Port Renfrew Marina Report Sept.26/13

For Port Renfrew Marina the 2013 Chinook fishery is now over. The recent rains have pushed them into the rivers. The hatchery staff are very pleased with the numbers and size of fish returning ti the river system. Coho fishing remains very strong but the weather seems to be a problem. Heavy rains have made the water dirty. Large swells make the river-mouth crossing dangerous and somewhat uncomfortable while out fishing.

On the good days hoochies in green, blue and yellow are all good and we have heard the watermelon apex is a hot lure.

Halibut fishing we think is still good to excellent but with the bad weather there has been no one targeting them lately. Fisheries has now stated that the halibut fishery is open until Dec. 31st.

Important News:  Port Renfrew Marina will be having it's annual Coho Derby "Winner Take All"  on October 5th and 6th a week from this weekend. Tickets are sold at the marina that weekend until early Sat. morning. They are $25.00 a rod with $5.00 of each ticket going to the hatchery. This derby is a very popular one with all anglers, it's simple and straight forward and everyone has the chance to win a large amount of money. Lets hope the weather is good for that weekend. PLEASE remember to bring cash as we don't take credit cards. Tickets are cash only.

VERY IMPORTANT NEWS:  Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on Oct. 13th this year. Please make sure you have made arrangements to take your boat out of the water and either take it home or put it in storage. Also all units must be removed or arranged for winter storage. If left, storage fees will be applied. Also we are asking that anyone with an account outstanding should come by and get their account updated. For those that have not done storage before we do have a caretaker, Desi Hatchard, on site for the winter and the gate is kept locked so if you do have storage set up you will need to contact the caretaker so he can let you in past the gate. The number to contact him is 250 483-1486.

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report Sept.13/13

For Port Renfrew Marina mid September Chinook fishing continues strong. Even though there us very little pressure, those targeting the springs are catching them in all the regular spots with water by Hammond Rocks giving up the bigger ones. With the predicted rain for the next week the Chinook may start their journey up the rivers. It will be a wait and see issue, if the rain isn't too hard we may have a better chance to catch a big one.  There are a few big whites showing. Halibut fishing on the anchor has turned on again. September is usually a very good month for the flatties. Salmon bellies and grubs have been working but spoons could be the ticket if the currant is running fairly fast.  Halibut fishing was extended until Sept.18th until further notice by the DFO. We haven't heard anything about any changes so far but check in at the office if you are unsure.

Coho fishing is fantastic! It is still early for the big Northerns a;though the odd 15 to 17 pounder has been weighed in. Off shore you will have to catch a lot of fish to get your hatcheries. Yellow or green hoochies, coyote spoons, Coho killers and tiny strip baitrix are all hot lures. Early day depths are 35 to 60 feet going deeper later in the day. Right now you are allowed 2 hatchery Coho and 2 wild IF they are caught inside the bay. Wild Coho opens outside the bay on Oct.1st.

If you see Coho jumping at the river mouth, give it a try in the very shallow water, 3 to 10 feet deep. Find and stay with the jumpers.

Notable catches:

• Jim Morris  30
• Ken Gillard  30

Port Renfrew Marina's annual Labor Day Derby has now passed and we are still waiting on a couple of payments for live auction items but the total tally is looking to be near $18,000.00. We will have a precise amount in a few days hopefully. What a great fundraiser, thanks go out to all who donated and participated to help out the local hatchery.  Maurice Trembley spoke at the derby and explained that a good portion of the money is going towards completing a blocking fence in the San Juan river.It is great to know that they use the money wisely!

Upcoming Event: So soon the annual Coho Derby will be happening. "The Winner Take All" derby is our most popular derby and this year is looking to be a banner year for Coho as there seems to be no lack of them around. The derby is October 5th and 6th so wild will be open outside the bay.  Hopefully the big Northerns will be here a plenty and some lucky person will catch one and win the pot! Again of the $25.00 a rod ticket $5.00 of each one will go to the hatchery. Please be advised: We are a cash business and you will need to bring cash with you to buy your tickets, etc.

Important News: On October 13th Port Renfrew Marina will be closing for the season. It is very important and the customers responsibility to know this date and that you come by on or before then and remove your boat and unit, otherwise storage fees will apply. If you would like to do storage please speak to someone in the office.

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report Sept.2/13

This past weekend Port Renfrew Marina was blessed with perfect weather for fishing. Calm seas and sunshine all weekend was a real bonus. Over the one and a half day derby we had 130 fish weighed in by the 303 entrants. Chinook fishing has slowed since the rains came briefly but hit has moved the larger white springs to the shoreline. Bite times seem to be back to the usual high tide being the best. The springs coming to the docks are still very chrome.

Notable catches:

• Brent Cooper   35   (before the derby)
• Sigrid Gitlof      38. 15ounces (derby winner)
• Chris Baslee  31.5 ounces   (derby 2nd place)

Port Renfrew Marina held it's 16th annual Labor Day Derby and as past years it was a huge success.  Although the fish weren't as large as in past years there were plenty. The top two did make it in the 30's though.

Something new as of last year is the adult bullhead derby held on the Saturday night. With 160 people entered it was a ton of laughs and fun. This event helped raised $1600.00 that is 100% donated to the local San Juan hatchery. A big thanks go to Val MacDonald and Gayle Kerrone for having the brilliant idea and organizing the event.

  On Sunday morning we held the annual children's bullhead derby which has always been a favorite for the kids.

Another fundraiser started by Dave Mills was a 50/50 draw. This was won by Ken Gillard and he then generously donated his winnings back to the half for the hatchery which made it a total of $2535.00! Good job Dave!

Audie Williams of the Davey Derby also was in attendence at our derby and was there to give Maurice Trembley of the hatchery his donation of $3500.00! A huge thanks goes out to Audie for that generous donation. The Davey Derby that he held at Port Renfrew Marina in July raised a record amount of $45,000.00 for a variety of great causes. Absolutely amazing!

A big thanks goes out to the Styba family for donation the jelly beans and container for the guessing contest that brought in a little over $100.00 and won by Gwen Coleman guessing 739 one jelly bean short!

On Sunday afternoon everyone in the derby had the dinner hosted by the Salmonberry Bistro and the food was amazing. Once the ceremonies and prizes were done it was just a short time later the band started up for the night where everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. Who knew fishermen danced!?! At this point the grand total raised is not completely clear as we have a few things outstanding but as soon as we get things tallied we will post the total. So far it is looking like the $17000. to $18000. mark but it could even get better and will go up once we see what the Coho derby brings in. Will keep you posted.

Winning stats:  Sigrid Gitlof coming in first place with a 38.15 " spring caught first thing on the Saturday morning and it held through for that day and the next. Chris Baslee came in 2nd with a 31.5" spring and RJ Robertson with a 27.7". Woman's biggest fish was Bev Baslee with a 25.9" and under 16 Tyson Banner with a 20.8".

A derby's success really depends a couple of things, one willing and generous participants and most of all the generosity of all the businesses and individuals who willingly donate and in these tougher times with the economy we are here to say a big THANK YOU for all those who did and we encourage you to read the list and if you need products or services of some kind we hope you choose to support these ones first.

• Randy Wright of Harbor Air         Dan Dupray of D&R Fire Protection
•  Redl Sports                                         Butler Bros
• Islander Reel                                      Neisers
•  Big Fish Lodge                                   Norm Dyson of Butchard Gardens
• Island Outfitters                                Anglers Retreat
• Construction Drilling                      Tomi's Restaurant
• Port Renfrew General Store         Big Bear Rentals
• Oki Tackle                                             Westwood Power & Marine
• Artisan's Design                                 Ian & Deb McGregor
• Trotac Marine                                     Soule Creek Lodge
• Jim & Lynn Parry                              Handsome Dan's
• Choice Charters                                 Coast Capital (Colwood)
• Fairlane Inspections                       Gallery House
• West Marine                                        Botanical Getaway
• Scotty                                                   Westbay Mechanical
• Wise Buys                                             TK Glass
• Three Point Properties                   Maple Bay Marina
•  All Battery                                         D Blitterswyke
•  NW Alumacraft                                 Duncan Home Hardware
• Gone Fishin                                         Sooke Home Hardware
• Harbor Chandler                              Jim Hermanson of Madil
• Coastal Outboards                            Steve Beal
•  Steve Holgate of Surespan & RBF Concrete     Greg's RV
• Alpine Marine                                     Just Jakes Restaurant
• Bob Gicas of Bite Me Derby            Wholesale Sports
• Kelz Cake Shop                                    Esso
• Trailhead Motel                                  Out of the Blue Designs
• Kelly Wagner of Gizmos (Vic)       Thriftys Foods
• Chevron Canada                                 Parker Marine
• Lifetimer Boats                                    Moby Meats
• Baljet Chev Dealer                              Cowichan Fly & Tackle
• Duncan Auto Parts                            ATP Bait & Tackle
• Hardie honey                                       Brian Dice (maple syrup)
• Kal Tire                                                   Oak & Carriage
• OK Tire                                                    Western Foods (Sooke)
• Station House                                       Liquor Depot
• Shoppers Drug Mart (Sooke)          St. jeans Cannery
• Shoppers Drug Mart (Colwood)   Blair Davis
• Verico Select Mortgage                   Peninsula Co-Op
• Sooke Power Supply                         Walker Power Supply
• Oughtred Coffee & Tea Shop           Salt Spring Soapworks
• Canadian Tire (Duncan)                  Mike Smith
• Bucky's Sports                                     Starbucks (2 Colwood locations)
• P&R Western Star                               No Bananas for Delta Gibbs
• Travelbea & Associates                   Deans Marine
• Glenwood Meats                                 Coastal Kitchen
• Ed Horseman                                        Lakes Marine
• Monti's Boat Sales                              Great Canadian oil
• Superstore (Colwood)                     Stone Pipe
• Subway (2 Colwood locations)     Serious Coffee
• Country Grocer (Lk. Cow)              Dave Zelke
• Salty's Fish & Chips (Colwood)      Floyds Diner
• White Spot  (new Colwood)            Wally Quaite
• Tim Hortons (Colwood)                   Loving Pet Pal Grooming
• Lordco                                                   Sleggs (Sidney)
• Village Foods                                       June & Darrell Johnston
• Shane Steele Electric                        Salmonberry Bistro
• West marine (Vic)                             Mike Young
• Cascadia Liquor                                 Ian Batty & Gerry Gammie
• Richlock Rentals                                Cineplex Theater
• DSS Welding for a donation and also for the awesome launch box (bright yellow) made for us that is placed down by the boat launch area.

As you can see the list is long and it is the reality that you need a giant participation to make a fundraiser work.  Please forgive us if we have missed someone and bring it to our attention! We will quickly add them to the list. Again please support these businesses who kindly donated.

Upcoming event: So now that the Labor Day derby is behind us we will be having our well known and very popular Coho Derby "Winner Take All" on October 5th & 6th. This derby cost $25.00 a rod with $5.00 of each ticket going to the hatchery. The winning pot will be determined by the number of entrants but it can be a staggering amount of cash money! Smallest pot won was $5300.00, that was year one and largest was $13,880.00! We are expecting a big turnout and so far it looks like the Coho fishing will be great. Lets hope this drier milder weather holds for some time ahead. PLEASE REMEMBER, we are a cash business so bring cash, we do not take credit cards or interact.

Important Info: This year Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on Oct 13th. All customers with units or boats in the campground at that time need to come by the office and make arrangements for storage if needed. Otherwise please make sure you have your site clean and take your things home with you. If you are interested in storage please feel free to contact us and ask about our rates.

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report Aug.25/13

This past week Port Renfrew Marina has seen the best Chinook fishing many people have ever seen. Limit catches after limit catches are arriving at the cleaning stations by the wheelbarrow load! Though most of the fish are in the high teens to mid and high twenty's there are lots of them. Fishermen are reporting playing up to 30 springs a day so lots of action with many double headers.  

East Point to Walbran are all very good at various times of the day. Trolling anchovies on a 5 to 7 foot leader 30 to 50 feet down is the ticket. Most anglers are still claiming that the yellow/ greens in flashers and teaser heads and other gear in similar colors are working best. The very new and super hot teaser head we have is the chrome mint pearl. The new Green Onion flasher and Mystic Ice are popular also.

Offshore the "chicken ranch" has finally stated to slow down after a fantastic season. Just about time to start anchoring got your halibut again. The halibut season is extended until further notice to Sept. 18th so make the best of it.

Notable Catches:

• Don Colegrave  32  34

Regarding the notable catches, at this point it seems since we generally don't mention any under 30 pounds that we have very little. If we recorded fish in the 20's or even 25 and up we would have a hundred to list! I can't say how many springs we saw go by that were 28, 29 pounds.

    We are posting this picture given to us  by the BC Sportsfishing Coalition to inform all fishermen about what the DFO is doing with sports fishing halibut quotas. This is to help all fishermen become aware of what is going on and to alert you to this issue, we highly suggest you look into and research information for yourself.  The BC Sportsfishing Coalition has fought for an increased share in the halibut quota, a battle which they made positive steps toward getting a fair increase, but they are not there yet. When the court case is finished and appeals exhausted, they will know better what they have to do next... writing letters and sending cards will be  a part of it. The Coalition will reach out to everyone they can when they know what best to do in the future and we at the marina will help keep all of you informed as we become aware. At this time it is just an information piece and when letters become an important part of the struggle we will let everyone know.

Upcoming Event this Weekend: This coming weekend Port Renfrew Marina's Labor Day derby will be a go. The derby starts on Sat morning at dawn. Tickets are now available at the office, $60.00 a rod buys you a t-shirt, dinner catered by the Salmonberry Bistro, beverages and a live band, Ready Willing. There are raffles, silent and live auctions and many other prizes. First Place is $1000.00, 2nd $500.00 and 3rd $250.00. There is an adult bullhead derby Sat night from 9:30 to 10:30, cost is $10.00 all proceeds go to the local hatchery and a kids under 12 bullhead derby on Sun morning at 9:00 am for 1 hour, a first place win for a girl and a boy.  The donations are starting to roll in and we are so ever grateful for all the people and businesses who have donated and a special thanks goes to Odd Johansen and Larry DeFrane for doing a lot of running around up island for us. It really takes a big group effort to do fundraising and we thank everyone who has helped.

One more derby: Not long after Port Renfrew Marina will be having their annual Coho Derby "Winner Take All." This derby has reached an all time height in popularity. A simple plan, biggest Coho wins the pot, ranging anywhere from $5000.00 to almost $14000.00 one year. Maybe this year with the great Coho start we have had there will be a record turnout and that will mean of course a record pay out! Tickets are $25.00 a rod and $5.00 of each ticket goes to the hatchery. With no presentations, etc if you are out of the realm of winning you have the option to leave early if you prefer and not miss anything....except to see the winner collect ALL his cash. Please Remember: We are a cash business and only cash, make sure you arrive with cash and if you forget we have an ATM for your convenience.

Important: This year Port Renfrew Marina will be closing for the season on October 14th. It is very important you contact us with regards to storage if wanted for your boat or trailer. All customers with boats in storage already be aware of this date to pick up your boat.

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report Aug.19/13

For Port Renfrew Marina the spring fishing has slowed for the past 3 days but even so there are calm seas and lots of Coho that still provide a great day on the water. Once this low pressure passes we expect the fishing to pick up again. While the springs aren't in as many numbers as the past three weeks has shown they are still there in some numbers. Now is the time to try different teaser heads and flasher combos and maybe a floppier role to entice the large springs to bite. The east side of the bay continues to produce nice fish particularly at the Woods Nose end as that is where the net-pen fish are kept so they return to that area.

Coho continue to grow in size and in numbers and should produce one of our best late season Coho fisheries in recent years. Favorites with many anglers, the San Juan Coho are legendary for their size and fight. On light gear they are on top of the fun scale. Again, the choices for lures is many, anchovy, Coho killers , spoons and hoochies, mainly in the colors of greens and whites and variations of that all with a UV or glow factor.

Notable catches:

• Chris Arnold   32
• Rex Coburn     33
• Clive Walton    31
• Jody dick  40
• Jim Aggergaard  40
• Danny Anderson   31

Important news: Coming up very soon will be the 16th annual Port Renfrew Marina Labor Day Derby. The derby dates are Aug.31st and Sept.1st. As many of you know this is a long standing derby the marina does for salmon enhancement and the proceeds go directly to the local San Juan hatchery. We all believe that saving the wild salmon stocks for anglers here and now and also for the future generations is paramount. To help this poor hatchery that the government hasn't seen fit to add funding since 1992 is so very important to help them keep the salmon around for the present and future. Tickets are $60.00 a rod (cash only) and that includes a Port Renfrew Marina specially designed t-shirt for the derby, dinner served by the Salmonberry Bistro, beverages and a live band Ready Willing on Sunday night. We want to thank all the businesses so far that have generously donated to our derby and make a call out to anyone who may still be able to consider making a donation or knows someone who can.

For this Labor Day Derby so far we have 2 things that are being raffled. A Vision Grills BBQ and Smoker that is fully ceramic lined and a real beauty. Valued at $560.00 Tickets are $5.00 each or 3 for $10.00 and available at the office. Generously donated by Ian and Deb McGregor.

We also have a large gift basket full of some great things such as 1lb box of Purdys chocolates, Baileys, Pinot Noir wine, great with salmon, a new product called Capel Sour, a nice summer drink , chocolate/raspberry port, home grown Hardie Honey, home made maple syrup, an engraved Zippo lighter and 2 engraved wine glasses, Stash green tea, a fragrance diffuser and many more items! Valued at approx: $300.00 Tickets are $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00. Generously donated by the Port Renfrew General Store.

Coming up also is Port Renfrew Marina is having our Coho Derby "Winner Take All" on Oct.5th and 6th. This derby also supports the hatchery as $5.00 of each $25.00 ticket per rod goes to them. The rest goes in the pot for the winner of the biggest Coho. This derby is very popular. Have fun fishing for Coho which we are betting there will be plenty of this year and maybe also win a bag of cash! Please be aware we are a cash business and you do need cash for your tickets.

Important Info: Hard as it is to believe it won't be long before the marina will be closing. This year the marina will close on October 14th roughly two months from now. Please be aware of this date if you have anything in storage. It is crucial that you come by and make arrangements to pick up your unit and or boat or make arrangements for winter storage with us.

Bud & Rex