Late August fishing continues to be excellent, it’s prime time for Port Renfrew.
Kelly from Last Chance Fishing Charters reports that halibut are plentiful on Swiftsure Bank, and also feeder spring salmon at the Chicken Ranch. Best lures have been white 5″ and pure glow spoons, and some magic hootchies, plus anchovies are working too. He reports spring salmon in the 2o pound range on the south side of the Bank. He advises to start near the border, and troll with the tide, then run back once you are 3/4 of the way up the closure.
Mike Graves with a 50 pound salmon
Trevor from No Bananas Fishing Charters says much the same, reporting halibut up to 55 pounds at the Bank, plus a nice run of white spring salmon on the Beach — catching lots of salmon in the 30s, plus his SECOND 50 pound plus fish this season. Some guys have all the luck (and a little know-how doesn’t hurt too).
He sent in a photo of Mike Graves with his 50 pound trophy salmon. Some avid fishermen spend their whole lives searching for a fish this big, but this happens to be Mike’s first salmon ever landed! Plus the first salmon he ever played, earlier that morning, was probably a 35 pounder and was taken by a sealion right at the boat. Talk about beginner’s luck!
The sockeye are still being caught, but are reported to be less frequent than a week ago — anglers have to work to find the schools now. However, they are reported to be a bit bigger than average now when you find them.
Trevor says “It’s gonna be a sad day when its over this year”….we agree! Get out to Port Renfrew and get into the fishing while it lasts…
McGiveron gals with a 34 pound beauty
McGiveron mom Dena beats out daughter Teresa with this 34 pounder
Mike Graves with a 50 pound salmon
No Bananas gets his 2nd 50 pounder of the season aboard!
Swiftsure Bank continues with its usual superb August fishing for spring salmon, coho salmon, and halibut. Jolly Rogers Fishing Charters caught a 171 pound monster halibut for this week’s leader at the Port Renfrew Marina.
Closer to shore, the sockeye are in thick out in the tidelines (from 450-600 feet depths). Most people are finding them from 40-90 feet deep, shallow early in the am, then deeper later am, and a slower bite in the afternoon.
The chinook salmon have been hot and cooler on the beach day to day, primarily in the Logan Creek to Walbran area. The morning flood has had a good bite some days, with many boats catching spring salmon in the 20 pound range, and with some bigger fish in the 30s.
Trevor from No Bananas Fishing Charters reports Sunday that a run of big white chinooks are passing through. He caught a 55 pounder and saw several others in the 40s caught. That’s the second 55 pound salmon caught this week in Port Renfrew! So, all going well, there may be some big fish photos coming soon.
If you’re interested in fishing the west coast of Vancouver Island, now is the time to get out there … your Tyee is out there waiting for you!
On the way home from a day’s fishing Swiftsure Bank, we came across a pod of Dall’s porpoises, and they followed us for a few minutes, surfing our bow wake. Speedy little guys … they had their fun and then went on their way and we continued on. We had a great day, in addition to catching salmon and halibut we saw grey whales, sea lions, and eagles … amazing!
Dan & Mike Burkmar provided this report, of their fishing trip last weekend in Port Renfrew:
“Fishing was awesome for us, we ended up with 8 springs all between 12 and 34lbs. 3 were over 30lbs and got them all on the same day (Saturday). The place to be was the Walbran. And the high flood tide was the a very big *KEY*! Many fish were caught on it. Gold Flasher (Sooke Special) with a Gold Teaser head 57ft, produced our Tyees. The Betsy (Green and Glow) with a green teaser also worked very well for us at 33 ft. Some of our buddies went out to Swiftsure today (Saturday) and it was slow for springs by the sounds of it, but got a 90 lb halibut!!! The fish seem to be showing up now, hope it only gets better from here!”
Now that’s a great fishing report. Way to go boys!
The fishing in Port Renfrew this week has ranged from good to excellent.
Swiftsure Bank remains hot, with tons of fishing action for spring salmon, coho salmon, and halibut. A good day out there is hard to beat.
Closer in to shore, sockeye fishing remains open for now, and anglers are reporting easy limits in the deep water off Camper Creek, 400-600 feet. A flasher, short leader, and a pink or red squirt is the ticket, slower troll at 30-80 feet. And when you get into a school, you can expect double, triple, or quadruple headers. They like lots of flash, so get as many rods in the water as you dare! Super chaotic fishing, super fun.
The Beach has been on and off for the last couple of weeks. But even on the slow days, there’s still big king salmon being weighed in at Port Renfrew Marina. Today they reported the fishing has gotten hot again too, with lots of big chinooks coming in. As well, they reported halibut fishing is expected to continue to be good this week, with nices tides coming.
All in all, lots of fun to be had, it’s prime time for Port Renfrew fishing!
The fishing in Port Renfrew continues to be hot and cold. Over the weekend, the reports were that the Beach was quite slow, with few fish being caught. Though a 39 pounder was caught to win this year’s Davey Derby. However, reports from Monday and Tuesday are the Beach has really heated up. No Bananas Fishing Charters says “ the beach is on fire up here boys the last couple days and off shore is insane … these tides are great this week flood flood and more flood.“ Port Renfrew Marina’s report says much the same.
Offshore the reports are still outstanding … truly awesome fishing for halibut, spring salmon, and coho salmon. Check out this report from Chris73 on the SportsfishingBCforum: “Great fishing offshore! Halis in short order then limit of springs – most mid teens some smaller ones that went back, two tyees also for our group. Springs were deep for us today – hooked several halis too while trolling deep for the springs. Then crazy coho action little away from the chicken ranch. More wild cohos but we managed our limits with nice hatch cohos – several ones well over 10 lbs. Lots of fun! And a whale grand slam for us: grey, humpback, orcas, porpoises.”
That’s fun fishing! If you do go offshore, make sure you are well prepared with all the safety gear and keep a close eye on the weather — reports from last week were that it was rougher than usual out there, not for the faint of heart or small boats!
Good luck out there and play safe.
PS there’s also a rumour of a sockeye salmon opening in Port Renfrew starting tomorrow (Tues). Will keep you posted!
A video of some early June fishing out of Port Renfrew with Jolly Rogers Fishing Adventures. Day one we aimed for halibut, day two we chased salmon. Some iffy weather on the second day, but a fun time had by all.
Port Renfrew’s fishing is quite good right now. Kelly from Last Chance Fishing Charters reports that J-Buoy, out by Swiftsure Bank, is hot and heavy for mid-size salmon right now, up to 20 pounds. Limits in an under an hour he said … that can be super fun fishing, break out the light tackle, fly rods with just a spoon, and really get some fun playing the fish. Halibut are still plentiful, both at anchor closer to shore and drifting out at the Bank.
The Port Renfrew Marina also reported someone caught a 51 pound chinook salmon at Camper Creek yesterday.
The fishing in Port Renfrew is reported hot and cool. The Beach, from Camper Creek to Logan Creek, is giving up a few salmon, but it isn’t super hot — have to wait it out and put in the time. But the mid-size feeder springs are in tight on Swiftsure Bank, so there’s plenty of action for those willing to go offshore.
The McCann family provided photos of a fun day with Hindsight Fishing Charters. From there, the fishing looks pretty good, what more can you expect than that?
THE DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS IS REMINDING SHELLFISH HARVESTERS THAT IT’S RED TIDE TIME AGAIN.
THE DEPARTMENT SAYS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY THE WATERS OF JUAN DE FUCA STRAIGHT FROM RACE ROCKS TO BONILLA POINT, INCLUDING SOOKE HARBOUR, SOOKE BASIN, AND PORT SAN JUAN, ARE CLOSED TO ALL CLAM, OYSTER, MUSSEL, AND SCALLOPS HARVESTERS BECAUSE OF PARALYTIC SHELLFISH POISONING.
TO FIND OUT WHEN AND WHERE IT’S SAFE TO HARVEST SHELLFISH YOU CAN CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FISHERIES AND OCEANS OFFICE OR CHECK OUT THE DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES ONLINE.
Trevor from No Bananas Fishing Charters sent in a true big fish tale out of Port Renfrew. His guest Lucas Bell brought in this huge 50 pound plus chinook (king) salmon. It weighed in at 56lbs at the Port Renfrew Marina, then 53.4 ten hours later in Victoria. Trevor was nice enough to share the secret info: he caught it at Logan Creek, 33 foot depth, green UV anchovy head, and green glow flasher. A great way to break in the new No Bananas boat!
Jolly Rogers Fishing Adventures also provided the following report: “Early July and the fishing is fun out of Port Renfrew, on Vancouver Island’s south-west coast. We have had consistent catches of quality halibut. Salmon fishing has also been good, with larger fish starting to show up, if you put in the time to chase them.” Below is a picture of his happy Hollanders with a nice mixed bag of fish … looks like a fun day.
Good fishing out of Port Renfrew, get out west and join in the fun!
After catching a whole bunch of fresh chinook and coho salmon after fishing in Port Renfrew, we tried out this great recipe, originally posted by the Globe and Mail’s Rob Feenie.
Never having tried Gravlox before, it turned out spectacular, far above expectations. So tasty, the salmon just melted in your mouth. Gravlox is Scandinavian lox, or salt cured fish. The citrus added to the curing gave the salmon a nice taste, and the potato salad and sauce both complemented it.
Highly recommended! A taste of Scandinavia here in Vancouver Island BC. Citrus Cured Salmon with Warm Potato Salad and Horseradish Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette
Salmon Cure
Ingredients
3 lemons, zested and finely grated
3 limes, zested and finely grated
3 oranges, zested and finely grated
1 1/4 cups coarse salt
1 cup sugar
1 filet of salmon (steelhead is best)
Method
Mix the citrus, salt and sugar thoroughly together. Lay the salmon with the flesh side up on a baking tray. Coat the flesh with the citrus cure, packing it until about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
After 12 hours (no longer), rinse the cure off and pat dry. Using a sharp knife, slice the salmon into 1-inch thick slices on an angle and set aside.
Horseradish Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette
Ingredients
3/4 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup horseradish
½ tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
I cup sunflower or canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
Method
Combine all ingredients together, except for the oil, and salt and pepper. Mix together with a hand blender.
Slowly add oil and continue to mix until fully incorporated and emulsified.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Potato Salad
5 pounds baby white nugget potatoes
Chicken stock
Pinch of saffron (made into a tea with hot water)
Olive oil
Method
Wash potatoes well and cut into 3/8-inch thick rounds. Place in a pot with enough chicken stock or water to cover potatoes. Add saffron tea.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer until tender. Check doneness; there should be a little resistance when pierced with a paring knife.
Strain and cool on a baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.
Dijon Dill Mayonnaise
Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons chopped dill
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Method
Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
Plating
Heat sliced salmon on a parchment-lined baking sheet until just warm; salmon should be blue rare. Dress potatoes with horseradish vinaigrette and place in the centre of a plate. Place salmon and drizzle with Dijon dill mayo in a zigzag pattern. Toss micro cilantro with lemon juice and place on top to garnish.
