Oct.17/11 Port Renfrew Report

Well, another year has flown by and Port Renfrew Marina is now closed for the 2011 season. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were in full swing and now it is mid Oct and people have moved on to other things than fishing in Renfrew at least. The Coho were slow to show in Sept but the first day of the Coho derby they were there in the hundreds! Since then the Coho have been around but the weather hindered fishing some for about a week. When the weather calmed down the fishing picked up and most anglers were coming in with a few fish mostly in the 6 to 12 pound range. The last few days of the marina being open were truly beautiful fall days with sunshine, calm seas and no wind, making fishing a real pleasure and for most a sad realization that things were ending as all things do.

We at Port Renfrew Marina want to say thank you to Three Point Properties for making an additional donation to the San Juan Hatchery in the amount of $250.00. It has been a phenomenal year for fundraising and we want to thank everyone who contributed wither by donation or attendance and just supporting them in any way possible. Without you the monies wouldn't come so thank you for your generosityover the past year. Below is a letter sent to the marina from Maurice Tremblay thanking everyone involved for the monies they have received.

Thank you to all the customers that have settled up their accounts and made accommodations for storage or taken their units home before closing. If you have an account outstanding or wish to do storage please try and settle up this for the season as soon as possible. When calling the 483-1878 number the call will be forwarded to our caretakers Wayne & Gwen Coleman and they can try and help you, otherwise please call us at 250 474-2643.  Thank you.

Please remember: If you are a seasonal customer, it is very important that you make sure you contact us by the beginning of May (the first week) to confirm your spot! This must be done if you want to be assured of getting your spot for the season of 2012.

All of us at Port Renfrew Marinawant to give a huge thank you to Wayne & Gwen for their amazing job of care taking the marina and their never ending willingness to help out and keep our marina clean and beautiful. There are many guides and others, including ourselves that owe them a big thank you for the dinners, breakfasts, snacks and of course the french fries!  We also want to thank Knut for another year of helping run the marina. We all had a great year with fantastic fishing throughout most of the season.

We wish all our customers both old and new a safe and healthy winter and look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Bud & Rex

Oct.3/11 Port Renfrew Marina Report

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

Sept.25/11 Port Renfrew Marina Report

With September winding down it appears the mid October weather has arrived at Port Renfrew Marina! Rain, heavy at times, as well as some large swells signals Coho time. The best fishing is still offshore. The 400 to 600 foot areas down 45 to 100 feet are producing fish. Coho, usually found in small schools, at first,  nothing, then a triple header! Bait and white glow hoochies were the lures of choice.

Inside the whistle bouy your best bet would probably be right off the river mouth at a lower tide. Yellow/green zingers, small plugs and Baitrix trolled very fast and very shallow will get some fish.

Reminder:   Check the weather forecasts before heading out. Note a 23 foot southwest swell is to arrive on Tuesday, September 27 th so stay safe at home that day

Notable Catches:

• Double load Dale      31.5                    

News:  Port Renfrew Marina's annual Coho Derby is this coming weekend, Oct.1st and 2nd. The Coho are starting to show up so here's hoping the derby is an exciting one! The entry fee is $25.00 with $5.00 going to the hatchery.  The times are dawn to 6:00 on Oct.1st and dawn to 1:00 on Sunday Oct.2nd.

Marina Closing:  Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on Oct.16th. Please make sure you have removed your unit and boat or you will be charged for winter storage. If storage is what you prefer please speak to someone in the office and we will set it up for you. Winter storage is $25.00 a month. If you require power for your trailer it is $32.50 a month. If you aren't using power we recommend you use a product to absorb moisture to prevent mildew and getting a musty smell in your trailer. The moisture levels in Port Renfrew are very high. We have our caretakers there through the winter months to keep an eye on things  and to maintain security. You can leave keys with them so they can check on units for any possible damage or leaks.

Bud & Rex

Sept.19/11 Port Renfrew Marina Report

Chinook fishing seems to be pretty much slowing down for 2011. It turned out to be one of the best years ever in the number of fish caught and the best since 2007  for fish over forty pounds. As you can see from our notable catches that there are a few springs over 30 pounds around, the majority caught further off shore. Everyone is waiting for the big Coho to arrive. They are showing more and more every day, the bulk of the run will continue to build into October where there should be lots around.

The Coho right nowseem to be in the 300 to 500 foot depth with hoochies and spoons on short leaders working well. Don't forget the San Juan river mouth. If the fish are jumping, low tide casting on fast shallow trolling can work well.

Notable Catches:

• Bob McCullough        38               
• Joel Grodardines       36
• unknown                       35
• Joe Fortune                 33
• Ty Van Wieren        31.5

          News:      Port Renfrew Marina will be having it's annual Coho "Winner Take All"  derby on Oct.1st and 2nd. The entry fee is $25.00, five of which goes to the local San Juan hatchery and the rest to the winning pot. The winner gets the pot of money and it's all cash! This derby is a fun, easy one with little stress as it is simply the biggest fish weighed in and each year everyone seems to have a great time. We are all hoping for a good turnout for the Coho and good weather would be a bonus. 

Port Renfrew Marina will be closing this year on Oct.16th. Please make sure you have made arrangements for taking your units and personal items out of the marina by then or arranged for winter storage. Any boats in storage will need to be removed unless signed in for winter storage also. Please speak to someone in the office about your preference.

Bud & Rex

Sept.6/11 Port Renfrew Marina Report

As of this report for Port Renfrew Marina Chinook fishing has slowed down some.  We still expect a run of big white springs to arrive in the first two weeks of September. Right now you can find as many pinks as you want, witha few Coho, Sockeye and springs with the areas of Camper, Logan and Walbran being the hot spots. It is too early for the serious numbers of San Juan Coho, they will show up closer to the end of the month and when they do they can be twenty plus  pounds!

The early halibut closure on September 5th is in our opinion ridiculous as we have seen one of the best hali seasons ever. The early closure is certainly going to impact the economics of the town of Port Renfrew negatively. All of the fishing guides out here are affected deeply with their bookings for fishing dropping off with the closure.

Port Renfrew Marina had it's 14th annual Labor Day Derby this past weekend and although the fishing could be extremely slow at times the weather was absolutely perfect with sunshine, no fog and calm seas. This made fishing more enjoyable even if  there were less fish caught. Considering that fishing was on the quiet side spirits were very upbeat with everyone really enjoying themselves. We had a fantastic turnout with 256 entrants. We are happy and proud to say that all the people there came through,  helping to raise money for the San Juan hatchery. With raffles, silent auctions, live auctions and cash donations we raised $11,275.50 by including the donation bank kept in the marina office for a total of $832.00 that brings that total to $12,107.50 and another $2000.00 from the Davey Derby held back in July, bringing the total money raised to $14,107.50! A huge thanks to all the individuals and businesses, both local and from Nanaimo, Duncan, Lake Cowichan, Victoria, Colwood, Glen Lake and Langford that made generous donations without which this derby would not be the same!  A special thanks goes out to Rona of Langford for a very generous donation of Bosch tools equalling a value of over $2000.00! This alone raised $3040.00! Also West Marine for their generous sponsorship of $500.00 worth of goods and Three Point Properties for a 2 night stay in one of their cottages worth $375.00 and many more that would take far to long to list. Many people helped clean up during the day and evening but a special thank you goes out to 8 year old Melana Saab who helped clean up the longhouse  from the dance the following morning when everyone else was sleeping in and taking things easy.

• In first place:   Nathan Theriau                           35.3
• Second place:   Bill Cooper                                   33.10
• Third place:      Ryan Chamberlain                     32.3
• Woman's biggest fish:  Amanda McKenzie      20. 8

Notable Catches:

• Dan Massey                       34
• Ray Hawthorne                35
• Lindsay Gagen                  32
• Mel Prouse                         35
• Mike Smith                         48
• Brian Dice                           32
• Len Huot                            48
• Sigrid Perkins                   42

News: The next and last derby coming up will be the Port Renfrew Coho Derby on Oct.1st and 2nd. This entry will be $25.00 a rod with $5.00 of every entry going to the hatchery. This a simple and relaxing derby with one winner who takes the pot, all cash. This year the marina will be closing on Oct.16th. Please make sure to come and collect your boat if it is in storage before that date if you do not intend to leave it there for the winter. This years fee for winter storage for boats or units is $25.00 a month. You must register with us if you want to leave it there.

Bud and Rex