A little bit more about me

I am currently studying Chemistry/Environmental Science at Newcastle University.
I am also applying to join some local volunteer groups such as Landcare, Waterwatch and the Newcastle Wetlands Centre to get out there and learn a bit more.
I am an active member of www.lurelovers.com and newcastlefishing.com/forums. If anybody wants to talk to me about this blog, I'm pretty reachable on either of those forums.
I have a few pet Bass which have been pretty great to learn from, and a bunch of other native fish which are pretty interesting.

I have every second weekend off from work now so I can hopefully get out camping and fishing more and update this blog more regularly.

Harvey, work shirt. - Andrew Parr

Local Photos

Hinton Bridge, Fishing in high water. - Andrew Parr

Paterson River, fishing clear day. - Andrew Parr

Paterson Tucker Park Tree - Andrew Parr

I haven't actually had much of a chance to get out lately as I'm back at uni and working a lot as well, but you expect a lot more from me soon! I finally have a few chances to get out fishing and will update as soon as I am back.
There has been a lot of rain and high water lately, In March especially with many thousands of fish dying in the lower Hunter River. There was a lot of news coverage (and a lot of terrible news coverage) with many people worried about the state of the river and fish stocks. The black water is a natural phenomena where nutrient rich flood waters run back into the river, causing a huge algae bloom which depletes the river of oxygen. In turn this kills many things in the river, the first to suffer being the largest predators as they have the highest oxygen intake.
This all sounds bad and locally it is, but the river itself will regenerate its lost oxygen and it already has. Its been over a month and there is no residue left and there are plenty of fish around. Bass breeding season will begin again soon so by next Bass fishing season the stocks should have returned to normal. With less predatory fish in that area (if you believe the stocks are diminished) more fry and eggs will survive, restocking the river system.
I will continue to fish upstream until seasons end, and there will still be plenty of good fishing in the dams after that.