Last year, Recfishwest unfortunately had to cancel the 2020 Awesome Autumn of Salmon due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Today, though, we’re absolutely delighted to announce the RFIF-funded celebration of the iconic southern sportfish is back including the three-month long, free-to-enter Salmon Slam 2021 fishing comp and the Albany Salmon Spectacular fishing extravaganza over the Easter weekend.
WATCH: Join Recfishwest on the run this Awesome Autumn of Salmon!
Of course, many non-south coast-based anglers don’t begin to think about targeting salmon until mid to late March. But the salmon are already moving in schools around Esperance with a couple of schools spotted east of Albany and even near Denmark too — although these might be ‘residential’ schools.
Residential or migratory fish, the great news for anyone catching an early salmon is that the Salmon Slam 2021 kicks off this Monday, 1 March, with a heap of great fishing prizes to be won, provided by our fantastic supporters, with a top prize of a dinghy, outboard motor and trailer combination valued at $9,000. Check out the great prizes to be won here.
Need the Salmon Slam 2021 code? It’s #SS2021!
“All you need to do to enter is download the free Salmon Slam app — take a picture of the salmon you catch next to a ruler with the code, #SS2021, and upload it to the app,” Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said.
“The mighty West Aussie salmon provides safe, accessible fishing off some of the world’s best beaches. An economic study that we announced last year with WA Premier Mark McGowan revealed that anglers spend $331 million a year on salmon fishing — a significant annual injection to the State’s economy.
“But even more importantly than that, hooking up to a WA salmon, and experiencing their sheer power and acrobatic fighting qualities in a majestic WA beach setting, is simply priceless.”
Find out more about what the WA salmon run is worth to the State’s economy and why it matters here
Why West Aussie salmon are biggest and best
Dr Rowland added experience was further enhanced by the size of WA salmon that grow bigger than any other salmon in Australia and the frequency with which big schools can be seen moving along from our coastline.
“All of this is only possible with the current healthy abundance of salmon stocks we have,” he said.
“The fishing is always better when the fish are biting and when you’re throwing metals, minnows and poppers at big, willing salmon schools — it doesn’t get much better for land-based sportfishing.”
Making sure your salmon fishing is as good as possible
Dr Rowland said Recfishwest was 100 per cent committed to doing everything in our power to ensure salmon fishing is as good as possible.
“And that’s why we want to give you the chance to win a stack of cool fishing prizes simply by catching a salmon and uploading your catches to the Salmon Slam app,” he said.
“This will also enable us to collect data to get a better handle on how salmon is best managed and protected into the future.”
Want to be an Official Salmon Chaser? Buy the exclusive fishing shirt here!
If you’re like the crew at Recfishwest and you want to proudly celebrate your love for WA salmon — get your hands on one of our limited-edition official salmon chaser fishing shirts.
“We’ll put all proceeds from these shirts back into making salmon fishing better,” Dr Rowland said.
“Check out our website, Facebook and Instagram channels for more details on Monday. But, hurry, they’re likely to go quicker than a hooked up salmon.
“How ever you choose to celebrate salmon, we hope you join us on the run this autumn.”
