After the regular January closure, to allow halibut to spawn, it looks like it is “game on” once again, starting February 1st. The halibut limit is one fish per day, two in possession.
There are additional conservation meetings coming up soon, so hopefully this doesn’t change….but for now, that’s good news!
Fishery Notice Report DFO has held initial consultations with the Sport Fishing Advisory Board (SFAB)on halibut management options for the 2010 season.
As an interim measure DFO will open the fishery February 1 at a daily limit of one (1) and a possession limit of two (2). When Canada’s allocation under the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) is known after the IPHC’s annual meeting in late January, DFO will convene meetings with the SFAB to complete management measures for the 2010 season. These measures will be announced as soon as possible.
Coastwide
Effective at 00:01 hours February 1, 2010 fishing for halibut will be opened coastwide. The daily limit is one (1) per day with a possession limit of two (2).
The exceptions to this opening are:
Areas 121, 23 and 123:Effective 00:01 hours February 1, 2010 to 23:59 hours December 31, 2010:- No person shall fish for or retain halibut, rockfish and lingcod in Area 121outside the 12 nautical mile limit seaward of a line that begins at 48 degrees34.000 minutes North latitude and 125 degrees 17.386 minutes West longitude and continues south easterly at a bearing of 116 degrees True to a point at 48degrees 28.327 minutes North latitude and 125 degrees 01.687 minutes West longitude.- Electronic licence conditions will be continued as follows:”Only a Canadian resident may fish for or retain halibut under an electronic licence in management Areas 121, 23 and 123.”
Area 121:A reminder to recreational harvesters, that the waters of Swiftsure Bank,inside a line from 48°34.00′N and 125°06.00′W, thence to 48°34.00′N and 124°54.20′W, thence to 48°29.62′N and 124°43.40′W, thence following the International Boundary between Canada and the U.S. to 48°29.55′N and 124°56.20′W, thence in a straight line to the point of commencement, are closed to all finfish, all year.
Note: Rockfish Conservations Areas (RCA’s) remain in effect – refer to the following website for descriptions:http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/restricted-restreint/rca-acs-eng.htm
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Devona Adams 604-666-3271 or Tamee Mawani 604-666-9033
No fishing to report in Port Renfrew…so how about some youtube surfing.
What you don’t want to see when attempting to leave the rivermouth heading out to Swiftsure Bank…
Surf kayakers having some fun.
Flight from Port Renfrew to the north…not all that exciting, but a fly-over of the prime summer salmon fishing spots. If you don’t know Port Renfrew, gives a sense of the geography.
Send us your interesting links, photos, and videos for Port Renfrew!
Not much fishing going on in Port Renfrew this time of year, with the west coast of Vancouver Island at is stormiest. But the surfers are happy and the rainforest is lush…nice for a hike (just bring your rain gear!). Looking forward to salmon and halibut fishing adventures soon…
Enjoy some photos of a day out in and around Port Renfrew.
A video showing some highlights from the 2009 fishing season in Port Renfrew. Salmon and halibut fishing on Vancouver Island’s wild west coast, with John Wells of Hindsight Fishing Charters. Hope you enjoy it! [Note: we are trying out Vimeo for the first time to upload videos. If you have trouble loading the video or can't view it, please use the comments section on this page or email us, info@fishingportrenfrew.ca]
No Port Renfrew fishing reports to pass along today…stormy weather, cold temperatures, not many people chasing salmon and halibut out of Port Renfrew this time of year.
A couple of videos from the Internet to pass along. First is Jolly Rogers Fishing Adventures, showing a fun September late season day, catching chinook salmon, coho salmon, halibut, and ling cod out on Swiftsure Bank.
Reminder that Port Renfrew Marina‘s coho derby is this weekend, Oct 3-4, 2009. Entry fee is $25.00 with $5.00 from each entry going to the local San Juan Hatchery. This derby is “Winner Take All”.
With the excellent coho fishing this year and good weather forecast, it is highly likely there will be a lot more entrants this year, so the prize should be a lot bigger…above $10,000 is probable.
Note that the Port Renfrew Marina closes this year on October 12th.
Halibut fishing is excellent right now for biggies — Des from Vicious Fishing Charters has been catching some really nice halibut, around 100 pounds and more.
Get out there while the weather’s still good! Winter waves and wind are coming soon…
Each day is different offshore…lately it has been huge schools of coho and lots of halibut…this day it was lots of big ling cod and feeder spring salmon. Lots of fun, either way.
The coho are stacked up in front of the San Juan rivermouth, and there is lots of fun to be had trolling shallow or casting from the boat. They are jumping all over the place, and hooking into a 20 pounder right at the surface is as good as salmon fishing gets!
For the next few weeks, as more and more coho arrive, Port Renfrew will offer some of the best salmon fishing on Vancouver Island. Check out Port Renfrew Marina’s coho derby on Oct 3 and 4. $25 to enter, with $5 to salmon enhancement and the rest to the winner….with the great fishing drawing more people in, this year’s purse will probably top $10,000.
Spring salmon fishing in Port Renfrew is slowing down, and most anglers are now targetting coho. That being said, Port Renfrew Marina reports Hugh Hamer caught a 40.5 pound tyee at Camper Creek this week….and earlier in the week Troy Halliday of Fishing360charters caught a 50 pounder (and then a 37 pounder the next day)…so there’s still a few big spring salmon around!
The Marina’s big coho derby is Oct 3 and 4. $25 per rod, with $5 to the hatchery and winner take the rest…jackpots up to $14,000 in prior years….plus the fun is free!
Kelly from Last Chance Fishing Charters sends in the following report: “Fishing in Port Renfrew is still good, lots of Coho in Juan de Fuca Strait and on Swiftsure Bank. Halibut fishing was good on the anchor on the “dink” reef off of Nitinat, but halibut was slow and small on the bank. [next day] Squid kept grabbing the halibut bait, switching over to smaller plastic and drifting was better today, I gave up on the anchor after getting squidded on my first few pieces of bait.”
Here’s a picture of Dale from Australia with a huge Humboldt squid caught with Jolly Rogers Fishing Charters He catches them back home, so he knows what to do with them: “Lattice cut it, then cut it into 1 inch pieces and dust it in cajun and flour, salt and pepper. Then wok toss it in butter and garlic, serve with some sweet chilli sauce on the side). Came out well.the squid tasted good and was tender“. So there you go!
As the coho move into the San Juan harbour, fishing close to shore should get better and better. Maurice from the San Juan Hatchery reports there are lots of coho in the bay, and a significant number have entered the river. For those fresh water inclined, this might be a good weekend to get a small boat and drift the river….big coho + light tackle = big-time fishing fun and adventure.
Click here to read DC Reid’s article on Vancouver Island shore fishing. Here’s what he says about Port Renfrew: “Port Renfrew is high on the list as it has the largest coho on the Island. Last week there were more than a thousand Chinook in the San Juan System, and the third week in September is the traditional time to fish the estuary below the bridge with spinners and spoons early and late in the day.”
Jolly Rogers Fishing Charters reports: “Late summer has provided excellent fishing out of Port Renfrew. We have had good catches of salmon and halibut lately. The photo is Kevin Robinson and crew from Grand Prairie, with a good catch of spring and coho salmon, halibut and ling cod. The Coho salmon are large and plentiful … fishing should be good well into October this year!“
Kelly from Last Chance Fishing Charters reports that the spring salmon fishing on the beach has slowed, but there are lots of nice big fat coho, plus a lot of feeder spring salmon (10-15 pounds) on the bottom in 70-200 feet off the Harbour mouth. For something different, he reports a lot of Humboldt Squids around….some guys hooknig 2-3 per day. He took home 3, using the tentacles for halibut bait, and the mantles for Calamari. “In the event anyone wants to target these things, start in 100 feet of water and troll out slowly with salmon gear (They seem to like spoons), and when you get a dead weight that bounces from time to time, slowly bring it in. Net it and get it in your cooler, if you gaff it, you’ll get inked.. Couple guys tried ‘em, as long as you remove both layers of skin, they said they were quite good.” Mike Soohochoff posted an excellent Port Renfrew fishing trip report: “Back from 3 days of fishing Rennie.Springs are almost non existent along the beach but the bank is loaded with coho. Friday on the bank was astounding! Birds by the thousands following a line of krill that stretched for miles.herring feeding on the krill and coho feeding on the herring.Oh, and humpbacks by the dozen. Picked up our limit on coho in about 10 minutes-average one 12lbs largest 16+. Halibut was more difficult and we definitely worked to get our limit. Saturday morning was along the beach from Owen to Logan.No springs save for one jack and only two wild coho. Knocked off two Humboldt squid about 3ft long at Cullite-made for some tasty calimari though.Crab trap was full of females Sunday was off Carmanah & Nitinat. Scraped up 2 more hali before we got blown off. Lots of salmon in the estuary when we left. All this rain should spur them on.All in all a decent trip.” Thanks for the report, and for the awesome whale photos.
Sunday was off Carmanah & Nitinat. Scraped up 2 more hali before we got blown off. Lots of salmon in the estuary when we left. All this rain should spur them on.All in all a decent trip.” Thanks for the report, and for the awesome whale photos.
