“A bad day fishing is better than a great day at work” Maybe so, but a day on the water in Newfoundland with friends beats it all.
This week I was on the waters near Conception Bay South thanks to the generosity of friends in Newfoundland to try my hand with a reel and fish for cod. For someone who didn’t see the ocean until well past his teen years and has never actually fished before, I fully expected and accepted to be an object of amusement (OK, pity) but let the record show that I caught the biggest one that day! Not bad for a flatlander.
The cod fishery is just one of the many aspects of Newfoundland that make it a place truly its own, like nowhere else in Canada. It has a long fascinating history with some dramatic modern history and, much like wheat in my birthplace Saskatchewan, has shaped the culture there for many, many many generations.
I’ll happily state I love Newfoundland and it’s the people that make me so quick to say it. Yes, the landscape is spectacular and the ocean is powerful and compelling - but culture, history and art is made by people. So, to the people who have so generously helped this come-from-away build this respect and admiration - thank you.
Want to feel small? Just head out on the Atlantic Ocean!
Captain Gerry lets out line on a wooden reel on the back of his 20-metre boat “Salt Water Joy”
Gerry takes a seat at the interior controls of his boat. The life aquatic clearly agrees with him, as he has a steady hand and a ready supply of jokes even into his 80’s sailing the waters of Conception Bay South.
Joe Chase lets out some line while on the hunt for some dinner in Conception Bay South.
Gerry puts his feet up on the trip out to cod fishing waters aboard his boat, “Salt Water Joy” The gentle and soft spoken captain has sailed the waters here for decades.
Ken and Lori Ann cast their lines - rod and reel - into Conception Bay South waters.
What’s it’s all about: a cod fish has the line cut from its mouth after a prairie photographer caught it.
Seagulls careen and crash in the waters, eager to get any fish parts cast off from fishermen.