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Port Renfrew Marina Report Oct.16/12

For Port Renfrew Marina another season has come to an end. All in all it was a good year with lots of springs just not many of the big ones over 40.  Nature made up for it by giving us all a spectacular Coho season. It came to an end basically last Friday. It would have gone on longer if the rain hadn't come and when it did, it was biblical! It started Friday night and kept on in rages until Sunday night.  We probably had 6 or 7 inches in those two days. The ramp going down to the cleaning area was flat. For the month before though we had fantastic Coho fishing with everyone coming back with their limits.  Now we are all hoping the salmon can manage to get up the rivers now that the rain has started. Now that the marina is closed we need all customers to be sure they have come and removed their units or boats unless prior arrangements were made. The gate will now be locked and getting in and out you will need the caretaker to assist you.  You should contact us to let us know what day you hope to collect your things.  Our number is 250 474-2643 and email is info@portrenfrewmarina.com .

Wayne and Gwen Coleman are still away staying by their son's bedside. There has been very little change in his condition. Our new caretaker is Desi Hatchard. Anyone who is interested in helping the Coleman's out with their expenses and or Clint's family can go to this site set up for Clint.   http://colemanfamilytrust.wordpress.com/.

It has been a great year with seeing long time return customers and getting to know our new ones. And with every year whatever the fishing is about, getting together and having fun and a few laughs is what makes a season so perfect. We look forward to seeing you and any new people next year for another fantastic year. We wish you all a safe and healthy winter.

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report Oct.2/12

At Port Renfrew Marina the Coho fishing is nothing short of spectacular! And on top of that the weather has been if anything even more spectacular with sunshine, calm seas and little or no fog. This is quite unusual for Port Renfrew at this time of year.  Anglers coming to the docks are all bringing in their limits with the usual catch being anywhere from 8 pounds up to 15 pounds. many guys are reporting that they will have somewhere between 30 and 50 Coho brought to their boat in a two hour time span. The fish are found at the river mouth and outside the bay but having said that you will often find them jumping everywhere. You can find the fish in about 350' to 450 feet of water and fishing at about 50 feet deep.  the lures of choice remain the same, anchovy being the favorite but also hootchies in green, yellow or white, spoons in similar colors with Bad Attitude being a favorite and apex's in green, gold and clear with UV.  Spring fishing is pretty much over for the season, although Rex Coburn brought in a 22 pound spring and a 16 pound 12 ounce Coho which if qualified would have beat out the winning fish for the Coho Derby. We all laughed at the idea of Rex handing himself the inning pot! NOT going to happen!

Port Renfrew Marina held it's annual Coho Derby "Winner Take All"  this past weekend. It was a great success with 533 tickets sold. Not a record year but an outstanding turnout. The winner of the derby was Jesse Legg with a 16 pound 8 ounce Coho. He was also assisted by his friends Sam Noble and Jan Vanherwaarden and it was agreed by them to split the pot of $11060.00. They were 3 very happy guys! This year the amount to go to the San Juan Hatchery from the Coho Derby came to $2765.00. Maurice and the guys at the hatchery are over the top please with the donations this year as they come to a grand total of $18,324.90! Thanks again to all that donated and participated in the derbies to help make them so successful and a lot of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 Other pictures of Interest:                  

 

 

 

Important News:  Port Renfrew Marina will be closing for the season on Sunday October 14th. Please make sure you have removed your units and or boats on or before that date unless you have made prior arrangements.  It is very important that you contact us as to what you are wanting to do.

Very Important News: Port Renfrew Marina's caretakers, Wayne & Gwen Coleman are away right now to be with their son, Clint who was badly hurt in a  quading accident in Williams Lake. He is in a Kamloops hospital with life threatening injuries and is in a coma. They are staying there for at least a month and are going to incur living expenses that are a hardship for most families. At the marina we are starting a donation jar to help them out with all of this and if you are interested in contributing please drop by the office or call 250 483-1878. Anyone who knows Wayne & Gwen knows that they are always doing something for others, Wayne offers tools and gear to fishermen and Gwen feeds anyone who passes by her, including us in the office. They are always giving and now it's a chance for us to give back. Thank you!

Bud & Rex

 

Port Renfrew Marina Report Sept.20/12

At Port Renfrew Marina Coho fishing remains strong and will only get better into October. Right now they average 4 to 7 pounds with the occasional teenager being caught. Teenres and over 20 pounders will be showing up in the next 2 to 3 weeks just in time for Port Renfrew Marina's Coho Derby "Winner Take All." Offshore at 450 foot to 550 foot depths are getting the most action, at about the  37 to 120 foot depth on the downrigger. Apex's in green, gold and clear with UV, spoons, hootchies and Baitrix with or without a flasher are all producing fish.

Inshore, even in as little as 6 feet of water surface trolled lures are starting to work at a fast troll. Start dusting off the bucktails, it's going to be an epic fall Coho fishery!

The weather has been amazing this year for late summer and early fall. With little or no rain we should expect great fishing for the Coho. There is a concern for enough water for the springs to get up river, at this point it's not possible for them.

Notable Catches:

  •  Erika Jamieson     37

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cort Watt with days catch from a halibut trip before the closure.

Important Dates:  

  • Coming up on September 29th and 30th will be Port Renfrew Marina's Coho Derby "Winner Take All"  Tickets are $25.00 a rod with $5.00 of each ticket going to the San Juan Hachery. Times are dawn to 6:00 pm on the 29th and dawn to 1:00 pm on the 30th.  tickets available on the Firday before and Sat morning BEFORE your boat has left the docks. Coho regs for the derby dates are 4 allowed, 2 can be hatchery and 2 can be wild, the wild must be caught inside the bay. The winning amount of money will be determined with the amount of entrants. It has never been below $5500.00 and the biggest amount won $13,880.00! With the Coho fishery doing so well it's likely we will have a big turnout, meaning a big pot to win!
  • Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on October 14th. All units and boats must be removed on or before that date unless winter storage has been arranged and paid for. Check the rates page for power this winter as it has gone up.
  • On Oct 1st the Cookshack will be closing for the season. At this time it is unclear as to whether it will reopen next year. 

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report Sept.11/12

For Port Renfrew Marina Chinook fishing is almost over for 2012. There are still a few bright fish being caught at Camper and East Point but most anglers are focusing on the coho. Spring fishing picked up just after the Labor Day weekend for a few days and then tapered down.  This is shaping up to be one of the best fall seasons for big coho that we have had in ten years.From the San Juan river mouth, out at 600 feet deep, there are huge numbers of fish. Surface lures in the shallow water are hooking fish. Bairtrix strip is a very good choice for shallow trolling. Coyote spoons, apex's and hootchies in green and white or yellow are all working well.

Halibut fishing is now closed, as of Sept. 9th for this year.

Notable Catches:

  • Jamie Kew  30
  • Ian & Deb McGregor   30

                                                                      

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                              Port Renfrew Marina held it's 15th annual Labor Day Derby on Sept. 1st and 2nd. It was a huge success and lots of fun. See previous report for details. The monies raised were $15,559.90 so we are all happy to see that everyone who contributed and or participated made it such a success. See below for breakdown on the monies raised.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Important news:  Port Renfrew Marina is having it's  annual Coho Derby "Winner Take All"  on Sept. 29th and 30th this year. Tickets will be available at the marina the day before the derby. The cost is $25.00 a rod with $5.00 of each ticket going to the San Juan Hatchery. It is looking more and more like it will be a stellar year for coho fishing and hopefully the derby will prove to be a really great one.

More Important News:  The Deering Bridge is finally done with repairs. The bridge is very nice and smooth and is a definite improvement. The closures are done and there will be no more interruptions for traffic.

Very Important News: Port Renfrew Marina is closing this year on Oct. 14th. Everyone will need to settle their accounts and make sure they have removed their units and or boats on or before the Oct.14th date unless storage arrangements are made. Storage is to be prepaid.

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report Sept.4/12

For Port Renfrew Marina the past week has had better Chinook fishing. Even though most fish are in the 10 to 20 pound range there are good numbers of bright fresh fish coming to the docks. All the regular spots are holding fish with East Point giving up the larger fish on a daily basis. Teaser heads of choice seem to be purple haze, eye of the tiger, mint pearl and red gold. Flashers that are being fished are betsy, both gold and silver, purple onion and green plaid. Fishing for springs had picked up in the last few days, more in line with what you would expect in a late Aug, early Sept. Coho fishing is still fantastic. Offshore in 300 to 400 feet of water seems to be the right depth. Hoochies and spoons are working well. If we don't get any serious amount of rain we should see the best fall coho season we've had in the last ten years.

Halibut fishing has picked up again just before its' September 9th closing. Barndoors are being caught by our highliners almost daily.

 

 

 

 

Port Renfrew Marina held their 15th annual Labor Day Derby this past weekend. It was an unprecedented success all around with a really amazing turnout with 280 tickets sold, fantastic weather, decent fishing with calm seas and NO fog.  Fishing was a bit slow on the Saturday but picked up on the Sunday. We had an amazing amount of generous donations given for the derby and the dinner and dance went well with no glitches, thanks to Judy in The CookShack and the band, Soul Searchers. Music went on until 12:30 at night with many people dancing up a storm right to the end. Everyone had a great time and we want to thank everyone who came for supporting this derby to help raise funds for the San Juan Hatchery. At the end of the report you will see a list of all the businesses who gave generous donations.

The top winners in this derby were:       

  • Tom Isherwood  35.2
  • Mark Richards  34.2
  • Gerry Gammie  31.14
  • Largest fish for a woman Sarah Fraser 27.7
  • 16 & under Luc Quigley 28.13
  • And this year a surprise placing of smallest fish to Ryan Worrall 5.9 courtesy of  Three Point Properties

Every year Port Renfrew Marina also holds a childrens bullhead derby held on the Sunday at 9am. All the young ones love this event and it's a lot of fun to watch the excitement. This years winners were:

  • Boys   Matthew Daines   29
  • Girls   Madisyn Styba     24

 

 

 

Port Renfrew Marina held three raffles for fundraising. The Bosch tool package donated by Langford Rona, a Blue Ember BBQ donated by Ian & Deb McGregor and a large patio heater donated by Port Renfrew Marina and Rona. The three items raised altogether $4456.00.  We also had nine silent auction items and two jelly bean contests that were done by Meagan Gammie and Makayla Styba. We also had five live auctions and the grand total of all the fundraising for the hatchery came to $15359.90!

This year we also had a new event and this was the first ever Adult Bullhead Derby held on the Sat night. This event was thought up by a long standing regular at the marina, Val MacDonald with Gayle Kerrone's help.  This event was so popular that over 40 people entered and it was the event to watch and have a ton of laughs! The winner for that was Steve Hydes with 30    bullheads and Fred Uhlman runner up with 29 and  Clint Thomas for catching the weirdest fish, a small mackerel. Val and Gayle managed to raise $722.40 for the San Juan Hatchery. Congrats to both of them and a big thank you.

                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

For the Labor Day Derby there were a few private donations made through different methods. Neil Young personally donated $500.00, Jeremy Fall sold kindling and raised $200.00. Both Larry Green and Larry DeFrane sold vintage Penn reels and raised over $110.00. There were items donated for funds by Todd Garrett and $40.00 from Terry Wilson and Jim Lebitschnig. Dave Mills came up with an idea of getting $1.00 for each time someone threw a cigarette in the fire pit and missed and raised $852.00. Our American friends, the Schiffners, donated $100.00.  Another seasonal customer Jim Parry has donated some vintage fishing gear for an ongoing fundraiser and has raised over $120.00 so far. One of the guides Trevor Zboyovsky of www.nobananascharters.ca donated $800.00 to the hatchery from a Fathers Day Derby he put on. Audie Williams who holds the annual Davey Derby was at the Labor Day Derby to present Maurice Trembley with a check donation for $2800.00,  $2000.00 from the Davey Derby and $800.00 from a side bet that Dave Mills organized.  An anonymous donater gave $100.00 in respect for the boaters who helped him with a boat issue on a Friday morning at 6am.

Notable Catches:

  • Rick Stubbs  36
  • Jody Gervais (Bargain Bin Charters)
  • Bruce Miller  30  www.millertimefishingcharters.com 
  • Mike Richards  34.2
  • Luc and Dan Quigley 
  • Gerry Gammie  31.14 sorry for the head cut off!!! not camera , the computer did it!
  • Mark Kuzman  30.6
  • Tom Isherwood  35.2                                                            

 

 

 

 

 

List of businesses who generously donated to Port Renfrew Marina's Labor Day Derby

  • Rona: Langford                                             Trailhead Motel
  • Ian & Deb McGregor                                   All Battery
  • Trotac Marine                                                Driver Industries
  • Kelly Wagner of Gizmos                             Construction Drilling
  • Islander Reels                                                Soule Creek Lodge
  • Sanction Boardshop                                    Butler Bros
  • Surespan & Surespan Structures         Handsome Dans Cottages
  • Harbour Chandler                                         Tomi's Restaurant
  • Three Point Properties                               Botanical Getaway
  • Sooke Power Supplies                                 TK Glass
  • Mt. Sicker Lumber                                        Jeanette Lundgrin
  • Big Fish Lodge                                                Sneakers Computers
  • Joe Serpa                                                          Monti's Boat Sales
  • NorthWest Aluminum                                Gary West
  • M & M Marine                                                  Choice Charters
  • National Concrete                                         Monk Office
  • Nisers                                                                 Artisan's Gift Shop
  • Maple Bay marina                                         Scott Ross Marine
  • Beachview B&B                                               Superior Propane
  • Four Points Sheraton                                   Bow Mel Chrysler                          
  • Wholesale Sports                                           Oak & Carriage Restaurant
  • DSS Welding                                                     Duncan Auto
  • Scotty                                                                 Lordco
  • 4 Mile Pub                                                         David Blitterwyk
  • Home Hardware                                             Coastal Kitchen
  • Mac's Convenience Store (Admirals & Craigflower)
  • Grant Hilliard for Coast Capital, Sannich Co-Op & Verico Select Mortgage Group
  • Steve Holgate                                                    Moby Meats (Duncan)
  • Claire Cooper of Salt Spring Soapworks  Pacific Gateway Marina
  • Jim Hermanson of Volvo                             Village Foods (Sooke)
  • Superstore (Colwood)                                    Country Grocer (Lk. Cow)
  • Island Outfitters                                               West Marine
  • Walker Power Sports                                      Glenwood Meats
  • West Shore Sports Fishing                           Trevor hendriks
  • Early Bird Hardware                                      Eagle Eye Sports
  • Western Foods (Sooke)                                 Shoppers Drug Mart (Duncan)
  • Thriftys (Colwood)                                          Hillside Stone & Garden                 
  • Lifetimer Boats                                                 Gregs RV    
  • Cineplex Theater (Colwood)                        Oki' Tackle
  • Bob Gicas of Pacific Shores Charters        Port Renfrew Hotel
  • Port Renfrew General Store                         St. Jeans Cannery
  • Great Canadian Oil Change (Colwood)    Clayton Wright
  • Redl Sports                                                         Out of the Blue Designs
  • Rhys Davis (Tom Davis)                                 Blair Davis
  • Home Hardware ( Sooke & Duncan)         Brian Dice
  • Hardie honey                                                     Dennis Murray

You can see from the long list of the many businesses and people both private and connected with a business have made a donation in the commitment of helping with salmon enhancement to have salmon stocks for today's fisherman and for future generations to come. We want to give a huge thank you to all of them and encourage all our customers and everyone else to patronize these businesses who willingly donated either goods and or services.

Important News regarding the Deering Bridge. Expect minor delays from Sept.4-8th daily between 8am to 5pm. On Sunday Sept.9th there will be full closures from 9 to 11am and from 11:15 to 1:15 to allow for paving. 

More Important News:  Port Renfrew Marina's annual Coho Derby "Winner Take All"  will be on Sept.29th and 30th this year. Tickets are $25.00 and available at the office shortly before the derby. $5.00 of each entry will go to the San Juan Hatchery and the rest will go to the winner of the biggest Coho. Winnings will be based on the number of entries we get. This is a fun and very relaxed derby and very popular with anglers, come and support salmon enhancement and at the same time have a good time fishing!

Other News: Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on October 14th 2012. Please make sure your unit and or boat is out on or before that date unless you have arranged winter storage. Storage is to be prepaid for the winter.

Bud & Rex