Port Renfrew Marina Report Aug.22/16

For Port Renfrew Marina Chinook fishing continues to be very good with lots of comments of "just like the old days!" Fishing has definitely picked up and seems to be staying. Seems as though there is a good tide for the first couple of hours after daylight and then a very good bite in the early afternoon. All the usual spots are producing fish everyday. Hot teaser heads are  bloody nose, glow green and chrome mint pearl and a few others. Some anglers are trolling medium size herring and are doing very well. Coho are starting to show up which is a good sign of things to come soon. Some hatchery fish are up to 12 pounds already! Should make the coming Coho Derby on October 1st and 2nd an interesting and exciting one. Probably a little early at this point to target Coho but they are a nice incidental catch.

Halibut has slowed down but there is a very little pressure as all anglers are focused on the springs right now. Crabbing is still quite fair to good, not as many but nice big hard ones for the most part.

Important News: As of Aug. 17th there are no campfires allowed in any areas of Port Renfrew, no exceptions and not allowed until further notice. Be vigilant with any thing that could start a fire and FYI the fine for having a campfire is $1100.00. Conservation officers are on the lookout for violators. We all love a nice campfire but the risk is too high, we could lose so much of our beautiful forest and last years fire was terrible, with road closures for two weeks.

Notable catches: 

• Wallace Cheong  32
• Kevin McKenna  43

Water Line: Some of you may be wondering about the water line. It is coming along slowly, we will soon have the line done to the road and then we need to wait until work on the other side will be done. Once it's completed we can get hooked up. It is starting to look like it may be operational fully by next season but maybe sometime in Sept if things go well.

At Port Renfrew Marina this year there will be a form to fill out voluntarily for fisheries to help them determine fish stats. This form is optional and should you want to fill it out below is their reason behind the form use. Fisheries will be donating a $70.00 gift certificate for gas at PRM in a draw from the entries they receive.

There is some worry by recreational fishers that treating derby weekends the same as other days of the month is resulting in over‐estimates of the recreational fishery catch. To explore and protect against this potential, the Port Renfrew Marina 19 Annual Labor Day Derby is partnering with DFO to improve recreational catch estimates and management in the west coast portion of Juan de Fuca. The goal of working with DFO is to have our derby catch known exactly and not have it estimated by the creel survey. This will improve overall effort and catch estimates, which will lead to improved management and regulation of our fishery. To achieve our goal of improved catch estimates and be entered in the derby prize draws, you must fill out the catch information on the opposite side of this sheet. Bring this completed form to the derby weigh‐in station. Official weights will be recorded on the form and the form submitted as your derby entry. This information will be added up to document the total catch in the derby so the catch does not need to be estimated by DFO.

Port Renfrew Marina Labor Day Derby: Coming up soon will be the marinas 19th annual Labor Day derby and things are moving along well. We still could use donations or suggestions as to what businesses might want to pitch in and donate. Anyone with a suggestion of a business or person who may be willing to contribute please contact the office and let us know. This year the Lake Cowichan Kinsmen will be serving the dinner. The success of a derby depends so much on the help from businesses so the funds can be raised for the cause which in this case is the local salmon hatchery and such a deserving cause it is! The donations have started coming in and we hope to collect more so keep that in mind if you think you can help, we also can always use help with collecting donations and we are always in need of helpers to set up the tables, etc the day of the derby. We all want to see the salmon stocks kept alive and well for ourselves and future generations. If you have a donation or know of a place who would be interested let us know asap. The derby is a super fun event and if you haven't attended it before you should come and see for yourselves what a great time it is, bring a friend to participate. It is a two day event wth many prizes including hidden weight, biggest fish for a woman and a teen under 16 and silent and live auctions and raffles. Tickets will be available soon at the office and are $60.00 a rod which includes a Port Renfrew Marina t-shirt, a dinner and beverages and a live band on the Sunday. The same band will be playing again this year, so get your dancing shoes ready!

Raffle Item: Port Renfrew Marina is raffling an Islander Reel donated by them to raise funds for the local salmon hatchery. It is a MR 2-LA Mooching Reel called ARBOR SLATE. Tickets are $5.00 or 3 for $10.00 and available at the marina. Buy a ticket and support the hatchery so you and generations to come can enjoy the sport of salmon fishing.

Another Raffle Item: Again the Port Renfrew General Store has generously donated another gift basket for raffle for the Labor Day Derby. This basket is full of some amazing items, such as a bottle of  Ketel vodka, Gran Reserva Bacardi rum, 1 bottle of quality red wine, & a bottle of salted caramel Baileys, a ceramic LED candle lantern, a box of Purdy's chocolates, cedar salmon wraps, acrylic plates and bowls, 1 pound Salt Spring organic coffee, Stash organic green tea, bamboo reed diffuser, 4 stemless wine glasses and much more, all sitting in a metal beer cooler tub with a built in bottle opener on the side.  It can be viewed at the Port Renfrew General store or at Port Renfrew Marina later in the month. Tickets are $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00, what a deal for a basket of approximately a $300.00 value! Must be 19 or older to buy tickets and attendance is not required to win.

And yet another Raffle Item: Port Renfrew Marina is also raffling a Pelican ProGear 95 liter Cooler, generously donated by Joe Serpa. This cooler is extremely tough and so well insulated that it can keep up to 10 days ice retention. With many excellent features it can last for years and is guaranteed for life. Can be seen in the marina office. Value of the cooler is $500.00. Tickets available at the office at $5.00 a ticket or 3 for $10.00. Again all proceeds go to the local San Juan salmon hatchery.

Bud & Rex