July 27th

 

July 27th

TIME TO BUILD A BETTER LURE!

They will not get the better of me.  They are only FISH WITH THE BRAIN about the size of a grain of rice.

SURELY I CAN OUTSMART A FISH?       

I have fished all my life but you would not call me a fisherman. For those that are good at it, it is an art and science that is practiced time and time again. You have to be passionate about the catching of fish. If you’re not the above and want to catch a fish, find out where they are, jump in (generally) a puddle jumper of a float plane, go to a fishing camp, drink beer with the boys, hire a fishing guide and go catch a fish. That’s the West Coast way.

When I was young Dad and Uncle Ed used to take me fishing in the Sun Derby. We would be up in the inky black morning, rain or shine. We would be out on the water at dawn. We would pee or? In a bucket if you had to go. Mom made the sandwich lunch, tea in thermoses for Dad and Uncle Ed. Dad would consult the sol mare and tide charts published in the Sun or Province newspaper before going near the boat. The boat was home built with a one lung Briggs and Stratton air cooled inboard engine. It had an exhaust pipe that went straight over board and you avoided coming in contact with it as it was cooking hot. The sound of it at an idle was in slow mode was, Putt … Putt…... Putt.….. And this went on all day long. If revved up it would be PUTT..PUTT..PUTT.. All day long .The 14 ft boat was called the “LYRODAY” after the first letters of sibling names.

It was a time when there was a good number of fish in Howe Sound and the chances were that if you fished long and hard you could land a fish.

So it is true I am not what you call a good fisherman but I do have a brain larger than a grain of rice. (Penny would not agree.)  It’s just that I am lazy or not totally fixated on getting a fish (Tommy cod, SHINNERS or even Halibut) salmon. If I was truly a dedicated fisherman I would be at the cleaning table at the head of the dock in the afternoon and try to pick up tidbits on the location of the fish, when caught, deep, type of bait and lure. I would fish in the rain or scorching sun. Or when there was ice in the bilge. However we have been out for a month and lost three nice salmon and I am feeling just a little inadequate.

THIS MUST STOP. I start practicing dreaming about catching a fish. I extra sharpen the hooks, (as opposed to forgetting to put one on). I even go to the trouble of pulling my line in to clear of the kelp and red jelly fish stuff.

As mentioned early on in the BLOG I wake up out of a dream and envisioned making my own lure. It was a metal silver spoon on one side silver and canary yellow with red spots. I got so excited I made a large and small version. NOW WAS THE TEST, CHEVY AND I DAWN OUR FISHING APPAREL, remember to bring the fishing net. The I-phone with charts installed, the Pink Floyd music programed into the phone. I remember to turn on the depth sounder and even count the line pulls out to what I think is the magic depth (I have a deep troll rig but still too lazy to put it on the "Ravens".... last resort).

                                 

                                                                            I CAUGHT A SALMON!!

Learning to Fillet