South West Life

Trout fishing.  It’s almost mystical.  There’s this idea that they’re really sneaky fish, and getting one is going to be beyond the skills of many mortals.  Well they ARE sneaky fish, and in many ways, it IS beyond lots of us, but the people at King Trout Cafe have just about sorted it out for us.

This completely beautiful venue is on a significant lake just outside Pemberton.  They’re consistently serving up delicious tucker including Trout and Marron, and they’ve hit on the idea that all of us should be able to (even if only once) experience pulling in a trout.  So off they’ve gone and stocked their lake with some beauties.  There is hire equipment for the non fisherman, but the experienced are allowed to bring their secret weapons. 

Visitors should note that the King Trout fishing lake is a specific "CATCH AND NO RELEASE" fishing facility. This means all fish caught must be kept and not returned to the fishing lake. Freshly caught trout can be taken to the King Trout Cafe to be weighed, ($18 per kg), cleaned and ice-packed, (25c per fish for cleaning, 40c for iceand bags). The King Trout Cafe also specialises in cooking your trout, and presenting your freshly caught trout as a part of a spectacular platter to enjoy, sitting in the pleasant surrounds of the cafe, (internal and external seating available). The King Trout Cafe, Trout and Marron Farm is a scenic and superb fishing location, that is a great family-friendly experience for novices, experts and everyone involved. Top quality fishing gear is available for sale, or to hire at only $6 from the King Trout Cafe, which includes rod, tackle, bait and landing net.
 
For the serious fly fishing enthusiast, there is also the opportunity to utilise the King Trout Farm fly fishing dam which is home to some very serious trophy fish, some weighing up to 3.5kg. A scenic and peaceful location, well away from the fishing lake, the fly fishing dam offers the chance to hone fly fishing skills in serene surroundings. Bookings can be made by contacting King Trout Cafe staff. Fly fishing tours, conducted by local fly fishing identity, Jim Kitis, are also available at a seperate cost.

Spencer Knight, currently running the King Trout cafe is an old hand at putting together options for people to have fun, so having a fishing lake seemed a perfect outlet for him to hatch up a scheme.  The competition was going to be a fairly low key affair, but as happens with great ideas, has grown way beyond the initial concept.  There were always going to be tagged fish released into the lake and special spots set aside to compete in, but the entertainment, bouncy castle for the kids, personalities in attendance, they just kind of happened.

As it stands now, the King Trout Cafe fishing competition which will be proudly sponsored by LJ Hooker Pemberton. To be conducted on Saturday and Sunday, the 30th and 31st of October, 2010, this all new fishing competition will feature a $5,000 tagged trout as the main prize! There is also a $2,000 tagged trout and more than 50 other prize-tagged fish to catch over the weekend. Heavily supported by local and regional businesses, the fishing competition will be advertised throughout WA and Spencer is predicting huge numbers of trout fishers to Pemberton. Competitors can select from 56 fishing plots and times around the fishing lake, at $30 per hour, with multiple plots and hours available if competitors want to try their luck for more than just one hour! For more details and the official fishing competition entry form, go to the King Trout Cafe website at www.kingtroutcafe.com.au.

With support from the WA Tourism Commission, this is shaping up to be on the region’s list of grand festivals.  If you want to be able to fish at the festival, it’s important that you book a fishing spot.  Details of cost, times and rules are available at www.kingtroutcafe.com.au. Simple details are

Date – 30 & 31 October 2010.

Time – all day

Fishing – by allotted time slots, head to the website for bookings.

Prizes for specially tagged fish.

Where – King Trout Cafe, Pemberton.

Other attractions – Check the website - www.kingtroutcafe.com.au