Hooked For A Decade

If you asked me a decade ago how I felt about saltwater fishing, I would have told you, “I have never been out before, but I can only imagine how much I will enjoy it!” As an avid fisherwoman my entire life in the interior of the province, I had not yet experienced the excitement of the ocean – be it jigging for whatever bottom fish we might find or feeling a screaming reel from a tyee.

Looking back on it now, I could have never imagined the adventures I would get to put under my belt – and as I sit beside the boat at our campsite the evening before heading out of Port Edward for a couple days of action, it’s not difficult to reminisce. There have been a myriad of experiences, both good and bad, that I could have never foreseen.

 

My first trip, out of Prince Rupert 10 summers ago, was everything a person could ask for at the ocean. Phenomenal weather, non-stop salmon action and I caught my very first halibut; I also learned a good lesson about not being too picky about the size of halibut at the ocean, as our last day there it seemed as though I caught and released chickens all afternoon, only to come back to the dock empty handed that evening!

The years that followed that trip varied in their success, from getting tangled up in torrential downpour and nasty weather out of the Kitimat while prawning early in May, wicked chinook fishing out of the Work Channel where I caught my first tyee and fishing the somewhat challenging murky waters in front of Gingolx. While success could be stereotypically measured by how many crab, halibut, prawns or salmon were caught, each trip inevitably ends up being remembered by the company kept during said excursions – the people that we spent time with on the boat, around the fire and in the pickup, making the hours-long drive from home to the coast.

After a decade of venturing out west, the newness of the experience may have dulled, but the anticipation never fails to keep me looking forward to the next opportunity to get out. From family to friends, I just can’t help but start scheming of a new chance to get back out here. It’s safe to say, I’m looking forward to what the next decade brings with it!