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| Farewell Old Friend |
| by Uncle Wes |
 I recently lost an old friend and I was trying to think of a proper tribute, so I thought I would write an article about this old friend and maybe you folks would understand how I feel. I've thought about this a great deal and I think sharing these memories will be the best medicine. We were brought together by fate back in 1995 and were pretty much inseparable, where you seen one on the lake or river you seen the other. We shared many fishing adventures thru the years and I will share some of those memories with you.
My old friend was with me when I first learned this lake where I'm currently located, we learned this lake together and have caught our share of trout on this lake. We spent many happy hours together on this lake my old friend and myself. I have a lot of fond memories on this lake. We were together when I bought my boat and motor this last fall, we checked it out together and brought it home together. Yes my old friend was always there. I remember back some 4 years ago when we entered a Mackinaw Tournament, I knew nothing about this species and had never fished for them before but I did a little homework and we were together on this. My old friend was there when I hooked into and landed my first mack. Although we didn't have downriggers we still put these beautiful fish in the boat. It was a great time.
My old friend was with me when I won my first club trout tournament. Know one else was catching trout, but we did. It was a proud moment and my old friend was there. We traveled for two and a half hours just to get to this1day tournament. It was cold and nasty and the wind blew most of the contestants off of the lake, but my old friend and myself stuck it out together. Yes I will miss this old friend. We were together for my second club tournament win it was a close one but we won it by 2 and a half pounds. It was a long and grueling tournament but we stuck it out. It was freezing in the mornings and hotter than the devil in the afternoon. But we managed to stick it out. It was a great win. Yes I'll miss this old friend.
My old friend was with me when I caught my first trout on a fly rod. It was a perfect day you couldn't ask for better fishing conditions. I made my first several casts and hooked into my first one, a nice 12" rainbow. My second one was even bigger a nice 2 ½ lb'er, he made several runs on me before he surrendered to the net. As the day went on I finally managed to get my third trout a beautiful 3 ½ lb rainbow. This was quite a little fight and my old friend was there to share in all my glory. It seems like my old friend has shared in many of my personal triumphs.
We took a trip together this fall trophy hunting for huge rainbows. This particular lake holds the state record for the largest Rainbow Trout. It was a cold fall morning the water was calm and everything looked good. We ran down the lake 8 miles and worked the area for a couple of hours and we managed to put one 5 lb rainbow in the boat, not exactly what we were looking for but better than nothing. The wind started to pick up and it started to sprinkle just a bit and I decided I should head toward the docks and get a little closer to home. On our way the water was no longer like glass and the wind and rain was picking up making things a little rough. The closer we got to our home port the rougher the water got until finally we were 2 miles from our port and the waves were now white capping and reaching heights of four feet. Quite exciting if you are in a little 12 foot aluminum boat. It took us 6 hours to reach the launch point, but my old friend and I made it together.
This past month we were together fishing on the river for silvers (coho salmon) and did quite well. It was the first time in several years that I had taken the time to pursue these fish. But once out there I remembered how much I had enjoyed it, reading the water and throwing spoons, working all the runs effectively it was like I hadn't missed a beat. My old friend was there when I brought my first one in, it was a nice 6 pounder very bright and you could tell it had just come into the river. Yes my old friend was there for every one of the 9 I caught this year. Through the rain and wind we stuck it out. In fact my old friend was there to witness my largest winter steelhead of 15 pounds. What a fight this fish put up. Yes I'm going to miss my old friend.
I will admit I thought the end was coming near, you could tell by the worn and tattered look that time had taken its toll. I just never thought that it would come this soon we had only really begun to experience the fishing life, the good life. We had spent 8 good years fishing as one. It seemed as time went on we became tighter and tighter, I will miss this old friend. Then that fateful day came there was an accident and an arm was lost, that was all it took. What a dreadful accident after all we had been through together. I will truly miss that old sweatshirt and can only hope to find another one that will be as lucky. Farewell old friend.
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Article |
Topics |
Date |
| 1. |
Vancouver Island's Esperanza Inlet |
Halibut, Salmon, Vancouver Island |
May 2012 |
| 2. |
Fly Purple Peril |
Flys |
May 2012 |
| 3. |
Trolling for trout |
Trolling, Trout |
Apr 2012 |
| 4. |
Fly Blue Note |
Flyfishing, Flys |
Mar 2012 |
| 5. |
Fly Kalumlow |
Flyfishing, Flys |
Mar 2012 |
| 6. |
Fly Skeena Scar |
Flyfishing, Flys |
Mar 2012 |
| 7. |
Fly Polar Express |
Flyfishing, Flys |
Mar 2012 |
| 8. |
Sturgeon fishing in Vancouver British Columbia |
Sturgeon |
Mar 2012 |
| 9. |
Strategies for Catching Sturgeon |
Sturgeon |
Mar 2012 |
| 10. |
Fly Copper Gammarus |
Flys |
Mar 2012 |
| 11. |
Fly Alley Alevin |
Flys |
Mar 2012 |
| 12. |
Fly Hilton Boss |
Flys |
Mar 2012 |
| 13. |
A Guided Steelhead Trip on the River |
Steelhead |
Feb 2012 |
| 14. |
Fly Polar UV shrimp |
Flys |
Feb 2012 |
| 15. |
Egg-sukin Beaver Leech |
Flys |
Feb 2012 |
| 16. |
Fly Chardolas Bait |
Flys |
Feb 2012 |
| 17. |
Don't be afraid to try anything |
Steelhead |
Feb 2012 |
| 18. |
Best Fishing Story of 2011 Ryan Spannier |
|
Feb 2012 |
| 19. |
Best Fishing Story of 2011 by Bob Waldhaus |
Steelhead |
Feb 2012 |
| 20. |
Best Fishing Story of 2011 David Sandquist |
Kids, Salmon |
Feb 2012 |
| 21. |
Fly Reeds Spey |
Flyfishing |
Feb 2012 |
| 22. |
Jet Boat Maintenance |
Boats |
Dec 2011 |
| 23. |
Smoked Salmon Recipe BBQ and Honey |
Recipes, Salmon |
Dec 2011 |
| 24. |
Poached Italian Cod |
Recipes |
Dec 2011 |
| 25. |
Fly Blue Charmer |
Flys |
Nov 2011 |
| 26. |
Fly Muddy Waters |
Flys |
Nov 2011 |
| 27. |
Fly - The Excursion Leech |
Flyfishing |
Nov 2011 |
| 28. |
Herb and Garlic Crusted Halibut with oven roasted ratatouille |
Halibut, Recipes |
Oct 2011 |
| 29. |
The Banner Season |
Fishing Area Outlook |
Jun 2011 |
| 30. |
voteforsalmon |
Conservaton, Salmon |
Apr 2011 |
| 31. |
Votesalmon |
Conservaton, Salmon |
Apr 2011 |
| 32. |
Rivers Inlet Hatchery Program |
Conservaton, Salmon |
Apr 2011 |
| 33. |
Mayday for Wild Salmon |
Conservaton, Salmon |
Mar 2011 |
| 34. |
Contest 2011 Fishing Story David Sandquist |
Flyfishing, Steelhead |
Feb 2011 |
| 35. |
Contest 2011 Fishing Story Honourary mention Ron Gibson |
|
Feb 2011 |
| 36. |
Contest 2011 Fishing Story Bog Waldhaus |
Steelhead |
Feb 2011 |
| 37. |
Contest 2011 Fishing Story Brian Wong |
Salmon |
Feb 2011 |
| 38. |
Does Fish Cooking Techniques Matter |
Recipes |
Jan 2011 |
| 39. |
Mediterranean Fish Fillets |
Recipes |
Jan 2011 |
| 40. |
Virus Killing Fraser Sockeye |
Conservaton, Fish, Salmon |
Jan 2011 |
| 41. |
Halibut Fishery |
Conservaton, Hallibut |
Dec 2010 |
| 42. |
Salmon Virus watch |
Conservaton, Salmon |
Nov 2010 |
| 43. |
Disease Information |
Conservaton |
May 2010 |
| 44. |
Sea lice kept secret |
Conservaton |
May 2010 |
| 45. |
Catch the Dream |
Halibut, Salmon, Trolling |
May 2010 |
| 46. |
Oak Bay Marine Group Newsletter |
Salmon |
Mar 2010 |
| 47. |
Quesnel Lake |
Trout |
Jan 2010 |
| 48. |
Art of Curing and Smoking Fish |
Smoking |
Jan 2010 |
| 49. |
Bradley's Famous Hot Smoked Salmon |
Smoking |
Jan 2010 |
| 50. |
Salmon fishery action suit |
Salmon |
Nov 2009 |
| 51. |
Save B.C. Salmon |
Conservaton, Salmon |
Nov 2009 |
| 52. |
Winner of the Giver on the River Free Charter |
Fish |
Sep 2009 |
| 53. |
Oven bbq salmon |
Recipes, Salmon |
Aug 2009 |
| 54. |
Poached Italian Cod |
Recipes |
Aug 2009 |
| 55. |
Salmon Creole |
Recipes, Salmon |
Aug 2009 |
| 56. |
Australia Fishing |
Salmon |
Aug 2009 |
| 57. |
Horseradish and Dill Butter Salmon Steaks |
Recipes, Salmon |
Jul 2009 |
| 58. |
Navigating a boat purchase |
Boats |
Jul 2009 |
| 59. |
Salmon with a Homemade Grain Mustard Crust |
Recipes, Salmon |
Jul 2009 |
| 60. |
Halibut with Fennel Broth |
Halibut, Recipes |
Jul 2009 |
| 61. |
Cedar Plank Salmon |
Recipes, Salmon |
Jun 2009 |
| 62. |
Islander Winner 2009 |
Tackle |
Jun 2009 |
| 63. |
Just Get In the Water |
Technique |
Jun 2009 |
| 64. |
Saltwater Night Fishing for Salmon |
Salmon, Technique |
Jun 2009 |
| 65. |
Steelhead & Salmon Warfare |
Salmon, Steelhead |
Jun 2009 |
| 66. |
Deep Running Giant Salmon |
Salmon |
May 2009 |
| 67. |
Salmon Scampi |
Recipes |
Apr 2009 |
| 68. |
Dandelion Stuffed Chaunigan Trout |
Recipes, Trout |
Apr 2009 |
| 69. |
Living Rivers - Georgia Basin and Vancouver Island |
Conservaton |
Apr 2009 |
| 70. |
Salmon steak recipe |
Recipes, Salmon |
Mar 2009 |
| 71. |
Chaunigan Trout Recipe |
Recipes, Trout |
Mar 2009 |
| 72. |
Best catch of 2008 |
Flyfishing, Kids, Salmon, Steelhead, Trout |
Feb 2009 |
| 73. |
The Great Chilko Bear Adventure |
Bears |
Feb 2009 |
| 74. |
Seasonal Outlook for 2010 |
Salmon, Seasons, Steelhead, Sturgeon, Trout |
Jan 2009 |
| 75. |
A Fishing Trip with REEL OBSESSIONS Vancouver Island. |
Salmon, Trolling |
Jan 2009 |
| 76. |
Carp fishing from a different angle |
Carp |
Sep 2008 |
| 77. |
Fish British Columbia With a Timeshare |
Accommodation |
Apr 2008 |
| 78. |
Hurt by aquaculture industry |
Salmon |
Nov 2007 |
| 79. |
BC wild salmon endangered by failure to contain sea lice from salmon farms |
Conservaton |
Sep 2007 |
| 80. |
Go Fish |
|
Aug 2007 |
| 81. |
Studies show harmful impact of BC coast salmon farms on wild Pacific salmon |
Salmon |
Aug 2007 |
| 82. |
Lynn's Fishing Adventure |
Sturgeon, Trout |
Jul 2007 |
| 83. |
Chilliwack River Action Committee |
Conservaton |
Apr 2007 |
| 84. |
Indian Candy Recipe |
Recipes, Salmon, Smoking |
Mar 2007 |
| 85. |
Fishing Articles and archived fishing posts |
|
Mar 2007 |
| 86. |
Curing Eggs |
Salmon |
Mar 2007 |
| 87. |
Fishing for Chum Salmon |
Salmon |
Mar 2007 |
| 88. |
Salmon Eating - After They Change Colour |
Salmon |
Mar 2007 |
| 89. |
A guides Perspective - The Fraser River |
Salmon, Seasons, Sturgeon, Trout |
Aug 2005 |
| 90. |
Smoked Salmon Recipe |
Recipes, Salmon, Smoking |
Dec 2004 |
| 91. |
Fishing in Harrison Hot Springs |
|
Aug 2004 |
| 92. |
Jet vs. Outboard |
Boats |
Aug 2004 |
| 93. |
Helpful Hints, Tips and Tricks |
Tackle |
Mar 2004 |
| 94. |
Uncle Wes - Farewell Old Friend |
|
Dec 2003 |
| 95. |
Cow Paddy Pond |
Trout |
Oct 2003 |
| 96. |
12 Seasons of Fishing the Kitimat |
Flyfishing, Salmon, Seasons, Trout |
Apr 2003 |
| 97. |
Sara, Guardian of the Lake |
|
Jul 2002 |
| 98. |
Portrait of a Mountain Man |
|
May 2002 |
| 99. |
Carving the Salmon Pie |
Salmon |
May 2001 |
| 100. |
Spoon Fishing Lakes From The Bank |
Tackle, Trout |
Mar 2001 |
| 101. |
Vedder River Fishing “Fall options” |
Salmon, Seasons |
Mar 2001 |
| 102. |
Slippery Spotted Owls |
Salmon |
Jul 1998 |
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