June 11, 2008 Vancouver Island / Port Renfrew Fishing Report

The halibut fishing has been great lately! Jolly Rogers recently brought out Kirk Mellor, Geoff Ahlstrom, Kevin Gilbert, and Dean Normore, and showed them a good time, Port Renfrew-style.

We braved a rough day weather-wise to bring in some nice fish, catching a 112 pounder, 80 pounder, and six halibut around 30 pounds each. Geoff says about the day “Thanks again John for another fun day. And it goes without saying that I won the fishing derby this year with a huge profit of 15$ if Kevin ever pays up.”

Get yourself up to Port Renfrew soon and join in the fishing fun!

May 28 Port Renfrew Fishing Update

The Port Renfrew fishing season has started once again. Early trips are finding plentiful halibut near shore, no need to motor all the way out to Swiftsure Bank. Plus, as is normal for late Spring, the halibut are often bigger than the “chickens” of summer, with 50 pound plus fish fairly common.

The salmon are starting to show up too, with medium size spring salmon (10-15 pound) being caught off East Point and “the beach”. The fishing is going to keep heating up, as we approach summer. Good times!

The crabbing is great right now too, with our traps quickly full of big Dungeness.

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.

Get yourself to Port Renfrew for some great early season fishing.

Here Comes the 2008 Fishing Season!

Starting in mid-May, Jolly Rogers will be back in business after the winter break. The “Jolly Roger” has had some refitting over the winter, with new electronics and new gear to make your Port Renfrew fishing experience all the better. We are keen to get her back out there and into the awesome fishing on offer in Vancouver Island’s waters.

Our early season in Port Renfrew’s fishing playground will begin with hunting for big halibut in the hidden spots in and around Swiftsure Bank. This year’s halibut regulations have changed slightly with a later opening and some conservation measures, to help protect the stock and give young halibut more time to grow. The rules are as follows:

• April 1 to May 31: Daily limit of one. Possession limit of 2.
• June 1 to Dec 31: Daily limit of two. Possession limit of 2.

Call or email now to make your reservation…summer dates are already close to full, and early season spots are filling up fast too.

We hope to see you soon for an unforgettable Vancouver Island fishing adventure!

Hello to Friends of Jolly Rogers Worldwide,

Fall has fallen here on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. The mighty salmon have gone up the rivers to spawn future generations of fishing fun. The ocean is stormy, with the cold west winds blowing in hard from the Aleutians. No more Port Renfrew fishing until Spring.

A short note to say thank you to all who joined me on a Jolly Rogers Adventure this year. What a great fishing season! I hope you had as much fun as I did, because I sure had a lot of it…so many good memories. Please keep in touch over the winter, drop an email or call (1-866-623-5646), if you want to book your trip early for next year or if you just want to talk fishing.

In the meantime, a few youtube videos for your viewing pleasure… something to think about for next year.

Alaskan halibut underwater footage

155 lb halibut on a fly rod!

How not to land a halibut

Only a few more months until Spring….then back out there again for another season of fantastic West Coast Vancouver Island fishing.

See you soon.

JR

September 14 Port Renfrew Fishing Update

Who said summer was over? Southern Vancouver Island’s weather and fishing conditions have continued to be very favourable into September this year. The last week around Port Renfrew has had very little wind and some perfect sunny days (although a bit of fog now and then too), making for a few amazing days out there.

On “the beach”, the inshore spots near Port Renfrew offer some big spring salmon. There have been a dozen or so 40 pound plus chinook salmon caught in Port Renfrew in the past week, with one 54 pound beast. You have to put in the time for these big ones, but your trophy is out there somewhere.

The spots around Swiftsure Bank are still delivering halibut, with limit catches of “chicken” size (15-25 pound) halibut not uncommon. There are medium-size spring salmon in the deep water too, 10-20 pounds.

But the real excitement right now is the coho fishing, with schools of them packed in dense, feeding on surface krill all around the boat. Jigging close to the surface, you can watch them fight over your lure. Or you can troll spoons close to the surface, with double or triple headers possible. For now, you can keep hatchery coho only, so you have to throw back quite a few until you get keepers. They are nice fish though, 5-15 pounds, and nothing beats the fight of a big coho….scrappers!

For a real adventure, bring along some light fly or casting gear. You think a 4 pound rainbow trout puts up a good fight? Try a 15 pound Northern Coho!

As well, there’s been some pretty impressive whale shows lately, with the grey whales feeding right among the schools of coho and the halibut grounds. With fishing, whales, and weather combined, it’s a magic day, whether you’re a newbie or the “seen it all” die-hard pro.

There’s 4-5 weeks left in the 2007 fishing season, with the focus soon shifting to Northern coho close to shore. Jolly Rogers’ reduced shoulder season rates start tomorrow, so make your reservation now and join us for a classic day chasing late season Port Renfrew salmon and halibut!

Hope to see you out here soon.

Jolly Rogers, August 2007 Fishing Report For Southern Vancouver Island

What a month of fishing we’ve had! The waters around Port Renfrew have lived up to their promise this summer, with spectacular halibut and salmon fishing. Best of all, the fishing is still going strong, and it looks like September is going to be a good month too. We have been loading up on halibut out near Swiftsure Bank and the usual outside waters hot spots. There have been lots of tasty “chickens” in the 20-30 pound range, plus the occasional bigger halibut up to 50 pounds.

For salmon, Logan Creek was the August hotspot, although Camper Creek and East Point have delivered too. We have been regularly catching Tyee-size spring salmon well into the high 30s (below is a photo of Mark with a beautiful chinook). As well, Swiftsure Bank has been steady and consistently good for mid-size spring salmon. There has been tons of feed on the Bank this summer, making for solid fishing conditions.

The good news is that the Swiftsure Bank was crowded with coho this summer, sometimes so thick it was hard to get the gear down to target springs. This is a good sign for some great late season Port Renfrew coho fishing — as the Fall rain starts, these fish will crowd close to shore, awaiting their run up river…and the the fishing fun starts.

Earlier this week, we caught a 15 pound coho, which is superb — later in the season, trophy-size 20-25 pound Northern Coho are out there, right near Port Renfrew’s harbour mouth. Pound for pound, coho are the best fighting fish you’ll ever catch: jumping, tail-walking, fast runs, you’ll never forget the ZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGG of that first hit!

As you can tell, I’m just a little excited about chasing the coho this year! This fishing heats up in mid-September and into mid-October. This coincides with the start of Jolly Rogers reduced shoulder season rates, starting September 15, so if you want to try out Port Renfrew coho fishing, make your reservations soon.

Hope to see you out there!

Port Renfrew Fishing Report, July 2007

Greetings,

It has been a while since Jolly Rogers’ last Vancouver Island fishing update, because we’ve been too busy out on the water chasing fish!

The early season started off a bit slow this year, but it is making up for it now. Wow! The halibut fishing out on Swiftsure Bank is as good as it gets, with limits of chicken-sized halibut caught routinely. As well, the coho seem to be packed in shoulder to shoulder out there, attacking anything you drop, including the downrigger release clips. Some days it is hard to get the bait down deep enough to chase springs. Too many fish? I call that “a good problem to have”.

We’re finding some nice mid-size Springs on Swiftsure Bank, and a few bigger ones along “the Beach”, from Camper Creek to Logan Creek. The Spring fishing should start to really pick up into August. And then those coho should just keep fattening up, leading up to the world-renowned coho fishing in September in and around Port Renfrew.

If July is any indication, there’s going to be some fun Port Renfrew fishing coming up soon!

Hope to see you out in Port Renfrew soon for a fishing adventure you won’t soon forget.

Looking Forward to Fishing Soon!

Happy New Year From Jolly Rogers!

It’s winter time here on Vancouver Island’s west coast, so not a lot of fishing going on. But the good news is that spring comes early around here and Swiftsure fishing time is just around the corner. Spots are already filling up for peak times this summer, especially weekends, so if there’s any particular day you’re interested in, you may want to book soon.

A guest reported a great salmon recipe, which I want to pass on. A word to the wise: if you can learn a few good ways to cook seafood, it does wonders for promoting another fishing trip with whoever you live with. After cooking this one, they’ll beg you to get out there and catch more fish. Come join us in Port Renfrew — fill the freezer and have fun doing it!

Salmon Roasted in Phyllo Pastry

Thanks to Carol Clemens, from Island Fisherman magazine (Jan/Feb 2007)

You need:

8-10 ounce salmon filets, at least 1″ thick and de-boned.
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 minced green onion
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel (I substituted orange peel)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup olive oil
2 sheets of phyllo pastry per fish piece

You get phyllo pastry in the frozen foods, comes rolled in a box — you need to thaw it out first, but don’t let it dry out.

• Combine cilantro, green onion, and orange/lemon. Roll fish in it until lightly coated.
• Take out a sheet of phyllo, brush with oil/butter mix, then put another sheet on top and brush again.
• Put salmon piece onto phyllo, fold sides, then roll over to make a rectangular packet.
• Put packet on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Repeat for others — for thin parts of salmon, like in the belly, you can stack two pieces together.
• Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes.
• The phyllo should be golden brown and crisp.

Voila! Gourmet salmon treats for the whole family, from the waters of Port Renfrew and Swiftsure Bank, right onto your table.

I tried this same recipe with halibut and it was excellent too.

That’s it for now.

Looking forward to seeing you on a 2007n Jolly Rogers Fishing adventure!