Rain at last
FINALLY, we have rain.
And what a rain we have had.
So far it has taken 12 hours to deliver a fantastic 53mm (millimetres).
At least that is what I have had in my gauge up till midnight Wednesday.
There looks to be more coming before the night is out.
53mm of slow soaking rain.
It does not get any better than this in March.
Any farmer that is not happy after this rain, all I can suggest is to sell the farm as you will never be happy.
Keep it coming, Huey.
Fisheries in town
I HAPPENED to run into the fisheries boat the other night on our river.
Don’t panic, I do not do that kind of thing anymore out of a boat.
They were out here electrofishing to see what we have in our river and creek.
They were very impressed with the number of natives compared to noxious fish.
They were quite proud that they had found plenty of what I described to them as “fish we do not give a stuff about, but you blokes love”.
“Yep, that’s about it,” they said.
I hope I get this right as I asked them to tell me what they got.
I will give it a go. Of course, they got a few carp, a few yellers and a few cod, one of good size.
Now it gets to the ones that we do not care about, but they are very important to our rivers.
They got some Australian Smelt; they grow to a maximum of 10cm. I will just go through the list and give you the name and their maximum length.
Carp Gudgeon Species, maximum length of 4.5cm.
Flathead Gudgeon, he is a big one, 11.5cm.
Murray Darling Rainbow Fish, maximum length of 9cm.
Un-specked Hardhead, maximum length of 7.8cm.
That is getting pretty precise.
They also found one of the most common and widespread native fish in our rivers. From my studies, only poachers would know that these fish exist.
The Bony Bream. This native fish can lay several hundred thousand eggs and they are a very important part of the food chain.
They are the first to die if oxygen levels go down in the rivers. Poachers know what they are. One little bugger they did find is an imported fish called the Gambusia, also known as the Mosquito Fish.
They were imported as an aquarium fish and were let go into our streams to control the mosquitoes.
That did not work as they are very aggressive feeders and would rather prey on eggs and juveniles of our native fish.
They are highly reproductive and can give birth to between 50 to 300 live young several times a year.
They grow to a maximum length of 6cm and are considered more noxious than carp.
Nothing eats them as they have a very sour taste. This is the scary part; we all call them minnows and I am sure we all put them on a hook when we were kids.
And, of course, never caught anything because nothing eats them.
But, we kept on trying.
Just like those bloody curl grubs that we find in the wood heap.
I have never got a bite on those ether. But I keep on trying.
Well-attended meeting
THERE was a very well attended meeting held by our bowling club by the Moulamein Community Development Committee and organised by Amy, from the Western Murray Land Improvement Group.
This meeting was to get an idea of what we would love to see happening in Moulamein and surrounds.
Also, to find out funding opportunities and support that is available.
There are some very exciting things happening in our district that even I cannot tell you about.
Keep watch of this space for some very exciting news.
If you could not get there and you have some ideas, that would go well in our district.
Do not hesitate to give Amy a ring on 0427 284 533 for more information as how you can help make it happen.
Football-netball club fishing competition
THIS great event will be happening this weekend.
The planning is going to schedule and it should be the usual big event.
You will be fed well, watered well and have a bloody good time if you come out here for the weekend.
This weekend is great for our club as well as our town and district.
For more information, Google Moulamein Cash Classic or something like that and you will find out all about it.
I am sure there is plenty of room for more volunteers, so if you would like to help and lighten the load. You will be made most welcome.
River levels
THE Edward is continuing to drop slowly.
The rains are still forecast for our catchment as well as our district.
We can only hope.
