Going Further North for Fish

July 30, 2010
 

A friend from my husband's college days and his wife went with us on our BC fishing adventure this year.  Although there were disadvantages in going earlier than last year, like being woken up at 4am, we did bring home the amount of salmon, halibut and ling cod that we'd hoped for.  We catch only enough to enjoy for 6 months since quality deteriates in the freezer after about that length of time.  The luckiest fish were released to either be caught by other anglers or to spawn future generations.

 

What I enjoy most about these trips are the scenery and the remoteness.  I feel at peace and a connection within my soul to my creator and all natural things when I visit these few areas that look not much different than they did 150 years ago.  We have to drive nearly 6 hours after crossing the Strait to Victoria before we're met by boat by our hosts for the 4 day trip.

 

The camp dogs, Tyee and Blue, are still puppies at about 1 year old.  A kayak trip around the cove seemed to be both tolerated and enjoyed!  With their dark black coats it's kinda hard to pick them out in the photo!

 

Why drive so far to catch Pacific native fish when we live on the Olympic Peninsula?  Sadly, by the time the Alaskan catch takes place and the Canadian one only a trickle arrive in the U.S. rivers and I'm not one for open ocean fishing.  Our Canadian host who is a conservationist and very involved in fish hatchery responsibilities in his area says 80% of the salmon caught off their coast has lately been coming from Washington and Oregon hatcheries.  I don't know how to verify that, but after doing some research online I did discover that for decades there have been disputes between the U.S. and Canada (not to mention Russia and Japan) over the rights to catch salmon that migrate from Monterey Bay in California to Alaskan waters.  In 1985 a treaty between the U.S. and Canada was signed to hopefully create quotas and enhancement programs to benefit all of our rivers' stocks.  The Fraser River run of Sockeye has been of special concern to the Canadians, although they are anticipating a large run this year due to early high count reports on the Columbia River and other spots.  The Pacific Salmon Commission was created at that time to implement the treaty.  Both sides continue to argue as well as reach some positive changes. 

Something we see that we don't really understand is sportsfishermen that keep everything they catch long after they've caught what they and their family and friends will eat.  It's probably some sort of primeval desire to kill your prey that takes over.  However, I think that if you make an effort the first few times to Practice Catch and Release you'll find you get the joy of bringing in that whopper of a fish as well as the satisfaction of helping the fishery that you so enjoy.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.” Henry David Thoreau