Lake Tinaroo, west of Cairns, has long been a popular spot for swimmers, water skiers and campers, but it has also become a mecca for those chasing barramundi.
The annual Tinaroo Barra Bash — a catch-and-release tournament held last month — lays claim to setting 19 world records for monster barramundi over its 25-year history.
But barramundi don't breed in fresh water, so it is up to a crew of volunteers to keep the dam stocked.
Ann Leighton from the non-profit Tableland Fish Stocking Society said it was a mammoth task to keep the dam full of barra — financially and logistically.
She said the success of events like the Tinaroo Barra Bash largely determined how many fish were released into the dam each year, with specially bred juvenile barramundi costing around $2 each.
The release program is also funded by the Stocked Impoundment Permits Scheme (SIPS), run by Queensland's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
"This year's Barra Bash event was quite successful, which allows us to put more barramundi into the dam," Ms Leighton said.
"We know the fish have got longevity because we've had fish that were tagged that were 20 years old.
"It's very important we keep the barra in the dam because it's a huge drawcard to this area in terms of visitors and tourism.
"It gets kids off screens and out into nature and [fishing is] pretty cheap."
Thousands of fish released
More than 8,000 juvenile barramundi were released into the irrigation dam — the first of several releases planned for this year.
It takes Julatten-based barramundi breeder Tim Thiele about three months to raise the fish, which are then transported in large oxygenated tanks to the dam's banks.
The tiny barramundi are then placed into the aerated buckets of dozens of volunteers and whisked by tinnies out to various spots — normally shallow areas with plenty of grass in order to help protect them from predators — mainly their larger siblings.
"We do this about three times a year, usually throughout the warmer months," Mr Thiele said.
"It's good for the community and for me too because it gives me another outlet for my nursery."
All hands on deck
Ms Leighton said, while the program largely relied on the support of volunteers from the Tablelands Fish Stocking Society, families enjoying a day out on the water often swung by in their boats to lend a hand.
She said the group had a permit to carry out the work and was recently granted permission to begin stocking another species of fish — the highly prized mangrove jack — as part of a trial.
Ms Leighton said they hoped to release 20,000 of the species into the dam.
"Fisheries has allowed us to do a three-year trial on the mangrove jack, so we've got a lot of funding to raise because they're about $5 or $6 each," Ms Leighton said.
"They're a little bit hard to get at the moment, and take a fair bit of effort to raise, but we think it's going to be well worth it."
