At Port Renfrew Marina the Chinook have arrived! It's been a wait but now there are lots of smiles in spite of the rain with lots of limit catches hitting the docks. Early morning till the evening, all day had good bite periods. Owen Point to the Rockpile was the place to be at first light, later in the day Cullite and Logan Creek came on. Best depths seem to be the 27 to 47 feet on the down-riggers. Anchovies or herring are definitely the bait of choice! No word yet from fisheries as to a Sockeye opening, our suspicions is that if they do open it, it will likely be in August but unfortunately we are usually given only a few hours notice. When we do hear we will try our best to let everyone know asap. Notable Catches:
- Hugh Hamer 32
- Darren Keeler 38
- John Gordon 41 40 1/2
- Greg Wickland 31
The "chicken ranch" is still the place to be for quick catches of halibut and the teenager springs salmon. The action out there is very good. If the halibut slows there, a short move over to bouy Julliet will produce fish.
Upcoming event: This coming weekend Port Renfrew Marina will be having its first July Chinook Salmon Derby on July 12th and 13th. This derby is a simple affair with three top winners, first, second and third all cash prizes. The money won will be pending the amount of tickets sold and the winnings will be 50%, 30% and 20% respectively of winners. The tickets are $30.00 a rod with $5.00 of each ticket going to the hatchery. Tickets are available at the marina office or Eagle Eye Sports in Sooke and Wise-Buys Fishing Supplies in Colwood. There will also be a side bet that could prove interesting. If the two fish you weigh in total of say 37 pounds and the winning fish are all under that weight then you could be the winner of the side bet without even having a fish that qualifies for the top three weigh-ins. The weather is supposed to be great so come and enjoy a couple days fishing and maybe go home with money in your pocket. But as the saying goes, a bad days fishing is better than a good days work so how can you miss? A reminder; the marina is a cash business so please realize that we can not take credit cards for payments, please come prepared.
Port Renfrew Marina is raffling a Bradley Smoker and the winning ticket will also be drawn on July 13th after the derby is done. This a top quality smoker with 4 shelves and can smoke all your fish and meats, whatever you like to smoke. The smoker retails for $550.99 and tickets are $5.00 for one and 3 for $10.00.
Bud & Rex