Narra Lake Open Again.

[mrmoshe]

Narrabeen lake has just been opened again this morning by the two councils.

I was down there this arvo fishing in the lake and noticed that there was actually a slow

current happening, so off I went down to the entrance and guess what??

It was fairly ripping out!!

This time they have opened it up even wider than last time. It's now about 20 metres

wide and flowing fast.

I met the chief engineer from the council who was there observing the flow

and got to chatting to him. He said he thought it may stay open a while longer

this time with the low tide tonight at 2.30am being a particularly lower than

normal at .31 metres and that should let even more water out to sea and scour a good channel

overnight.

I threw a line into the flow to see what was about but did'nt get a nibble. Lost about 30 metres

of line in the process when I got hung up on the exposed rocks in the flow out.

There were a few nice gutters forming out beyond the outflow so perhaps tomorrow might

be good for a beach fish near the North Narra entrance. I only had my estuary gear with me and couldnt cast out

far enough to reach them.

The engineer told me that they are also going to open up Dee Why lagoon tomorrow

so perhaps Dee Why beach might be also a good spot for some predators lurking

out off the beach.

He also told me the dredging is expected to begin late this year to remove 100k tonnes

of sand from east & west of the Ocean St. bridge. They will dump it on Collaroy Beach

to stabilise that beach.

When the dredging is finished, there should be a straight run for water to escape to sea instead of

the "S" bend that is there now.

Anyway, it's good that they have stood by their word to open the lake when it reaches 1.2 metres (it was 1.15m yesterday at the Ocean St bridge).

Cheers,

Pete.

Edited July 25, 2006 by MallacootaPete

[KingsRule]

Thanks for the info, might go up on the weekend

(does deewhy lagoon itself hold anyfish?)

[mrmoshe]

Thanks for the info, might go up on the weekend

(does deewhy lagoon itself hold anyfish?)

Probably blind mullet Kingsrule!!

Seriously though, I'm told it has some bass in there according to

a bloke I met once but it's pretty stagnant water in there so I doubt it somehow.

Pete.

PS: Just did some Googling and apparantly there were some surveys done on fish in Dee Why lagoon...see below:

http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/pdf/pom_de...appendicies.pdf

Fish

Three surveys in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s recorded 53 species of fish in the lagoon.

The number of permanent resident species was constant between 10 and 14, however the

number of temporary species ranged from 12 in 1978 to 29 in a 1982 survey. The increase

in 1982 may have been due to improved sampling techniques and the lagoon mouth being

open to the sea for a lengthy period of time which may have resulted in increased

recruitment from the ocean.

Two distinct fish habitats exist in the lagoon. The central lagoon area and entrance

channel with a strong marine influence, greatest depth, a high percentage of sand in the

sediment and some seagrass patches is one habitat. The southern section of the lagoon is

shallower, has more variable salinity, a higher clay content in the sediment and supports

less seagrass and is regarded as another distinct habitat.

Fish species diversity and abundance is restricted by the small size of the lagoon, limited

habitats and the harshness of the environment - lagoon opening events often result in

extreme variation in water level and salinity and the lagoon bed drying out completely.

Dredging the lagoon is likely to improve fish habitat but result in increased numbers of

existing species rather than a marked increase in species diversity (Allen, 1985). Artificial

opening of the lagoon to enhance fish or prawn stocks is regarded as an extremely difficult

exercise on a lagoon specific or regional basis.

Edited July 25, 2006 by MallacootaPete

[Jewhunter]

Big thanks for keeping us all in the loop Pete . You're a wealth of information mate.

Please keep us up to date as things progress.

Cheers,

Grant.

[mrmoshe]

Big thanks for keeping us all in the loop Pete . You're a wealth of information mate.

Please keep us up to date as things progress.

Cheers,

Grant.

Thanks Grant...will do.

Pete.

[Guest Dont Shoot Da Chinamen]

thanks MallacootaPete

might hit the beach this weekend and see what is lurking out there!

[mako1]

Good to see the lake open.

Might be worth a shot for a jewfish off the beach.

[mrmoshe]

Good to see the lake open.

Might be worth a shot for a jewfish off the beach.

Narra lake Update:

Well, I went for a beach session yesterday in between downpours to the Narra Lake entrance to see if there was anything about.

It was dead low tide at 2.30pm so probably the best time as the water was fairly ripping out of the lake

with pressure waves forming as it hit the ocean.

The water coming out of the lake is bloody freezing!!! You'ld swear it was ice water that's been in the fridge.

I reckon it was at least 10 degrees colder than the sea temp.

The entrance is now all bedrock as all the sand has been washed out to sea. It's still about 20 metres wide

where it meets the sea. The lake level has dropped considerably now too.

So I fished the entrance standing in the ice water for about an hour for zilch. Tried pillies, fresh prawn, plastics, all for nuthin.

Walked the beach about 100 metres and found a nice gutter forming that looked promising. Threw everything I had at it for another donut.

Got just one decent bite on ganged pillies that took half the pillie and missed the hooks.

All in all, disappointing as it really looked the goods there yesterday, except for the surfers who kept

screaming over my line. The surfers out the back were having a ball on fantastic right breaking sets.

Might give it another shot today but I really thought there would have been more about.

Pete.

[Jewhunter]

G'day Pete.

I reckon it would fish better at night on the run out from the big night tides at the moment.

Some nice fresh squid would do the trick.

Cheers,

Grant.

[mrmoshe]

G'day Pete.

I reckon it would fish better at night on the run out from the big night tides at the moment.

Some nice fresh squid would do the trick.

Cheers,

Grant.

Thanks for the advice Grant. Gotta be better than my first effort

Pete.