Spring has sprung and we’ve got fishing fever … the only prescription is more cowbell.

Here’s a video of some highlights from the 2013 season for Hindsight Fishing Charters.

“John Wells shows his guests some fun out of Port Renfrew, on Vancouver Island’s south-west coast. Trophy Chinook (king) salmon, jumping coho (silver) salmon, halibut, and other creatures from the deep. Out at Swiftsure Bank or along the beach, it’s good times all day long! www.hindsightfishing.com”

Not a lot of fishing reports out of Port Renfrew yet, as it is still early season.   Still, hearing of a few fun days from Hindsight Fishing Charters.  A lot of halibut in close and some nice salmon too.   Early season crabbing, as always, is incredible.

Access is an issue though as both Marinas aren’t open until May. Port Renfrew Marina says they will be around starting April 25th, but not officially open until May 1st.

Here’s an interesting video to wet your whistle.  Taken in Alaska, depth 120 feet, on a sunny day.  It is interesting to see the halibut’s behaviour in the water. The fun starts at around 4min mark.  The halibut checks it out for quite a while before finally grabbing it.  Then once hooked, fights hard.   The video is impressive, in that it is aimed at the fish the whole time and also that it’s light enough to see at 120 feet.

See you on the water soon!

Port Renfrew fishing update from Hindsight Fishing Charters:

It’s early in the season for both Halibut & Salmon but by the looks of the fishing it’s not.

The Salmon fishing on the beach has been good but lots of small fish. Feeders. If this wind would calm down for a day or two I could get out to the West and try for Salmon. I will be looking for the incoming migrating of the Columbia River Chinook over the next few weeks. If you want to find feeders just around Owen Point is a good bet fishing 70 ft. Remember the Underwater boilers or you will be leaving you leads behind. Top gear from Gibbs Delta Tackle this week has been Madi with the Coho Killer Irish Cream. Plus while anchored up We where jerk fishing with a Delta Tackle Jumbo Anchovie 10 oz. lost one nice Halibut on the trout rod plus put a nice dinner Chinook in the boat. I find the Green Glow in the Jumbo Anchovie works great for Halibut while the current is slack.

On the Halibut front, fishing is great. Down to the East you have great fishing off Jordan River. Sombrio has produced also over the last few weeks also.
The West is very good if you can get out between storms. We have been using Salmon belly, Large Herring with a Delta Grub

This time of year in Renfrew you need to pay attention to the weather. If coming up to Renny remember the Port Renfrew Marina is not open and we have no gas in town. The native ramp is open for launching.

Here’s something to consider for Swiftsure Bank when the coho salmon are everywhere — would be a good fishing challenge to land one while balanced on a surfboard.  Or in the San Juan River mouth by Port Renfrew town, early September!

Anglers have been waiting for news about the halibut fishery for 2014. Great news that it has been announced a lot earlier than the last few years.  Halibut fishing will open Feb 1st with the same rules as 2013. On April 1st, there’s a slight size increase.   All great news for fishing in Port Renfrew!

The days are getting longer, the bulbs are starting to bloom, feels like we are turning the corner … looking forward to getting out on the water in Port Renfrew soon!

Details on halibut: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/species-especes/halibut-fletan-eng.html

2014 HALIBUT LIMITS

Halibut fishing will open for most of the coast on Feb. 1, 2014 until further notice, see restrictions below.  FN0076 2014-01-31

Effective February 1 – March 31, 2014:

• Maximum length is 126 cm.
• The daily limit is 1.
• The possession limit is 2, only one of which may be greater than 83cm in length.
• The annual limit is 6 halibut per licence holder. Note: Any halibut caught during the period of Apr. 1, to Dec. 31, 2013 and Feb. 1 to March 31, 2014 will count towards the annual limit as authorized under the 2013/2014 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence.
• All halibut retained by the licence holder shall be immediately recorded in ink on the 2013-2014 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence. The area from which each halibut is caught and its length shall immediately be recorded on licence.

Effective Apr. 1, 2014 until further notice:

• The maximum length is 133 cm.
• The daily limit is 1.
• The possession limit is 2, only one of which may be greater than 90cm in length.
• Annual limit of 6 halibut per licence holder as authorized under the 2014/2015 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence.
• All halibut retained by the licence holder shall be immediately recorded in ink on the 2014-2015 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence. The area from which each halibut is caught and its length shall immediately be recorded on licence.

Dan Eaton posted up some photos of an amazing batch of candied smoked salmon.  Here’s how he made it:

• Since I was using frozen feeder spring I needed a dry out brine so it holds together.
• 2 cups golden sugar, 2 cups demerra sugar, one cup coarse salt and a little bit of garlic powder.
• Put a layer of strips in the bucket then cover with the dry brine then repeat till it is gone.
• After about 5 hours the salt/sugar had dissolved then I mixed in a 250 ml bottle of good maple syrup.
• It was in the brine for 24 hours and came out nice and firm, no droppers for the 24 hour hang.
• It will go into the smoker for a couple pans of cherry and after the smoke it will get a shower of rum, syrup, and honey mix.

Now that is impressive.  With a few batches of that beautiful salmon, Christmas shopping is taken care of.

Happy Holidays!

Des from http://viciousfishcharters.com/

Here’s a video of something a little different.  There is more and more interest in albacore tuna fishing off Vancouver Island’s west coast. These fish are great fun to catch, with frantic action once you find the school.   Fresh tuna is also one of the best treats that come from the sea.

Most of the anglers chasing tuna do so from Bamfield, Tofino, or points north, as the warm blue water needed is closer to shore.  This video is a rare Port Renfrew tuna fishing trip, with Jolly Rogers Fishing Adventures, September 2013. The lines were untied at 3am, motoring in the dark the 85 miles to the tuna grounds.   Trolling for tuna all day until the ice ran out, then a quick run back in calm seas.  Tied up the boat at 9pm, just before dark. A super long day, a super fun fishing trip!

Summer has passed us by and it is now Fall … and Port Renfrew is quiet on the fishing front.   There are lots of fish in the rivers though, making their way upstream for the annual spawning …. hopefully another good year, making for more great fishing in future.

Remembering another fun summer, here’s a video of a day with Hindsight Fishing Charters … salmon and halibut fishing on Swiftsure Bank.  Good times, already looking forward to next summer’s adventures.

It sounds like there’s a late season spring/chinook bite on right now…when you get a report like the one below from No Bananas Trevor, then it is time to get out to Port Renfrew while the getting is good!

“Who woulda thought 15/20 spring days in sept !!! Maybe 5 or 6 boats out and all killing it . Had a triple header two 25lb springs and a 20 something coho ! Coho went back but pretty cool to see.”

BEFORE: that’s what you want a sounder to look like…the big clumps are bait-fish, the arcs are chinook salmon

AFTER: Nice chinook salmon hooked and landed, smiles and tasty dinner tonight!

RJ has a great day fishing in Port Renfrew

“This Port Renfrew day truly turned out to be one of the best charters I’ve ever been on.RJ had his first deep sea fishing adventure with www.fishwestcoastsportfishing.com and was rewarded with limits of Chinook Salmon up to 22 lbs and Halibut up to 38 lbs.The beach was on fire, between Logan and Walbran Creeks, for Salmon using anchovies in a red gold teaser head behind a gold betsy flasher in 60 ft of water and we had non stop action.  For the Halibut we were fishing the shelves off Caramanah Creek in 180 ft of water using Pink Salmon Bellies. Port Renfrew can provide a memorable fishing adventure for all levels of experience, contact one of the experienced guides and they can help accommodate all anglers to a trip of a lifetime.”

Screaming Reels Swiftsure Special

Darrin from screamingreelscharters.com adds his take on the fishing lately:  “Chinook salmon have been really good along the beach from east point and all the way to logan creek. As well as the coho and pink salmon. Swiftsure banks are still fishing strong with lots of whales breaching in and around our fishing grounds. Halibut are still biteing with an average size of 15-25 lbs”.

Now is a great time to visit Port Renfrew and get out on the water for a fishing adventure.