It is with regret we are announcing that the normal May 1st opening of the Marina and Campground will be delayed this year due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Like everyone else, we will be monitoring this situation and in a couple of weeks will revisit the idea of opening providing the statistics continue to improve.
Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause our guests and thank you for your understanding.
Rex CoburnFirstly let me apologize for not getting anything posted to our website sooner. Sadly as many of you know, long term Marina guest Bob Culm passed away last Fall.
Bob had been taking care of our website revisions and updates.
As we are finally now officially in the Spring of 2020 and our scheduled opening date of May 1 is less than six weeks away, seasonal guests have been visiting the campground to check out their RV's and making plans for the season ahead.
The Covid 19 situation is creating challenges for everyone. A number of residents and businesses in the Village of Port Renfrew have expressed their concerns about tourists and other non residents transmitting the virus to this small community. There are also reports of the same visitors making purchases at the General Store which has created food shortages for the community.
For those of you who are coming in the near future to the Marina to check out your units, please ensure you have sufficient fuel in your vehicle for the return trip and have enough food and drink with you before you leave home. The geographic location of our facility makes it entirely possible for you to avoid the rest of this community which is justifiably concerned.
Also, as we are currently working onsite now, please remember to keep the Provincial Health Officer's mandated distance of two metres of separation from our workers and other patrons onsite, or even better postpone your visit until we have all turned the corner on this serious health situation.
With the Covid 19 situation evolving pretty much daily, we will do our best to keep you informed as to how it applies to our facility.
Thank you all for your continuing interest and patronage..
Thank you and be well.
Rex
Our 22nd annual Labour Day Chinook Derby was held on August 31 and September 1, 2019.
Since mid July, anglers in Port Renfrew had enjoyed some of the best Chinook fishing we have seen in several years, but fishing tapered off a bit in the last week of August.
The event was once again well attended with 286 anglers participating and an exciting finish with several leader board changes before the final 1 PM final weigh in time on Sunday.
Glen Wilson held the lead at the end of fishing on Saturday with his 25 lb 2 oz chrome beauty.
Terry Van Wieren hooked and landed the eventual winning fish early Sunday morning but didn't weigh it in until 90 minutes before the final weigh in time. Glen Wilsons fish held up to capture 2nd place, while Bobby Johnson's 23 lb 13 oz Chinook took 3rd spot.
Thank you once again to the Lake Cowichan Kinsmen and Kinettes for looking after the catering, great job and well done guys. The Victoria band "Freeze Frame"played their dance music following the awards presentations which everyone enjoyed. Thank you once again for making the trip out to Renfrew as you have many times in the past.
Another big thank you goes out to Sharon Winters and all her volunteers for putting together another fantastic array of prizes. Sharon took on this job this year after assisting Tedi in previous derby's, well done Sharon.
As most of our regular clientele know, this annual event is our major fundraiser for salmon enhancement with a total of $9,600 being raised at this years derby. A special thank you goes out to all the businesses and individuals for their generous donations allowing this to happen. This is another example of the sport fishing community stepping up to raise funds for salmon enhancement. Thank you again to all derby participants for your continuing support for this event.
Rex
Labour Day Weekend Salmon Derby Winners Pictures
2019 WINNER TAKES ALL COHO DERBY
The 2019 Coho Derby will take place on September 28th and 29th. Fishing will take place on Saturday, September 28 from dawn until 6 PM, when weigh in closes. Fishing will take place on Sunday, September 29 from dawn until final weigh in time at 1 PM, after which the winner will be declared.
Fishing boundaries will be from San Juan Point to Bonilla Point.
The entrance fee will once again be $25.00 per rod with $5.00 from each entrance fee going directly to salmon enhancement.
$20.00 from each entrance fee will be paid to the WINNER. In the event of a tie, the first fish weighed in shall be declared the winner.
The BIG DIFFERENCE in this years Coho Derby is that it is for HATCHERY MARKED, FIN CLIPPED COHO ONLY. Unmarked Coho are not eligible in the derby.
Although not required, for those interested, there will be 2 side bets available. One side bet for $20 per boat and another for $50 per boat. Again these are not required for participation in the Coho Derby.
As most of you know, this has been a season where DFO has thrown us a few curves when it comes to Chinook retention.
First, after imposing a non retention of Chinook order on Area 20-1 until July 15, they hit us with an 80 cm slot size limit three days before the non retention order was to be lifted. Next on the afternoon of July 14, an order was imposed on 20-1 reducing the daily catch limit of Chinook from two per day to one. After being challenged on this latest last minute change, DFO did issue a "correction" to that notice and WE CURRENTLY HAVE A TWO PER DAY CATCH LIMIT.
During the period of the slot size limit, fishing was very good and in particular the cut pluggers did very well with a lot of bigger Chinooks during that time. We have reports of Chinooks with estimates of weights up to the low forty pound range and numerous fish in the thirties. Although there are still some fish in that range, we have been seeing lots of "cookie cutter" fish in the fifteen to twenty pound range in the last couple of weeks. Anchovies trolled behind flashers remains the most popular technique for catching these fish. Lately there has been lots of baitfish in our waters. We expect the good fishing to continue until the Labour Day weekend as it typically does.
The Swiftsure Bank Halibut fishery has remained consistent through the first one half of our season with lots of "chicken" halibut and also numerous larger fish in the forty to fifty pound range have been taken.
The Dungeness Crab fishery which was outstanding earlier this year, has dropped off lately with an abundance of female crabs being caught and released.
The Marina and Camp ground are currently quite busy with most of our sites with power and water occupied. Having said that, dry camping sites are always available along with daily and monthly moorage.
Our annual Labour Day weekend Derby takes place on August 31 and September 1 this year.
Hope to see you soon
Rex
To begin with, let me apologize for the delay in getting this update to you. We have been busy at the Marina this Spring with maintenance and other onsite upgrades which will hopefully improve the experience here for both campers and boaters.
As most of you know, the long awaited DFO fishing plan was announced and later posted a few weeks ago. Although the Port Renfrew area did end up having some restrictions placed on the early season Chinook fishery, we did fare better than the immediate area to the East, particularly Sooke and Victoria. A non retention of Chinook order is in place until July 15 after which anglers will be able to retain two Chinooks per day. Coho salmon are currently allowed to be retained as long as they are marked fish with the adipose fin removed with a limit of two fish per day.
Having said that, a catch and release Chinook fishery is taking place here now. Generally we have seen spotty fishing results for the first six weeks of our season which started on May 1st. Fishing has noticeably improved since June 15 particularly for some of our die hard cut pluggers some of which have reported having hooked and released half a dozen Chinooks in a day. This trend is expected to improve as we are now seeing an abundance of bait fish in our area.
The early season Halibut fishery has generally been consistent on the days when the fishermen can get out to the grounds as we have seen our share of windy days since opening. Lots af Hali's in the forty to sixty pound range have been taken by those who have endured the weather. Some of the local guides are now reporting good returns of smaller "chickens" from Swiftsure Bank recently. Fishing for Ling Cod and other rock fish has been slow so far, however one bit of good news here is that the area immediately to the East of San Juan Point which was closed last Summer to all fin fish angling, will now once again be open to ground fish angling. The Providence and Sombrio areas which traditionally have been popular for Lings and ground fish are now open. Chinook fishing in that area will remain as non retention until August 1 when a one fish per day terminal fishery commences, followed by a two fish per day limit after the end of August.
Our campsite is now relatively full with our seasonal guests many of which have been coming for years however there are still unserviced sites available along with a few sites serviced with power and water. Our newly reconfigured launch ramp is now operational which we expect will speed up the launching and haul out times.
Camp fires are currently still permitted although with the dry weather conditions we have been experiencing, those regulations could change in the next few weeks.
Thanks Rex!
