Telkwa Village, BC - Home of the Wet’suwet’en reserve
Native Fisherman netting a salmon
Our quest to leave the rain behind us had not been as successful as planned, until a few days of driving later where we came upon the bustling activity at the Moricetown Falls, on the Bulkley River Just north of Smitters B.C. Everybody was there it seemed. The local constabulary, kids, grandparents and the inevitable coterie of dogs milling about looking for a freebie salmon head.
Thrusting deep into the wild river hoping to score a catch
Slippery Perch
Everybody was relaxed and enjoying the age old process, and reaping the benefits of using the traditional method of “gaffing” the annual Salmon run. With the Bulkley River being compressed into a comparatively small rock constricting venturi of 50 feet across, the sound was deafening and the rocky edges slippery. The fisherman had ropes loosely encircling their midriffs in hopes that they would be pulled from the roiling, churning washing machine of a river in one piece if they lost their footing and plunged into the swirling maw. This is definitely a practice that requires a consistent focus on your footing, never mind what you manage to capture on your nets end.
Even the kids get a chance at the fish
Grandpa’s turn
The Fishing Vigil
The net poles are a homemade configuration consisting of a standard fishing net with a short handle, duct taped to the end of a long aluminum logging pike pole. Pike poles are used to push logs around in the water, either in lakes or rivers. They have sharp spikes on the one end allowing them to be embedded into the prospective logs in order for them to be manipulated into place within a logging boom, readying them to be towed to a nearby saw mill. Both these items are readily available in the north and married together make a very efficient fishing device. The net-pole was dipped deeply into the churning waters vertically and swirled about until they have the feeling that some hapless salmon was firmly enmeshed in the net. Then the long haul out of the water, all the while maintaining a precarious balance and footing. This traditional technique of fishing is called “hand netting” or “gaffing”.
Searching for hints of Salmon
Dip and Swirl
Successful Catch!
Once they are caught, they are placed in naturally occurring hollows within the rocky formations on shore, waiting for their final destiny, the freezer or the smoke house, rendering them ready for a future potluck dinner sometime much later deep in the coming winter.
The Days Catch
