The Fishing Widow

The skies darken the roar of distant thunder washes over the sounds of the whitecaps and the whistling winds running through the fishing lines. My cell phone rings, its Shari, my wife. “The storm is here, are you getting off the lake?” Where would we be without the care of our other half? Looking out for us, all the while hearing the wind static on the phone and our short answers to speed up the conversation and get back down to business. It’s time to do homage to our better half. The one who reminds us to balance our work, our family life, and fishing in balance.

Of course we are keeping a watchful eye on the storm while sea billows roll. We intently assess the situation by watching the RADAR, factor in our travel time in potentially bigger waves and maybe even the need to consider driving rain as the storm nears and the need to be off the lake where lightening is in dangerous range. We even assess what time it might take to hook and land that last salmon of the day and if that window of time should keep us from resetting that line to catch another. Sometimes an approaching storm front turns the fish on the feed and it can mean some amazing action.

From a charter captain’s perspective with clients on board, the anxiety increases ten fold and we absolutely take no chances. We manage our time and potential risk and “pull the lines” much earlier to ensure safety and comfort. These are the things that when not being in the boat with us, would not be understood from the perspective of looking out the window at home and with the phone in your hand against an ear. But knowing you have someone looking out for you is what’s important here.

Shari is my wife of seventeen years on September 28^th of this year and we were together for seven years before that. She knows full well that fishing is a permanent part of my life, a life passion that has been with me all my life. When she married me, it was understood that my flaw is that I come with “fishing baggage”. Fishing baggage that means extensive time on the water away from the house and the kids. To say it doesn’t come with arguments and misunderstandings, would be a lie. I continually work towards a work-life-fishing balance so she doesn't feel like a widow at home. There is a bit of leniency and sacrifice that takes place to make things work. From a place of poking fun at the situation, Shari- the wife of a charter captain- has jokingly call herself the “Fishing widow”.

All kidding aside, today I am sore and tired. Not because of a long day on the water, as a matter of fact we had to cancel our charter due to the weather. Instead, a friend in need meant providing an urgent helping hand. A mother of four kids trapped in domestic abuse from an alcoholic husband. A husband who felt drinking would fill the void in his life, that void which could instead be filled with a life passion like fishing. She required help to move belongings out of the house, while he was at work. The deadline for his return to home was imminent and the stress levels for the family were extreme. She was on the run from a very dire situation and potentially her life and the lives of her children. We assembled to help, we worked fast and hard and with heavy hearts. She was not widowed through the death of the deadbeat dad and husband, but the death of a peaceful marriage that required escape.

Sustaining a work-life-fishing balance lifestyle is not easy. Working all week at my day job, working every weekend on the boat and then pulled so many directions, it was clear that me and the family required break. ROAD TRIP!!!

In July a family two week long East Coast trip answered the need to balance things again. 5,000 plus km of driving offered us the views of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. 37 years before, my parents did a very similar family camping road trip and it was my interest to see some of the very same sights now, almost 4 decades later. This Shari and I wanted to share this experience with the kids while they were at the perfect age to remember it for years to come.

Driving in Nova Scotia, we toured the south coast from Halifax to Lunenburg. Stops like Peggy’s Cove, Mahone Bay were planned but one particular location was that of Indian Harbour just west of Peggy’s Cove. A small campground called “King Neptune” was a location that I remember vividly as an 8 year old. The old fishing shack and dock to the little red fishing vessel piloted by the husband to Katherine (Kay). The included 1982 picture with the kids show my sister and I, along with two other kids from the campground, holding up the fresh catch of Halibut caught by Kay's husband.

Kay is now 97 years old and is a true Fishing Widow as here fisherman husband had passed away of natural causes. When we pulled into the campground I explained to Kay’s son (who now watches the campground) that I was only stopping in to gather the views and conger up those 37 year old memories. Of course he was welcoming and showed us to the yellow house that still appeared original and standing the test of time. We knocked on the door and approached the screen door a 4 foot 10 inch woman to welcome us in. We intended only to say hi, but Kay insisted that we stay for cookies and conversation.

Soon we were talking more than just names and where we were from. Laughs and thoughts were shared with how the campground has historically remained the same, yet gained popularity and with worldwide attraction. She showed here notebook of years of logs noting the number of campers from countries around the world. Surprisingly the country (outside of Canadian campers) of Germany was the highest count of campers. The campground is full most of the summer which was not the case when we were camping there 37 years ago.

Kay also shared how the Swissair Flight 111 MD- 11 crash impacted the campground in 1998. 229 people died and King Neptune Campground became the command centre for search and rescue efforts. She explained that there were some 30 men stationed at the campground rotating shifts out to sea. The men were provided rations of sandwiches and soup for each meal. When Kay heard, she stated with importance that she would have none of this. Instead she sat 21 men plus family and friends to a quality wholesome East coast cooking. Hospitality of a Bluenoser is like no other!

Kay also opened up a photo album that showed various pictures of the campground and life of Indian Harbour. Many pictures were of her husband, at the fishing shack, on red fishing boat, and with the catch of the day. Kay outlived her husband, but her spry spirit and hospitality showed that being a fishing widow isn’t the end of her story and

she provided a welcoming way for me to reconnect to a special place as a fisherman and as a person whom wishes to treat people as we like to be treated.

We joke around and poke fun with the words of “Fishing Widow”, but in life we are all in this together. As I continue to learn and strive to create work-life-fishing balance, I can see it has helped strengthen our family. Fishing as a life passion fills your soul with peace and happiness in a world that can otherwise be mean. When all is well with your soul, you can weather the storm, have empathy for others in need, and give generously no matter how many mouths to feed.

Today's Spatially Aware Angler

On long drive camping trips when I was a kid, with my parents and sister, often meant sitting in the passenger seat beside dad who’s driving, with the Ontario road map partly unfolded on my lap.

I suppose I was the navigator since my sister in the back suffering from car sickness and my mom at her side. I didn't mind it at all, I enjoyed the job. Maps to me read easier than words in a novel. I was never good in English in school, but geography was my calling.

Today we have GPS which has turned the Spatially Aware Navigator into a redundant skill replaced by your cell phone or dashboard mounted GPS. Now in my older years I sometimes like to explore without my electronics. Resort to a paper map or use my sense of direction to weave my way across the Lots and Concessions of the back-roads. I fear being Spatially Aware is becoming a skill lost on younger generations.

Electronics for fishing has become heavily leaned on for navigator, but unlike a haphazard car trip across the countryside, decisive navigation on the water is as important as your car seat belt. In fact, as a captain of your vessel, it is by law you know where you are at all times even when the electronics clearly show it digitally. Marine Law enforcers pull over boaters and check for safety gear. On that list for a larger vessel is a Magnetic Compass and an updated paper navigation chart. Your electronics already shows your location and with accurate cartography to help your navigational needs. Truly what is desired is that (as a captain) you are spatially aware of your boat’s position and direction. It’s like a sixth sense for seasoned mariners.

It has been said by many of professional anglers that fishing success is like real-estate success. It’s all about Location, Location, Location. Today’s technology has given anglers the tools to efficiently narrow down the best location to catch fish.

The number one question I get from those at the dock ready to go out fishing is “what depth of water were you in?” So many concentrate on how deep the fish are, but rarely consider where on the lake the fish are located. Which way out of port are you fishing? As the morning went on, where did you find fish migrate too? Information to provide your location, it is often using a visual location on land or on a map and rarely coupled by the depth of water fishing. Spatial awareness of your surroundings means understanding… x,y (location on a map) and z (depth of water).

Spatial awareness allows the opportunity to justify how and where you fish, judge your fishing situation with other locations. They say 90% of the fish are in 10 % of the water, but I believe the Great Lakes is an even greater percentage of fish in smaller percentage of water, and unlike structure oriented fish like bass, pelagic fish are nomad. If a seasoned Mariner has a Spatial Awareness like having a sixth sense, wouldn’t you think as a Great Lakes Troller, would it not help you put more fish in the boat? With today’s electronics and technology, when used effectively, provides the information to become spatially aware.

Future Great Lakes Fishing Technology prediction.

In 2000 I did a seminar at the Strait Line Anglers Club after finishing my schooling in Geographic Information Systems. My main topic was how GPS works. At that time it was expanding rapidly and the US government stopped Selective Availability to enhance GPS locational accuracy for civilian use. I said in the seminar that in the future, our GPS units will not only have our bathymetric charting and our location on the map, but also correct the data in the map collected by SONAR. 15 years later we have SONAR Charts Live updates from Navionics.

So what is next for our future of fishing electronics… I believe we will see strides in wigitization of apps that would not only display on the hardware we mount on the helm, but also on mobile devises like our phones or tablets. Use of cloud storage of things like saved routes, Trails and Waypoints to be shared to other devices and other users. They will design electronics with emphasis on app integration between electronics like your SONAR/GPS plotter display and Down-speed display via added widgets and easy plug and play apps. Mobile devices like our phones will allow easy saving of Waypoints and control of the electronics and apps from anywhere in the boat by Bluetooth on mobile devises.

I believe our electronics will have greater insights into our use of the electronics. For an example, it might generate hotspot maps of areas that are seeing greater waypoints saved via crowd source cloud storage sharing. Not unlike Waze for driving, you will have Waze of fish catching activity. This will open up the familiarity of your success measured by your location and the location of others. Are you fishing where more fish are being caught? There was a time when SONAR was said to be “cheating” because you see the fish. Then we saw the introduction of GPS technology viewed as a tool to uncover secret fishing spots. The next evolution in trolling technology will include information sharing and insights into that information.


All the best electronics in the world will not make you a better angler. They provide you information so you can be more spatially aware as a troller. Spatial awareness aids decision making on the water. Making the right decisions will catch you more fish.

Shane Thombs
FINtastic Sportfishing

Are you superstitious? Lucky Charms in the boat.