Latest reports out of Port Renfrew Marina are that the fishing is getting better. A couple of big halibut 93 lbs and and 169 lbs, and the first Spring salmon of the year. Time to get those reeling muscles workings, get up to Port Renfrew!

The Port Renfrew fishing season has started once again, with the Port Renfrew Marina opening on May 1, and people starting to straggle in. Apparently there’s still some good RV sites and moorage at the Marina, but they will start going fast soon. The Victoria Day long weekend is Port Renfrew’s kick-off, and with the weather report, it should be a blast. Maybe Spring will finally arrive, with a call of 28 degrees on Saturday.

People are catching medium size halibut up to 50 pounds in-shore, to the west of Bonilla Point and towards Carmanah. The word out there is that Swiftsure Bank isn’t working yet.

Last weekend, the third and fourth place halibut in Island Outfitter’s derby were taken from Sombrio Point, just to the east of Port Renfrew. At 157 pounds and 142 pounds, that’ll make a lot of fish ‘n chips! Here’s a picture of the 3rd place fish (thanks to Sportfishingbc.com forum)

Keep in mind the revisions to halibut limits: April 1 to May 31: Daily limit of one. Possession limit of 2. And remember that last year’s licenses expired on April 1.

The salmon aren’t here yet, not many people chasing them. But the crabbing is reported to be excellent in the bay, plenty of large keepers with nice hard shells.

Hope to see you in Port Renfrew for a fishing adventure this weekend or sometime soon!

Port Renfrew fishing is pretty much closed for winter. The southern Vancouver Island weather has become stormy and cold, and the days best spent putting another log on the fire, thinking back on the fun fishing days we had last season and looking ahead to another excellent season ahead. We’ll get reports again in April and May, once people start chasing the big early season halibut.

We keenly anticipate a great year to come. See you soon!

Halibut: the halibut fishing around Port Renfrew was as consistent as always. Swiftsure Bank continues to deliver the goods! What was aimed for and how the fishing was best depended on what was happening that week and what you were aiming for. Some days drifting the reef at Swiftsure worked best, with lots of action for “chicken-sized” halibut, while other days the best bet was anchoring, to sit and wait for the big slab. But every day offered good fishing, with regular halibut regularly caught from 20 to 50 pounds, and bigger.

Salmon: the salmon fishing last year varied from good to great. On the best days in late August, you couldn’t keep them off, our main problem being limiting out by mid-morning and what to do with the rest of the day — all in all, a good problem to have!

There were some memorable reel screaming chinook salmon runs and a few days where we slowed down and motor mooched with cut-plug herring. That is a fun way to catch salmon, as there’s no flasher to add drag to the line, just you and the fish. Also, the fish tend to stay closer to the boat — they fight just as hard, just in a different way. Some variety can go a long way, catching salmon differently than the usual trolling. We regularly saw 30-40 pounders caught in July and August.

There were some fun days chasing coho too, in Sept and early October. Nothing beats the fishing excitement of the energetic and acrobatic Northern coho. These are usually fished shallow with spoons and no flashers. When a coho hits, ZZZZIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG goes the reel, waking up everyone aboard pretty quick. Then the jumping and quick runs that make coho such a fun fighting salmon. There were lots of 15-16 pounders caught, and up to a very respectable 20 pounds or more.

Looking forward to next summer!