Stories of the Bremer River and Wellstead Estuary: Using the river

Using the
river

"It was no problem to go net a few mullets and go catch a few bream"

Fishing -" It's a good pastime"

The most talked about activity that took place on the Bremer River and in the Wellstead Estuary was fishing. Mick is a very keen fisherman and shared quite a few of his favourite fishing spots. The "Bog Arm" was mentioned as one of the more famous fishing spots of the river. Sometimes Mick fishes from the banks but he enjoys tying the boat to the paperbarks and just floating. Other places further up the river that, according to Mick, have proved to be good fishing spots are at "Pelican Point", the "Narrows" and "Harry's Rocks".

Max says The "Bog Arm" was named after an eccentric guy who lived out near Lizie's Creek in a spongelite cave. He would guard his fish and smoke and export them . He once tried to get across the now named "Bog Arm" when it looked to be dry and ended up getting bogged. John enjoys fishing on the north landing at Peter's Creek and netting mullet in the estuary.

Max recalls that during settlement duck shooting and fishing were every day tasks that were necessary to maintain fresh food supplies. "It was no problem to go net a few mullets and go catch a few big bream" Max comments on the fishing in the area while he was growing up.

The Bremer River and Wellstead Estuary have been used in various ways and remain a major focus of the area, particularly for the town of Bremer Bay. Well attended community events and fetes, picnics and barbecues have been held many times on the bar at the mouth and at the "Paperbarks" to raise funds for organisations such as the Progress Association and Lions. In some years swimming lessons have also been held in the channel of the estuary.

The Wellstead's established a quarry on the other side of the river and used the spongelite stone that was extracted in the construction of the overland telegraph. Some of the stone was also used around the tops of the walls in the Wellstead homestead in Peppermint Grove.

John Fregon used the Bremer River as a source of stock water and for bathing. He put a windmill on the river to pump it to troughs and used the same hole that the Hassell's (first settlers in Jerramungup) used as a stock watering point. The posts where the Hassel's would fence the stock in at night to keep them off the poison (Gastrolobium sp.) remains - the ground also remains bare. In 1972 John pumped the hole dry and had to dig in the sand.

In an article for the Bremer Bulletin, Alice wrote that when Bremer Bay "was part of the Gnowangerup shire and more holiday dwellings were built in the 1950's and 60's, the river became an important focus for fishing with good stocks of whiting, mullet and bream most years. With more boat owners on the river there was a need for a centralised spot from which to launch. The shire agreed to build a jetty on the river". Alice recalls that "in the late 60's during the holiday times it was nothing to see eight or nine boats moored there".