Due to the ongoing dry conditions and limited forecast rainfall, the Inland Fisheries Service (IFS) has been liaising closely with Hydro Tasmania regarding management of water levels in Lake Augusta. Lake Augusta is the source of the water that flows down the Liawenee canal. This is a major inflow into Yingina/Great Lake, and provides significant spawning grounds for the lake.

Given the extremely dry conditions, water was held in Lake Augusta until we could be confident of having sufficient volumes to achieve a flow rate in the Liawenee canal which would encourage fish up into the spawning trap, with enough water in reserve to support any fish that have spawned below the trap once flows were reduced. Running the canal too early without enough water in reserve could have put at risk any spawning that occurred downstream of our fish trap, potentially exposing the fish and recently spawned eggs.

Hydro Tasmania was able to open the outlet valve at Lake Augusta on 26 May 2025 (following some rainfall on the weekend of the 24 and 25 May 2025) and the fish responded immediately by swimming straight up into the Liawenee fish trapping area, with many fish also spawning downstream of the trap.

In most years the operation of the Liawenee fish trap commences in the last week of March, with the spawning migration of brown trout in the canal generally winding down by the second week of June. Therefore, the window to operate the Liawenee fish trap this year has been significantly reduced, meaning that less fish have been available this year to transfer from the Liawenee canal.

Fortunately, we also have other fish traps to help sustain the assisted fisheries that rely on annual stocking. The rain in late May also allowed fish to move up into the Sandbanks trap on Yingina/Great Lake and one of the Arthurs Lake traps was also activated due to the improved flows. In addition, the IFS has also been running the fish trap on Lake King William for several weeks which has been collecting consistent numbers of well-conditioned brown trout.

This has allowed the IFS to make a good start on planned adult brown trout stockings, despite challenging environmental conditions, ahead of the 2025/26 angling season.  This will complement recent rainbow trout stockings with more rainbow trout stockings planned over the coming weeks.

The IFS would like to thank Hydro Tasmania for their close collaboration with the IFS in managing flows in the Liawenee canal under challenging circumstances. Like last year, holding water and releasing later in the spawning run has allowed us to salvage part of our fish collection efforts and has provided important reserve water for the fish currently spawning in the Liawenee canal. 

To underpin our adult fish stockings, the IFS team have also collected and fertilised 450,000 brown trout eggs that are currently being incubated at the New Norfolk and Salmon Ponds hatcheries.  Assuming we get good survival of these eggs, the fry will be used to strategically stock a number of fisheries around the state later in the year….more on that later!

While flows in the Liawenee canal have now been reduced due to the draw-down of Lake Augusta, we are hopeful that further rains in June will replenish the lake and support the natural spawning of trout in other locations around the state.

The IFS fish stocking program is part of our commitment to enhancing Tasmania's recreational fisheries, ensuring our waters perform at their best and creating an exciting experience for all anglers.  While we continue our fish stockings over the coming weeks, the best way to keep up to date on our stocking program is to regularly visit our website at https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/fisheries/stocking/ or accessing stocking information via the InFish app.