We are sorry we can’t be in Sooke to take on the renowned Sooke Philharmonic Fling, but I can assure you that you’ll want to take in this event.
Come down to Ed Macgregor Park and listen to the beautiful sounds of our local Orchestra while sitting on the grass in the shade. A great family event in the middle of summer.
Filed under: Upcoming Events on July 3rd, 2009 | No Comments »
I’d just like to take a moment to explain why there haven’t been many updates to the site over the last week. We’ve left for vacation and will be back in just over a weeks time. Currently we are in Death Valley, CA and it’s hot, really hot. It’s currently 121 degrees Farenheit, 49 degrees celcius.
So far we’ve been down the coast of Washington State, Oregon and the north part of California where we stayed at the Redwood National Forest. From there we drove over to Lassen Volcanic Park, stayed there for a night and then drove down to Yosemite for two nights. We then headed down to Sequoia Parks and now Death Valley for two nights.
After this we are heading to Zion and Bryce Canyon in Utah, up to Yellowstone for a couple of days and then finally Glacier National Park and back up to Canada, heading back to Sooke via the Okanogan.
We are having a great time and are really looking forward to sharing our photos and videos of our trip. We miss Sooke and all our friends there.
The saying, there is no place like home, is so true. While this is a blast, Sooke is a VERY special place and all the wonderful sights and scenery we have there is just as good or even better than what we’ve seen so far.
Talk soon.
Mr. & Mrs. Discover Sooke.
Filed under: Latest News on July 3rd, 2009 | No Comments »
June 20th Fished the Juan De Fuca Derby with Bob from 2Reel2 and Matthew MacKenzie from the Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina. Fished Otter Point and Bob landed a nice 22lb Spring of the Point on a chartruese tiger prawn Rhys Davis bait head trolled at 85ft.
Took two hatchery Coho for the BBQ. We moved to Secretary Is. to avoid all the Coho Salmon at Otter, and Matt played a big fish for a few minutes before it spat the hooks on the surface. A few minutes later I had a nice 24lb Spring hit the gear, a purple haze Juan De Fuca head trolled behind a red stripe Oki flasher, trolled at 75ft.
June 21st Second day of the Juan De Fuca Derby, we didn’t catch any fish.
June 22nd Fished with Ed, Leyla, and Armin, had some Coho bites, released a wild one and lost some others, no Spring Salmon.
June 23rd Fished with Art and his bride to be Jenny, at the Trap Shack, landed a big Spring early. Jenny played a great 30lb Spring Salmon to the net about 6:15am. The fish took a glow tiger prawn head trolled behind a red flasher at 75ft on the downrigger. Art played a smaller Spring to the boat, which took a green glow head trolled behind a silver Betsy flasher.
Good Fishing, Ron
Fishing report courtesy of 2 Reel Fishing Adventures
For more information on the Sooke Region please visit the official Discover Sooke website.
Filed under: Fishing on June 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
We went out for a 3 hour whale watching trip that we arranged with Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina.
Sooke Coastal Explorations has their office and boat located at this beautiful, new resort in Sooke, BC.
http://www.sookewhalewatching.com
Russ Nicks, our whale watching guide and owner of Sooke Coastal Explorations found “L-Pod” near the Sooke Harbour Entrance. It was only about a 15 minute Zodiac boat ride to the location where they were moving west.
We got to spend some considerable amount of time watching these amazing mammals in their environment. We witnessed a few spyhops, a few breaches and many whales swimming past our boat.
We also encountered whales trying to take a large 30 pound Chinook, or King Salmon from people fishing from their boat. We drove over to them and got the story as well as a great shot of this large keeper.
There is so much to do in the Sooke Region. What a way to spend an afternoon.
For more information on the Sooke Region, visit http://www.discoversooke.com
Filed under: Latest News on June 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
An unprecedented real estate opportunity
Whether you’re looking for adventure or seclusion, Sooke Harbour Resort & Marina offers a unique island getaway where you can choose your escape. Relax. Explore. Reconnect. Rejuvenate. Surprisingly perhaps, this is also a place that’s within reach. With both whole and fractional ownership opportunities available at affordable prices, this is a rare opportunity to own high-demand, ocean front real estate.
Photo by: Jason van der Valk
Ownership at Sooke Harbour Resort & Marina combines luxurious seaside condominiums with an upscale resort experience. Steps from the resort’s private marina and amenities, each 2 or 3 bedroom townhome boasts stunning interiors and incredible ocean views. Flexible ownership opportunities and a rental management plan that provides rental revenues when you’re not using your condo make for the perfect investment.
Where time moves slow – real estate moves fast
The appeal of Sooke Harbour Resort & Marina lies in its tranquility, location and laid back luxury – but it’s these qualities that also create a very limited ownership opportunity. With only 34 townhome units – and over 70% of these units already sold – the door is closing on one of the island’s best real estate opportunities:
* Sooke’s only fully furnished resort townhome community
* South Vancouver Island’s best ocean front value per square foot
* South Vancouver Islands’ best rental revenue opportunity
* South Vancouver Island’s only private marina
* The region’s top charter guides
Discover the best in Oceanside living from $62,900
For more information on real estate options at the Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina, please click here.
If you’d like more information on the Sooke Region, please visit the official Discover Sooke website.
Filed under: Discover Sooke Raves on June 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
June 13th Fished with Herman,Dave,Bill and Scott on Herman’s 33ft Ocean Sport “Emily D”. We were fishing this boat in preparation for the Sooke Salmon Classic on the Sept 3rd weekend 2009. We started out at the Bluffs in 100ft of water, trolling the gear at 60 and 70ft on the downrigger, and a 17 and 19lb Springs in the first hour of fishing. Later in the morning Bill played a nice 17lb Spring between Possession Point and Secretary Is. Conditions were good until 2 or 3pm when the wind really came up.
June 14th Fishing with the same crew as yesterday, again we started out at the Bluffs early morning and hit a 15lb Spring in the first hour of fishing. Next Scott landed a nice 6lb hatchery Coho, the first one I’ve seen on 2Reel this year. Trolling past the Trailer Park we hooked Dave into a nice 21lb Spring , that took a purple haze anchovey head trolled behind a red stripe Oki flasher at 95ft on the downrigger.
June 16th Fishing with Stan and his sons, Erin and Josh from the mainland. Had three good strikes at Otter Point in the morning that didn’t hook up. Saw a bunch of fish caught, and Josh landed a nice 13lb Spring. We lost two good Springs that came on at Third Rock. Trolling the Purple Haze anchovey teaser head behind the red flasher seems to be working well.
2REEL2 Bob was fishing with Nick from Eagle Eye Outfitters and his Dad Dan. They had an awesome morning landing 4 large Spring Salmon;21,22,27,and 30lbs, they also released some smaller fish and netted a hatchery Coho. Bob was trolling in the deep water off Otter Point (157ft), with the downriggers from 70 to 95ft deep. Great fishing guys.
Good Fishing, Ron
Fishing Report Courtesy of 2 Reel Fishing Adventures
For more information on the Sooke Region, please visit the official Discover Sooke website.
Filed under: Fishing on June 17th, 2009 | No Comments »
Fishing for large Spring Salmon in Sooke is EXCELLENT with opportunities to catch these hard fighting silver bullets daily, at all the local hot spots minutes from the marinas in Sooke Harbour. The Salmon have arrived earlier than normal, and are larger and in greater numbers than in recent years.
Many fish in the mid twenty pound range and larger are being recorded at the Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina scale. Possession Point, Secretary Is., Otter Point and Trap Shack have been hot with great catches being reported, especially early morning and on the tide changes, or anytime you have the gear in the water.
Even the local favorite, the strong flood, late afternoon at Otter Point, with the gear at 95 to 105ft, in deep water trolling west. It’s like mid summer fishing – now.
Gear choices vary, the red flasher, glow white anchovey head combination, seems to be very popular. Betsy flashers and your favorite anchovey teaser head; purple haze, glow green, the new chartruese tiger prawn, are all working great.
June 2nd Fishing with Alan and Paul from England, at Sherringham Point. On our second pass Paul hooked into a nice 15lb Spring Salmon. We were trolling a white glow anchovy teaser head behind a red Oki stripe flasher at 50ft on the downrigger. We saw three or four other fish caught, nice calm water, sunny day.
June 3rd Went fishing with Bob (2REEL2 guide)Luke and Nick (from Eagle Eye Outfitters in Sooke)went to Jordan River and anchored in 116ft of water just west of the river mouth. Spent the morning putting herring and other goodies on two single hooks with lots of Ace of Baits prawn scent. Had one good strike that didn’t hook up and then my line went down with a nice 25lb Halibut.
June 6th Fished the morning with John and Jessica, from Boise Idaho. We started off with John playing an 11lb Spring to the boat at Secretary Island, and then a long period of trolling with no more bites. Finally we hooked up in the deep water off Possession Point with the gear at 95ft. Jessica played a nice 24lb Spring into the net using a red Oki stripe flasher and a glow white anchovey teaser head. There were 35 boats in the area mid morning, and we saw 4 or five nice fish caught. There were four or five more fish reported at Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina from 20 to 28lbs, some from Otter Point and some from Possession Point. Skies were cloudy but the wind was low, great day to fish.
2REEL2 Bob was fishing with a large group from Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina which included 8 charter fishing boats. Eric landed a 12lb Spring after they moved to Otter Point. Bob’s been running the new chartruese tiger prawn head behind a silver Betsy flasher.
June 7th Fishing with Jon,Keith,Keith, and Tyler at Possession Point and Secretary Is. Keith landed one 8lb Spring off the tip of the Island, and one we lost in the teens in the middle of the Harbour mouth. Trolling anchovey at 60 to 95 ft, with a silver Betsy flasher and green glow anchovey teaser head, and a red flasher with Purple Haze anchovey head. Crabs in the traps.
2REEL2 Fishing with the same group as yesterday Bob and his crew spent some time off the Bluffs and landed four Spring Salmon; 14,14,18,and 20lbs. His crew Mike,Eric,Pat, and Ben had a great morning in calm water and sunny skies. They were running the gear at 60 and 70ft on the downriggers in 100ft of water.
June 8th Fishing with the same crew as yesterday, at the same location, Tyler played and landed an awesome 27lb fish coming out of the gap at Secretary Is. in flat calm water. Later Jon landed a nice 24.5lb Spring off the Bluffs where we saw whales swim by and had another good strike that didn’t hook up. More sun and flat water, crabs in the traps.
June 9th Fishing with Garrett and Jason from DiscoverSooke.com, trolled Possession and Secretary Is. Hooked into four Spring Salmon trolling the gear at 60 to 95ft on the downriggers, lost three and landed one 17lbs off the tip of Secretary Is. Red flasher and Purple Haze anchovey head were the combo that caught the fish. Watch the video on YouTube. Saw probably 12 Springs caught.
June 10th Fished with John and Jock from Ontario and Victoria, fishing Possession again, saw some fish caught. Hooked into one big Spring that broke the leader. Only one opportunity for us today, no fish. Full trap of crabs on the way in.
Good Fishing, Ron
Fishing report courtesy of 2 Reel fishing adventures
For more information on the Sooke Region, please check out the official Discover Sooke website.
Filed under: Fishing on June 11th, 2009 | No Comments »
Essentials of Healing Join us for a ‘hands on’ Experience… at French Beach…
Learning about: Aromatherapy & Essential Oils Thalassotherapy (Seaweeds)on the beach! Hydrolats (Water portion from the Distillation of Essential Oils)
Presenter: Christine Hopkins, RA & EOT (Registered Aromatherapist/Essential Oil Therapist)
When: Sunday, June 14, 2009 10am-3pm (Lovely low tide day …wonderful day to explore & learn!)
Cost: $75.00 [early bird- by June 10th] $90.00 June 11- 14th Includes a luxurious ‘nature inspired’ menu for lunch – which participants will help prepare! (utilizing all of the above sources of inspiration)
Limited Space: PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED Visa/Mastercard accepted ($25. non-refundable after June 10th)
Please contact: Christine (250) 646-2177 or 646-2425
Email: info@fromthegarden.net
Filed under: Upcoming Events on June 11th, 2009 | No Comments »
Ron Neitsch from 2 Reel Fishing Charters took us out for a full day of Salmon Fishing around Secretary Island and the mouth of Sooke Harbour and we were able to film our adventure. We had a blast and the weather couldn’t have been much better. We left Sooke Harbour Resort and Marina around 6am for our Charter with 3 of us on board. On our way out of the harbour we dropped 4 crab traps, a practice done with each charter trip. So not only do you get a chance to land and keep a Salmon or two, but to also get some fresh crab for your dinner that night. Simply put, awesome!
After we dropped the pots, we headed out to our fishing destination. The unique thing about charter fishing from Sooke is the distance one needs to travel to start fishing. From the docks at Sooke Harbour Resort, we could be at our fishing grounds in as little as 8 minutes. This day it took us no longer than that before we found our place amongst some other early risers hoping to get the early morning bite.
No longer than 20 minutes after we dropped the gear, we had our first Salmon on our lines. It put up quite the battle, about 6 minutes in all, before it managed to shake free a meare 20 feet from the stern of the boat. While it would have been great to land it, the battle is more than half of the fun. It’s quite exhausting battling a large Spring Salmon, otherwise known as a King or Chinook.
Apparently the bite was on, with some other boats landing some nice Salmon around us in the 15-30 pound range. Another hour went by with another Salmon lost on the gear. This time it wasn’t so close to the boat, but this lasted an intense 2-3 minute fight before it was lost.
Around noon the gear took a hard hit about 90 feet under the water. Ron managed to grab the real and the fight was on. 10 minutes later, exhausted and full of adrenaline, we landed a nice 17 pound Chinook Salmon in the boat. It was a nice feeling knowing that we’d be able to have some Salmon to bring back home with us.
4 Strikes, 1 on board. It’s to be expected as myself and the other guy with me had little experience in fishing for these large Salmon and were pretty new to ocean fishing for this powerful fish.
Ron, our guide was amazing, helpful, insightful and patient. You can tell he loves his job with a passion and it was worth every moment out in the boat. He wants to give you the best fishing experience possible and I’d definitely go out with Ron from 2 Reel again.
It was an experience you need to have as words and videos don’t really give it the justification that it needs, as you can’t smell the salt air, hear the cries of seagulls and bald eagles around you as well as the sound of your fishing gear when a Salmon hits hard.
I can hardly wait for my next Salmon chasing adventure. Ron’s other guide, Bob, is also a fantastic from what I hear and between the two of them, I can pretty much say you’ll have an experience that won’t soon be forgotten.
Thanks again, Ron and team from 2 Reel for a true ocean fishing experience.
Please check out the video of our day, summed up in a few short minutes.
Have you been Salmon fishing before? What did you catch? Any good stories? Leave us a message below and let us know your fish tales.
For more information on the Sooke Region, don’t forget to visit the official Discover Sooke website.
Filed under: Latest News on June 11th, 2009 | No Comments »
Mrs. Discover Sooke and I decided at the last moment this weekend to give Chef Edward Tuson’s new restaurant in Sooke a try, which is properly named the Edge Restaurant.
In case you don’t know who Chef Tuson is, he’s the former executive Chef from the world renowned Sooke Harbour House Restaurant, and was there for many successful years building up the reputation of this world class fine dining establishment, an accomplishment well deserved on many levels.
More positive reviews have been written world wide of Chef Tuson and his kitchen crew at the Sooke Harbour House than not, and it was to my surprise and delight when I first heard the rumours that the newly vacant Fish Trap restaurant in downtown Sooke, BC was going to be the new home for Chef Tuson and his culinary talent.
What did we find? Did we enjoy this? Was it all that should be expected from this master at culinary cuisine in his newly opened restaurant?
Upon first walking into the Edge we were quickly greeted by two friendly staff pointing us to the dining area stating we could pick our own seat and table. An opening into the kitchen saw Chef Tuson, who isn’t difficult to spot if you know what he looks like, hard at work with the rest of his staff.
The restaurant is comfortable, relaxed and was 3/4 just after 1pm on a Saturday afternoon. I honestly expected it to be much quieter than this since this is a new restaurant and advertising has been only word of mouth from what I know, but I suspect that the buzz around Sooke has people coming out to see for themselves what master Tuson is doing under the control of his own ship. Either that or they know a good thing when it comes around.
We were handed a one page menu, asked if we’d like anything to drink; which we both replied Iced Tea, and were left to mull over the options on the lunch menus. This isn’t a “full menu” by “family restaurant” standards, but rather a nicely paired menu given to showcase local and fresh food.
What was relieving to see was a menu of different sorts than the normal “pub fare”, if you would call it that. Let me rephrase that, it had well known and liked lunch fare, but each of these items had it’s own flair and culinary pizazz normally reserved for a 4 star restaurant. The items were unique and all of them sounded tasty.
One could tell that Chef Tuson had taken his many years of experience at the Sooke Harbour House, his life long experience at creating masterpieces, but created them at a pricepoint that the average family could afford. In fact, I said to Mrs. Discover Sooke that the prices might be a tad on the low side for the amount of talent and skill Chef Tuson and crew have. We were pleasantly surprised though.
Now, to the actual meal.
We both ordered the iced tea, which came as we were told, unsweetened. House made and fresh. It came with a small glass of liquid sugar so we could sweeten our own beverage to our liking. Nice touch.
Next, we enjoyed the Caesar salad. As a self proclaimed Caesar Salad Connoisseur, I found it very fresh and one could easily tell it was homemade. The smoky bacon, freshly baked croutons and shaved parm cheese gave it away. Simply put, it was fantastic. However, I still feel Chef Tuson could still learn a thing or two about my Caesar Salad Dressing. 
Mrs. Discover Sooke had the hamburger with paprika and fries. Good, very good. Chiabatta was fresh and tasty. I had to help her finish it as it was a large hamburger. She did think there might have been a little too much paprika in it, after eating 3/4 of it, but I wasn’t disappointed in finishing the last 1/4 for her. I suspect it’s just personal taste on that one. While we both love the taste of smoky paprika, I have a greater tolerance for that spice than she does.
I took on the, forgive me if I can’t remember the entire and correct name of this dish, Fusili pasta in a spicy red sauce with clams and sweet peppers?!?
Who cares. It was really good. The clams were cooked to perfection and I was given a lot, about 8-10
Let me also add this. These dishes are priced around the $12 mark. Yeah, really.
You are getting Chef Tuson inspired dishes for the price of a good meal in the Sooke area.
Would I go back? Absolutely.Would I recommend? Well, I am. So of course.
I hope this works out well for Chef Tuson and crew, he deserves it. This is just another step in the positive direction Sooke has been taking over the last few years.
Congrats Chef Tuson and Crew. We wish you the best, and we will return for more food, real soon.
For more information on the Sooke Area, please visit the official Discover Sooke website.
Filed under: Discover Sooke Raves on June 8th, 2009 | No Comments »