Sunday, July 30, 2017

Gone Fishing


Our fishing trip was fantastic.  On Friday afternoon at 2pm we headed out on a five hour charter in the nearby Salish Sea that runs between Comox and the mainland.  It was an absolutely beautiful day for fishing.  25 degrees celsius, a very light wind and very calm seas. This trip had been saved for and planned months ahead and was part of our "experiences not stuff" Mother's day gift, Father's day gift, Hubby's Birthday and my Birthday gift.  We packed a picnic lunch and set out to hopefully catch some fish.  We had a fantastic guide from Cliff's Chinook Charters named Raiden.  He is 29 and has been guiding for many years along the Pacific Coast.



We all caught fish, 7 in total plus one that got away.  When I was a kid we used to go to different lakes in the interior of BC every single weekend for camping and fishing.  That was freshwater fishing which is completely different than deep sea fishing.  We all absolutely loved it.  My Mom was so happy and it was definitely a day to remember. 

 The seven fish we caught:  Pacific ling cod (too small), two sand sharks or dog fish as they are commonly known (I caught one, they fight hard), one rock cod (has poisonous spines, is edible but too small) and three coho salmon, only one of which was large enough to keep.
Small Pacific cod

sand shark/dog fish

Rock cod

Hubby caught this beautiful 15 pound coho salmon which was the keeper of the day,


At 7pm we returned from a beautiful day of fishing to this little guy, patiently waiting at the cleaning station.  He wanted the head and spine....waiting pays off.  After filleting our fish he got the proceeds.  He looks small but there is a very large body to that seal, I bet he weighed about 250 lbs as he hangs about the cleaning station every single day and knows when a new boat comes in after fishing.



So, here is the cost breakdown in case anyone is wondering:  5 hour Charter $450 - booked 4 months in advance so I got $50 of as was a special if you book early.  Guide tip $40.  Fishing licenses $35 for 3 adults for one day (all season licenses are not that expensive if you had your own boat) so $525 total which works out to $175 per person.  Was it worth it?  You bet, it was one of those favorite life experiences and I am so thankful we could afford to do it.  I actually think it is going to be an annual experience as we loved it so much.  Some people buy sporting or concert tickets, apparently fishing will be our new thing.

Why does it costs so much?  Boat, insurance, gasoline, and moorage fees plus the assistance of a guide who truly knew what he was doing, taught us a bunch about the resource management and who truly cares about the fish and wildlife.  If you owned your own boat to get on the ocean likely the annual fees just to maintain it would be $500 to $1000 not including the cost of boat and repairs.  Moorage at the Comox harbour is $2500 per year, if you can get a spot or pay for out of water storage.

Every single fish we didn't keep was carefully lifted from the water and had the hook removed then very carefully placed back in the water to swim another day.  It looks like that big stick is a spear but it is a gigantic hook that allows you to pick the fish up out of the net to handle it carefully, something that is super important when you are dealing with some fish that are poisonous like that rock cod's spines or the sand shark's teeth which are small but still have pretty sharp teeth.

So now I can say I caught a shark and both of us lived to tell about it!  And yes, we had a salmon BBQ last night and it was scrumptious.  Since the fish was so big there were 15 more salmon fillet portions so Mom got some and we are in Salmon for a while!

24 comments:

  1. Money well spent! A great day for it too.

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    1. It was a great day, couldn't have planned on better weather. Fortunately on the water it was a little cooler.

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  2. Enjoyed reading this, Cheapchick. Great fun for all of you, carefully planned. Rock on!

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    1. It was really good fun, we all really enjoyed it. Definitely worth the money in my books.

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  3. Wow, that's pretty awesome! Looks like it was well worth it too. Back when hubby and I were dating (around 1978-ish), we'd sometimes get up before dawn on a Sunday morning, along with my brother and his friend, and go down to Playland (Rye, NY), which was on the sound, and rent a big wooden rowboat with an Evinrude outboard motor. We'd spend the whole day out on the boat fishing. We mostly caught flounder. It was always a day well spent, but you wouldn't be able to get me out there now. I'm for sure a landlubber. lol

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    1. That sounds like a great childhood memory. I love being on the ocean but would prefer to go with someone who knows what they are doing as it is completely different than freshwater lakes.

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  4. That sounds like fun. You would have probably each spent some of the $175 on gifts or eating out on all those occasions, so it sound pretty reasonable to me.

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    1. That is true Linda and this was such a treat for all of us.

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  5. Sounds like a fun day! I remember going out twice deep sea fishing, once with my parents in Nova Scotia when I was a kid, and then Kevin and I took our kids out when we were in Prince Edward Island many years ago and both times were fantastic and they are memories that have lasted a lifetime. Definitely money well spent and you got some fresh salmon to boot. :-)

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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    1. It was so fun, so glad we did it. It really taught us a lot more about the waters where we live too, so many different species down there.

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  6. Absolutely better money spent than on stuff that would just accumulate. We are loaded with birthdays this month, and I am trying to think of experiences rather than stuff too.

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    1. Mom and I are not stuff people and hubby tends to buy what he wants so this was best for all of us. We had a blast!

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  7. What a great way to spend a day with Mom! And that salmon is a beauty!

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    1. She had a ball, she used to love fishing but it has been at least 20 years since she has been. It was nice to get to do it with her.

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  8. Happy for you all that it turned out so perfectly. Yum to the fresh salmon.

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    1. I was thinking of you the whole time we were packaging it up lol

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  9. Glad you had a lovely time. great photo of the three of you, your mum's top is fabulous!
    How cute is that seal? I'd have wanted to catch him and take him home with me! xxx

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    1. I made Mom buy that top - its from a thrift store of course and cost a whopping $1.50. The seal was so cute, very fat but totally cute.

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  10. I love the big smile on your mother's face - the experience must have brought back good fishing memories :) I think "experiences" are the way to go these days as we all have too much stuff and don't need any more. I enjoyed my birthday trip to B.C. much more than new stuff!

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    1. She absolutely loves it, was ready to go again the next day lol. Definitely something we need to do at least once a year

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  11. Loved reading about your adventure. Definitely the perfect way to celebrate your special events. We just got back from a fabulous trip to celebrate my husband's 50th birthday. My parents are spending time with the kids, so we had the most relaxing & fun long weekend. It's been quite a while since we've laughed that much! Just what we needed. :-)

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    1. Experiences always rule out of stuff that within a year usually the item is hardly used or rarely remembered.

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  12. That is a wonderful idea!You checked off a lot of special occasions with that trip! I love taking boat rides. Your weather looked fantastic and it seemseveryonehad a great time!

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    1. The weather was fantastic, unfortunately on Wednesday the smoke from the fires moved in on us and now I barely go outside :(

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