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’tis the season once again. The boats are back on the water, the sun is shining, great weather, great fishing.
Halibut are getting caught on Swiftsure Bank and along the shore spots. Here’s a couple beauties from Jolly Rogers Fishing Charters.
Not too many salmon reports lately, but most of the fishing effort has been for halibut. Will pass on reports as they arrive….or send in a report and we’ll post it up!
See you on the water.
Fishing is pretty much done for the year in Port Renfrew, leaving the ocean to the surfers and storm watchers.
Deanna from “Love Sooke” visited Port Renfrew recently to check out the storm, finding some wild wind and waves at Botanical Beach.
If you do venture out, make sure you bring your rain gear though — as everyone knows, the Port Renfrew/Bamfield/Barkley Sound area is one of the rainiest places on earth. In the big storm on Nov 13th, Port Renfrew saw rain nearly 10mm/hour at one point and 50mm over the day (2 inches). That’s a downpour!
And also…be very careful if you are visiting the exposed open ocean at Botanical or other spots. Waves come in sets, with gaps in between — meaning it may seem calm now, but in a minute or two there could be large waves. Also, rogue waves can happen, with one wave substantially larger than anything else. Respect the power of mother ocean, keep your distance from the water’s edge.
Have fun!
The Swiftsure Bank season may be winding up, but the coho salmon fishing is just starting. The fish are starting to move inshore and they will get bigger and bigger over the next few weeks, as they feed voraciously on anything they can get. Which of course is good news for anglers, as hungry fish means great action!
As of Sept 11, you can keep 4 coho, wild or hatchery, to the west of Bonilla Point (area 121). Otherwise, fishing closer to Port Renfrew you can keep up to 4 coho, 2 of which can be wild — but only if caught inside the harbour. And after Oct 1, you can keep 1 wild, but only if caught outside the harbour. Here’s the regs.
Port Renfrew Marina’s coho derby is on Oct 3/4 this year … a winner take all event, always a good time. $25 a rod, with $5 going to the San Juan Hatchery (and some lucky angler goes home with a pretty good chunk of change in their pocket).
Have fun out there … ’tis the season for early winter storms, so watch the weather and be safe!
Fishing continues to be excellent ! Nice weather and a steady stream of Chinooks are coming into the docks. An abundance of Chinook in teens and twenty range are coming in as well as the occasional large ones up to 40 lbs. There are a few pinks around still but the bulk appear to have moved on making it easier to target the Chinooks without going through large amounts of bait. A few coho are showing up and are beginning to get into the low teens for size, although only the hatchery coho can be kept.
With a bit of rain and some salmon heading up stream soon this should also mean better and better halibut fishing as well throughout September.
Summer is in full swing in Port Renfrew, lots of salmon and halibut being caught out at Swiftsure Bank, plus some nice size salmon on the Beach. Here’s a beauty caught with Jolly Rogers Fishing Adventures.
And check out this video from Wild Renfrew, showing how nice a place Port Renfrew is for a visit. A lot more to do than just fishing! (though the fishing is of course pretty spectacular on its day)
Fishing is ON in Port Renfrew. Reports of salmon double headers on the Beach and quick limits of halibut out at Swiftsure Bank. Here’s a haul of tasty halibut from Pacific Sportsfishing Charters.
Below is a video of fun day halibut and salmon fishing with Jolly Rogers Fishing Charters, back in May.
Spring fishing in Port Renfrew continues to be steady for Salmon and Halibut. Vicious Fish Charters reports Chinook being caught at the rock pile 66 ft deep on needle fish hoochie and halibut at the “Rabbit Ears” in 170 ft of water on herring.
The Port Renfrew Marina opened again on May 1st, so those of you with boats, it’s time to trailer them up to Port Renfrew and start chasing the great South-West Vancouver Island fishing once again. If you don’t have a boat, there is a group of great fishing guides waiting to take you out — see the Charters page for some recommendations and book your dream fishing day. Summer dates tend to fill up pretty fast, so don’t wait too late or you may miss out.
Port Renfrew halibut and salmon haul
This is one of those recipes that is dead easy, but will make your guests go WOW. Make twice as much as you think you need, they will eat it all, and mop up the little bits left over too.
This cooking style is intended for a whole fish, with skin and head on. Works really well for a small salmon or a rockfish. However, it is also fine to use a filet of salmon or halibut.
Rub the inside of the fish or the filet with pureed ginger.
Steam the fish in a pot — use a vegetable steamer or anything to lift the fish out of the water. 7 minutes is enough for a small whole fish. Like always, it is better to slightly under cook fish than to over cook it.
While steaming, heat a half cup of vegetable oil with a few drops of sesame oil. Heat until hot but stop short of smoking.
While oil heating up, in a bowl add 1/4 cup of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons rice vinegar.
Dice a handful of cilantro and a handful of green onions. (rinse them before and let them drip dry…want them as dry as possible, not dripping wet)
Place steamed fish on a plate or platter. Put cilantro and green onions on top.
Pour the hot oil over top. This will sizzle the cilantro and green onions (which is why you want them dry, oil will explode any water left…so stand back and ensure nothing nearby that can get damaged from oil splatter).
Pour the soy mix over to finish.
And there you have asian style fish … Yum.
Reports from Swiftsure Bank are that the fishing is about as good as it gets. Lots of salmon from 15-25 pounds. Lots of halibut to 40 pounds. If you are looking to catch some fish … it is prime time, now is the time to get out to Port Renfrew and get on the water.
Jolly Rogers Fishing: http://vancouverislandfishing.ca/
A family and friends day of Port Renfrew halibut fishing with JR of Jolly Rogers Fishing Adventures. Nice calm day, warm sunny weather, and steady action to keep everyone having fun. No luck with the salmon, but a few nice halibut for fish n chip dinner. Late May off Vancouver Island….very very nice.