Take a Yabby net with ya

Here's a tip, always take a yabby net with ya when in the Eastern WA fields. A lot of the dams have yabbies in them. They were introduced here in WA and ya would be surprised where the can be found. the buggers just come from no where, ya might even get some WA gilgies and koonaks.

Niagara dam near Kookynie used to be a good camping area and ya always got a good feed from the dam. Haven't been there for some years so don't know what it's like now.

The dams around the Kalgoorlie airport (if they are still there) used to be full of the buggers, just don't get caught. There is a way in but never tried it.

Some of the disused open cuts have also been used by the mining companies to try and breed fish and shellfish that are tolerant to crap water (heavily mineralised, ya can't drink it). Some have been successful, I don't know which ones tho.

Good tip!!


I will have to google gilgies and koonaks, I have never heard of them, how extensive are marron over there? are they only found in the South West pocket of WA?

Madmax800 and I ate yabbies for New Years Eve on our detecting trip......makes ya wonder what the poor people are doin while getting fed lilke a king out bush.

Marron are more south coastal area dams, rivers & streams. There are a few spots not far south of Perth without driving to far. You need a license and they have reduced the catch per person this year depending on where you catch them. This link should take you to the 2012 rules.

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Hope ya's had a good feed, I like the sweet taste of the meat. Now I feel hungry

We always carry the Yabbie nets with us

Knowing the best dams is part of the fun

Try to post a pic of the last hall we got

Peaky

Still cant get a photo to upload WTF

Gday Peaky

Have a quick look at the info here i did up on posting pics and photo's mate.

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Pete

disused (I assume they still aren't being worked) open cut mines south of Ora Banda on the Coolgardie road definitely have yabbies in them. Once again, ya have to sneak in via the mine access road and was told to be careful but I never actually got in there. I know the locals from Coolgardie and Kal go in.

One pull of the nets
I GOT THE PHOTO UP


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thats a lot of yabbies.

all i can say to that is get me some garlic and some butter and fry them lil buggers up.

Thats what I call a good feed. Nice size buggers too.

Full strength Yabbies and mid strength beer

1 outta 2 aint bad Peaky, but ya better buy double for our next trip mate, gonna be thirsty work
diggin all them holes for dabs


Pete :.8:

that's nice to look at and it makes me hungry also. can you find them in most of the places in the goldfields.

i know quite a few really good yabbie holes around goongarrie if anyone needs exact locations i took GPS co-ords of all the better dams i came across....the wife absolutly hates the old yabs but im quite partial to a handfull or two or three or four
I find some areas are better then others when it comes to the actual taste of the yabbies , i guess it depends on what they are eating and water quality etc so im guessing that the good spots last year may not be the good spots this year but knowing where they are, good or not. is usually the hard part.
I have a few other spots that i have found across the goldfields but the couple of spots i gave away at caravan parks last season got so hammered by a couple of groups they basically fished them dry...so i wont list them all up here for every man and his dog but if anyone is actually going to fish them out themselves ill be happy to pass along locations just PM me
carms

BTW gilgies and koonaks are actually quite rare, supposidly out of the 90,000 dams in WA only two have koonaks....majority of what people call koonaks are actually yabbies...and gilgies are as rare as hens teeth im led to believe
yabbies though are in abundance and are delicious

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These ones are gilgies

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MMMMMMMM, black crabs,

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Koonaks love swamps that dry out. We get them when we go scooping the drains down south that get water in them over winter. They are nearly jet black, live in deep holes and are quite wide spread if you know how to hunt them out.

Koonaks and Marron are native to the SW of WA and the Albany HWY was always known as the great divide between the two species of Koonaks and the eastern states Yabbie. Yabbies are introduced and can eliminate Marron and Koonaks although the Koonaks are holding there own. I dont know if it is still in force but you were not allowed to stock any Yabbies SW of Albany Hwy I dont know the situation now. the Gilgie I think is the NW variety along with the red claw. I love all the little crawlers so will be definitely taking nets next time. Just one thing though, a friend has advised us not to swim in any rivers or dams and defiantly not to eat or drink from them as the cyanide levels are dangerously high due to lots of seepage. to this old bloke if things live in the water then it can be regarded as safe, whats the general consensus or is this just a way to keep the goodies to a limited few lol.

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some pics of Koonaks cought on our property in McAlinden SW of WA.

hmm some pics worked the others didnt, sorry for the mess

Some interesting stuff there guys. Ya are right about the water quality in the disused open pits, ya can't drink it. But between the mining companies and I think the Dept of Fisheries WA, There has been some effort to find species that can survive in the water. Where I don't know, but I believe, some has been successful.

a very delicate subject with the fisheries is marron , but i would expect the best way to catch em in a disused open cut is to chuck in some chook pallets on the down ramp 1/2 metre depth of water , wait 1 hour ,4-5 stubbys & get one of those circular cast nets 3 m diameter or so, reckon youl get 20 or 40 a pop . i have it on good recomendation full moons arnt so productive , having never done this of course & as Carms says ,thats my 2 bobs worth spend it as you wish , love it,albo.