Lake Julius
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The Department of Natural Resources built Lake Julius in 1976 on the Leichhardt River. The lake was named after Sir Julius Kruschnitt who was a long time General Manager of Mount Isa Mines.
The dam has a storage capacity of 127,000 Ml, a catchment of 4,845 ha, and a surface area of 1,415 ha (when full). The lake is very deep and was built to ensure water supplies for Mount Isa during times of prolonged drought. Lake Julius is well known locally as an excellent Sooty Grunter fishery and hence is the primary source of sooty brood stock for the MIFSG breeding program. Sooties breed prolifically in the lake because of the regular flooding of rivers and creeks that flow into the lake. Sooties need to swim upstream during floods to spawn. The two main feed rivers (the Paroo and the Leichhardt) also have long sandy stretches which are desirable as breeding grounds for the Sooties. The Lake Julius turnoff is 15 km east of Mount Isa. It is a further 90 km to the Dam wall along a gravel road. Stocking History of Lake Julius
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As yet, Lake Julius has not been targeted for stocking by any specific species of fish (apart from the small number of Saratoga released in 1988/89). The lake is a healthy and prolific breeding ground for Sooty Grunter and as such is already considered to be a successful local recreational fishery. Barramundi which escape from Lake Moondarra are able to travel to Lake Julius and can then also be caught in this recreational fishery.
Obviously, Barramundi could also escape from Lake Julius when the spillway goes over. It is for this reason that all Barramundi fingerlings purchased for release in the "Gulf Catchment areas" by the MIFSG must come from gulf genetic stock. See article on Translocation.
Fish Species Sighted During 'Brief'
Sampling By DPI In Lake Julius
| Common Name | Species |
| Glassfish (perchlets) | Ambassis mulleri |
| Fork-Tailed Catfish | Arius leptaspis |
| Mouth Almighty | Glossamia aprion |
| Spangled Perch | Leiopotherapon unicolor |
| Rainbowfish | Melanotaenia inornata |
| Bony Bream | Nematolosa erebi |
| Sleepy Cod | Oxyeleotris selheimi |
| Long Tom | Strongylura kreffti |
| Archer Fish | Toxotes chatareus |
| Note: The fish here were sighted during a brief DPI sampling and does not represent the total of fish species present in Lake Julius. | |
| Source: DPI Report (Malcolm Pearce & Alf Hogan) | |
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| Satellite photo of north Lake Julius | Satellite photo of south Lake Julius |
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| Lake Julius Spillway | Behind Spillway |
Lake Moondarra | Lake Julius | East Leichhardt Dam | Lake Corella.