May2/11Port Renfrew Marina Report

Port Renfrew Marina opened this past weekend to calm seas and sunny skies.  We had pretty much a steady stream of people coming in to set up for the new season. We are all looking forward to having a great year. Fishing is very good for both halibut and spring salmon right now.  Halibut are close to shore this time of year in  70 to 100 feet of water. One even followed a crab trap up in the bay. The Columbia river Chinook run is predicted to be one of the strongest in years.

Notable catches for halibut:

• Desi Hatchard of http://www.viciousfishcharters.com  80, 90          pics to come soon

Chinook salmon can be found all along the coast with best results coming from fishing close to the bottom with small spoons and hootchies. Most are hatchery fish in the 12 to 20 pound range.

Crabbing is very good as usual this time of year although many are still soft but oh so sweet! 

Very Important News:  As many of you are aware Port Renfrew is entered in the WFN (World Fishing Network) contest for the "Ultimate Fishing Town" across Canada. We are a small town and weren't sure how it would go but here is it, one day from the first round ending and we are in the lead for the western side of Canada and in third place overall!!! The final round will be starting on May 10th and ends May 31st.  We want to urge everyone to vote for Port Renfrew  "the little town that could."  This takes you to make that commitment to get to your computer and vote and we can win this one click at a time!  Here is the link that takes you to where you would vote.  Also on our home page in the upper right hand corner is another link to take you to WFN. http://www.wfnfishingtown.ca/entries/portrenfrew-bc  The winnings for this contest is $25,000.00 and $2000.00 from the sponsor! Port Renfrew could make very good use of this money and as most of us know the hatchery out here is in dire straights running on a shoe string budget  and having the theft last year of their boat motor and generator set them back even further.  So PLEASE vote as much as you can, we know a three week stretch is hard to keep going but it is so important. You can vote up to 4 times a day, in the morning before 9:00 am after 9:00 am and again after 3:00 pm and again after 9:00 pm.

Other News:  The ATM is up and running for our customers and a reminder we are a cash business, we don't accept credit cards. Our pay phone is getting repaired and should be OK soon. The phone at the marina is also reactivated. All previous customers that were seasonal must contact us asap if they are wanting to keep their spots for this year. We again have many new inquiries and we need to know what camp spots are available. You have until May 15th to reach us regarding your site. We now have GAS, DIESEL and BAIT. 

Bud & Rex

Port Renfrew Marina Report April 2011

Another season for Port Renfrew Marina is soon upon us. We apologize for the late report as we usually have word out regarding the new year in late March. There have been a string of of incidents that have delayed us but better late than never! We are sure everyone is looking forward to start their fishing season and see some warmer weather. For seasonals that are wanting to set up you can start bringing your units in on the Easter long weekend. There will be staff there to help. Anyone that is wanting to keep their spots should be notifying us asap and for those who are not returning we would appreciate you letting us know that your site is open for others. For new people, you can contact us and we can keep you updated as to the availability.

Please note and review on our site the rates page. Unfortunately some things have gone up slightly. Also we are having problems with our site being listed in Google.  It works fine if you type it into your browser location bar directly:  portrenfrewmarina.com. If you know of anyone having issues finding our site please send them the link (or you can access it from Google Maps).   Thank you and we are sorry for anyone finding this frustrating as we certainly are!

Important News: An organization called WFN World Fishing Network is sponsoring a contest for Canada's Ultimate Fishing Town. The town that wins will get a $25,000.00 donation to use for the community in ways they feel would benefit the town and fishing. Port Renfrew would benefit greatly with a contribution that large! We would like to see some of those funds go to good causes such as the San Juan Salmon Hatchery, the town Information Center, possibly the school or the local church and maybe some kind of ideas for a place for teens to gather in a safe and fun environment but whatever the monies get used for we are sure the town will benefit huge. Port Renfrew came in first in the nomination phase and that was fantastic and now we are in the voting phase of the contest. Anyone can vote that has a email address and you can vote with each address you have, no matter how many and you can vote up to 4 times a day at the scheduled intervals. Voting is on-line and very easy. Simply go to the Port Renfrew website at  www.wfnfishingtown.ca, find the "vote" button over on the right hand side and click on it. You will then be asked to fill in your name and e-mail address. Then click in  the "I agree" box. Then copy in the 2 words given in the anti-spamming box and then you click Submit (the first time you do this, you'll be asked to verify your email address...just once though). We need EVERYONE to do this for Port Renfrew and we hope enough people will. At this point we are trailing Port Hardy and we need to win this, one click at a time!!  You can vote every 6-hours, and you can also vote from as many email addresses as you have access to.  Create yourself some extra hotmail or gmail accounts and do some extra voting!   The voting started April 12th and goes until May 3rd. Port Renfrew in a small town and we hope it will end up being the little town that could!

We look forward to seeing all our customers again and meeting our new ones for the coming season. Lets hope the fishing is great this year!

Bud & Rex

Oct.13/10 Port Renfrew Marina Closing Report

Port Renfrew Marina's 2010 season has now come to an end. This year went by so quickly, each month seemed to fly by and now another fishing season is over for the Port Renfrew area. 2010 fishing was about average for Chinook salmon, certainly not anything great when compared to the incredible 2007 spring returns. There seems to be less springs over the 40 pound mark although we did have six over 50 pounds this year. Most of the springs caught this year were in the mid 20 to mid 30 pound range. The white springs that usually show up in late Aug and early Sept. never did show up.

Halibut catches remained very strong right up to closing time. It may well be the best year ever that we have had for large halibut.

Coho returns are very strong. Great catches were hitting the docks on a daily basis right up to the day we closed. The only problem was the poor weather for Sept and Oct made for difficult fishing at times.

2010 saw the first Sockeye opening since 2006 and this time there were actually were fish to be caught and lots of them! Everyone was getting their limits, it was an amazing fishery for these tasty fish this year.

Port Renfrew Marina is now closed for the season and will reopen May 1, 2011. For those who may have their boats or units still to be picked up please do so as soon as possible and check in with our caretakers Wayne & Gwen Coleman for times available to get through the gate. The gate will be locked this winter.  Please note that if you do not pick your unit or boat up soon winter rates for storage will apply. You must notify the caretakers when you come to pick up your boat. Please also make sure you leave your campsite clean of debris and garbage to discourage bears and other problem animals such as rodents. There will be a $100.00 fee for any site that is left in an unacceptable condition.  For anyone who still has an outstanding account for the season to please be diligent and contact us. The marina phone number is set up to call forward to our number and after one month it will say "NOT IN SERVICE". This will be in effect until approximately April of 2011.  

Please Note: No units will be allowed out of the marina during the dates of Oct.18 to Nov.18th due to the fact that our caretakers will be away and the fellow filling in has been advised to not let any boats or units to leave the property of the marina for security reasons. If you are not wanting to incur storage fees please make sure you remove your boat or unit before this date.

All of us at Port Renfrew Marina wish all our customers, new and old for a safe, healthy winter and look forward to seeing you again in the spring for another great year of fishing.

Bud & Rex

Oct.04/10 Port Renfrew Marina Fishing Report

At Port Renfrew Marina Coho fishing has been fantastic for the past 10 days or so. Many boats are reporting 15 to 20 hookups in only a few hours. Nice size fish with many in the 14 to 18 pound range.

 

Baitrix in strips and anchovy have been on fire! Hoochies, bait and spoons on short leaders are also producing.

The Coho Derby for 2010 was a big success with a great turnout of many fishermen who were happy to see $5.00 of the entry fee go towards the hatchery. This year we had calm seas, sunny mild weather and lots of fish to make a GREAT derby and many happy smiling faces.  We had four hundred entrants bringing in $10,000.00, with $8,000.00 going to the winning pot and $2,000.00 going to the San Juan hatchery.  This years winner was Brent Eliason who weighed in a 21 pound 1 ounce Coho early on Sat and it held up for the rest of the derby. We had many others come in in the 18's, 19's and a 20.1  pounder brought in by John Holman.

  Brent Eliason winner of $8,000.00

 

Important Date to Note: 

Port Renfrew Marina will be closing on Oct.11th. Please make sure you have contacted us regarding your boat if in storage and your unit if you are leaving it over the winter. If not winter storage rates will apply. Please call us asap or come in to make arragements. After the 11th the gate will be locked.

Bud & Rex

Sept.26/10 Port Renfrew Marina Update

Port Renfrew Marina is seeing the Coho showing up in some great numbers. This past weekend pretty much all the fishermen coming into the docks had limit catches and many are in the high teens. Most catches are still in the area of the whistle bouy between 400 feet and 600 feet with spoons, anchovy and hoochies being the recommended bait.  On Saturday and Sunday we had some rough weather just at the mouth of the bay but for the most part the seas weren't too bad. Some heavy rain was predicted for the area but never came until late Saturday afternoon and overnight, leaving both days with mild conditions. The weather is predicted for the next few days to be nice and lets all hope that it stays that way for the upcoming Coho Derby this weekend. So far the fishing looks very promising! Notable Catches:

• Neil Hanson   20lb Coho
• Wally Brouse  18lb Coho
• Vic Pross  15 Coho in two days
• Kelly Wagner of Last Chance Charters 14 Coho
• Brad McDonald  5 Coho  17 lb biggest

Port Renfrew Marina's Coho Derby "Winner Take All"  is this weekend Oct.2nd and 3rd. The entry fee is $25.00, $20.00 of which goes to the winning pot and $5.00 goes directly to the San Juan Hatchery. Recently the hatchery had their boat motor stolen and a pump. This theft has really set them back and it is really frustrating to hear this after so many people rose to the occasion to help raise funds for the year. Luckily the money raised helped them with this but now their funds have been drained again. So this donation from the Coho Derby will be even more important this year. Why not come,  go fishing and at the same time help the hatchery out and maybe go home with a bundle of money!

       Bud & Rex