Salmon from the sea – By Peter McMullan, 1956

Peter McMullan responded to my call for articles/images on Saanich Inlet fishing in its hot spot heyday of the ‘50s and ‘60s, with an article published in the 1956, UK journal, Angling.

Please send me your Saanich Inlet fishing stories, so we can get them preserved on the web. Or if you know someone who fished it, please ask them to send me information.

There is more of Peter’s story, an image of his recent book, Casting Back: SixtyYears of Fishing and Writing, Rocky Mountain Books, 2016 and a diary of his catches in 1953-54 still to come.

See the images below the article, particularly, Peter freezing to death, but still fishing in Jan 1954:

Salmon from the sea

The majority of anglers in the British Isles are prepared to believe the stories told by other anglers. But when I returned from Canada in December 1954, after living in Victoria, British Columbia for 18 months, and told my friends about catching salmon in the sea they just laughed at me. “Salmon in the sea!” they exclaimed, “Why, that’s impossible and anyway it wouldn’t be sporting.” I am still trying to convince them that it’s both possible and practical.

There are five distinct species of salmon living in the Pacific but only the spring or Chinook and the coho or silver salmon are of any interest to the angler. The humpy, chum and sockeye salmon seldom take a lure and are usually caught in the nets of the commercial fishermen.

These salmon are only vague relations of the Atlantic salmon that we know. In shape they are similar although the spring is usually shorter and deeper than the coho. In size the coho is the smaller of the two, averaging between six and ten pounds. The springs run much larger and it has been known for specimens of more than 90 pounds to be taken in the nets. The average weigh varies from place to place. At Campbell River or Port Alberni, two of the Meccas of spring salmon fishermen, a forty-pounder would cause no special comment.

Their life cycle, too, is very different. Instead of running up the rivers to spawn after three or four years and then returning to the sea as spent fish or kelts, the Pacific salmon all die after spawning. The spawning runs commence in late August and continue into December. When the rivers are low it is possible to stand on the bank and watch the salmon going up in their thousands. Indeed, the annual run in the Goldstream River, near Victoria, is quite a tourist attraction.

After they have spawned the fish die slowly and many wild animals take advantage of this free meal on their doorstep. It is not as uncommon sight to see three or four black bears in the shallows of one of the remoter rivers scooping up the dying salmon and throwing them on to the bank to be eaten later.

Once the salmon enter fresh water they tend to lose interest in the angler’s lures. Consequently, nearly all the sports fishing for them takes place in the sea, most often by trolling from boats.

Methods, like the average size of the fish, are many and varied. My favorite spot was Saanich Inlet, near Victoria, where, owing to the very deep water, we used wire lines of about 30 pounds breaking strain and trip weights of up to two pounds. These were attached to the line in such a way that they would drop off when a fish struck.

While wire lines were a necessity if one wished to catch really large springs they could be dispensed with when one was fishing for coho and smaller springs. For them a nylon or cuttyhunk line of 10 to 12 pounds breaking strain and three or four ounces of weight was quite sufficient.

As for lures, ever fisherman has his own particular fancy. Some use spoons, other plugs. Yet another may swear by a bucktail or streamer fly trolled fast not far off the back of the boat. I have tried them all and, with one exception, have found that one was as good as another. Of course, it varied from day to day according to conditions. In late August and September a blue and white bucktail fly was particularly effective when the salmon are feeding on the large shoals of herring that came into the inlet.

The exception mentioned earlier was herring strip, a bait that served me very well indeed at all times. Cut from the side of a medium-sized herring and trimmed of all its surplus flesh, it was fitted in to a plastic holder called a Strip Teaser. This prevents the bait from disintegrating after a short time in the water and also gives it the necessary action. The lure, with a single hook, when fishing perfectly should be revolving slowly.

Although by no means an essential, many fishermen like to attach their lures to a ‘flasher’. This is a piece of highly polished or chrome-plated metal about six inches long and three inches broad. It is curved in opposite directions at each end and, when drawn through the water, darts from side to side towing the lure behind it, the whole effect being that of a small, wounded herring making frantic efforts to escape.

The technique used in this type of fishing is fairly simple. On reaching the fishing grounds the boat is slowed down to trolling speed and the lures, with at least two rods being used, are let out to the required distance that can vary from 30 to 300 feet depending on depth and conditions. Then the angler settles back and concentrates on steering the boat. I know it sounds dull but wait until a fish strikes on both rods simultaneously. It’s happened to me twice and something akin to bedlam has followed.

As to the cost of all this, I found it to be very reasonable. In British Columbia it is only necessary to have a licence (sic) to fish in fresh water. This means all the salmon fishing is free and unpreserved. This means the angler’s only overheads are tackle and, if he does not own a boat, boat rentals. And a big advantage of fishing in the sea is that it cuts down on the loss of lures by nearly 100 per cent.

The price of fishing tackle is also very reasonable. A good trolling rod costs about four pounds ten shillings with a five-inch trolling reel from the Victoria shop of famous local maker Peetz priced at three pounds ten shillings. Add another two pounds for lures and line and the whole outfit will be priced at an even ‘tenner’, cheap compared to the price of salmon fishing on this side of the Atlantic.

Boat rentals vary in cost with the popularity of the location. I used to frequent Peard’s Boathouse, in Brentwood Bay, where a row boat cost me two shillings an hour while one with a small inboard engine would run go for three shillings and sixpence an hour.

There are very few places where a guide is considered an essential and a complete stranger can reasonably expect to catch a salmon first time out. To maintain the very high standards of sport fishing in British Columbian waters the Federal Government recently instituted a bag limit of five salmon per day per person with heavy fines imposed on any one caught taking over their limit.

In conclusion, a few notes on the culinary qualities of the Pacific Salmon for those anglers who like to cook what they catch. Generally I found the flesh to be considerably redder and oilier than that of the Atlantic salmon. I believe the coho to be the best eating of tem all followed by the spring. The sockeye is the most valuable commercially and form the largest proportion of primary grade Canadian canned salmon.

January 1956, Angling  (UK 1936-1956)  

                                                     ***

Peter McMullan  freezing to death, er fishing, and having a great time in Saanich Inlet circa January 1954:

 

 

                            Peter Mcullan with a whole bunch of fishy friends: 
 

 

                                      Peter McMullan, with a pretty nice fish:

 

                 

Some memories fishing Saanich Inlet with my Father C.J. Rose (John Rose) - by Mike Rose

[Mike Rose wrote this account for the kids in his family.]

My family (Father John, Mother Win and I Michael) moved to BC in 1952, after a brief stay in Ontario.

I had fished with my father since the age of 2 in England on the beaches and piers and on a rowboat a couple of times. We fished in the lakes in Ontario (Simcoe and Couchiching) but were not impressed with the fish there.

We lived for an eight-month period on Senanus Drive in Thompson Cove on the water and had brought our 16 foot Peterborough cedar boat from Ontario. I used the boat to spin cast for rock cod and we eventually got Peetz wire line rods and reels and commenced to fish for salmon. We used mostly one pound weights. We also had bought Penn reels and coho rods in the first few weeks when we came to the Island as we went north from Nanaimo ferry to Qualicum and saw salmon in the river and the fishing shop there recognized us as easy marks. We used bucktails with those rods in the spring in the inlet and caught lots of bluebacks.

Luckily Jimmy Gilbert was on the school bus I took to North Saanich High and so told us what to do and we eventually moved our boat to his dad's dock in Brentwood. Since it was cedar old man Gilbert told us to haul it out on the dock after each trip and flush the motor.

An early memory was a June fishing Derby run by the VSIAA that we decided to enter. We still had the boat at Senanus Drive. At 6am we headed off towards Brentwood to see a line of boats across the mouth of Brentwood Bay starting towards us. One headed off at us and Stan Williams hailed us and told us we had to go back to the start line before fishing. (Stan was owner I believe of Wilson and Lenfesty Tackle Shop beside Straiths on Government Street.)

Gradually over that summer we learned where the fish were and that one pound weight did not get down far enough (except at dawn and dusk). We also learned to use Wonder Spoons, Tom Thumbs and a variety of plugs including Lucky Louies.

Old man Gilbert had an old modified outdoor toilet hanging on the edge of the bank above the marina and kept a cedar log smoldering under it and smoked salmon.

Gradually my dad learned all the spots and depths and salmon were always available. He and my mother Win Rose, fished almost all of the weekends together for about 25 years until ill health finally took her away. For many years, her biggest salmon was bigger than his but finally he got one bigger (she said he stuffed it with a weight;-))

I fished frequently with my father and mother until 1955. Typically, it was an all-day affair. My father had many- different boats in Saanich Inlet but for most of the 1953 to 1960 time he had boats at a Marina near Sidney. There we fished out to East Point and around James Island and nearby islands to Sidney.

In 1956 I moved to Vancouver to complete my degree at UBC. That started a 17-year hiatus from Saanich Inlet as I was at weather offices across Canada for that period of time.                       

                                          Illustration 1: Salar with John and Stephen

During that period my father fished the inlet with my mother and developed lifetime friendships with many of the “old-timers”. In the late 60's or early 70's he bought the “Salar”, a 27 foot double ended twin skinned carvel (smooth skin) boat built in the 1956 time frame for the Canadian Navy. It had a massive Buda diesel engine and a large prop. The previous owner had built a full length cabin on it and my father could fish in all weather.

         

 

Illustration 2: Jim Gilbert, Vic Humphries, John cleaning fish for food bank.

 

Sometime in the 60's John started fishing with herring strip and planers.  He rarely used flashers. I had known the Rhys Davis family from high school and father used to get his herring from Rhys and also his “strip-teasers” the herring holders. John always fished the “bottom”. After many years and many lost weights, he had an excellent knowledge of the depths throughout the Inlet. For a couple of years, he had an earlier boat at Hall's Boathouse.

One of his favorite spots was Bamberton and many was the time I fished with him and we saw an eagle on a tree nearby and John would drop the lines to the bottom and pick up a rock cod that he would bring in and toss for the eagle that always made a spectacular approach and picked the fish out of the water and usually flew over the boat, maybe saying thanks. The fishing run from south of the old cement factory and to the north had an interesting profile and John knew it by heart. He frequently said “any minute now” as we approached the small ledges near each end of the run.

My family were never great fresh salmon eaters, however we loved the smoked canned salmon that Creed's used to do up for us. John and Win and Vic Humphries always gave fish to the Food bank and

the Seniors sites around the City including the Kiwanis Village.

                                            Illustration 3: Food Bank, Vic, Win and John

 Cod is more to my liking and we would frequently jig in MacKenzie Bay for a good sized ling. Or pick up a “red snapper” at a few select spots.

Win developed cancer in 1980 and by 1982 was immobilized and in the Gorge Road Hospital. John spent much of his time volunteering at the hospital caring for her and moved to an apartment about 100 yards from what was later called the Rose Wing. She passed away in 1990 and he still volunteered there until 2002 when he was himself admitted in failing health.

During the period of Win's illness, John would get up and fish from dawn till about lunchtime and then come home and care for her. He brought fish for the nurses and even lobbied the Minister of Health personally and got some small changes made at the hospital, in the form of a palliative room after Win died. He knew most of the building contractors and suppliers in Victoria and arranged for a large concrete patio to be built from donations and built several stone flower planters himself. The patio named Rose Patio took well over 50 yards of concrete.

During those troubled years, John fished by himself almost every day. The Salar was a hull speed craft and that speed was about 8 knots. He had replaced the Buda with a Volvo Penta 2-cylinder diesel. I had returned to Victoria in 1975 and had a 16-foot runabout and two young sons and we fished near him most weekends and if it was wet I would usually go with him.

In those days, he frequently was out from dawn to dusk as a break from the sadness at the hospital. We had a tradesman doing some work at our house sometime in the 80's and he was telling us of the morning before he came to work. He lived at the end of Brentwood Bay at the Royal Townhouses, I believe the name was. He said he was wakened about 5am to hear the thump of the big diesel and watched as John broke the ice by hand and moved the Salar out to the open water, a distance of several hundred yards. John had reinforced the bow with a brass fitting and had ironwood sheathing added to the bows wooden areas.  The tradesman mentioned that he usually heard the Salar starting up at 4am in the summer as did all the people in the area.

John fished by himself weekdays as I worked and I frequently went with him on weekends as our boys grew older. They fished with him a lot and with him as a guide both the boys and our daughter won the junior derbies.

By the late 90's he started to have difficulty managing after a nasty fall on the concrete steps up to his apartment near the Gorge. In 1997 we fished over at Mill Bay, in what was his last trip, and we got a nice 15-pound white spring. As I helped him off the boat he said that it was his last trip and I was to sell the boat.