LIFE
MARK PAPOUSEK
Fishing
in the bucket (list)
When you turn 60 and you still have
many things on your bucket list, you’d better get at it. Last October, my son, Scott, who lives
in Vancouver, BC, called me. “Dad,” he said, “why don’t you come
out so we can go salmon fishing?” I thought about it for half a day. Then
I booked a flight and told my son I was coming out to tick another item off my bucket list. To fish salmon in Campbell River, BC
has always been a dream for me. After some research, we booked Painters Lodge (
www.painterslodge.com). Scott picked me up at the airport
in Vancouver, and I had a chance to spend some time with my daughter-in- law, Melissa, and my two wonderful grandchildren – three year old Kaiden and 18-month-old Kalina. The next morning we drove onto the
Queen of Oak Bay ferry at Horseshoe Bay. The big boat holds 360 vehicles, and at
24 BOUNDER MAGAZINE
$88 apiece, they might be making money. We docked at Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and drove north for two hours to Painters Lodge in Campbell River. The minute we walked in the door to check in, I knew we were in for a great four-day stay. The staff was over the top with us. (This was actually their last weekend to be open for the season.) Since we had our first four-hour
fishing trip at 1 p.m. that afternoon, we got settled into our room and then headed to the marina. There we again found a terrific staff led by Dwayne Mustard, who told us to grab whatever we needed – from raingear, boots, hats and mitts, to sandwiches and beer at the bar – and head down to the dock. At the wharf, the first thing I noticed
was that there were a few seals swimming around looking for a morsel of fish to chew on. We also met our guide for the next three days, Tom Shea. Tom has been guiding in the area for
www.bounder.ca
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