hobbygodz Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Hi everyone, here is the briefest of field trip reports; Today my Father and I ventured to "The Needles" which is west of heathcote on the upper reaches of the woronora river. (google earth it if you are interested)The water is totally fresh and quite clean at this altitude. At a guess it is probably around 8km downstream of the woronora dam. Access is via a fire trail that starts at the end of woronora road. The trail is clear and wide, but it is fairly steep and loosely covered by small stones. I would estimate the distance in to be just over a kilometer. Though we had journeyed to this location for intended "catch and release" of australian bass, the bass had other ideas..... We saw no bass, even juveniles, but the waters were clear and teeming with life. Fish species positively identified were; Cox's Gudgeon, Flat Headed Gudgeon, Striped Gudgeon, Sooty Grunter and Native Eastern Rainbowfish. Other animals of interest we spotted were a Snake-Necked Terrapin, Eastern Water-Skinks and a Lace Monitor. We believe we may have also obseved Firetailed Gudgeons. As always Gambrusia were present, though thankfully, not in the great numbers that we used to see everywhere a decade or so ago. "The Needles" are definitely worth a visit if you are even remotely local to the area. -Brad. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Sounds like you had a good time Brad... apart from the Bass having an early warning system and shot through before you arrived! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Sounds like a lovely spot. Would it be worth a vist for those people with native tanks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbygodz Posted February 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Hi Lyarlla! Most definitely worth a visit for keepers of natives. I was blown away by the large numbers and variety of natives at this spot. A trap would be required to catch as all of these fish would be near impossible to net and would be easily "spooked". Best point of access to the deeper water's edge, (where the fish were in greatest numbers), is down the steel steps/ladder located to the left of the large steel vehicular gate -(just uphill from the weir). If any members want more info regarding access to the the upper woronora river please give me a yell. The woronora valley offers some of the best bush-walking around. Most of the trails are wide, clear and quite (very!) steep at times so good footwear is recommended. -Brad :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Sounds like a fantastic place to go! I love bushwalking so will definately be looking into that spot! Is the place with steps a swimming hole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbygodz Posted February 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Hi Lyarlla, I can't think of a nicer place to take a dip. There are wide shelves of flat, shallow, water covered rock at the weir to lay in the water. There's a small beach on the western side of the lake and large flat rocks to dive from into deep water all along most of the eastern side of the lake. BTW- If you were to go there seeking fish, (in summer), you would have to go on a weekday as I did, or a "cool" day as there would probably be people diving/swimming and scaring the fish away. -Brad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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