18 replies to this topic

[malawiman85]

Hi All,

 

I've been poking about Perth rivers and creeks for a while and thought I'd start a thread where people can share some some of their catches.

 

Here's some of mine:

 

Nightfish:

 

Western Pygmy Perch (bottom of pic) and Western Minnow (top of pic):

 

Western Pygmy Perch and Freshwater Mussel:

 

Swan River Goby:

 

Glass Shrimp:

 

Bridled Goby:

 

Black Bream:

 

Dunno what this guy is:

 

And some not so natives...

Gambusia holbrooki - Eastern Mosquito Fish

 

Geophagus brasiliensis - Pearl Cichlid (fry)

 

 

Found a few other things but no photos of them; stuff like Western Hardyheads , marron and goldfish.

 

Id be pretty keen to see what else people are finding around the place.

[In between tanks]

Where do u catch these in the river?

[malawiman85]

To be honest most of these species have a huge range and can be found widely throughout the South West.
 
Different locations include:
Nightfish in Ellen Brook and other small freshwater streams.
Minnows, perch and mussels in Bennett Brook
Marron everywhere that's not too salty or warm - brooks and rivers
Shrimp are everywhere
Perch, bream, hardyheads, gobies in Moore River
Brasiliensis, bream, pygmy perch in the Canning River
Gambusia everywhere.
Gobies in brooks and rivers mentioned above.
Murchison Hardyhead... Murchison River - inland freshwater pools.... not found south of Geraldton.

Spangled Perch by the millions in the Murchison.

Yellowtail Grunters by the millions in the Geenough River

Edited by malawiman85, 01 January 2019 - 09:24 AM.

[Hood]

Haha. Wild caught braziliensis.

sent from Huawei P9 using tapatalk app.

[bigjohnnofish]

bridge near bandiyup bad girls home provides glass shrimp , gobies , gambusia , black bream , brasilliensis , and some pop eye mullet on a tiny hook.. be more productive with a square hook no doubt.... 

[pseudechisbutleri]

Roleystone has got tons of Gambusia, as well as western minnows, mussels and marron.
 
Araluen has western minnows.

Bannister Creek has shrimp, gilgies, pygmy perch, pearl cichlids, gobies and gambusia.
 
Kent Street Weir has shrimp, gobies, gambusia and pearl cichlids (I've also caught a fish that, now that I think about it, reminds me of a western mud minnow, though I doubt it was one).

Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 23 March 2017 - 09:47 AM.

[pseudechisbutleri]

After a couple days down in Collie, I can confirm the presence of western Pygmy perch, western minnows, smooth marron, swan river gobies, Redfin perch and rainbow trout in Wellington National park. Also noteworthy is the absence of Gambusia, which is always awesome. Many of the Pygmy perch are unusually dark, some nearly jet back, with no patterns. Additionally, they are larger than I've ever seen, a few were 5-7 centimetres long, one was even around 8-9 centimetres long.

All species were found in abundance and in multiple sizes, save for the Redfin perch, which was only sighted once.

[pseudechisbutleri]

Blackwater pools - Scott River - Blackwood River

 

The blackwater pools near East Augusta have large numbers of Galaxiella nigrostriata (might write more about them in a future thread), but also, literally thousands of tadpoles, dragonfly nymphs and small koonacs and gilgies (seeing them so much, instead of actual fish can get irritating  ). Lepidogalaxias salamandroides are recorded to occur there, but I didn't see any. I might have more luck with them in summer, when the pools are smaller.

 

Speaking of the pools, I do not believe they dry out completely in summer, otherwise no aquatic plants would grow 

 

Also saw a turtle, which was cool. No introduced fish or invert species, the pools are completely disconnected from any tributary that might permit introduced species to enter the pools.

 

I was surprised by all the native plants, there were a few species of fully aquatic macrophytes (I know one of them was Triglochin procerum but I'm unsure of the others), even lilies. I doubt they're feral species.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Gingin Brook - Moore River

 

I mentioned this one in a separate thread, but I completely forgot to write about it here.

 

The upper Gingin Brook is dominated heavily by introduced plant species (not surprising though, seeing as how there is farmland on either side of the brook), but in contrast, there are no introduced fish and invert species, only natives, probably because of the presumably completely zero salinity. There is a single aquatic macrophyte, not sure on the species but it's similar to vallis.

 

The water flow is moderate.

 

There are Nannoperca vittata, Galaxias occidentalis (which are in lower numbers), Palaemonetes australis, Pseudogobius olorum, Afurcagobius suppositus (which I've seen attain huge sizes; around ten centimetres long), Cherax quinquecarinatus (C. tenuimanus also occur there, though I haven't seen any; C. preisii appear to be absent), Galaxiella munda and Bostockia porosa.

Edited by pseudechisbutleri, 02 November 2018 - 02:09 PM.

[malawiman85]

I got some Murchison River Hardyheads (Craterocephalus cuniceps) last week... Truth be told I was trying for some Spangled Perch :-/

 

 6C08AD03-82D7-4AB4-A971-52719E13568C.jpeg   118.96KB   5 downloads 

 

 

[ice]

Don't have to go that far to get spangled perch mate!

[malawiman85]

Yeah but I’m working in Geraldton these days so not too far to go.

[Jules]

Saw this down in Pemberton at Big Brook Dam last week......

 

Think someone needs to proof check their display boards and signs prior to installing them.

Attached Files

•  FISH.jpg   108.68KB   12 downloads

[ice]

I've seen a few poor examples of signage on south west dams. One species board even had sooty grunters on it!

[Leichardti]

This one down at Drakesbrook weir Ice? 

 SOOTY GRUNTER HAHAHAHA.jpg   87.78KB   6 downloads

[ice]

Haha yep that's one of them, same sign was spread around many places like the warren river, harvey, wellington too that i'm aware of. Probably plenty more around

[pseudechisbutleri]

Just a heads up if anyone's collecting at this time of year. It's marron season, so not only will you get Fisheries officers asking you what you're doing, but you'll also get random people driving by and stopping to ask you what you're doing and if you have a license.

 

I was collecting today and an old lady stopped by to ask me if I had a license (didn't even bother asking me what I was after). Told her "yeah I do, but it's at home" (which was a lie, I don't have a license), but she still seem unconvinced. It was only when she brought up the marron I was supposedly catching did I tell her I wasn't after marron, just native fish. She buggered off after that

 

I don't think anyone, even Fisheries officers, cares about if you actually have a permit if you're only after ornamental fish.

 

Btw admins, maybe get this thread pinned?

[pseudechisbutleri]

I heard some interesting anecdotes from the blokes at the ANGFA meeting on Wednesday:

 

Okay first of all, apparently, nightfish can get up to 13 inches long? Sounds a little bonkers tbh, they're only recorded to get up to half that length, but Lyndon Smith recounted that he found a 13 inch long night fish (though it was quite slim and might've had worms).

 

Next anecdote: gudgeons in the Canning. This one is slightly less bizarre than the previous one, seeing as how there was a record of an Empire Gudgeon in the Preston River in 2008. But a gudgeon was allegedly caught in the Canning by one of the blokes, and even lived for a few years in captivity.

 

Galaxias truttaceus is restricted to the Angove and Goodga Rivers, as well as a few records from the Kent River. However, Peter Unmack allegedly reported that G. truttaceus was also present in other catchments (though these other catchments were not named).

 

A rural property in Baldivis allegedly yielded Galaxiella nigrostriata after a dried-up swamp on the property became inundated by rain. Seems to be the second least bizarre thing I've heard; the Serpentine River runs through the farmland in Baldivis, so it's possible that there's a wetland that drains into the Serpentine River and happens to contain G. nigrostriata.

 

And the least bizarre thing I've heard, aloe vera is good to use while collecting fish, as it prevents fungal infections?

 

Your thoughts on these anecdotes?

[Leichardti]

Our waterways and fish can certainly be bizarre. How does one catch a 3cm Mullet all the way up in Bells Rapids? Pesky buggers are everywhere but wasn’t expecting to find a juvie all the way up there.
Peter and Lyndon are very knowledgable fellas.
What type of Gudgeons, you mean Empires still? There was a mud crab caught in the Swan recently..

As for the nightfish, I’m highly inclined to believe Lyndon, I’m sure its possible. Very old fish though. When you think about it Murray Cod are meant to reach 180cm and Tandanus Tandanus 80-90cm once in a while but you never hear about that. Sure he was talking about nightfish not river blackfish though, easy name mixup?

[pseudechisbutleri]

What type of Gudgeons, you mean Empires still?

 

Yes, I think so.

 

There was a mud crab caught in the Swan recently..

Well they're not completely unheard of, heard they've turned up in the Peel before.

 

As for the nightfish, I’m highly inclined to believe Lyndon, I’m sure its possible. Very old fish though. When you think about it Murray Cod are meant to reach 180cm and Tandanus Tandanus 80-90cm once in a while but you never hear about that. Sure he was talking about nightfish not river blackfish though, easy name mixup?

 

Nightfish live for about six years, so if there really was a 13 inch nightfish, it must've been a lot older than six. 

 

Pretty sure he meant nightfish, not river blackfish.