LINDSAY Dobe, from Barra World in Proserpine, always knew he had a world-class fishing impoundment in his backyard but it is only recently that others are making the discovery.

At Lake Proserpine for the opening round of the Australian Fishing Championships, Lindsay said it was great opportunity to put the lake on the international map.

"This is something that Prossie as a town can be really proud of,” he said. "We really need to keep the momentum going and get it out there.

"People know about the Whitsundays; what they don't know is only a 30 minute drive from Airlie Beach you have an impoundment fishery which is the premier impoundment fishery in Australia.”

As president of the Peter Faust Dam Fish Stocking Association Lindsay said a lot of work had been done to build barramundi numbers in the dam and the efforts of the association were vital as the fish needed salt water to reproduce.

"Thanks to the government's Stocking Impoundment Permit Scheme that has become a lot easier as we are not relying on community donations,” he said.

"What we do now is spend the money the best way we can.”

The dam is restocked annually and, rather than feeding fingerlings into the fishery, the re-stocking association is now boosting barra numbers with 20-30cm fish to minimise attacks from predatory fish and cormorants.