David and his son Jamieson met us at the dock at 4:00 pm. We were going through introductions and pre-departure safety checklist; the question came up, as it does with every trip with new clients, “Have you done this type of fishing before?”
The answer to the question was an eye opening realization for me.
David had seen a nightmare salmon fishing charter that while he explained the details left me listening without distraction and with my mouth hanging wide open in surprise. He had been on a salmon charter on Georgian Bay where the charter captain insisted on going out fishing despite 10 and 12 foot waves that were crashing over the rocks at the entrance to the marina. David went on to explain how within the first hour everyone but himself and the captain were sea sick. David was not one to get seas sick, but the captain on the other hand was likely not capable of getting seas sick since he was intoxicated with alcohol and high from smoking marijuana!
The story went into greater detail of the charter experience from hell that without surprise resulted in only 2 small salmon caught for a 6 man charter.
After his story was told, I was shocked he didn’t, in the least, show an expression of displeasure from his experience and almost came across as if he might have thought all fishing charters were like that. My question for him was, “After that experience, Why would you even consider trying another charter? That would scare anyone away for life”. David then had mentioned he was referred to me by a business associate that went fishing with me last year. Sean and Peter must have told him about their experience and how I operate differently. Read Sean and Peter’s experience following this Blog entry link…
When we came into view of the lake from the channel exiting the marina, I could tell that David was at ease to see the lake was flat calm. Not even a ripple on the water and it meant that his son Jamieson would not be introduced to salmon fishing in the same manner as his father was.
We powered up and headed East of the weather marker and began dropping lines in 160 FOW. It wasn’t minutes into the trip where we hooked up on our first fish. Jamieson was handed the rod and he brought in the first fish of the trip, a small 4 lbs rainbow trout, but it was his largest fish. Moments later another rod went off and David was on it. Another rainbow trout came to the boat but a little larger than the first.
David was already happy about the success he discovered and we were only 15 minutes into our troll. The next 15 minutes I was able to get the rest of the rods in the water, just in time to start a steady pick of salmon and trout for the remainder of the 4 hour trip. Jamieson broke his biggest fish multiple times and had some incredibly strong salmon on the line. A few had gotten off during the fight, but this fat coho salmon came to the boat and Jamieson and his dad were smiling from ear to ear.
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| From Photo_Gallery10 |
The last hour of the trip the wind had came up from the south and we trolled directly into the winds and approached shallower water. I asked if David would like to call it quits early since we were seeing whitecaps and a 2 foot chop. He looked around and said, “This isn’t rough!”
We came into 80 FOW where we hooked into another nice salmon that had David and Jamieson in surprise as the fish burned line off the reel and buckled the diver rod over like a pretzel. The fish came off, but the spirits were high to conclude the night.
David was happy to see that his son Jamieson wasn’t exposed to the same Salmon charter fishing nightmare that he was. They went home with lasting memories of lots of fish and some big fish.
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| From Photo_Gallery10 |
As Mark Penner and I cleaned up the boat and brought it back to dock, we talked about how the industry of charter fishing has all sorts. We confirmed that our approach to safety first and enjoyment second is clearly what makes FINtastic Sportfishing a professionally run charter service. There are many other charters out there that operate with the same ethics, but there are also some that do not.
I came up with my Mission statement for my business after this trip. A mission statement that is the cornerstone to my business approach
To provide a charter fishing experience for my customers that can be enjoyed during our time on the water as well as create a lasting memory. To add an educational element to our fishing trip and to manage expectations by booking your charter date around the best fishing times and where safety is paramount.
Shane Thombs
www.FINtasticSportfishing.com
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