A total of 15,000 Australian bass fry have been released into Lake Lyell as part of a NSW Fisheries release program.

The release has brought the current population of bass in Lake Lyell to an estimated 45,000.

A further 5000 were also released at Lake Wallace helping to bolster dwindling numbers at the lake due to blue green algae problems last year causing a year-long halt on the release program.

“The water simply wasn’t suitable for the fish to live and thrive in,” Ray Tang of the Central West Acclimatisation Society said.

Mr Tang has participated in countless release programs and was happy to restock some of the regions most popular fishing venues.

“We try and do this once a year in order to keep populations at healthy levels,” he said.

A total of 20,000 bass made the four hour journey from a hatchery located in Port Stephens.

Despite these large numbers, Peter Phillips, caretaker at the Lake Lyell Recreation Park, said that many of the introduced fish fail to survive to maturity.

“We’ve estimated a 40 per cent survival rate for the fish coming in,” he said.

Luke Vandenberg and Joseph Clarke of NSW Fisheries were also on hand to transport and help release Lake Lyell’s newest additions.

“Unlike other species, bass take around seven years to reach maturity.

“So proportionately they spend a longer time as juveniles which may affect their survival rates,” they said.

Lake Lyell will also be receiving an as yet unspecified number of trout in November.

Given that bass are unable to breed in freshwater the process of stocking both Lake Lyell and Lake Wallace with bass is crucial to keeping population numbers healthy.

“The bass can’t breed in dams because they require salt water to spawn,” Mr Tang said.

The native fish stocking program is funded in part by money raised by the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee and placed into the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust.