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!