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Lake Kurwongbah

General Information

From early settlement days, the Pine Rivers Shire developed from a series of small townships and service centre’s catering mostly to farming interests, as well as a military presence during WWII. The year 1957 saw the opening of a carton board mill at Petrie which in turn led to the development of pine plantations along with local businesses to support these operations, the results being growth in employment and population.

As a direct result of the paper mill’s construction, Lake Kurwongbah was planned and constructed during the period of 1956 – 1958 to supply water for its operation. It wasn’t until 1961 when a water treatment plant was opened at Petrie to treat water from Lake Kurwongbah for drinking purposes.

The Lake was created by damming Sideling Creek; and later on the dam wall was raised further, increasing capacity and now when full, the Lake covers an area of 367 hectares, holding over 15 000 mega litres of water.

The naming of Lake Kurwongbah was the subject of a newspaper competition in 1958. The winning entry was Kurwongbah which is the Indigenous name for Sideling Creek; Kurwongbah means “black duck”.

Lake Kurwongbah was owned and operated by the Pine River Shire Council’s (PRSC is now part of the Moreton Bay Regional Council), Pine Water until mid 2008, when a state government initiative to centralise control of water resources saw the stewardship pass to the newly formed Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority.

Two years prior to this the Shire Council opened Lake Kurwongbah to recreational fishing from the shoreline in public access areas, allowing PRFMA to begin a program aimed at reducing a resident population of Tilapia, an introduced noxious pest fish which harm our native fisheries.

The program also aimed to create a new recreational fishery for the benefit of local residents and visitors to the area. Many species of fish have been returned to this beautiful waterway. In the first year alone over 140 000 native fingerlings were released into the waters of Lake Kurwongbah.

While some of the species will continue to breed in the Lake, unfortunately not all of them do, so the volunteers of PRFMA continue to restock the lake to everyone’s benefit. This restocking effort has been made possible through a commitment to recurrent funding by the Moreton Bay Regional Council, We thank the Moreton Bay Regional Council for their commitment to making Lake Kurwongbah an exciting new fishery in the region.

Recreational Areas

Mick Hanfling Park

The largest and best equipped area is Mick Hanfling Park located on Torrens Road as it joins Beeville Road. This park has picnic shelters, electric BBQ’s a toilet and off-street parking open to the public 365 days of the year. The main features of this area are the mildly sloping, mown grassy banks suitable for easy access to young anglers and their families.

Kurwongbah Park

Located on Dayboro Rd, close to the rowing club, is Kurwongbah Park. Smaller and less equipped it still features a concrete shelter, al fresco picnics tables and wood fired BBQ’s. A much smaller bank area is available for fishing although the lake is substantially deeper in the area. Unfortunately no public toilets are available here with the closest being the facilities at Mick Hanfling Park.

The SEQWater’s website has more information on Kurwongbah and its facilities. Click here to go to the SEQWater’s website

Fish Stocking

Lake Kurwongbah has been stocked with native fish since 2008 and is proving to be a very promising fishery. Fish captured from the lake are showing good growth and on track for future projections. The PRFMA Stocking Program has stocked the following species into the lake:

• Australian Bass
• Yellow Belly (Golden Perch)
• Mary River Cod
• Snub Nose Gar
• Saratoga

The lake also contains Tilapia (a noxious pest fish) and Redclaw yabbies both of which have been introduced and are not native to the area and should not be re-released if caught.

Fishing in the Lake

Note:- WITH EFFECT FROM 1st July, 2016 Lake Kurwongbah is part of the Qld Government Stocked Impoundment Scheme (SIPS) and a Stocked Impoundment Permit is necessary to fish the Lake, either from the shore or from a Kayak / Canoe.

Shore Based Fishing

Shore based angling is accessible via the following two locations:

The largest and best equipped area is Mick Hanfling Park located on Torrens Road as it joins Beeville Road. This park has picnic shelters, electric BBQ’s, a toilet and off street parking available to the public 365 days a year. With mild slopping grassy banks this area is a great spot to take the family and fish.

Kurwongbah Park located on Dayboro is a smaller park area with a Concrete Shelter, picnic area and wood fired BBQ’s. there are no public toilets at this park. The area also has gentle sloping grassy banks making fishing fun and easy.

Boating Access

CURRENT BOATING ACCESS TO LAKE KURWONGBAH
Shared recreation arrangement for Lake Kurwongbah – as of December 2017

For your safety, and the safety of others, do not paddle or ski outside the designated area for that activity. You must give way to rowers at all times.

ROWING: 7 Days per Week in the designated zone
CANOEING/ KAYAKING/ STAND UP PADDLE BOARD: 7 Days per Week in the designated zone
WATER SKIING: 7 Days per Week in the designated zone

All vessels must be washed down to remove aquatic weeds.
Only launch from designated launch points

Fishing will remain permitted from the shoreline of designated recreation areas 7 days a week.

Visit Seqwater for further Information.