Sooke Marinas?

[nedarb2]

Hey guys... ive got a bit of a dilema i was hoping you could help me solve
2 years ago I purchased a 25' Grady White - a fishing machine Its our first boat (if you dont count a 1970 k&C that wouldnt plane if there were more than 2 people in it ;p and never ran properly -had that for a couple years) So we got teh grady, with no trailer, and it has been moored in Maple Bay in the spring / summer, and on barells for the winter months. Ive pretty much tought my self to fish oveer the past few years, withthe help of a few frinds and asking questions on here, but were pretty fed up with "east coast" fishing, i.e. no salmon [] so we were playing around with the idea of mooring in sooke this coming year, but i dont no much about so my question is, are there any marinas that are somewhat secure, and how hard would it be to persuade some of you guy$ to come show us how to fish this place if we decide to moore down there and does anybody know how much it qwould cost/month, our boats about 27' LOA, from april or may to end of september. Thank-youu [8D]

 

[salmon9]

If you live in the Duncan area and have a 25 ft Grady I would moore the boat in Port Renfrew from June to Sept and keep the boat in Maple Bay in the winter for crabbing and prawning. You could be in Renfrew via the logging road, not pulling a boat, in a little more time than Sooke.

 

[nedarb2]

we were also playing around with the renfew idea.. im not the expert you guys tell me! []

 

[dohboy]

where are you coming from, i could make a big dif, i got your email, renny is really nice but where do u plan to stay, i guess the same goes for sooke, both are good fishing but if you have the boat, gas money and experience renny is better , i was gonna say just my 2 cents, but then i know lots of guys who hit it better off sooke this year then renny, so before anyone shoots me down, lol, they are both good in different ways i guess

 

[wolf]

Well if you are used to big swells and dont mind going offshore and experienced enough then I would say renny but if you are only going to go out once in a while then sooke you will catch salmon in both spots. you may want to try sooke to hone up your skills and then try renny for a weekend trip you alos have to find a place to stay in renfrew and that can "sometimes" be tough to get moorage and a place to stay.
I run out from sunny shores and there is camping there and you can get moorage.

it depends on what YOU want to do all the info is there its your decision not our to make it for you


Good luck Wolf

 

[nedarb2]

Im in Duncann, if we were to moore in Renfrew we would either sleep in the boat, park the moterhome at the marina for the summer months and sleep in that, or just drive out earlyyy in the morning. If we were to do sooke we would most likely drive out the same morning.
One thing to note - At renfrew most people head out to swiftsure to fish right? Or do they head to logan or hole in the wall etc. because with our boat eating up 100L of gas an hour at cruise, we arnt to keen to drive to swiftsure and back every weekend

and as wolf mentioned, theres some people in my family who arnt good with swells [xx(], and none of us are that experienced, the roughest we currently fish is porlier. Ive emailed sunny shores and waiting for their reply

 

[Last Chance]

The thing about Renfrew is that it is really a June-October fishery, there are not the winter fish that we get on the south side/inside. Salmon fishing is around 6 miles from the marina, the marina is also up a river that must be on at least a 3 ft tide to travel. If you want to go to some of the more exotic spots, get ready for a 20 mile run in some 6 ft swells, not a problem for your boat, but mainly for the fuel bill and any sea-sickness. For Sooke, I reccommend getting into Cheanuh Marina at around April, that way you will get a spot and get to take a crack at some nice hali fishin.

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by nedarb2

Im in Duncann, if we were to moore in Renfrew we would either sleep in the boat, park the moterhome at the marina for the summer months and sleep in that, or just drive out earlyyy in the morning. If we were to do sooke we would most likely drive out the same morning.
One thing to note - At renfrew most people head out to swiftsure to fish right? Or do they head to logan or hole in the wall etc. because with our boat eating up 100L of gas an hour at cruise, we arnt to keen to drive to swiftsure and back every weekend

and as wolf mentioned, theres some people in my family who arnt good with swells [xx(], and none of us are that experienced, the roughest we currently fish is porlier. Ive emailed sunny shores and waiting for their reply

Hey Nedarb...

Whatcha got for power on there? What model Grady do you have? If you get to know Active and Porlier, you should be able to generate some decent feeder springs out of there. Although...you may need some larger cannonballs...20 or 25 lbers...I know an ex-commercial fisherman who fishes over there and there's some good fish to be caught there, and it's surprising what is actually there he says. He used to fish there commercially--and in the spring, if you know what you're doing, you should be able to yard more than a few mediums and a couple of larges out of there...(Fraser fish).

100 litres a hour seems kinda excessive...unless you're pushing it hard..with 2 strokes? *using the US gallon)*

http://www.gradywhite.com/258/
check the performance data on the one with twin 150s...

My buddy's Sailfish with 250's doesn't burn that, and we fished Active this past spring...and he was pushing it hard for about 10 minutes at one point.

 

[nedarb2]

Its got twin 200 v6's on it, carbed 2 strokes at cruise were eating up about 100L an hour, 1.3 nm/g, 27knt cruise at 4000rpm. Its really not that bad when you thinkabout it, your pushing almost 4 tonnes throught the water at 27knts, and its got a 9'6 beam, but hey, thats what an 800L fuel tank is for ;p

 

[wolf]

What ever you do dont wait for an e-mail reply from sooke they really dont respond to it. e-mail me as i have worked for them and ill tell you what you will need to know.

good luck Wolf

 

[powder]

Fishin magician.....are you recommending 2o to 25 lb cannonballs? hmmmm are you sure?

 

[nedarb2]

alright thanks wolf do you know what they charge for moorage currently?

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by powder

Fishin magician.....are you recommending 2o to 25 lb cannonballs? hmmmm are you sure?

That's what he recommended when the tide starts to move and you're fishing down 170 to 220... he fishes tackle exclusively-- he runs 20 lbers -. I can't imagine hanging a 25 lb ball off my Scotties...but he has.

15 lbers depending on the tide and current make life frusterating when you get to the limit especially with 2 or 3 rods stacked with flashers.

Powder---where you fishing these days?

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by nedarb2

Its got twin 200 v6's on it, carbed 2 strokes at cruise were eating up about 100L an hour, 1.3 nm/g, 27knt cruise at 4000rpm. Its really not that bad when you thinkabout it, your pushing almost 4 tonnes throught the water at 27knts, and its got a 9'6 beam, but hey, thats what an 800L fuel tank is for ;p

Yikes. I figured 2 strokes. Thirsty..

 

[victoriaboater]

Fish Renfrew. Once you get used to the swell (which you will, green tea helps) the water IMO is way better than Sooke. Sooke is nothing but chop slop n' ripping tide from Secretary (Donaldson Island) to Race Rocks,; and, the fishing doesn't even come close to that of Renfrew. At Renfrew in that boat you'll have no problems, and you don't need to go far from the harbour. I'll drive 2 hours each way to go to Renfrew from Victoria before going to Sooke any day.

Link to the Marinas web site:

http://www.portrenfrewmarina.com/

The Marina doesn't really offer much in the way of services, but its not bad.

 

[wolf]

Im not too sure about the fishing thing BOTH places produce fish I didnt seem to have a problem t all getting them its like any else you have to fish it to become good at it.

If you read what he asked he said his family wasnt good with swells, now go ahead and tell him there not bad out there as well!!! most of the guides up there that I know said the halibut was awsome this year but the salmon was spotty you had to go out to the bank also for the hali and then move back in for the salmon and get your 2 or 4 same as sooke.

Dont knock sooke down the weather is different in both places I didnt have to cancel on trip this year due to weather but yes there were some chop days, but if you never fished it last year how would you know????? but not as bad as the SE storms they got in renny this year.they are BOTH great destinations if you ARE an experienced fisherman and boater!!!!!!!!!

Wolf

 

[Digger]

Hey FM..... do you fish the Georgia straight side of Active and Porlier or do you go right into active to get these winters ? and would you use that same sort of lures ..that you would use around Vancouver Harbour/tunstall bay ? Think it would be a good idea for a guy to head over there from the Ferry teminal at Tswassen, it only takes about a 1/2 hour run from there if it is flat calm in my 17.5 foot Lowe , I did that run in early Oct when the weather was nice.

 

[salmon9]

I agree with Wolf and others, Sooke probably better for the family overall with a longer season. When Renny is on, I find it's hard to beat. Not as many boats, good sized fish and when OK weather great offshore halibut fishing. You have to get used to ground swells off Renny, learn a few spots and have some experience and good equipment to safety fish offshore. A lot of Duncan residents fish Renny, maybe go with someone before deciding on mooring a boat there.

 

[nedarb2]

Ive fished renfrew before when i was younger with my friends and i remeber loving it, but my dad got really sick. I think my dad would prefer sooke over renfrew becasue of the easier drive, and the non-tide dependant marinas. Remeber that were juyt getting into this, maybe renfrew will be the place to go next year? i think sooke will introduce us to the west coast fishign before we are permanetly in it []


p.s., from the marinas how long of a run is it to the salmon grounds? what about the hali grounds? ive never fished halibut but have always wanted too

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by Digger

Hey FM..... do you fish the Georgia straight side of Active and Porlier or do you go right into active to get these winters ? and would you use that same sort of lures ..that you would use around Vancouver Harbour/tunstall bay ? Think it would be a good idea for a guy to head over there from the Ferry teminal at Tswassen, it only takes about a 1/2 hour run from there if it is flat calm in my 17.5 foot Lowe , I did that run in early Oct when the weather was nice.

Depends on the tides....you gotta pay attention...and it depends which way it's running. Gotta focus on the ledges...focus hard, and learn them... the insides can be tough...focus on the longer tacts...the Strait side has some good structure..the inside you have to pay attention....

Lures are the same....you don't have to worry so much about flashers..but that's what the commercial guys used...

Make sure you use a bit larger spoons...4.0 or larger...cuz you have to keep your lures fishing instead messing with small grilse..focus on the bluey greens in hootchies, and popular coyotes or commercial type spoons.

That's what to do and apparently right through the spring there are plenty of good size ones (10 to 20 lbs) to be found there too...chasing the bait schools around...some of the locals fish there with regularity for kicks and do quite well. Problem is that they totally miss the right areas, and are hooking lings instead of going through the right depths and feed...