This past weekend Port Renfrew Marina was blessed with perfect weather for fishing. Calm seas and sunshine all weekend was a real bonus. Over the one and a half day derby we had 130 fish weighed in by the 303 entrants. Chinook fishing has slowed since the rains came briefly but hit has moved the larger white springs to the shoreline. Bite times seem to be back to the usual high tide being the best. The springs coming to the docks are still very chrome.
Notable catches:
- Brent Cooper 35 (before the derby)
- Sigrid Gitlof 38. 15ounces (derby winner)
- Chris Baslee 31.5 ounces (derby 2nd place)
Port Renfrew Marina held it's 16th annual Labor Day Derby and as past years it was a huge success. Although the fish weren't as large as in past years there were plenty. The top two did make it in the 30's though.
Something new as of last year is the adult bullhead derby held on the Saturday night. With 160 people entered it was a ton of laughs and fun. This event helped raised $1600.00 that is 100% donated to the local San Juan hatchery. A big thanks go to Val MacDonald and Gayle Kerrone for having the brilliant idea and organizing the event.
On Sunday morning we held the annual children's bullhead derby which has always been a favorite for the kids.
Another fundraiser started by Dave Mills was a 50/50 draw. This was won by Ken Gillard and he then generously donated his winnings back to the half for the hatchery which made it a total of $2535.00! Good job Dave!
Audie Williams of the Davey Derby also was in attendence at our derby and was there to give Maurice Trembley of the hatchery his donation of $3500.00! A huge thanks goes out to Audie for that generous donation. The Davey Derby that he held at Port Renfrew Marina in July raised a record amount of $45,000.00 for a variety of great causes. Absolutely amazing!
A big thanks goes out to the Styba family for donation the jelly beans and container for the guessing contest that brought in a little over $100.00 and won by Gwen Coleman guessing 739 one jelly bean short!
On Sunday afternoon everyone in the derby had the dinner hosted by the Salmonberry Bistro and the food was amazing. Once the ceremonies and prizes were done it was just a short time later the band started up for the night where everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. Who knew fishermen danced!?! At this point the grand total raised is not completely clear as we have a few things outstanding but as soon as we get things tallied we will post the total. So far it is looking like the $17000. to $18000. mark but it could even get better and will go up once we see what the Coho derby brings in. Will keep you posted.
Winning stats: Sigrid Gitlof coming in first place with a 38.15 " spring caught first thing on the Saturday morning and it held through for that day and the next. Chris Baslee came in 2nd with a 31.5" spring and RJ Robertson with a 27.7". Woman's biggest fish was Bev Baslee with a 25.9" and under 16 Tyson Banner with a 20.8".
A derby's success really depends a couple of things, one willing and generous participants and most of all the generosity of all the businesses and individuals who willingly donate and in these tougher times with the economy we are here to say a big THANK YOU for all those who did and we encourage you to read the list and if you need products or services of some kind we hope you choose to support these ones first.
- Randy Wright of Harbor Air Dan Dupray of D&R Fire Protection
- Redl Sports Butler Bros
- Islander Reel Neisers
- Big Fish Lodge Norm Dyson of Butchard Gardens
- Island Outfitters Anglers Retreat
- Construction Drilling Tomi's Restaurant
- Port Renfrew General Store Big Bear Rentals
- Oki Tackle Westwood Power & Marine
- Artisan's Design Ian & Deb McGregor
- Trotac Marine Soule Creek Lodge
- Jim & Lynn Parry Handsome Dan's
- Choice Charters Coast Capital (Colwood)
- Fairlane Inspections Gallery House
- West Marine Botanical Getaway
- Scotty Westbay Mechanical
- Wise Buys TK Glass
- Three Point Properties Maple Bay Marina
- All Battery D Blitterswyke
- NW Alumacraft Duncan Home Hardware
- Gone Fishin Sooke Home Hardware
- Harbor Chandler Jim Hermanson of Madil
- Coastal Outboards Steve Beal
- Steve Holgate of Surespan & RBF Concrete Greg's RV
- Alpine Marine Just Jakes Restaurant
- Bob Gicas of Bite Me Derby Wholesale Sports
- Kelz Cake Shop Esso
- Trailhead Motel Out of the Blue Designs
- Kelly Wagner of Gizmos (Vic) Thriftys Foods
- Chevron Canada Parker Marine
- Lifetimer Boats Moby Meats
- Baljet Chev Dealer Cowichan Fly & Tackle
- Duncan Auto Parts ATP Bait & Tackle
- Hardie honey Brian Dice (maple syrup)
- Kal Tire Oak & Carriage
- OK Tire Western Foods (Sooke)
- Station House Liquor Depot
- Shoppers Drug Mart (Sooke) St. jeans Cannery
- Shoppers Drug Mart (Colwood) Blair Davis
- Verico Select Mortgage Peninsula Co-Op
- Sooke Power Supply Walker Power Supply
- Oughtred Coffee & Tea Shop Salt Spring Soapworks
- Canadian Tire (Duncan) Mike Smith
- Bucky's Sports Starbucks (2 Colwood locations)
- P&R Western Star No Bananas for Delta Gibbs
- Travelbea & Associates Deans Marine
- Glenwood Meats Coastal Kitchen
- Ed Horseman Lakes Marine
- Monti's Boat Sales Great Canadian oil
- Superstore (Colwood) Stone Pipe
- Subway (2 Colwood locations) Serious Coffee
- Country Grocer (Lk. Cow) Dave Zelke
- Salty's Fish & Chips (Colwood) Floyds Diner
- White Spot (new Colwood) Wally Quaite
- Tim Hortons (Colwood) Loving Pet Pal Grooming
- Lordco Sleggs (Sidney)
- Village Foods June & Darrell Johnston
- Shane Steele Electric Salmonberry Bistro
- West marine (Vic) Mike Young
- Cascadia Liquor Ian Batty & Gerry Gammie
- Richlock Rentals Cineplex Theater
- DSS Welding for a donation and also for the awesome launch box (bright yellow) made for us that is placed down by the boat launch area.
As you can see the list is long and it is the reality that you need a giant participation to make a fundraiser work. Please forgive us if we have missed someone and bring it to our attention! We will quickly add them to the list. Again please support these businesses who kindly donated.
Upcoming event: So now that the Labor Day derby is behind us we will be having our well known and very popular Coho Derby "Winner Take All" on October 5th & 6th. This derby cost $25.00 a rod with $5.00 of each ticket going to the hatchery. The winning pot will be determined by the number of entrants but it can be a staggering amount of cash money! Smallest pot won was $5300.00, that was year one and largest was $13,880.00! We are expecting a big turnout and so far it looks like the Coho fishing will be great. Lets hope this drier milder weather holds for some time ahead. PLEASE REMEMBER, we are a cash business so bring cash, we do not take credit cards or interact.
Important Info: This year Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on Oct 13th. All customers with units or boats in the campground at that time need to come by the office and make arrangements for storage if needed. Otherwise please make sure you have your site clean and take your things home with you. If you are interested in storage please feel free to contact us and ask about our rates.
Bud & Rex