Jack James was the manufacturer and retailer of
Radiant Lures for decades. These were used in Saanich Inlet fishing, as well as
other places, and more recently the company changed names to Super Tackle. Matt
James, Jack’s son, retails the tackle on his site www.superflea.ca. I asked Jack about the
spoons he once had that would glow for hours in the dark, as in a far longer
time than other glow lures.
He sent me home with a few packages of current
plankton-sized and halibut-sized hootchies from Super Tackle. Once charged with
a light, or even a small LED flashlight, they do indeed glow almost all night
long. I put two packages on my bookshelf, and if I wake in the night, there
they are glowing away. What this means is that the lures will indeed emit glow
for as long as the lure is fishing at depth, not simply for five minutes, as
older versions of glow used to do. You should pick some up for your winter
fishing that is done at depth beyond the visible spectrum.
Here is an image of some of the Super Tackle hootchies,
quite colourful:
Now, to deviate a bit from fishing, in this case
Saanich Inlet, when I was sleuthing through the collectibles in Jack James
house, there was a wonderful painting of a spirit bear and I took some images
of it. It is quite large, perhaps 2 X 3 feet.
Here is what Jack had to say in a note to me when I
asked about the painting:
“In 1942-43, during the war – I went to school, grade
7 and 8 at South Park School. Every day after school my best friend and I
walked through Beacon Hill Park on the way to beach comb at our log fort in
Torpedo Bay. On the way, we stopped at the Kermode Bear’s (Spirit Bear’s) cage
and fed her an orange.
To get her to eat these oranges, in the beginning we
rubbed our stomachs in a circular motion, to show the bear they were good to
eat. After a number of times, this bear, when it saw us coming, would stand up
at the cage bars and copy this motion. We had difficulty getting these
war-rationed oranges from our parents.
I took pictures of this bear named Ursus Kermode, from
Kermode Island, which was captured by a Mr. Kermode with a cub bear. The cub
died in captivity in the late 1930s. I sent the picture I took with an old box
camera and asked my son to do the new medium in art on his Gilcee (could be,
Giclee, as I wasn’t sure of Jack’s hand writing) machine.
He put the picture in his machine and got some outdoor
background work. He machine printed his new art medium work, and coloured it as
you see. As the colouring paint is very expensive I paid him for it. This
magnificent art work is done on Everlasting Canvas. It will last forever.
I sell my son’s art works, and have sold dozens over
the past few years! Matt sells art works on his website. I have a small framed
one for sale for $100; however, the one you took the picture of is $5000.
During our beach combing, the US navy and RCN practiced
dropping depth charges off the Victoria waterfront. Many fish and other sea
creatures floated up and we often took fish home to our surprised mothers. One
day, I dragged a large octopus home – and got grounded for a few days!
Thanks for the reminder of this Spirit Bear. The
Island it came from has been renamed..”
Here is the image of the beautiful processed painting:
