2016 Juan De Fuca Fishing Tournament

The organizers of this years Juan De Fuca Fishing Tournament would like to put an invite out to recreational anglers south of the border. We are inviting you up to the Victoria and Sooke waters on Vancouver Island for some fun and friendly fishing competition over the father's Day weekend. There are approximately 120 of the 500 total tickets available that are still up for grabs to the general public. Tickets are $150.00 (CDN) per rod for members of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition. (annual membership is $40.00 to become a member) or $200.00 (CDN) per rod for non-members. At the time of this post the current currency exchange rate means a 38% discount for US participants. Those who are lucky enough to get tickets are grandfathered into the following years event with first right of refusal. This will become an invitational fishing tournament once all 500 tickets are spoken for.
The angler who registers the largest Chinook salmon will win $20,000.00 in cash. There are expected to be over $100,000.00 in total prizes available. The top 10 salmon win major prizes, as will the largest halibut, largest Chinook salmon by a female angler, largest Chinook salmon by a junior angler and also the largest hatchery Chinook salmon. There are also major prizes awarded by draw to those who simply register a catch. We also offer winner take all team jackpots of $100, $250, $500 and $1000.
All participants will receive tournament t-shirts, hats and a free meal at the wind up awards banquet which is held in a local dry ice recreational centre. The banquet is licensed for liquor sales and we will also offer raffles, 50/50 draws and a live auction.
The derby headquarters and official tournament weigh scale is at Pedder Bay Marina. (Oak Bay Marine Group) Fishing is open from dawn on Saturday the 18th until 5pm and from dawn on Sunday morning the 19th until noon. Complete derby info will be available on our new tournament website at www.jdfderby.ca. Until this site is fully constructed and goes live this information can be found at www.anglerscoalition.com. Tickets and memberships can also be purchased online. If you have any questions please private me here.

Tournament proceeds are destined for a local Sooke River Chinook project. The project will greatly increase Chinook production and the goal is that these fish will provide additional food for our local resident (J, K &L pods) killer whales.

Sooke is an awesome place to fish. The first time I went up there I had absolutely no idea of where I was going or what I was going to do when I got there. It just happened to be the day before the JDF derby. To say the least it was a bit difficult to get any information, but after a couple of beers at the Castle someone finally told us about Pedder Bay and the rentals there. I have been back many times but not lately. If you can make up there, you won't be disappointed.

Just an update, we have secured a new space this year for our awards banquet ceremony. We have moved to the brand new Songhee's (First Nations) Wellness Centre which is a first class facility. The room is large enough to seat our 500 participants at round tables, has an excellent sound system, was built with acoustic tiles on the walls for excellent sound, large stage, podium and large commercial kitchen. This year we will have live entertainment with the Consenting Adults playing a mix of classic rock and some very recent hits. The meal this year will be a full roast beef dinner with all the trimmings, including deserts. Pedder Bay Marina our derby weigh scale headquarters is also once again offering all tournament ticket holders a 25% discount on RV sites in their campground, boat rentals etc. The prize board is expected to have $100,000.00 in prizes available to be won. Complete details at: www.jdfderby.ca

Damn that DUI in '75

Well, since tribes have taken Puget Sound fisheries hostage, here's an opportunity for folks to bypass the impasse.

We are fighting the same issues with the bands on the Fraser River. We are fortunate to have some very dedicated and knowledgeable representatives on our sport fishery boards. These folks spend countless non paid hours travelling to and attending meetings and being tied up on conference calls. I know the folks south of the border get the short end of the stick and suffer through lengthy closures and very short openings. I feel for you and hope there will be a day soon that this changes. Until it does you are welcome to come north and enjoy all that BC has to offer.

BTW..the largest hatchery salmon will win the lucky angler a 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke. We have 3 outboards so far on the prize table. 2nd place overall wins a 15 HP Mercury pro kicker and there is another Yamaha 9.9 being awarded by way of the fish draws for simply entering a fish....regardless of size. Many of the prizes have been confirmed and are now posted on the derby website's home page. www.jdfderby.ca

bcprofisher, Maybe you can help me. I am not buying my Washington license this year, And would like to get my nonresident BC license with salmon endorsement. Can I bring salmon back to Port Angeles aboard my boat if salmon is closed in Washington.

paguy, the answer to that question is "no", I think. Go here for a lot of information about fishing out of your area in Canadian waters:

https://halibutchronicles.com/2016/04/18/halibut-fishing-in-canadian-waters/

Fish on...

Todd

The kicker appears to having legally cleared Canadian customs and the definition (legal) or "fresh". I am sure that the rules will get a significant workout in the courts this summer.

Maybe the lawyers can answer this. The Canada/US border is controlled by both nations national governments. How can WA, independently, control trade between the US and Canada (can't bring in fish)? That would be the same as WA saying I could to bring in fit or game legally harvested in another state. Don't think they can do it but I'm not a lawyer.

It sounds like, If a guy were to go to Victoria and have your fish cleared by customs you can bring salmon back to Washington when closed. I wonder how much of a hassle that would be.

The idea of amending the WAC relating to the import of salmon from Canadian waters to follow the halibut rules has been floated to WDFW. Common sense would indicate that the same protocols should work. We'll see.....

I believe that once you clear Canadian customs you can then take fish back by boat even when the area you return to in Washington is closed for the species of salmon you are bringing back. The law you are referring to applys only to those who come across the line, fish and then return home....all without landing and clearing customs. Obviously you have to clear US customs as well when you return to the States.

Bushbear, halibut is a different story. There are some charter operators off the Victoria area who fish the Canadian side of Border bank who are seeing quite a few boats coming over from the US side and dropping anchor on the Canadian side. Then returning home after their fishing is done for the day. We have DFO observation flyovers every month where boats are counted and that data is correlated with marina creel survey data to estimate monthly effort and catch. Like you we have a halibut quota allotted to the recreational fishery and once it is gone we get shut down. Some are worried that an increase of US boats bumping up these flyover counts may result our quota being used up early. The beef that is being presented is that we are loosing quota without any benefit to our economy in return, as these boats simply cross the line then return home. Before anyone jumps on me i know there are similar beefs up and down the entire coast back and forth on both sides of most fisheries. I'm just simply conveying what is being talked about ever since we've had to deal with quota on halibut and possible early closures.

Current WA WAC says that if a person fishes Canadian waters for salmon, they have to physically clear a Canadian port (Bedwell, Sydney, Ucluelet, Victoria,or White Rock) and get your clearance number at the port. That is a WDFW regulation that is being looked at.

For WA fishers who go over for Canadian halibut, they can get the Canadian clearance number by phone and then have to check in by phone with US Customs if they have an I-68.

We are looking at an 8 day season in WA waters for halibut this year. Last year was 11 days. We've seen seen steady decreases in days on the water for our recreational halibut fishery. Personally, I think the recreational halibut quotas need a major overhaul by IPHC, DFO, and PFMC. Most of the catch goes to the commercial fleet. Both countries lose lots of money from short seasons on halibut.

With the Puget Sound tribes not agreeing to a salmon season with WDFW, I'm certain that there will be folks fishing on the Canadian side this summer. It's going to be an interesting year on both sides of the line.

Back to the tournament. Just to make it clear, that after the top 10 heaviest Chinook, the heaviest halibut, heaviest hatchery Chinook and a couple other specialty prizes the other 50% in value prizes are awarded by draws. All you have to do it register a catch (min 5 pounds for salmon) and you get a draw ticket for these draws. Our most valuable draw prize to date is a 9.9 Yamaha high thrust. We set the tournament up this way so that the top rods can compete against each other because they enjoy the competition and novices can still win as well. We are attracting more folks who would otherwise not bother entering a tournament like this because they feel they don't stand a chance under a normal tournament format.
(larger fish take all the prizes) It is also more responsible to not run a derby that exclusively targets only larger fish. Our sponsors also are more comfortable supporting this format.

Its been awhile since I did an update. We have some early season fishing restrictions in areas 19/20 which covers waters from Victoria to just west of Sooke. These restrictions end on July 15th. The tournament organizers decided to move the tournament to new dates in August to avoid these restrictions. The new dates are Saturday and Sunday August 20th and 21st. So for those of you who couldn't make the June dates you can now still participate in Vancouver Island's largest fishing tournament. Lots of tickets are still available. Complete details at: www.jdfderby.ca