The Silva Bay Salmon Derby was held June 16 and 17. Mother Nature didn’t cooperate quite as nicely this year! The winds were 25 knots from the Southeast all Saturday, but calmed down to nice fishable levels on Sunday.
The salmon weren’t around in the numbers they were last year either. There were 54 chinook weighed into the derby, compared to 95 last year. The event was very well attended, and people did have a great time in spite of the conditions!
Huge congratulations to Regan and Sylvie Lall for their 22.88 pound derby winning chinook! It’s about time a local won the event again, after Vancouver and Nanaimo entries have won the past few years. They collected $1,000 in cash for their fish.
Brad Beaith came in a close second with a 22.64 pound chinook, and collected $500 for his efforts.
Largest released salmon was 69 cm’s by Derek Hardy. Largest ling weighed 17.63 pounds, and was caught by Mike Johanson. Jenn Way won largest bottomfish prized with a 6.37 pound halibut. Brad Durvin of Nanaimo won the $3,000 HDS10 Lawrance chart plotter donated by the Harbour Chandler as a draw prize.
The fishing was very erratic over the weekend, with some very talented anglers getting nothing. The Silver Blue weighed four nice salmon in on Saturday, but caught nothing Sunday morning. People on the dock said jokingly if you turned left (going out of the bay Sunday) you got skunked, if you turned right (to Thrasher) you succeeded. Which was pretty much true!
Good communication is paramount when the fishing is this fickle. I stayed on 88A because the other tournament organiser and half of my charter was on another boat. If I had been listening to 68, I would have had a heads up to go to Thrasher. So now I’ve set my radio to scan between the two channels. Maybe even old dogs can learn new tricks!
Through derby ticket sales we raised $2,000 for the Nanaimo River Stewardship Society. They do tremendous work!
Clyde Wicks of Nanaimo brought his considerable charm and talents into collecting most of the prizes. Thanks to our ticket vendors: Silva Bay Marina, Pages, the Harbour Chandler, and Gone Fishin’. Our weigh guys, Neil and Stewart were fabulous!
Thanks to all our sponsors: Harbour Chandler, Ace Line Haulers, Gone Fishin’, Berry’s Baits, Artrageous, Reel Knotty, Nikki Tackle, Mike Smith, Gerry Raymond, Gibbs/Delta Tackle, Parksville Boathouse, Seafour Tackle, Midland Tools, Ryan and Grant at Investors Group, Canadian Tire, Wholesale Sports, Remax, Timberline Tree Service, Rob VanPelt, Skippers Marine Center, Home Hardware, Oki Tackle, DFO. Redl, Costco, Pacific Net and Twine, Rhys Davis, Arbutus Building Supplies, Village Foods, Tofino Air, Silva Bay Marina, and Gallery Printing.
Good fishing!
