At Port Renfrew Marina Chinook fishing greatly improved for the long weekend and for the Port Renfrew Marina Labor Day Derby. Though the majority of fish from the beach were teenagers there were quite a few limit catches. In the day and a half derby there were 150 fish weighed in making it one of the best derby's, fish wise that we have had in recent memory. The new teaser heads, Snotty nose and No bananas both in glow and UV are producing, also many favor the bloody nose and there is a new one called Alligator.
East Point has been good early mornings all the way into Woods Nose boundary sign. Rockpile to Camper remans very good for an afternoon bite. Logan to Walbran can be red hot one day and cold another so if there are no fish being caught a move east is a good idea.
Coho Fishing as expected is picking up nicely, even onshore for the past few days. Offshore in the 400 o 600 foot depth range fishing is very good. Spoons and hoochies trolled 40 to 60 feet on the downrigger are working well. As of September 1st you can keep one wild and one hatchery anywhere but that changes on Sept.7th so please check with your regulation book and the area you are in.
Sockeye fishing was pretty much a bust this year unless you were fishing on the inside of the island. One day the test boats brought in 1100 and we all thought they were coming, then less than a week later they did another test and after a full day they only had 13!!
Halibut daily limits as of September 1st increases to two per day per angler. The size restrictions remain the same. We will supply an inshore halibut report next week. Again please check your regulation book and or call fisheries for clarification on rules and regs as they seem to change faster than a person can keep up with them.
Notable catches:
- Chris Ford 32.5
- Eric Eckdahl 35 neither in derby
As most all of you know Port Renfrew Marina held the 17th annual Labor Day Derby this past weekend. This derby has become a really welcome event for all the loyal attendees and never lets anyone down for a good time and a memorable event. This year we had a few less tickets sold but having said that there were still 272 sold and a wonderful assortment of amazing prizes that seem to get better with each passing year. Almost everyone goes home with a prize. The fishing improved the day before the derby started which helped bring the spirit up for everyone in the derby. The top three winners were:
- Hugh Hamar 31.9
- Arnie Morris 28.10
- Ken Gillard 26.14
This year Port Renfrew Marina made the decision to allocate some of the fundraised monies from the derby to the B.C. Wildlife Federation. On behalf of it Paul Ricard from the Sports Fishing Advisory Board accepted the check in the amount of $5000.00 and it will be used to help cover their legal fees defending the halibut quotas for sports fishermen in B.C. through their efforts they won the court case and were able to retain the 3% in the quota. Scroll across the pictures for details.
Port Renfrew Marina's Labor Day derby was another success, although the money raised was less than the previous year, given the attendance being 30 less tickets everyone made a great effort to help us bring it as much as possible to help the BC Wildlife Federation and also the local hatchery here in Renfrew. After all is said and done we were able to raise $8473.00. The Cusinart BBQ donated by Audie Williams, founder of the Davey Derby raffle made $1360.00 and the Gift Basket donated by the Port General Store raised $630.00. Besides the derby we now have the annual adult bullhead derby on the Sat. night with it bringing in $604.60. A big thanks to Val MacDonald and Gail Kerrone who take the time and effort to put this together. It was discovered that the bullheads are also few and far between as some caught none. They seem to be as scarce as the springs this year! The kids bullhead derby was also a fun event for the little ones who look forward to it for weeks. They also found almost no bullheads but still had fun. For the first time was a tie for the girls.
Again a derby is only as successful as its donators and the participants and we have a long list of the people and businesses who were generous enough to help out with a donation. As times are tight for many businesses we appreciate it even more and we send out a big thank you to all of them. Please forgive us if we forget to mention anyone and if so please let us know and it will be corrected. A very special thanks go out to Vic Gee, Odd Johansen, Larry DeFrane, Chris Arnold, Sharon Winters, Steve Holgate, Grant Hilliard and Don Colegrave for all their efforts in helping to find donators and doing the thankless job of running around picking up.
Redl Cabelas Butler Bros. Select Mortgage Group Travel Bea & Ass. Coast Capital Handsome Dan's Botanical Getaway Tomi's Restaurant Port Renfrew General Store Soule Creek Lodge Big Fish Lodge Trailhead Motel Artisans Well Three Point Properties Coastal Kitchen Island Outfitters Islander Reel Monti's Boat Sales Milroy Engineering Gizmo's Computers MVCC (Marion Randall) Victoria Harbor Ferry Ian & Deb McGregor Darcy's Pub
Best Western Prestige Hotel Sooke Home Hardware All Battery Shoppers Drug Mart (Sooke & Colwood) Sure Span Structures Sure Span Ready Mix Blair Davis Eagle Eye Sports Mt. Sicker Lumber Maple Bay Marina Tro Tac
Valley View Construction Nisers Wise Buys Fishing Supplies Choice Charters Dumont Tire Alpine Marine Dennis Murray Gone Fishin' JV Driver Parker Marine Wholesale Sports Harbor Chandler N.W. Aluminum Kal Tire Mike Smith Coastal Outboards Item(Vic Gee) Buckys Sports Madil (Jim Hermanson) RBF Concrete St. Jeans Cannery Gerry Murray Penninsula Co-op John Sheldrake Cast Art Studios Mike Daines Scotty Ken Gillard
Home Depot (Lk. Cow) OK Tire Diamond Cutting & Sausage Canadian Tire (Duncan) Sleggs Lumber (Admirals) Deans Marine Tim Hortons (Lk. Cow & Langford) Cowichan Fly & Tackle Glenwood Meats Lakes Marine Judy Eilertsen ATB Bait & Tackle Eriks Langford Cold Beer & Wine Store Whitespot (Colwood) Stone Pipe Village Foods Western Foods Thrifty Foods Starbucks (Colwood Langford) Gordon n' Gordon Walker Power Shop Four Points Sheraton
A&W(Duncan) Gregs RV Arbutus RV Baljet Horseshoe Bay Inn The Oak & Carriage Pub Superior Propane Lordco (Lk. Cow) Copper Lane Ecco Supply Western Equipment Fastenall Irly Home Center Country Grocer Subway
Don Colegrave Grant Hilliard United Rentals Ian & Rhonda Robinson Hugh Hamar Duncan Auto Parts Delta Victoria Hotel Hardie Honey Out of the Blue Designs West Bay Mechanical Buddy's Natural Pet Food
Red Barn Market Great Canadian Oil Change
Upcoming Event: Coming up on October 4th and 5th Port Renfrew Marina will be having it's annual Coho "Winner Take All" Derby. When it comes to derbys, this one is crazy popular! Every year we get fishermen from everywhere wanting to fish in this derby. The rules are the same, biggest Coho wins the pot. Tickets are $25.00 a rod with $5.00 of each ticket going to the hatchery. This a great way to finish off your fishing season in the Renfrew area. Where can you go for two days and fish your heart out for $25.00 and maybe go home with a huge pile of money? Usual take home wins are around the $10,000. range, the amount depending on tickets sold. Since the Coho fishery seems to be increasing we are again hoping for a great derby with maybe some big ones showing up.
Important Info: This year Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on October 12th. Please remember to come in before closing an settle any outstanding accounts and please remember we are a cash business only. We appreciate the effort to settle things before we close for the season.
Bud & Rex
