag and size limits.
