Anglers compete for the “Salmon Cup” on the Salaca

On 4 April, the traditional spinning and fly-fishing competition for sea trout and salmon “Salaca Salmon Cup 2026”, organised by the association “Fishing Club “SALACKRASTI””, took place on the Salaca.

This year the rules allowed 30 teams to take part, and 29 teams with a total of 58 participants competed (unfortunately, one team withdrew at the last moment). As usual, the “Salmon Cup” was international, with two teams from Lithuania this year.

The competition took place on the “Salaca I” section of the Salaca River in Limbaži Municipality. Participants competed for the title of the most skilful and successful salmon and sea trout spin-fishing champion. The competition followed the “catch, photograph, release” principle, promoting an environmentally friendly approach and the sustainable use of these valuable fish species both in the administrative territory of the Salacgrīva unit and throughout Latvia.

Atis Apelis, head of the Fishing Club “SALACKRASTI”, said that the club’s members did not take part in the competition this year: “This time we decided to stay on the sidelines, as in previous years we managed to catch the biggest fish. Let someone else win the Salmon King title this year.” The competition started at eight in the morning, and the awards ceremony took place at half past five in the evening in Vecsalaca.

Before presenting the awards to the most successful teams and anglers, Atis Apelis, head of the association “Fishing Club “SALACKRASTI””, thanked the supporters from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Rural Support Service and the main sponsors.

In this year’s competition, following the catch-and-release rules, 30 salmon (total length 2,892 cm) and 19 sea trout (total length 1,132 cm) were caught.

The first fish – a sea trout – was caught and registered as early as 8:10 in the morning (ten minutes after the start) by Nemo Olte from the team Zivju gani.

In the competition for the biggest sea trout:

3rd place – Nils Idžons from the team “Londoni”

2nd place – Nemo Olte from the team “Zivju gani”

1st place – Mariss Andersons from the team “Cita Cope”

The third biggest salmon was caught by Juris Zaķītis from the team “Lisna”

The second biggest salmon went to Jānis Baiks from the team “Londoni”

The biggest salmon and the honour of Salmon King this year went to Laimonas Urbietis, an angler from Lithuania – his salmon was 116 cm long. Laimonas was competing for the Salmon King title for the first time and admits that landing such a large salmon was not easy.

In the team competition:

3rd place – team “Baltic Wolfs” – Aleksejs Širokovs and Renārs Undelis – 3 fish

2nd place – team “Lisna” – Juris Zaķītis and Aleksandrs Galicins – 4 fish

1st place – team “Laimonas flies” – Toms Steinbergs and Laimonas Urbietis. The team’s 6 fish had a total length of 572 cm.

Teams that went home without a catch this year also received prizes provided by the sponsors.

Thank you to the sponsors and everyone who helped organise the Salaca Salmon Cup 2026!

See you in 2027!