FLYING and FISHING at TYEE SPIT

 “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

 I'm not real keen on flying. Haven't been in a plane since 1999 ( Shock and gasp). But that's fine with me. I just like watching them take off from Tyee Spit, in Campbell River, B.C.

 And see the Tyee fishing alongside the planes.

 A Tyee is a chinook salmon, has to weigh 30 pounds or more. And only two can be caught in one day.

 “The things you let go will someday teach you how to fly.” 
― Jenim Dibie

 The season is now underway. From July 15- Sept 15.

 And the planes puddle around the boats with great skill.

 As Painters' Lodge looks on.

 The Tyee must be caught  in Discovery Passage,  between the Narrows , and a point at Cape Mudge and Big Rock.

 No motor can be used while fishing from a boat. 

 Trolling only.In otherwise a lure drawn behind the boat.

 “Don't teach me to fly, give me wings” ― Dr.P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

 The only motors you will hear will come from the planes as they  head out.

Fishermen can use a reel, rod, line weight and leader and lure only. Nothing mechanized. Only hand operated. Quiet. 

 And the fishermen fish. And the light glitters on the ocean. 

 And the planes soar overhead......

 “When I was a kid, I imagined flying holding balloons” 
― Luffina Lourduraj

 Photographs  2019 Tyee Spit, Campbell River, B.C.

Fishing

 "There will be days when the fishing  is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home." -Roderick Haig-Brown (1908-1976)(Fisherman's Spring 1951)

 In 2016 Canadian  Roderick Haig-Brown, writer of non-fiction and fiction, with more than a great interest in nature and fishing, was named a "National Historic Person" . He devoted his life to preserving tributaries as Pacific salmon habitat, especially the spawning grounds. His entire life was spent in writing and believing  and protecting nature and the environment.

 In Strathcona Park , not far from Campbell River, a mountain was named in  honour  of writer and conservationist Roderick Haig-Brown  and his wife, Ann.

 His family home, built in 1923, is tucked away in Campbell River.A quiet B and B during the summer, and the rest of the year can be rented for special occasions.

 "I have fished through fishless days, that I happily remember without regret." (R. Haig-Brown)

 The Museum in town hosts a special "Writer in Residence" program  at Haig-Brown House. There is even an old movie reel with Haig-Brown. It can be seen any time of the year. He speaks eloquently about his love of the waters and the surrounding world.

 As a writer,  he won many awards, including the Governor General's Award for "Saltwater Summer", about salmon fishing off  northern Vancouver Island.

 "A fisherman is always hopeful....nearly always more hopeful than he has any right to be." (R. Haig-Brown)

 "I have been all my life, a conservationist. It seem clear, beyond possibility of argument that any given generation of men can have only a lease,not ownership, of the EARTH;  and one essential term of the lease  is that the earth  be handed down  to the next generation  with unimpaired potentialities. This is the conservationists' concern." (R. Haig -Brown)

 He learned about conservation , when he was very young. He was mentored by some incredible people.

 His entire life was devoted to making sure  the environment was brought to  everyone's awareness.

 I think it is incredibly fortunate that Haig-Brown House is right here...about a 12 minute drive from our house.  Just off the drive to Elk Falls. Once we went in the driveway, by accident, when the house was closed down, and had to turn around under forest canopy. I didn't know anything about the house at the time.  Everything  green. And quiet.

 And in the back yard of Haig-Brown House is the Campbell River. It rushes and ebbs. During the season you will see countless fly fishermen  decked out in wading gear. Standing against the current.

                                                    
 "A river is water in its loveliest form,rivers have life and sound and movement and infinity of variation.Rivers are veins of the earth  through which the lifeblood returns to the heart." (R. Haig -Brown)

  Haig Brown House is built on a green belt. It was sold to the B.C. govt in 1974 and has been preserved very well. It has a quiet  gentleness about it.I'm hoping to get back to it, and this time not have to turn around . Instead stay and learn more about a part of history in this area......

  "I remember all the good evenings I have fished, even the ones that realised material hopes, not by the fish that came to the fly,but by the colour and movement of the water and sky......

 .................... by the sounds and scents and gentle stirrings that were all about me." (R. Haig-Brown)

PIER MUSINGS

 At the Pier, off  Discovery Passage, in Campbell River. No glorious sunsets of hot summer nights. Just yet. Just clean and simple. This is just the prequel, for what is to come....

Low tide reigns at this time of year.

 The eagles come out to play. Well, I suppose they're hunting......but they actually look like they're playing. Dancing. Leaping, Skimming.....

                                     Flying sideways like the Blue Angels....

Discovery Passage joins up with Johnson Strait by Rock Bay Marine on the Island, and on the west side of Sonora Island. The passage was called so by a Captain H. Kellet from the British Navy, in 1847.

The passage is about 25 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide. In the summer, Cruise ships toodle by  the Pier and Quadra Island, on the other side. These  spectacular cruise ships resembe huge  bathtub toys, bobbing along with the tides. Whenever I see one, immediately I want to watch the Poseidon adventure......

Great viewing  is to be had, by simply climbing one of the flag poles.....or not....there ARE benches, fishing chairs , and railings to lean over 150 feet from shore, and 600 feet long to peruse.

And to think, that these waters are home to the Giant Pacific Octopus, otters, sea lions, salmon......that brings up the subject of fishing. Campbell River is supposedly THE place to fish in the entire world.
                                        Fishing at the Pier is a summer favourite of many of the tourists and locals. Provided , you have a fishing license. You can rent tackle and gear at the Pier Snack shack for about $3 an hour or $6 for half a day. On those scorching hot days, people flock down here for picnics on the boardwalk and fishing, of course. And us, well we like the sunsets, the vistas, the thought there there may be a Giant Octopus lurking in those great depths, ready to leap out and  gobble us up..........