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Ernie Fedoruk is Vice President of the
Outdoor Writers of Canada and former B.C. Director with
the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association. Winner of
26 awards in the last 16 years, the sports/outdoors
columnist retired from a 48-year newspaper career in
1996.
Messages can be faxed to him at (250) 592-7090, or emailed
to efedoruk@islandnet.com
"A man's passion for fishing should not allow it
to interfere with his love of family. But if the glue
binds, then please consider the angler's passion also
a love for family." |
DELIRIUM PISCATORIA
Depending on geography, the severity of "delirium piscatoria"
- as my friend Fred Wooding calls the strange malaise -- varies
at this time of year.
Fred is a naturalist who gave us "Lake, River and Sea-Run
fishes of Canada," and therefore can, very competently, spew
Latin. The rest of us see this disease as "the approach of
the trout season." Before I sat down to my computer to write
this, I debated between trimming and mowing my scruffy-looking
front lawn, or beating a deadline to shock the poop out of
my editor. Plinking the computer won. Besides, if I cut lawn
too early, it nastily is inspired to grow far quicker than
it ever did in the previous three months. (One cut since November,
if you must know.)
But spring is on the way. My reviving lawn is one indication.
The significant sign in other sections of North America is
the angler. Metamorphosis happens. Servitude to spouse and
house slackens; the angler is restless, shows signs of heightening
irritability and wandering attention. Living on Vancouver
Island, I never perceived delirium piscatoria to be as serious
as in other areas. For one thing, there is a stream of never-ending
alternatives to ice fishing during our winters. BC's fly-fishing
purists can drop their flies in front of trout or bass on
most low-level lakes during the winter months. As well, December
to February is the most popular time for them to chase feisty
steelhead in any one of several systems within easy driving
range of home. Herring, a dinner favorite of chinook salmon,
come in from the off-shore nursery banks to spawn, usually
in March. The chinook -- not to mention seals and sea lions
-- follow and success on the "winter springs" these days is
as good as it gets. Winter winds permitting, of course.
In the summer and fall months, the timing of other salmon
species is varied as the sockeye, pinks, coho and chum (along
with the chinook) take their turns to drop roe into to gravel
beds of BC's many streams. Many years ago native elders living
only 14 miles from Victoria's city hall told me the timing
of salmon spawns was so varied the aboriginals, as young 'uns,
could catch salmon in the rivers 12 months of the year in
the late 1800s.
Unfortunately, Canada's mismanagement of fisheries has changed
that. Cut by glaciers during the ice age, shaken and altered
by earthquakes and eruptions over time, Mother Nature formed
geological and environmental wonders on and around the land
that today is BC. Different strains of the same species all
adapted to the habitat offered them. Consequently, a rainbow
in one corner of the province can be genetically different
to those swimming a few hundred miles away.
While choice of habitat, feed and water conditions varied
considerably over the centuries, our fish adapted so marvelously
BC inherited a myriad of strong, genetically-powerful strains
of several different fishes. Vancouver Island is about 340
miles long. The north and west coasts experience heavy rainfall.
The deluges, combined with snow melts, tend to dilute the
prevalent nutrients in that area's waters. That is in marked
contrast to the south and east coasts which enjoy a climate
that is identified "almost Mediterranean." These waters are
rich in nutrients.
The genetic differences are understood by biologists but
may not be understood by the weekend angler. BC's super waterway
is the mighty Fraser. It has created significant genetic differences
between same species, as have the many inlets on the rugged
coast fed by ice melt and rain water. Time and the conditions
have created wondrous fish -- the mighty Girard and Kootenay
strains of mainland lake trout, for example.
When a change of nature locked a strain of sea-going sockeye
salmon into a freshwater system, BC inherited -- after some
changes over many years -- the kokanee trout.
Despite the many and varied rivers in BC, only one does
NOT feed the North Pacific. The Peace River has its origin
in northeastern BC and is the only system able to cut through
the Rocky Mountains. It first empties into Athabasca Lake
in Alberta, then later its water eventually reaches James
Bay and the Atlantic. These works of magic by nature give
BC anglers fishing the Peace a chance to catch strains of
whitefish, grayling and rainbow that, genetically speaking,
are different to others of their ilk in the west coast province.
Until the development of fly-in and helicopter fishing, some
BC streams and many small mountain lakes were never exploited
until the second portion of the 20th century. There is sadness
in knowing that extraordinary wilderness lakes, some if which
were unnamed when we first experienced unbelievable successes,
have fallen victim to "accessibility." Still, BC fish, by
and large, are alive, reasonably well, and, in some out-of-the-way
tarns, remain incredulous.
The sportfishing industry in BC has exceeded the half-billion-dollar
mark as a clean, enjoyable industry. In not too many years,
it may become a multi-billion-dollar business. The worries
standing in the way are politicians and bureaucrats. A few
have turned their thinking around and finally are able to
recognize sportfishing's huge economic potential. Others will
eventually see the light, and come on board to protect our
waters and the habitat. Given that, the many fishes with different
genes and from different species will rebound.
They, our fish, have proven they can adapt and overcome.
Today's concerns are directed squarely at the politicians
and bureaucrats who are not able to change or adapt. How often
must we flush before these dunderheads will go away?
Copyright ©
Ernie Fedoruk retired in 1996 after a 47-year journalism career as an outdoors and sports columnist, has just completed
14 years as director/officer of the Outdoor Writers of Canada,
also was director of the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association
for 11 years. His passion is fishing – to find and to
protect – and insists his greatest contribution as a
conservationist is incompetence.
Ernie Fedoruk Freelance Journalist
1867 Neil Street Victoria, BC, V8R 3C6, Canada
phone:(250)592-4438 fax:(250)592-7090
e-mail: efedoruk@islandnet.com
To purchase Ernie Fedoruk's column for publication, please
contact efedoruk@islandnet.com
For previous articles by Ernie Fedoruk, click on the links
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