By Nina Manique

It was a chilly October morning when Rodney, my boyfriend and webmaster of this site, had decided to take me fishing for chum salmon for the first time ever. I’d never gone fishing before, even though I come from the island country Denmark in Scandinavia that is surrounded by the ocean. The only experience with fishing I could recall before this, was when I was a little girl, watching my brother cleaning the fish he had caught and brought home.

The excitement and jet lag woke me up early that chilly morning, it was still dark outside, but we got up and prepared for a day of fishing. The drive took around one hour, and I think I did fall asleep during it but only to arrive and wake up to the beautiful nature that only Canada can offer.

We went to Stave River, to a place where the river bends and creates a little pool. People were already there, trying to catch the fish of the day. Fishing is definitely the only time when you will see men being patient, which really surprised me. I had absolutely no clue to how you actually fish. My first thought was a rod with a line and a hook and then you fish. That is of course not far from the truth, but I would soon learn that there is more to fishing than just those three things.

As most girls, I had a great deal of prejudice against fishing. Why would anyone freely stand in cold autumn weather, wait hours for a fish to bite, drag it in just to throw it out again? This had eluded my mind for years. Not to mention it must hurt the poor fish whenever it got hooked. I had decided to give fishing a chance though, and try to see why Rodney was so addicted to it.

We went down to the riverbank by a pool where the water was calmer. Rodney gave me a fishing rod with a spinning reel and a Gibbs croc lure. It did feel awkward in the beginning, holding the rod in one hand and I felt that everyone fishing at the river near us was looking at me, seeing I had never done this before. I felt that people were standing so close and I was afraid of casting, getting people’s lines and messing everything up for everyone.

Rodney convinced me that it was okay and I should just cast. If I got anyone’s lines it would be an accident and we would just have to sort out the tangles, it happens all the time, even for the most experienced fishermen (or ladies). So I did my first cast, it went up and out and landed perfectly where I wanted it to. I felt like I had just done the impossible and the next hour I practised my cast without paying any real attention to catch a fish. I had not considered that by fishing you might just get a bite, and I did, a big one. Maybe it just felt big because I had never felt a bite before and I had absolutely no clue to what to do when I actually did get a bite, Rodney had forgotten to tell me. While trying to reel it in, I called out to him because this was not going well at all, the fish was way too big after my taste. Why did Rodney ever take me salmon fishing on my first fishing trip I do not know, but the fact is that I might have been better off starting with chub.

This salmon was a fighter and Rodney hurried to my rescue. He took the rod and ran off in the direction of the fish, jumping over and under other people's fishing lines. While he was out chasing the renegade fish, he had given me his rod to hold. Fate wanted it that another salmon bit while I stood with his rod and now there was no one to help me, it was only me and the fish. In this case I might say that the fish knew more about fishing than I did because I managed to tangle up the line and ended up losing the fish. In the mean time Rodney’s chase had been a failure and he had lost the fish too. I didn’t mind though, I had had my share of fish fighting for one day. The rest of the trip I continued practising my cast, had a few bites but lost all of them, partly because I didn’t feel like fighting another one of these monsters.

Rodney caught a few though, showed me how to clean them and we decided to take them home to eat. I only lasted for a few hours out there by the river and wanted to go home. I had not yet seen the light of fishing, only the first spark, and my patience was not as great as Rodney’s. It had been a very interesting and fun day and a great experience for me, I knew this was not the last time I would go fishing. I found it fun but mostly because my boyfriend is an addict and he would surely pull me out fishing no matter if I want it or not.

During those two weeks I was in Canada in October we went fishing a few times, all the times fishing for salmon. We did lure fishing at that same spot a couple of times and driftfishing in Squamish but that is a technique I still have not mastered.

My next fishing adventure took place this past summer, summer of 2001.

I came back to Canada on the 28th of July, anxious to see my boyfriend again. We spent two wonderful months together just relaxing and of course fishing, I knew I couldn’t avoid that.

It was still too early for salmon fishing and I think Rodney had understood that starting out with salmon wasn’t the best option. So he took me fishing for chub, a wonderful little fish for beginners and a great deal of fun because there are so many of them. On a good day you would never get bored from fishing for them.

He had bought a new rod, an ultra-light Shimano that I immediately fell in love with because it was so easy to use and so light. Skinny and non-muscular arms like mine would not grow tired from fishing with it. The reel was also a Shimano. We made our own dough from flour, water and shrimp powder. Actually that is our secret bait recipe so I don’t know if I should have written that down.

It turned out that fishing for chub was a great way to get into the whole fishy business again. The first day we went fishing in the north arm of Fraser River. It became one of my favourite places to fish because it’s never crowded like some of the local piers. When I caught my first chub, I was overwhelmed with excitement because this was the first fish that I actually caught by myself. Of course I didn’t put my own sticky bait on the hook or unhook the fish by myself. I permitted Rodney to do that job, because I didn’t feel comfortable with the slimy fish. But in the end, when I was catching as many chubs as Rodney, he demanded that I did it by myself because as he said, it was his fault that I was catching so many fish. Then my pride forbid me to let him do it anymore, and it actually felt better doing it all by myself because then I could say that I caught that fish and felt good about it. Of course it was a lot harder than what Rodney showed me. I had fish droppings all over my hands before I learned how to do it right without getting messy and more importantly without hurting the fish.

This summer I’ve caught lots of chub and squawfish in the Richmond area where we fished the most but we also went to Campell River in mid July to fish for salmon. We didn’t actually catch a salmon, even though we saw them jumping in the hundreds. Rod caught a cabezon and we both caught rockfish and bullheads on the Discovery Pier.

Squawfish is my favourite because they are bigger and they fight harder, which makes it a lot more interesting.

Unfortunately, I went home before the salmon season really started, so I never got to feel the rush of fighting a salmon. Rodney caught the first salmon the day after I left for Denmark, how ironic, but next year I’ll be back to catch my salmon.

It is sad that fishing is not more popular amongst women. It is hard to say whether it is the culture or simply the fact that men has an urge to go fight nature that women don’t possess. Personally I don’t think that is the case and I think that if there are more fishing magazines, articles, material addressed to women, we would see a boost in fisherwomen.

Not only it is fun, but it is also a great way to spend time with your partner. So you fishing boyfriends out there, try to take your girlfriends or wives fishing once awhile and let her try it out, she just might like it. Be patient because everything is tough in the beginning, but I learned that the more you learn and the more different techniques you try out, the more fun and exciting it gets.

If the persuasion doesn’t succeed at first, which it might not, try promising her a day on her terms in return. Remember that common ground, understanding and two-way communication are the paths to a good relationship. I’ve learned that fishing is a great deal of fun, and it’s even more fun when you get to share it with someone.