Beautiful clear skies on the first day of spring set the scene for this year’s second annual Troutfest event at Drakesbrook Weir, Waroona.
It was better than we anticipated with over 400 people joining us to celebrate all things freshwater fishing at the community stocking event.
With the help of Recfishwest and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) fishers were given a licence free weekend allowing them to try their hand at freshwater fishing over the Fathers’ Day weekend.
With many people arriving early, just to get their lines in the water, it was evident that fishers were keen to land a prized trout or two and learn about freshwater fishing in Peel and the South West.
On the day, free rod hire was available for those that wanted to try their luck, free fishing tuition taught by our passionate Recfishwest fishing clinics instructors, as well as coarse fishing tuition, fly casting demonstrations with some of WA’s best fly fishers from the Western Australian Trout and Freshwater Angling Association (WATFAA) and an excellent education display by DPIRD.
The Hobie kayak and Paddleboard demonstrations run by our partner Getaway Outdoors were a hit with many people taking the opportunity to give it a try on the dam and the Lions Club put on a delicious BBQ for everyone.
The day’s major highlight was the exciting fish release when the community took take part in hand-releasing more than 200 advanced yearlings (18-month-old fish), 18,000 rainbow fry trout (two-month-old fish), 50 ex-broodstock rainbow and 12 ex-broodstock brown trout (fish used for breeding that are between two years old and five years old).
Click here to find out more about freshwater stocking and where this year’s fish have been stocked.
It was with the community’s attendance and support from our volunteers that Troutfest was able to increase the awareness of freshwater fishing in the South West, and provide families the opportunity to see, touch and catch freshwater species.
In previous years, the first week of spring marked the traditional opening of the South West freshwater fishing season but with improved fisheries management strategies now in place, we are fortunate to enjoy freshwater fishing all year round and we’re predicting with the recent rainfall of late, we’re in for one of the best freshwater fishing season we’ve seen in 20 years!
Troutfest definitely highlighted how good freshwater fishing can be, with some excellent catches of rainbow trout coming from the dam along with brown trout and redfin perch being caught at other nearby stocked waterways.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us and we hope you enjoy the slideshow below. Please save any images, share with your friends and family and continue tagging us in your images using the hashtag #RecfishwestTroutfest2018 and/or @Recfishwest.
We look forward to seeing you at a bigger and better Troutfest in 2019.
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