its where the bulk of the south coast professional catch used to go after they closed the cannery. Good oily bait, heads were always excellent holding bait if you let them oil up. I have fond (?) memories of sitting on the jetty at southern group, splitting salmon heads with a meat cleaver, twisting a bit of bait wire through the eye, then tossing them into an old cray holding bait to oil up in the sun.

Nowadays, and for some time now, NZ Kahawai has been used instead.

as ranmar said above

good bait , and easy to catch , heads and trunks are all ok in pots , cut into chunks and they will last a week or so , good oil and catch well

many years ago when i worked on a salmon beach , we often would head and gut small 1-2 ton lots of salmon for sale fresh to the tourists pack em on ice and sell 2 salmon cleaned for $5 , the heads would be bagged up for a local cray fisherman who paid us 50 cents a kg for them

all the old local baits where salmon , herring and mullet, all catch well & mix in your other fish heads and frames etc

havent heard of any salmon in numbers yet from the capes ..but they will be here soon , cooler weather , water temps etc are all good for them to hit the capes early march imo

 about how they are getting a bit of a niche market in the SW for salmon as eating fish. Fishermen are working hard at handling them well, chefs reckon they make good fish n' chips, and people come back for more. 

 Have cooked them on the barbie with salt and pepper and some oil  and everbody loves them , just dont over cook and if cold the flesh is firm and breaks up lovely to mix through a salad . Its not pickie But its not supposed to be

yes the pros on the south coast at parrys have been going hard core on getting a fresh salmon in season product going to generate some better interest in them as a niche market locally and overseas in china etc

https://www.facebook.com/LandlineABC/videos/1362646287128948/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-03-22/wa-salmon-fishers-battle-to-save-industry/8373492

iv eaten them fresh , bled , and in ice , smaller ones are better , my mother inlaw used to put them in beer batter and pan fry them ....very tasty , also smoked as full sides with brown sugar & eaten warm or cold with beer and crusty buttered bread

 Lol boil in pot of water with brick throw water out eat brick.

Ate them a lot, usually after removing the really dark meat, steaming the lighter coloured flesh, add sweet corn and mornay sauce and yum!    Great winter meal BUT we only used smaller fish perhaps 2kg at most ( mind you that was considered to be a good fish ove there) 

 I vaguely remember someone mentioning they are good as sushimi?

Anyone tried it?

 we dont buy cray bait , just catch salmon and cut them up for cray bait. My Kiwi mate Kelvin and I caught some last year and he honey smoked a couple and they were really good on the chew. I normally only eat Dhui, Baldie and KG (spoilt!), but the smoked salmon was very good...

Ive had it raw a few times and its not bad at all. 

Love em smoked as well tho its been a few years since ive done that.

I gonna give em a crack for cray bait this year. Stockpile a few in the freezer.

Several have been caught recently at BP spur (Bunbury) 6lb to 8lb. Salmon Trout have been caught regularly all summer. Best spots to try are Punchbowl, The Clam & BP Beach. The crays have walked back in also. Pot or dive the Huts, Hastie Street or Belvedere.

 Salmon for cray bait are about as good as it gets!!

best time to drop pots back in along bunbury is end of march to early april ..... then work em till end of season in close along the beach

while its still clear and calm you will spend alot of time catching very few ime here & thats back as far as 1980

hezzy