At Port Renfrew Marina Chinook fishing has taken a positive turn this past week. Not only larger fish but also the fact that the fish are coming from all the "old" favorite spots; East Point, Owen Point, Rockpile and Cullite, Camper are all producing springs. They are feeding on needlefish and baby herring so keep your bait small or run coho killers. Try fishing shallower than usual as several anglers have caught the fish right on the surface as they are putting the line in the downrigger clip. Offshore the "chicken ranch" is doing its incredible impression of a live fish market! Limit catches of Chinook, coho, and halibut are so fast the boasts are back at the dock before noon! As an added bonus there are big numbers of humpback whales putting on a show as they feed on herring and krill.
Crabbing is still going very well, some big and hard and the occasional softer one but all tasty.
Notable catches:
- Ian & Deb MacGregor 24 23 14 16
- Kristina Ledger 30.5
- Terry Van Wieren 4 springs to 20 lb.
- Leung Huang 31
- John Gordon 38.5
- Eric Echdahl 29
- Phil Rankine 30
- Ian Batty 30
- Ron Jakimchuk 30
- Bob Green 33
- Robyn Kerron 29
This past weekend Port Renfrew Marina held it's very small and quiet Hoody Derby in honor of Blair Houdayer who past away two years ago. He was a long time friend and customer of Port Renfrew Marina and had a life long love of fishing. He always fished cut plugging so that was the rule of the derby, no downriggers. The winning fish at 27 pounds was caught by Rex Coburn. the derby raised $550.00 for the Canadian Cancer Society and was donated in Blair Houdayer's name.
Coming up very soon is the annual Kinsmen Salmon Derby on July 29th and 30th. This derby was partially created to replace the now finished Davey Derby and so far it has been doing a pretty great job of doing that. The tickets are available at the marina, Bucky's Sports in Duncan, Gord's Fly Box in Cowichan and Island Outfitters in Victoria. Tickets are $50 a rod and first prize is a Yamaha 9.9 kicker. There is always many other prizes so there is a good chance you won't go away empty handed. Come out and fish and help support a great cause. The monies raised are to help fix up two children's park play areas.
Coming up later in the season will be Port Renfrew Marina's annual Labor Day Derby on September 2nd and 3rd. This derby is held to help out the local San Juan salmon hatchery and for those of you who don't know this hatchery has had little or no monies from the government since 1992. Without outside support and donations this hatchery would likely not be active. If anyone seeing this can offer to help out with donation prizes or knows of a business that might be interested please contact the marina office. As you know a successful derby relies on the generosity of donators for prizes to make a derby exciting and fun which is turn brings more anglers and then raises more money for the particular cause. More details to come. See below for our first raffle item for the Labor Day Derby.
Islander Reel
MR 3-C Mooching Reel
Clear
Generously Donated by:
Islander Reels, Victoria
Retail value: $650.00
Full frame construction w/one piece spool & frame
Lg arbor, ultra light spool w/ ventilated arbor. The large
arbor allows for 2 to 3 times the retrieval rate of a standard arbor
A huge 2-7/16 drag surface using Islander’s proven graphite impregnated cork material
Converts right to left hand retrieve in seconds
Lg contoured palming rim & handles
Buttery smooth sealed stainless steel bearings
Lg sculpted drag knob
Tickets: $5.00 each or 3 for $10.00
Draw Date: Sept. 3rd
@ PRM Labor Day Derby
Tickets sold @ P.R.M. Attendance not necessary to win
Coming up at the end of Port Renfrew Marina's season will be the annual Coho Derby. This is an extremely popular derby. There has been some debate over the date of the derby and after much thought we have finally come to the conclusion that it will be Sept. 30th and Oct.1st. More info to come later.
As most everyone knows by now the marina now has it's power pretty much completed. It was a big job and took longer than expected but things have settled down, everyone is pleased to have power and water at their sites. The power sites are going fast as not all sites have it. We hope to expand the number of sites with power next year.
Bud & Rex