At the beginning, a trip seems like it might last forever. And then
it’s all gone, quicker than you could have imagined. When the final
day fades all that’s left is to stow your rods and gear, recount your
stories, and try your hand at nails.
I guess I could eat a banana
now. But I’m not going to do it.
The Extra Mile The Lesson
Our guide, Craig Wells, is a solid guy, and
he worked hard to put us on fish each day.
If we’d wanted to fish until midnight, he
would have accommodated us. On this
trip we learned that he has a knack for
playing nails, and is way handier than the
rest of us with a hammer. If you book a
trip with Wells, definitely challenge him to
this classic game, but don’t expect to win.
Craig may accommodate you in finding
clear water and bulls and cutts that rarely
see a fly, but he’ll show no mercy at nails. If you’re an avid angler, you know
conditions change and that figuring things
out is your job. To do so, you have to
draw on all your knowledge and adapt if
necessary. That’s what we did. We know
bull trout love deep water, but on this trip
we had to search shallow, where we never
would have expected to find them. In the
end, that turned our experience into a story
all of us will remember the rest of our lives.
Especially Telleen. When we docked the
boat in Campbell River, ever superstitious,
he said, “I guess I could eat a banana now.
But I’m not going to do it.”
On our final evening we enjoyed a massive
dinner of spot prawns the Craig’s father,
Jim, had captured earlier in the day. That
night I thought, if I hadn’t come for the
fishing it would have been worth the effort
just to eat all that the British Columbia
coast offers, most importantly the crabs
and prawns.
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Photos by Jerrin Uecker of North 40 Outfitters
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