More than 17,000 juvenile Murray cod and golden perch to be released into the Macquarie River

The new fish will consolidate the river's native fish population, which has been affected by the feral European carp.

Bathurst RSL Fishing Club president Peter Wright said the Carp Blitz helps take out almost 10 tonnes of invasive fish.

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"We've given nature a big helping hand with the Blitz taking carp and redfin competition out of the habitat for cod and perch," he said.

"It has taken time but Bathurst now has a quality recreational fishery on its doorstep with the return in sustainable numbers of our cod and perch as well as introduced rainbow and brown trout, that have been recent captures reported to the club."

The club's native fishery restoration started with the purchase of farm bred cod, yellow belly and silver perch at Chifley Dam more than 25 years ago, when the club staged annual fishing and camping expos.

Chifley Dam now boasts trophy-sized cod that have grown to a metre in length, tipping the scales at around 20-30 kilograms, with golden perch up to 70 centimetres and weighing up to 10 kilograms.

With the larger population of native fish assisting in the control of invasive carp and red fin, this has resulted in the decrease of feral fish numbers on the Macquarie River above and below Bathurst.

RSL Club meat raffles have funded the latest purchase of cod and yellowbelly since the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to conduct annual Carp Blitz.

However, the club still has the golden coin funds raised from previous blitzes to buy more fish.

"We're helping nature by adding to any natural breeding of native fish on a seasonal basis on the Macquarie," Mr Wright said.

"Putting about 20,000 juvenile fish into the Macquarie this week will ensure that we have successive, annual boosts to the increasing native fish population, across generations that now span 10 seasons.

"With the assistance of our club supporters at raffles and the next Carp Blitz planned for 2023, it is possible that the Macquarie will have a self-replacing, sustainable native sporting fish attraction well into the future, especially with the river recently running to flood heights, distributing the fish widely."

For more information on the club, contact Terry Jones on 6332 9875.

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