The cement blocks that I placed into tank no / 3 have been accepted as a suitable breeding place. I have seen fish in them and it is my opinion that they are getting ready to breed in the hollows that I created with the blocks, you have to sneak up at night with a torch and you will see this behaviour, in that sense they are truly nocturnal all of the important things are done late at night.

I am going to see if I can catch a female laying her eggs on camera this will be tough they may perceive the camera to be a threat and push it away or go elsewhere to lay the eggs but I will give it a go.

It has been speculation of mine for some time that blackfish have a way of repopulating a stream relatively quickly they must be able to do this to survive the boom and bust of the Australian climate and it could be that the ratio of  females to  males is high this would allow a single male to fertilise  more than one females nest however this would mean that the male does not stay with the eggs at least not on a permanent basis he may be called on from time to time to defend a nest from intrusion including from people/ researches this could have been the reason researches believed that the males stayed with the eggs.

for this reason I am adding more nesting boxes to my ponds and also to accommodate maturing females who will lay eggs for the first time this year, the breeding season starts in around two weeks and I will be ready.

The water that flows to this point comes from the roadside which in turn picks up farm run off. This sand was the lake bed and due to low rain fall and extractions through bores is now part of the foreshore so what’s in this water, dog poo, cow poo oil and grease from the road, the sand has been lake bottom for hundreds or even thousands of years in that time it has picked up and stored tons of  assorted nutrient, now nutrient is a good thing when you are trying to grow something but the last thing we want to do is grow something in Lake Bullen Merri enough bad things grow there already.

Now if we had got of our behinds this could have been fixed in fact it could have acted as a natural filter a bio filter a few rocks some water loving plants and bingo we have a filter.

But know as of this morning nothing has been done and big rain is on the way this will erode more sand washing tons of nutrient into the lake and this will make a blue green algae event all but certain this season closing the lake to boating and fishing costing local shops and accommodation places and  petrol stations hard to come by dollars.

what frustrates more is how easy it would be to fix in fact when I was there this morning they had been doing works further along the bank.

UPDATE: The water temp in tank 3/4 has improved to over 10 degrees if this continues I would expect breeding to be early again this year, that would be young fish mid Dec. some people tell me that they only view this blog on Facebook if you wish to see all the photo’s you should click on the link at the bottom of the screen and go to the blog.

My fish (gadopsis marmoratus ) or river blackfish are enduring very cold water at the moment around 7.6 degrees and doing very well this raises the question should we consider river blackfish for reservoirs in cold areas where Murray cod are not performing .

Blackfish are the only native fish that is viable in these cold dams and I believe if we want to catch native fish in the southern parts of Vic that are good eating and good to catch then there is no alternative.

ps We can now breed them in captivity I know this because I have done it.

Well over half of the original fingerlings have made it to freedom they now reside in pond no 4 where they can stay until they are old enough to breed. may I take a moment and say how pleased I am with myself I am a amateur fish breeder I have had little or no formal education in this business and to produce these fish is very rewarding I am going to have a beer. ps its a shame they are not going into a river for others to catch.

This is the bird netting we have to have, there are loads of cormorants and other fish eating birds around here and I am not going to put last years fish in a dam only to have birds feeding on them At this end there will be a walkway when I get around to building it.

Who are the keepers, the custodians of our native flora and fauna clearly it is not fisheries otherwise they would have closed me down or given me support after all I have had a permit from them for nearly eight years. it begs the question is there a plan or is this a ad hock department not sure of what’s next , if so I would counsel the next government to put a broom through this department and put in place people who care, people who will answer the phone , people who that don’t do this job because the got the required mark at school.

I know that some people will not like me being so angry, all l want is for fisheries to do there job get off there behinds and do some work ,stop sending email to each other and remember why you are a fisheries officer to look after the native fish of Australia. you have a unique position you can make a difference, sending an email to college sitting next to you is not work and does nothing to further the wellbeing of native fish .

Tomorrow I am going to move last years brood fish ,young fish , fingerlings what ever you wish to call them,these fish should be going into local waterways but they are going into dams I have had to construct at my cost to house them, fisheries do not seem interested in native fish but if you want some trout well the flood gates open . my name is Sticks Mueller and I never give up, I will grow so many native blackfish here on this property that fisheries officers of the future will have no choice but to act. I have had great support from all the politician I have spoken to no matter there colour, but the individuals we put in power to look after the well being of native fish in Victoria have no interest in these great fish, believe me that will change I will advocate to government at all levels including federal  to see these people are replaced and proper custodians put in there place, people who are dedicated and passionate about the native fish of Victoria and eastern Australia in general. I should also mention that my blog regularly gets over 200 views and some times as many as 4500 so fisheries should take note this tax payer has had enough. if the PUBLIC SERVANTS AT FISHERIES DO NOT CALL ME ASAP I will make it my life mission to expose them as nothing but as frauds masquerading as environmentalist while sucking on the public teat.