WIRF

WIRF Cara Cummings

As Victorians emerge from restrictions and are reunited with their favourite fishing haunts, their wonderful stories and photos are being shared across social media.

In what has been an incredibly challenging time for all, it is refreshing to see the light that comes from the end of the tunnel. Heading into the festive season and summer holidays, we hope to see anglers ticking off their ‘bucket list’ items and making the most of being back on or near the water! WIRF NEWS

Our leaders have been super busy these last few months with lots going on behind the scenes. A very exciting announcement is the recent launch of our new Instagram page. Given our Facebook group is exclusively for women, the time had come entertaining reels and stories. So please give us a follow and join the WIRF adventure!

We also kicked off our great prize packs! LEADERS

TO CELEBRATE

Niki Dickstein celebrated stoked with up to 15,000 Macca fingerlings this summer.

“This is very exciting for the Upper Murray, it’s

Shea with her son (pictured far right) and volunteers making a start on replenishing the creek.

‘School of Maccas’ cakes that won ‘Threatened Species Bake Off’ category.

Lee (L) and Chantal (R) are the new APYAC female leaders. Emma and Michelle had a ball on a girls’ trip catching squid.

You’re never too old to learn. Sylvia Francis, 90yo, with her first ever fish, a pretty rainbow trout.

virtual trivia nights, which have been a roaring success and bucket loads of fun and laughter. There was no trout

to share with the greater fishing community, the success of the network and this we are able to showcase via our new page @wirfnetwork.

The content you can about it, all participants had a whale of a time. Puns aside, it was a great way to connect to other members virtually and still experience a sense of togetherness, which has being the first female to co-host on Ch 31’s Talking Fishing. Kicking off from September, Niki led the way and was warmly welcomed by viewers and fans! Niki is a natural on the camera and those live recording nerves appeared non-existent. She has a great wealth of knowledge when it comes to the fishing industry and has been an asset to the show.

I challenge to find anyone out there who has a greater passion for Macquarie perch than our very own Shea Bloom. Shea has devoted so much of her own time to raise awareness of the plight and actions to ‘bring back Maccas’. Shea was successful in receiving a grant to restore and replenish Cudgewa Creek in Northwest Victoria as a Landcare led Bushfire Recovery Project, supported by the Australian

expect to see includes highlighting and celebrating women in the industry, weekly and daily themes covering fishing tips and tricks, brag mat photos, recipes and been eagerly missed. These are still ongoing so if trivia is your thing, then please look out for the next one in our Facebook group page and be in the running to win some Government’s Bushfire Recovery Program for Wildlife and their Habitat. This grant will help with planting native shrubs and trees to improve the habitat and the creek will be been almost 70 years since Macquarie perch have been in the Cudgewa Creek. Thanks to some fantastic partnerships and support we were able to get this amazing project off the ground,” said Shea Bloom.

Shea’s baking skills are also on point along with Leaders, Amanda Keilar and Cara Cummings with their contribution of Macquarie perch cakes to the ‘Threatened Species Bake Off’. This ‘bake off’ raises awareness for species at risk and gets conversations happening. The combined entry (a school of Maccas) on behalf of the ‘Mates of Macca’s collective’, took out first place in the organisation entry! Congratulations to all involved. The bakers for Mates of Macca’s collective was made up of volunteers from VFA, WIRF, DWELP and Landcare. WOMEN

MAKING WAVES

When milestones are achieved, they are worth celebrating and we are so

350 g trout fillets Olive oil 1 egg 2 tbsp grated parmesan 1 tbsp chives – chopped Salt and pepper Juice of ½ lemon

1. Season trout with salt and sear (par cook, 1 minutes each side) on a hot pan drizzled with a little oil.

2. Once cooled, roughly chop the trout and place in a bowl with remaining ingredients. all together and divide into 8 balls. Flatten into disks.

4. Place your fritters on a hot dry pan and cook for 2 minutes each side or until a golden crust is formed. Tips: for a tasty breakfast or brunch, serve fritters with sourdough, baby spinach and a poached egg.

As seen weekly on Ch 31’s ‘Talking Fishing’ TV show or catch up via YouTube.