Traditional ecological knowledge]]> Introduced fishes]]> Floods]]> Fishing--Australia]]> Water quality]]> Traditional fishing]]> Weirs]]> Snags (Forestry)]]> Connection to Country]]> Fishing nets]]> Riverflow]]> Aboriginal culture]]> Cotton]]> Tobacco industry]]>
Wally talks about traditional fishing, fishing women, tickling fish, fishing with spears, hand lines, baiting, canoe fishing and diving for Crayfish. He also mentions cross lining and the use of drum nets in floodwaters. He marvels at the dexterity and play habits of water rats, and reflects on their scarcity. He discusses their history of being hunted, skinned, exported, and in some cases, eaten; He says it is customary that only male elders eat water rats and use their skins (men's-business).

Of the river, Wally and Pat discuss sustainable fishing practices, and talk at length about the Basin's wider management. They consider local agriculture, irrigation, habitat management, water allocation, floods, droughts, pests, weeds, silviculture, as well as the rivers' recreational and fish industries.

Wally and Pat refer to a chemical era, when DDT and Dieldrin were used as a pesticide on vinyards and Tobacco crops along the River. They talk about the chemicals, their effects on native fish, the contamination of farmland, and the ecological footprint of Tobacco growing itself.

Mention of Moira Forest, King River, Ovens River, Glenrowan, Yielima Station, Barmah Forest, Yarrawonga, Echuca, Nathalia, Barmah Lake, Wodonga, Oxley, Docker, Wangaratta, Fifteen Mile Creek, Mokoan, Hume Weir, Mulwala Weir, Namoi River, Lake Cargelligo, Broken River, Rose River, Lake Buffalo, Goulbourn River, Upper Murrumbidgee River, Warby Ranges, Swan Hill, Moira Station, LaTrobe Valley, Charlton.

Mentioned: silver bream, mountain galaxias, cormorant, worms, Bardi Grubs, platypus, water rat, white mussel, black mussel, swan, mice, tiger snakes, frog, foxes, cats, pigs, rabbits.

Plant life mentioned: Red gum, willows, bottlebrush. blackboys, tobacco, cotton, St. John's Wort, blackberries, grey box, kabungi, water hyacinths, blue gum.

Also mentioned: Flemington; Barmah Muster; River Improvement Trust; Department of Sustainability and Environment; Rex Hunt; Erni Briggs; Charlie Carp; the huge influx of silver perch in either 1954 or 1957; the changing structure of the river influenced by the removal of snags and willows.]]> CC-BY]]> Droughts]]> Floods]]> Tobacco industry]]> Irrigation]]> Fishing--Australia]]> Fishing industry]]> Bait fishing]]> Fish kills]]> Pesticides]]> Stream flow]]> Tournament fishing]]> Fishing rods]]>
Lyall grew up in Merbien, and learnt to fish with his father. His uncle was a professional fisherman who built boats and sent his catch from Bourke to Sydney. He talks about irrigation; market gardens; how he uses different fishing techniques according to location and desired catch ('heavy gear' up at Merbein, hand lines or 'light gear' in the Ovens); catching trout cod; and fishing to eat.

Ollie grew up on the Ovens and learnt to fish with his father. He talks about the poor state of the river; and 'spinning'.

They discuss bait (yabbies, worms, bush crickets, grasshoppers); fires; 'cloud bursts' and de-oxygenated water; fish deaths; restocking; tobacco farming and the overuse of pesticides;
fish poisoning; erosion; the 1944 drought; 1956 and 1976 flood, logging; and talk about Valley Creek and Ovens River running dry; catch and release; changing motivations and philosophy (catching to feed and catching for sport); competitive fishing; transporting fish with a sugar bag; and fishing outside the local area.

Lyell also discusses making and fixing fishing rods.

Mention of Yarrawonga weir, Hume Weir

Mention of the "swimming pool", Marshall's Ridge (Lake Buffalo), "Horrie's Monshing", Healsville Sanctuary (Melbourne, Victoria) Maloney's Bridge on Buffalo Creek; Murray River Trust; Myrtleford Angling Club; Anderson’s Sawmills in Mildura; Red gum; Willow; Pelicans, Yabby, Tuna, Saltwater Perch
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