Mike Johns from Heavy Hauler reports that Port Renfrew’s salmon fishing has been slow in the last few days, with some of the guides going all the way to Pachena looking for springs. He says the coho have shown up in great numbers off of the 170 on Swiftsure Bank, which is good news. He says the halibut fishing has continued to produce, with his last charter landing a nice 89 lb halibut and some quality ling cod.
Jolly Rogers backs up this report, stating there’s Spring salmon to be had every day if you stick with it and work for them (although a little bit of luck doesn’t hurt). He also says the halibut have been plentiful on the Bank as well as coho. The coho are good sized salmon around 8 pounds. His guests have been having fun with a 6 weight fly rod loaded with light monofilament….get an 8 pounder on that light gear, and it will fight harder than a Tyee. Puts the sport back into sportfishing!
So…Port Renfrew continues to be worth a go. There’s some slow moments, but still decent fish being taken — the only way one’ll be yours is if you dip a line. And if you have the means to get out the Bank, now’s the time to make it happen, because when both the halibut and coho fishing are good, it is amazing fishing fun out there.