Well, the sweet smile of providence was beaming down on us as we nosed the Millennium Raven into beautiful, solid terra firma at the town dock where our adventure began.
The boat was a sinking, sodden mess. A half-eaten bag of Doritos had been transformed by the flooding water into a soggy sandbag. Our bailing cup, which earlier held my spinach smoothie, lay spent on the floor.
Yet the three anglers stepped ashore unharmed and triumphant nonetheless. We had been to the Pike Jam and the Pike Jam had been fruitful. It was not an easy passage.
No, not by any means. But the Fishin’ Technician reckons there was enough residual magic to keep both our dreams of big fish and the old leaky boat that brought us there afloat for the return voyage. At least somewhat.
Theo Francis, age 10, is the winner of this year’s Catch of the Week contest so even though the Technician went into semi-retirement after suffering an apparent trident-related injury last year, he felt obligated, nay, duty-bound, to take this kid on the best darn tootin’ biggest, craziest fishing adventure he has ever seen.
And wouldn’t you know it, this Piscean pinching party is getting to be a bit of a family tradition. His ol’ dad Corey appeared in a Technician tale 19 years ago when he was just 16 years old after his band Illegal Relations won the Rock the Folks band competition at Folk on the Rocks. Like the fishing contest the winning band got to go fishing with me.
Talk about going full circle. They’re going to have to put a wheelchair ramp on the boat so I can take Theo’s kids fishing some day.
Both Corey and his son caught their biggest pike ever on our trip. On only his third cast (after already catching a brace of dandy inconnu), Theo hooked into a powerful water lizard of a pike. No, fartknocker, this one. A quick measurement and wow, 42 inches!
“It was probably the biggest fish I’ve caught in my whole life,” said Theo, adding that his best friend Mark, who finished second in the Catch of the Week contest last year, was going to be super jealous.
“My rod must have been lucky because almost every cast I caught a fish.”
Anyway, we were pulling fish out of the water like they were candied apples in a barrelful of syrup when just then a foul wind started to blow across the bay, more powerful than forecast in the morning.
“Best be going,” I said. “Wind is picking up.”
When we reached the open lake it was bumpy but nothing the Millennium Raven hadn’t seen before. Heck, she’s seen waves so big it’s like surfing Waikiki Beach all the way down the Hearn Channel.
I was just about to suggest we rock out to Nickleback’s Silver Side Up for the remainder of our journey home when Corey tapped on the shoulder. He was pointing toward the back. Man, there was a lot of water back there. Up went the throttle and on came the bilge as I steered us toward land.
Fact of the matter is, if you spend time on Great Slave Lake and other large bodies of water, you’re going to face your fear sooner or later. This was definitely urgent. By and by we neared the shore but we were running out of time – and gunnel.
Suddenly, ”OH MY GOD. That’s a lot of water!”
I dashed back to the stern and plunged my floater jacket-covered arm into the water. I fished around for the drain plug. But it was not there!
I plunged deeper and found the loose plug, stuffed it back in quickly and jumped back toward the wheel. We later joked that coming to shore just then was like the opening scene in Pirates of the Caribbean – nothing but crow’s nest above the water coming into port.
To make a long story short, we later learned a weld I had installed in the boat some years ago had given way, which allowed water to pour in through the crack. Eventually there was so much water sloshing around at the bottom of the boat that it pushed the drain plug out so even more water flooded in.
Pretty scary stuff for a young fellow just starting Grade 5. Thankfully Theo was very brave and the only time he or his dad got wet was after they had a little accident and slipped while walking along the shore while waiting for the boat to drain.
Eventually, after making some adjustments and repairs we were able to make our way home after a lot of bailing.
“I really didn’t like falling the water,” said Theo. “I got soaked. “I also didn’t like that the boat almost sank. We almost got stranded on an island. But I’m happy we got home safely.”
Well, that was an unorthodox trip but I’m glad we caught big fish and didn’t have to swim. Cheers guys.