I went to Bullen Merri today in search of the lost ww1 cannon I scoured the lake edges with the side scan sonar and I found no trace of it, this was my third attempt and I am not sure it there now .

The lake was declared algae free last week and the warning signs were taken down but see what I found today.

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There were at least two farmers spreading urea on grass land inside the bowl of the lake today just before we get rain on the weekend , the farmers are not at fault here that’s what you have to do to get grass to grow however some of this will end up in the lake and add to the already high nutrient load that will cause more algae blooms early next summer.

 

 

 

We often talk about the riparian zone and why it’s so important to aquatic life and one of the best plants for this zone is native grasses , they are better than trees at stopping the flow of nutrient from farm land particularly if they are planted in a thick blanket along the edge of the waterway about 20/30 metres wide.

This is a good example.

this photo was taken on a neighbours property along with this ancient tree that got burnt last year.

Yesterday I went with Gene Gardener( CMA) to the lower Gellibrand river to see if we could in fact use my underwater drone to check in ( no pun intended ) on the hotels placed there some time ago, the water level was high which would make our task even harder, the aim was to see if fish have been using them and I suppose to make sure they were  intact, we first tried to find the one nearest the bridge with no luck we then moved onto the one placed near the public jetty and we found it intact in about 5 metres of water and covered in algae and other plant life, as you will see in the video the water contains vast amounts of suspended materials we also note a fish and some plastic, the structure seems to be intact and doing its job. it has been my experience that fish will run from the drone for a while and then slowly return we may not have spent a long enough time for this to happen yesterday next time I will try to sit for a while.

I have to say the river looks fantastic and as you can see the water level is quite high.

 

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The placement of these structures will benefit fishers and fish for years to come ,

I commend the CMA for this initiative and hope for lots more in the future. I can not quite identify the fish it could be a Tupong its the right size and shape , I would be pleased if someone could identify the fish.

( the fish is visible at about 4.41 in the right hand upper corner ).

I took the beautiful SASH out on Bullen Merri today in search of the lost ww1 cannon , we arrived at the boat ramp to find a broken stubby all over the ramp, people everywhere in bare feet , not a good start,

 

After picking up as much as we could we turned our attention to the mystery of the lost cannon.

the water at the ramp looked a little green and there was a strong northerly breeze across the lake,  we set of across the lake to a likely spot but the visibility in the water was poor and a speed boat with a skier in tow kept sending bow waves at us and some fishers on shore.

 

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But alas it was no good, even though there was no sign of the algae that was present at the start of summer the water is green and after several days of sunshine I fear it will bloom again .

I think the next attempt to find the cannon will be mid winter when the water is at its best.

Tomorrow I am off to the Gellibrand to inspect some fish hotels hopefully with more success that today.

 

We as fishermen must call out those who would wreck our sport, people who take more fish  than is legal or that are  undersize but the worst breach of all is rubbish, not only is it an eyesore but it can be a hazard , things such as needles or like this latest case broken bottles , and keyboard greenies will use it to further limit our activities. I have reported this to the Corangamite shire and they assure me it will be cleaned up .

 

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To all the members of this group and viewers of this page and your families and friends have a great Australia day.

These two logs were saved after the fires , they have been in a dam that needs new clay so it gives me a chance to show you what really good habitat looks like, this is the kind habitat that the Corangamite CMA should be putting in local rivers and streams.

 

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If you are heading to lake Purrumbete for a fish in this incredible lake, then drop into the Lake Edge Café , it’s a terrific spot to view the lake there’s great food and terrific service.

 

I would like to thank the people who wrote and published this article in the Cobden coast times, hopefully it will make a difference, I know the author uses the lake often when it is free of algae but like most of us they are waiting for it to clear.

 

 

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I took the beautiful SASH out for a fish the other day and two new of Blackfish Action Members members from south Australia   came along and they had a good time on undersized Black Bream on the Curdies river upstream of the hotel.

 

Jarod and Andrew are both keen anglers , its great to see young people enthusiastic about fish and the environment.

The Curdies looks in good condition, its not open to the sea at the moment  so is high and full of fish that are just under size.