Thirty-five thousand fingerlings and Red Claw have arrived at their new home in Hughenden following a 1559 kilometre trip.
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On Wednesday March 4, 15,000 Sooty Grunter, 15,000 Sleepy Cod and 5000 Red Claw were released into Hughenden Recreational Lake, to kick start recreational fishing in the region.
The Australian Native Fish Enterprises proprietor Andrew Shaw and two of his crew, travelled from Kallangur near Brisbane to deliver fingerlings for the lake.
Hughenden Recreational Lake Advisory Group chair and Flinders Shire deputy mayor, Sean O'Neill said 130 people showed up for the release, mostly children.
"I'd like to thank Andrew and his crew for allowing the kids to release all the fish and Red Claw into the lake," Mr O'Neill said.
"They had a tremendous, fun afternoon and the parents enjoyed watching the kids.
"Andrew gave us a brief talk about the fish and how big they would grow, where they would forage and how good eating they are."
Mr O'Neill said interested fishermen would have to wait to catch anything in the lake.
"These fingerlings should be a catchable, legal size within 12 months," he said.
"They grow quite quickly and we are lucky that the Sleepy Cod will breed in the lake, however the Sooty Grunter won't.
"But we are looking at establishing a restocking club and raise money throughout the years to fund a restock when we need to."
Mr O'Neill said the whole town was talking about the fish and the new lake.
"We have put in breed of fish that are relatively easy to catch," he said.
"We were thinking of Barramundi but they are at the top of the chain in the fish world and eat everything else, and they are hard to catch so we steered away from them.
"We just wanted to have mum, dad and the kids go down and throw a line, catch something and take it home for dinner."
The lake is also being used for other recreational activities including skiing, paddle boarding and swimming.
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