here fishy fishy

Visit the north coast and you will learn this:  People around here live to fish.  They fish for their livelihood, they fish for fun.  They wake up at the crack of dawn, fight swell, walk streams with fresh bear tracks, stand in the rain, and spend hours just waiting and hoping all in order to fish.

Before moving here my fishing pinnacle was in first year university when I won a rod and tackle box in the Annual UNBC Outdoor Club ice fishing derby.  Don't be impressed.  I used a stick I found in the bush, borrowed a weight, hook, and some bait from a friend, dropped my line and wandered off to drink beer (because let's be honest, that is what ice fishing is actually about).  The whole catching the second largest fish part was done with zero skill, effort or intention.

Full disclosure: I use that tackle box to store beads to this day.

It's not that I don't like fishing, I just never really sought out the opportunity to do it, even when living in fish-centric places like the north island.  But here it seems different.  It seems ingrained in people.  It's what people talk about.  Canning salmon is a social event. Heck, I even experienced my first fish road-blocks this year.  Twice.  And yes, it's exactly what is sounds like,  a police (actually Fisheries Officer) check point along the highway where instead of checking if you're drunk, they are looking at the legality of what you've caught.

Ty had a couple days out in Chatham Sound this summer so our freezer, while by no means 'full' compared to many people here, has a small stockpile that I am more than thrilled with.  We also got out onto some of the smaller rivers that feed into the Skeena to fish this fall as well. There is something almost meditative about quietly casting and reeling your line in and out as the river rushes by. Cast. Reel. Cast. Reel.Then that meditative moment is shattered by the burst of adrenaline when you have a fish on. I am slowly trying to learn not to shriek like a high-pitched banshee every time this happens (likely this will take me years to actually master, I am nothing if not excitable).

While I am still most definitely a fishing novice, a few weeks ago, I  found myself discussing rivers and runs at a party over beer.  The north coast may just make a fisherwoman out of me yet.