Reports from Port Renfrew Marina are that weekend fishing was super. Over twenty salmon above 30 pounds were caught over the weekend, including three in the 40s. One report said there was a non-stop bite at Logan Creek from noon to 2 pm.

Desi Hatcher won the Davey Derby, with the largest spring salmon at 41.7 pounds and largest halibut at 70 lbs. A 47 pound salmon was caught later in the afternoon, but too late to weigh in. Visit the Marina’s website in the next few days for an updated report with pictures.

Sockeye fishing is open in Port Renfrew waters, max 4 per license per day.

Chinook fishing is closed inside the Harbour, although East Point remains open: “Effective 00:01 hrs July 15 to 23:59 hrs October 25 in of Subareas 20-1 and 20-2 inside or northerly of a line from Owen Point to the Port San Juan Light and Whistle Buoy then to Woods Nose, you may NOT RETAIN chinook.”

Looks like the big ones have arrived, time to get to Port Renfrew for prime Vancouver Island fishing!

An update on this week’s Port Renfrew fishing, from Jolly Rogers:

“GREAT fishing to report, Port Renfrew right now is offering up the best fishing on Southern Vancouver Island…or maybe anywhere for that matter. Salmon fishing has been excellent — the early morning bite at East Point has brought many Spring salmon aboard. Halibut have been plentiful out at Swiftsure Bank, with limits of smaller chicken-size halibut quickly caught.”

If your immediate fishing plans don’t include Port Renfrew, time to change them and get out there!

Port Renfrew Marina reports that the spring salmon fishing around Port Renfrew has really improved in the last week, with limits and more. They report Gary Schmit as the first fisherman of the year to bring a 40 pounder into the Marina. Way to go! He caught it at Camper Creek using anchovy.

Kelly from Last Chance Fishing provides the following report: “Fishing this weekend was great, limits on chicken halibut at Swiftsure Bank. The coastline from Owen to Logan creek, among other areas, was producing some great springs, with a 40 being weighed in Sunday night. Great fishing for all, as well as great crabbing.”

Mike from Heavy Hauler adds: “East point has been hot for springs. Halibut has been good offshore but you have to go to the far end to get ‘em. I haven`t bothered to, still throwing the pick, landed 6 yesterday 92,55,40,35,30 and 25, and not another boat in sight“. That’s Big John Holman with the big fish, along with Ken Gillard and Joe Serpa, all from Vancouver Island.


It sounds like Vancouver Island fishing at its finest, so make your way to Port Renfrew for your own fishing adventure.

Happy Canada Day!

Fishing in Port Renfrew has definitely turned the corner into summer. Reports from Swiftsure Bank are that it is back in form, delivering the exceptional quality Vancouver Island fishing it is renowned for.
(photo credit, “Yammy5″ www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/)

Kelly from Last Chance Fishing Adventures reports: “There are more halibut then you can shake a stick at on Swiftsure, my crews tubbed out both Friday/ Saturday. Standard issue 20lb, the guys anchoring up inshore got a little bit bigger. If you don’t get one in the first 5 minutes, MOVE. There are also some springs around the bank too, I hit some on the south side, the guys on the north side did well too.”

Spring salmon 20-30 pounds plus are regularly being caught shallow off Culite, Logan, and Camper Creeks, although not yet hot and heavy…..it is definitely picking up though.

Mike Johns from Heavy Hauler reports: “Coho have started to show up and the spring fishing is picking up.” He sent in this photo of Gary catching a 33lb Tyee on his 50th birthday. How about that for a birthday present!

Weather is variable as always, but there’s been some HOT and calm beauty days of late. With that and great fishing, what more can you ask for?

Get up to Port Renfrew and get in on the fun!

Some mixed reports coming out of Port Renfrew this weekend. Some of the local guides are absolutely killing it, with limits of huge halibut, lots of medium Spring salmon, and a few Tyee class Chinooks thrown in too. Other folks are having a tougher time getting into fish — the fish are definitely out there, but you really have to work to find them.

Jolly Rogers caught quite a few big halibut this week, with a 98, 138, and a 186 pounder. That beast tops the Port Renfrew Marina leaderboard so far this year. Heavy Hauler reports a great halibut day, landing 15 and keeping 6, all between 30-54 lbs. The hotspots continue to be inshore around Carmanah, with the best baits herring and salmon belly.

Heavy Hauler also reports that the salmon are steadily increasing. Jolly Rogers managed to find his way into a limit catch of spring salmon 15-25 pounds, reportedly caught off Swiftsure Bank. Port Renfrew Marina reports that a 38 pounder was caught this week as well. There is an unconfirmed report (rumour?) of a 52 pound Spring caught too, but no photos to back it up yet!

{photo credits: from the Connelly family from Alberta, via Jolly Rogers}

The halibut fishing continues to be steady. Most guides are still focusing their efforts close to shore, chasing the early season big ones.

The salmon is picking up too, with decent sized fish coming in regularly. Heavy Hauler caught a 33 lb at Camper Creek last week. There’s still not a lot of effort being focused on salmon yet, but as more fish arrive, more fishermen will start chasing them.

We received a nice email from a happy Port Renfrew visitor, that we thought we’d share: “What a great destination Port Renfrew is for folks like us. We enjoyed the little marina and its rustic floating logs docks. The Botanical beach was a fantastic experience I will be talking about for some time. I even got some good video of a Black bear beachcombing down there. We watched Bald Eagles stealing fish from an otter family from off the big pier and deer running across the road on several occasions. We look forward to returning there.” Len Zamonis, Florida, USA

Good times in Port Renfrew, whether fishing, camping, hiking, or just general sightseeing.

Hello Port Renfrew fishing fans.

Jolly Rogers reports a good day out of Port Renfrew yesterday, catching four halibut, three smaller and one 130 pound barndoor. He has a short Quicktime video of them pulling the halibut over the gunwale. Well done JR!

The wind in Sooke was howling all day that day, but it was fairly mellow off Port Renfrew…one of the benefits of being outside the mouth of Juan de Fuca strait.

Get to Port Renfrew and get some lines in the water, your dream fish is out there!

Some excellent fishing reports over the weekend from the waters in and around Port Renfrew.

Jolly Rogers Fishing had a good trip, with a 112 and 80 pounder, and 6 more 30-pound halibut thrown in for fun. Happy guests indeed…it is easy to sell a fishing trip to your family with that bounty, what with halibut at $10/pound or more. Geoff Ahlstrom is shown on left with his monster halibut…also the proud recipient of a promised $15 side bet (good luck collecting that!).

Heavy Hauler also had some happy fishermen, who sent in the following report: “My brothers, Richard, Bruce, Dave and I had a fantastic time. Even though one of us ended up being a bit overwhelmed by the whole nautical experience! Mike is a fantastic guide and we’ve been raving to all of our friends about how fortunate we were to have had him showing us the ropes. He knows his business – as a fisherman, a boatman, tour host and all around very decent guy. I’ve attached the whole PDF file. There’s some shots around the cabin at the beginning that you can ignore. There’s some good photos that Dave took on the boat and the trophy shot at the end of the file.”

Check out the PDF for a nice slideshow of a Port Renfrew halibut fishing experience, from sitting on the couch the night before through to the trophy shot on the scale. Awesome day out there.

The reports of late are that halibut are being caught fairly close to shore still, to the west of Bonilla Point, rather than heading all the way out to Swiftsure Bank. Some good sized spring salmon continue to be weighed in, but not too many anglers are chasing salmon yet — halibut on the brain!

Jolly Rogers Fishing reports that the halibut fishing is pretty steady, with limit catches of decent sized halibut (50-60 lbs) coming in fairly regularly. John sent in some pictures of his son Finn halibut and crab catches — way to go Finn!

Port Renfrew Marina reports some big and huge halibut coming in recently, 93 lbs and 169 lbs. Barn doors!

As well, there are reports of medium size spring salmon (10-15 pound) being caught off East Point and “the beach”. It seems to be starting, and should only get better over the next few weeks.

The crabbing is great right now too, with traps in Port Renfrew Harbour quickly full of big , tasty Dungeness. Check out our posting on boiled crab — easy to catch, easy to cook, Vancouver Island delicacy!

Starting June 1, the fishing regulations will allow 2 halibut to kept per day, per angler, with a possession limit of 2. The regulations for salmon remain the same as last year, 4 salmon total, of which 2 can be spring (chinook) and 2 can be hatchery coho.

Hope to see you soon in Port Renfrew for a fishing adventure.