River primed for competition return

BY MICHAEL SCALZO

Wimmera River catchment monitors are confident last year’s spring floods have set up the region’s waterways for a bumper annual Labor Day weekend fishing competition.

Wimmera Catchment Management

Authority chief executive David Brennan said statewide flooding in winter and spring of 2022 had primed the river system for ‘years’ of increased fish population.

He said the Wimmera River had ‘full potential’ for extensive fish breeding because of the timing of last year’s flood, in winter and spring, rather than in summer — which was when flood events more commonly impacted the region.

Organisers of The Weekly Advertiser Horsham Fishing Competition have swung preparations into top gear ahead of its 46th showing on Sunday, March 12.

Spokesperson Bart Turgoose said the competition’s organising committee members remained confident the floods had ‘flushed’ the river system and set-up participants for a ‘positive’ weekend of ‘family fun’.

“The river has been in people’s minds, front and centre, recently, so hopefully this draws tourists into Horsham and gets Horsham people out on the riverbanks across the long weekend for what is always a great event,” he said.

“We are hearing positive things about the river’s fish stocks at the moment and with a 2023 overhaul of the way competitors electronically submit their catches, we think the event is in great shape to capture the region’s attention again.”

Anglers will require a QR code to submit pictures of catches to organisers with instant receival confirmation.

Mr Turgoose said the prize list, worth more than $35,000, included a CFMoto quadbike first prize, as well as a junior CFMoto quadbike prize for junior competitors.

A Saturday evening movie night at Sawyer Park, in partnership with Horsham Optus and its movie-screen truck, will treat families to a showing of ‘Clifford The Big Red Dog’.

Zoologist Chris Humphrey, of Wild Action Zoo, will entertain families on Sunday afternoon with shows at several locations along the Wimmera River, as well as a main show at Horsham Soundshell.

Mr Turgoose said the competition committee was eager to cater to serious anglers as well as people seeking ‘family-friendly’ long weekend.

“We don’t just want stalwart fishers along the river that weekend; we want Wimmera families to return to the river banks for a Labor Day long weekend in the region. There is free camping and fun activities for everyone all weekend beside the river,” he said.

“What event enables that along the riverbanks for an entire long weekend? Probably not many.”

Mr Brennan said despite recent warnings about blue-green algae in the Wimmera River, most likely a result of flood-caused excess nitrogen and phosphorous in the river system, cooler temperatures in coming weeks should return the river to its usual health.

“There are only limited things we can do to manage blue-green algae. We have been releasing some environmental water into the system to keep it fresh and we are hoping to see some positive results because of that. There have been a lot of shocks to the river system in the past six months,” he said.

“But this time of summer is when blue-green algae has the highest occurrence probability.”

He said the authority had monitored ‘cracking’ amounts of yellowbelly, also known as golden perch, in particular, in the river as well as ‘nice’ numbers of silver perch and catfish.

He said there were also increased numbers of juvenile carp, which often made ‘prime’ food for yellowbelly, cod, redfin and silver perch.

People can go to www.horsham fishingcomp.com.au or refer to the competition’s social media pages for further details on prizes, participant registration and competition protocols.