Can You Hear The Call?

Finally read The Call of the Wild, by Jack London. Have to say I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting, and it definitely got me thinking. Buck's gradual transformation from domesticated pet to wild animal and his quest for dominance reminds me in a vague sort of way of the two "civilized" fisherman, snarling at each over who got to the run first. Or the guy who wants to be known as the "greatest fisherman alive" and therefore terrorizes everyone else with tall tales of his fishing prowess while delivering snide, derogatory comments in regards to anyone else's abilities. I picture Buck, disciplining the other dogs while stalking around with his nose up and chest puffed out.

I think anytime a creature is taken out of their comfort zone, into a place where survival means being smart and tough, they are forced to revert to their baser instincts. Even for fisherman, this holds true, although a dog struggling through the Yukon wilderness in the dead of winter with little food or rest is much more of a life or death situation than some decked out fly angler making the drive from downtown Vancouver to the Vedder. But there is still that element of returning to the wild, being surrounded by nature and all her unpredictibilities and participating in an act that has been practiced for centuries. The further away from "civilization" we go, the more aware we become, our senses heighten, the more alive and alert we are. The urge to triumph grows strong, to survive the biggest goal.

Curtis and I took a drive up some old logging roads last week, and within an hour from home were gazing overtop pine trees, with lakes a thousand feet below and mountains stretching into the horizon  nearly at eye level. Yes, we were so close to home and in the safety and comfort of a big truck on a well maintained gravel road, but still I could feel my lungs opening up as if I could breath bigger and deeper breaths, my eyes strained to soak up the details in my surroundings, and those little nagging, everyday worries and insecurities just floated away. Curtis has been on several stone sheep hunts, the last he drove for 20+ hours, boated for a few more, then hiked up 7000 ft of mountain with little more than his bow and a bivy sack to reach the alpine with the world laid out before him. On top of the world literally, as well as figuratively - the element of risk involved and the need to protect your very exsistence results in the most incredible sense of accomplishment. When he got back his words were "You will never feel more alive. You feel like there is nothing you cannot do."

I imagine that's how Jack London's Buck felt when he listened to his primordial instincts.

And I'm going to go on the next sheep hunt.

Quick hits...

Congratulations are due for Sarah, who now officially holds the Women's IGFA 8kg Line Class World Record for Roosterfish. Ever since she saw Running Down the Man 2 years ago, Sarah has been dying to catch one of these spectacular fish. And she did it in style last August on her honeymoon.

I'm so proud of you!!

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Since the guiding season is at its slowest point, Curtis is able to spend some time playing on the computer, and has made these 2 clips (with limited footage) of two of our favourite rivers. Enjoy.

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And thank you to everyone who responded to my previous blog post. Several blogger friends confessed to me privately that I am not alone in my apathy. Re-examining my post I see that I do appear to take it too seriously (a habit I exercise elsewhere in my life) and my intention was not to write a depressing post but rather one to help clarify my feelings, if for only my own sake. After all, its just fishing! A dear friend, Joel, who introduced me to blogging on the now defunct website "Fish Frontiers" sent me this message, which is how I intend to proceed with this site.

"A blog is nothing more than the word bubbles in your head, except released onto a web page. It's supposed to be fun, not a chore. It's an O-U-T-L-E-T. Don't worry about writing what you should write, or what Moldychum, Trout Underground or April Vokey are doing. Release whatever (you're) thinking/feeling/loving/hating/wanting."

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And finally Happy New Year everyone. Thank you for sharing a small slice of my life with me, and may you be happy and healthy in 2010.

Now go fishing.

Posting motivation

Lately the motivation to update my blog has been severely lacking. Struggling to figure out why has led me to a few conclusions:

1. I've been reading too many other blogs, and now I'm confused about the direction I want mine to take. Do I post endless photos of sunsets and grinning anglers with fish or how about flies and materials or maybe industry news and funny pics or fishing reports or shameless business and personal promotion or how about gear reviews or perhaps articles on technique or maybe profiling other anglers or yada yada yada....
2. Time. I lack it. 
3. #2 leads to #3, not enough fishing.
4. Balance. I often wonder if the struggle to find balance in life, between work and play, relationships and personal time, will be an eternal one.
5. I can be somewhat self concious at times.
6. Obligation. I want to want to do this, and I started feeling like it was something I had to do. All in my own head, no outside pressure, but there just the same.
7. I hate competition, and with the explosion of female talent in the fishing world I feel or anticipate comparisons where perhaps there shouldn't be. i.e. I don't want my blog to be compared to Kate's or Hannah's, or have to say for the five hundredth time that I'm not April Vokey's partner and that I'm not a part of Flygal.
8. I'm burning out. Not of fishing. But of working in the industry, of being a part of this twisted fishing world. I sometimes think that some of my most amazing times out fishing were before I started working in the shop, before all my friends were anglers, when I knew jack shit about tackle and barely more about what I was really doing out there. When I had no expectations of myself. When I wasn't a part of Facebook and didn't know about forums and Youtube and didn't get phone calls daily ("who's catching fish, on which rock were they standing and how far did they cast what line with which fly and when did they mend and strip and can you drive me to that run and show me how to do it so I don't have to thing about it and then I can go back to my computer and post about it like I'm the expert now?") that make me want to weep.

After all that my final conclusion is that maybe I shouldn't care about anything but myself, not care about the image I portray and just do whatever the hell I want to with this. While I am a "professional" in this industry, my blog is for me first and foremost. I'm not trying to sell anything or convert anyone or promote myself... This is my space, my place, my outlet. You are invited to have a peek at it, and if you don't like it feel free to move on.

 

And yes, I am in one of those moods.

A Compliment...

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It's one thing to have my fly profiled on a two page spread in Fly Fusion...

And it's another to have someone tatoo that fly on their body.

Thanks Dave, I'm flattered beyond words.

Too Little, Too Late?

From the front page of the Vancouver Sun:

"Wild salmon advocates expressed relief Thursday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the federal government will stage a judicial inquiry into the collapse of sockeye salmon runs on the Fraser River.

Details will be announced Friday in Vancouver by Stockwell Day, federal Trade Minister and regional minister for British Columbia.

Day is expected to name a judge to head the inquiry and to announce terms of reference. The inquiry will have the legal power to compel witnesses to testify — meaning that federal scientists will have the freedom to discuss their concerns about sockeye without fear of repercussion.

Sockeye runs spawning in the Fraser drainage have been in a two-decade decline after years of spectacular abundance in the 1980s, and hit a 50-year low in summer 2009.

That has prompted concerns, as detailed in a recent book by B.C. author Alex Rose, that sockeye are heading for a population failure on the scale of the collapse of Atlantic cod.

In his book, Who Killed the Grand Banks, Rose suggests that sockeye are beset by the same conflicting political agendas that enabled East Coast fishermen to push cod to the brink of extinction.

“Mr. Harper deserves credit for this decision. It’s long overdue,” Rose said in an interview. “After seeing the denial and obfuscation of DFO and its regime on the East Coast with the collapse of the Grand Banks cod, I’m convinced that we need to get these people on the stand and under oath.”

Documents show that while the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was officially predicting strong sockeye returns and a commercial fishing opportunity for Fraser sockeye in 2009, others at DFO were warning of a probable collapse based on grim results in ocean test fishing programs dating back to 2007.

B.C. New Democrat and Liberal MPs, first nations, commercial and sport fishing groups, conservation groups and local governments have all been calling on the government for action but until Harper’s announcement there was no evidence that the Tories intended to respond.

The reason for the decline remains a mystery, although poor marine survival rates among juvenile salmon migrating into the ocean for the first time appear to be the principal culprit.

Climate change effecting ocean temperature, declining ocean salinity, dwindling food resources and health threats from fish farms along salmon migration routes have been suggested as possible explanations — but the official position of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is that no specific cause is known.

Chief Bob Chamberlin, secretary treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, called Harper’s announcement “excellent news.”

“I think it’s crucial that they release a complete understanding of what happened with the sockeye collapse here on the West Coast,” Chamberlin said.

He wants the inquiry to look at potential for sea lice infestations and disease transfer from salmon farms to juvenile wild salmon.

“I would urge the Prime Minister to make the necessary resources available for intervenors to participate — if not, you’ll have well-resourced industries like fish farms participate and put their spin on things, and other people who could inform the whole process will be excluded.”

Craig Orr, executive director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society, wants the inquiry to look at the “disconnect” between DFO researchers who warned in 2007 of the pending collapse based on an absence of juvenile 2009-class Fraser sockeye in ocean test fishing, and DFO’s “rosy” pre-season forecasts for the 2009 sockeye Fraser return.

“An inquiry should allow them to compel testimony from the managers and the scientists, which is good,” Orr said.

Commercial gillnetter and troller Rick Burns, who abandoned the Fraser in favour of fishing the north B.C. coast four years ago, said he’s “all for” the inquiry and said it needs to be a “far ranging inquiry because there are so many factors that affect salmon.”

Phil Eidsvik, spokesman for the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition, said the inquiry is “great news for B.C. salmon.

“I couldn’t be more pleased – we have been asking for a full judicial inquiry into the management of Fraser salmon since 1992,” Eidsvik said.

“Harper has shown that he understands how important salmon is to B.C. and is putting his government under a microscope to ensure that B.C. salmon don’t go the way of Atlantic cod.”

ssimpson@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun"

When we can laugh at ourselves....

While I'm not a forum junkie I do occasionally read the local sites to get an idea of what's happening around the lower mainland. I stumbled across this thread on FlyBC last week and thought these were worth sharing.



Confrontation on the River



Fly vs Spey

All About The Eye