Port Renfrew Marina held it's annual Coho "Winner Take All" Derby this past weekend. The derby was a huge success with fantastic weather, calm seas and lots of fish. Coho fishing has been on the quiet side for the month of September but they sure showed up in huge numbers on the Saturday, the first day of the derby! Many fishermen said it was the best Coho fishing they had ever experienced. Most of the Coho's, both wild and hatchery were caught off shore near the can bouy in the 6 to 10 pound range with a few in the low to mid teens in the 400 to 650 feet of water and approximately 40 to 60 feet deep. Spoons, hoochies and anchovies were the bait of choice. A few anglers said that the Baitrix worked well for them. Nearly all anglers were catching limit catches including many hatchery fish with the exception of the winning fish which was caught inside the bay and was a wild Coho. The winning Coho weighed in and was verified at 18 pounds 12 ounces caught by Grant Mar on the Hindsight Charter Boat on the first day of the derby. With 426 tickets sold his winnings were $8580.00 and the derby brought in an additional $2145.00 for the San Juan Hatchery. Mr.Grant Mar also very generously donated $580.00 of his winnings to the hatchery. This brings the years total to the hatchery to $16832.00! Many thanks to all that participated this summer in all efforts to help raise this amazing amount of money for a great cause.
With October arriving we all have to face that the season of 2011 is coming quickly to an end. Please remember that the marina closes on October 16th and come and settle up any out standing accounts, remove your unit and or boat or make arrangements for winter storage. Also all seasonals need to verify their return for next year as soon as possible and have until the first week of May to confirm their spot. This is critical if you don't want to lose your spot. The marina is now out of ice and will not be getting anymore before closing but will have fuel until we close. We also have plenty of anchovy.
Bud & Rex