Saturday morning I spent fishing the Capilano river with my good buddy Joe. We fished at the usual pools, looking for some fresh fish who might be willing to hit a blade or a fly. Not much luck so we explored the canyon and fished little holes here and there. We didn't catch anything but a few smolts and then split for lunch.
After lunch we headed to the mouth of the Capilano for the days lowest tide. This was my first time being there and it was a very thought provoking experience. Joe and I were standing on the west side of the river, tossing Indiana blades, croc spoons, buzz bombs, the usual plethora of hardware at them to no avail. I observed some other people on the east side of the mouth fishing the channel. I kept looking over as this one particular man was behaving so erratically and weird that it was absolutely captivating. He was casting out with what looked to be a level wind reel and about a 10' rod. All I saw at first were large splashes where he was casting and the man stomping around with a vengeance to catch a fish. He would mightily hurl his "lure" into the water at any leaping coho and instantly retrieve it with swift and furious yanking motions followed by short spasms of furious reeling. Then I got a glimpse of his "lure". This fellow was using
only a treble hook the size of a small ship anchor, with the intent of foul-hooking any fish that cared to meander his direction. He was demonstrating the technique to a small boy who seemed to be his son. A slightly older boy who also appeared to be the mans son was well on his way, hurling a hook into the channel and yanking with utmost intensity. This electrifying trio of fish-hunters were native, as they are the only people permitted to be fishing on that side of the river.
So there I am, standing on the bank along side fellow fisherman who are each trying to perfect their craft in their own way to provoke a fish to strike. And on the other side of the river, several groups of natives are ruthlessly yanking their rods.
I thought how symbolic that river is.. it was a very gloomy yet poetic moment for me.