Why we’re hooked on the wilds of Canada!
SALMON was what my husband wanted for his 50th birthday. Not with hollandaise, a sprig of dill and a squeeze of lemon, but wriggling on the end of a fishing line, surrounded by snowcapped, pine-clad mountains, on a boat aboard the sparklingly clear waters off Canada’s western coast.
Bernard had fished in Ireland (not a bite) and had tried in Norway (only trout).
He ventured into Canadian waters, with the bonus that we could celebrate his 50th and Canada’s 150th together.
we went to Clayoquot wilderness Resort, a tented camp which goes up in spring and down in autumn before the stormy winter weather sweeps in. It’s on the western side of Vancouver Island, on an inlet, accessible only by sea-plane.
In front of a roaring log fire, outside the Cookhouse — the hub of the camp — we were initiated into what not to do in black bear territory, mainly no food to be kept in your tent. Along a wooden deck path, framed by ferns and under a canopy of tall pines, we found our home for the next few days. Cream canvas stretched taut by the ash wood poles; a double roof and cosy flickering fire.
New since I was last there was the luxury of bathrooms, previously a short walk away.
otherwise, wonderfully, it hadn’t changed at all. From the Dungeness crab to the breakfast maple sausages, the food was superb. The enthusiasm of the locals and Canadians working there from further afield was energising.
They loved to ride through the forests, to forage, to fish, to kayak, to just to be out on the waters in this remote spot. To feel, as we did, exposed to the rhythm of the natural world.
For most guests, it is simply that experience that they come for; but for us, it was all that and, we hoped, a salmon too.
Stevie was our man, we were told. If anyone could find us a salmon, it was him. And we did need him, for spring was late this year and the salmon had not yet started to return in any numbers to spawn.
we set off, Stevie at the wheel telling us about his First Nations grandfather, how he has always been taught to respect the game he kills, how life has changed for the better in that community now Canada has returned land and rights to those who were there first.
HE BROUGHT us in close to the shore where black bears were turning over rocks to find shellfish. He showed us sea otters and told us how they have a special flap of skin in which to keep the stone they need to break molluscs and found us grey whales blowing mists into the air.
Then the rods went down and work began. It was slow: a nice grouper, a canary cod, but no salmon. It was too rough to go out into the open ocean so we had little choice except to be patient.
Stevie was a wonder, with his tales of his mother’s tribe, taking us to check his crab baskets, whistling to bring bald eagles; making our day happy despite no salmon.
The next day we tried again. Up at 7am, kitted di in waterproofs.t f Stevie thought the rough ocean was just doable so off we went.
The little boat rocked from side to side, and then luckily, fairly quickly, a bite — a big bite. The line flew off the reel, Stevie flew off the driving seat, my husband grabbed the rod and I grabbed a camera.
The fish ran as Bernard tried to reel it in, and ran and ran.
‘That’s a salmon,’ said Stevie. Minutes passed, the boat still rocked and the salmon still ran.
Little by little Bernard brought him in, rod up to keep the pressure on it, until finally we could see, beneath the flash of the green lure, a Chinook salmon dancing just under the surface of the water.
Mission accomplished. But never would it have been so much fun if we had caught it on the first day.
For Stevie gave us not only the salmon, but a little piece of his Canada, passed down from generation to generation, to tuck, like the sea otters, into a fold for safe keeping.
TRAVEL FACTS
COX & Kings ( coxandkings.co.uk, 020 3642 0861) has an eight-day/six-night trip to Canada from £6,245pp, including two nights at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia (room only), four nights all inclusive at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, return private seaplane transfers and return flights from London.