renfrew

[nedarb2]

Hey guys, i know this is planning wayyy ahead.. mihgt just be xited but im sure you'll hear from me again!
Next summer, my dad has agreed to take us out ot renfrew for a week of camping / fishing (yes he finaly cracked!) so iwas wondering if you guys would suggest:
staying at the marina, or the campground
where do you guys keep your fish, would you need to bring lots of coolers?
is it easy to fish, ive heard all you need to do is wacth out for a rock heading out of the harbour, and purchase a chart
should we hook up with someone anf follow the out the first morning?
Never fished the west coast, or done halibut. Would it be worth getting some rods and hitting the bank up one or two days, or just stay in close to shore, and if so where would you suggest i fish.
Where / how do you guys fuel up your boat, i will probbly be needing over 100L's a day, so i dont think jerry cans will work very well
Thank-you very much!


To fish or not to fish,
What a stupid question!
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will sit on a boat drinking beer for a life time
TGIF =Thank God It Floats

 

[TheRock]

-If you camp at The Marina, in the morning your right their ready to go. If your going for the week, I would book a camping spot well in advance in the summer time it fills up. You can go to the campground after and they have showers their.. Another option is to stay at the Hotel in Port Renfrew, on the opposite side of the bay.. 5 min. drive from the Marina.. Friend of mine did that this summer.. $90 a night? or some thing like that.. split it with a few friends.. not so bad.. and its a little more civilized... the hotel might even have freezers to store your fish..!
-Yup...Bring lots of coolers and ice!
-Renfrew can have many fogy days.. better have a gps!
-If you never fished their before.. I suggest you follow the boats first time out..
-On a very low tide a part of the river becomes all most impassible, you have to plan your trip with the tide! tilt your motor up when going out.. either way..if its your first time on that river going out.. make sure you follow a boat out and when you come in... theirs certain parts where you have to hug the right hand side of the river and you need to know when to cross over and hug the left hand side of the river! Follow the boats out!
-Theirs a few rocks to look out for.. one when you first come out of the river... it comes up quick on a low tide.. and then theirs the sand bars..!! umm.. Make sure you follow the boats out for the first few times until you get familiar with the area.. I think the rock your referring to is Kelter rock.. farther up along the coast still in the port... Its more than a rock! it a reef I think that comes up.. and the white caps break over it.. on a high tide or fog its hard to see... again.. follow the boats out.. until you learn where it is.. and mark it on your gps..
-If you fish the shore, look to see where all the boats are fishing
-If you never have fished the west coast, or done halibut.. I would even suggest to go on a charter on one of the many charters at the Marina.
-What size boat to you have...?? For Fishing the bank or off shore.. you have to be prepared and know what your doing... gps!,weather, high seas (big swells!),and a reliable big motor!, the area is HUGe! you better know where your going and where to fish.. If go off shore I suggest to go with a charter fist or at least go out their with another boat or two who have done it before...
-The marina sells fuel..... you can fill jerry cans if you want to.. or what they do their is, wait your turn and come into the main docks by the gutting station with your boat.. and they fill a 100ltr. gas tank on wheels and they wheal it over to the top of the stair case going down to the main dock.. and they hook it up to a hose system they have going down the ramp to the end of the hose with gas nozzle at the docks where you pump your gas into your boat.. Gravity...

 

[nedarb2]

haha alright, we'll make sure we talk to some one and make sure we can follow them out! We have a 25' grady with radar, gps, and sounder. Theres twin 200's on it. Thanks!

To fish or not to fish,
What a stupid question!
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will sit on a boat drinking beer for a life time
TGIF =Thank God It Floats

 

[TheRock]

Yup! with that boat your defiantly Renfrew qualified <img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle>

 

[alley cat]

I have fished PR for 40 plus years, if you are a stranger to the area follow the advice of the previous posters,follow a local or someone who knows the area, the river sand banks change every year and where the old scow sank off the mouth of the river on the port side there is now a sandbank filling over to the river mouth that can be ugly at low tide in the afternoon with a south or south-south west wind coming into the bay.
If you come out in the fog, follow the rock wall up for about 350 yds thentake a 210 bearing on your compass, you will go about 3 nuatical miles and come close to the horn bouy this will get you past Quarter tide rocks and Kellett rock which is a very dangerous spot at 3/4 tide.
When you are at the horn bouy you can then take a due west bearing of 270 or 275 degree's and go up about 3/4 nautical mile come in to the shore line and commence fishing.
In the last few years you need to stay about 1/2 mile offshore and fish along the 100 ft depth line; trolling anywhere from 27 to 40 feet will put you into the fish, best fishing is on a rising tide to high slack then about an hour after, then head for the barn and put the feed bag on.
Hope this helps.

Alley cat

 

[nedarb2]

great thank-you very much..im sure more questions will come up earlier to leaving date !

To fish or not to fish,
What a stupid question!
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will sit on a boat drinking beer for a life time
TGIF =Thank God It Floats

 

[nedarb2]

also, i was told by my friend who charters out there to fish in 50-60ft of water and 17-30ft down??

To fish or not to fish,
What a stupid question!
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will sit on a boat drinking beer for a life time
TGIF =Thank God It Floats

 

[alley cat]

It has been my experience that as the season progresses and there are a huge amount of boats jockeying for position close inshore by the favoured spots I believe the noise from all the kickers pushes them out from the shoreline , thats why I told you of the 100ft line to follow, in the old days when the commercial trollers were fishing in close they trolled along the 20 fathom line and did very well.
I stayed outside of the mad house this year again I took all the springs I wanted without getting into the snarl of boats cutting you off etc, you can troll deeper if the day is very sunny and if the water temperature(surface) is above 52 degrees F.
If your sounder is equipped with a thermocline feature follow that, the deepest I fished this year was 37 ft, took most of my fish however at the 29 to 33 ft mark and a trolling speed of 2.6 - 2.8 mph against the tide and 3.3 - 3.4 mph with the tide, going with the tide I find it a good move to zig zag a bit more to alternately raise and lower the bait /lure they wiggle better that way when going with the tide.

AL