There used to be a commercial that said if you want to have real time with your children, take them fishing. It must work. I remember my father renting a rowboat from Mrs. Mills and rowing my brother and myself out past the boom logs at the point. I snagged a walleye, and after a couple of hours, my father rowed back to the beach in front of Mills cabins. My father took my brother and I fishing many times and each time was special.
I have tried to do the same with my sons, hoping that time alone with them would be special. On my bucket list was a salmon fishing adventure on the west coast with my two sons Brendan and Adam. It happened this past weekend and the adventure began in Prince Rupert when we boarded the Thunder 1 trawler operated by Deb and Doug Emery. The Thunder 1 is a 51-foot wooden trawler that can sleep six passengers on bunks. My brother Don joined Adam, Brendan, and myself.
It was a sunny Saturday as we travelled at 6.5 knots to our first fishing spot. We were after coho salmon. The fishing techniques were all new to us. We were using heavy-weighted down rigging. Doug instructed us on how to watch the tip of the rod and immediately react as the line snapped free and the salmon took off. We had to grab the rod and furiously begin reeling the line in. It took us some time to adapt to the down rigging and catching pink salmon before we finally latched on to our first coho. We were dropping the ball to 18 metres deep and when the salmon snapped the bait and fled with the hook, all pandemonium broke out as other baits rods were released and reeled in, while everyone waited to see if the fish would be landed. Over the three hours, we managed to catch three coho salmon while releasing almost a dozen pinks.
That first night, Deb treated us to a feast of Dungeness crab. And then from the top deck, we took in a sunset from the safety of the cove that the boat was anchored in. Stories were swapped and laughter filled the still air in the cove. Morning would arrive at six and the narrow bunks were welcomed.
After a quick breakfast, we motored to a new location. The fishing was faster, and Doug was kept busy netting the different species. By lunch, we had added another 13 coho to the ice chest. Because the fishing was so fast, we ended up only fishing two rods off the back end of Thunder 1 with Adam teaming with Don, and Brendan teaming with me. We caught a lot of fish to only get 13 in the boat, losing several to operator error and the speed at which the coho could change direction, flip up into the air and toss the lure clean back up onto the deck. But when one was landed and was big enough to keep, there were smiles and high fives all around.
We were told that in the afternoon we were heading offshore to catch halibut. We were going to be bottom jigging in over 200 feet of water with half-kilogram weights. This was a new challenge for all four of us. The rods and bait caster reels were much bigger, with braided 100-pound test line. I never realized what a struggle it could be to pull up those fish. Within 40 minutes we had our limit of halibut and were enjoying the afternoon sun on our way back to a safe harbour.
Fishing with your adult sons is as rewarding as fishing with them as youngsters. We learned much about each other and the families my sons have created. The four days and three nights of Pacific coast fishing was great, but the time I spent with my sons and brother was far better. Your sons are never too old for you to take them on an adventure.
