HERE, FISHY, FISHY, FISHY......

With a doubt, Jamie has always enjoyed a great reputation as a fisherman. He loves to re-tell the story of how he almost drowned at the age of five or so, down at the river with his mother. And apparently she caught him on his third time bobbing up, she just grabbed a hand full of that black hair, and as they say the rest is history. The experience didn't give him any fear, and he always found peace and solace just picking a spot on some river and giving a try to catch supper.

By the time I met him, he was 18 and I was 16, and it was in late November, so for sure there was no talk of fishing at that time.

But the next spring, well that was a different story. I thought that I was the only thing that put the "spring" in his step, but move over Nova, the smelts are in!!

I had no idea what smelting was, here on the south side, I'm not sure they were ever a thing, but on the north side, they were and still are a big deal.

I would guess that at some time in our past as settlers, our first nations friends would have taught us how to gather smelts to add to a depleted and meager winter food supply. This delicious little fish would have added some flavor to the indigenous diet, in that inbetween time when winter isn't quite over, and summer is still a ways off.

Anyhooo, Jamie introduced me to smelting and for any of you who don't know what it is, let me fill you in.

Smelts are found primarily in Northern waters; the ones we eat live in salt water and come on the incoming tides to spawn in rivers and lakes. They are slender and almost irridescent and don't grow very large. It is a dip net industry, you don't need bait, and two fast hands are all you really need. A quick roll in flour, toss in a hot oiled pan, and you have a good meal.

But when smelting was about to begin, it went a little like this:

First, you have to listen for the frogs to start calling, that's a sign.

Then you have to wait for a clear night when the tide is turning just right.

Then a rumor starts in the community......"Well, I heard John saying he's pretty sure they're in........" "No, it's too early and the wind is in East........" "Doesn't matter, I'm going down to Cow River tonight......" "Well, let me know, will ya?"

Ya, sure I will. Get your own.

So when you're young and dating, any excuse to snuggle up in the dark will do. How little I knew what was ahead of me.....

Since I had no such thing as rubber boots, I borrowed Jamie's father's. We grabbed a flashlight and an old bucket. And I knew better than to ask where the fishing pole was, I'd already had a dry land lesson on how to "fish" smelts.

You pick your stream and it's not hard to tell when they're running strong, the water is alive with them! The water wasn't deep, you just had to try to be faster than a swimming smelt, and not slip on the rocks. Several people were already there, bent over, lights in the water, and making quick grabs, bare handed into the rushing stream, and throwing the wriggling fish into their buckets. After a short while, my hands were frozen, as we're talking April here, the water was pretty cold. But the catch was piling up. We tried hard to just take males, since the females were spawning, that's the whole idea.

Everyone was quiet, concentrating on the bounty swimming all around their feet, grabbing for larger ones. Just the sound of "Got one!" every once in a while.

Well, the size of my grandmother's eyes when she got a look in Jamie's bucket! He was so proud to show them to her, she knew exactly what they were, and she couldn't wait for a pan full, I think we fried them the same night.

And years later it occurred to me that to a stranger, we must have looked like a pile of bears, out of hibernation and hungry, sloshing through the stream in the dark, foraging for food. We were just smaller mammals, that's all. And one of our concerns was trying hard not to land on our arse in the drink!! The bears wouldn't care!

As we grow older, our desire for smelting has diminished, and I find I don't have the appetite for them as I used to. We found other excuses to snuggle up in the dark!

And the following generations are finding less and less appeal in activities as innocent as this. Fun isn't the same kind of fun anymore. There is such easy access to friends and social media that they can fill in every available second with it. And according to a large article in today's paper, the cost of that is increased loneliness and depression in our teenagers and young adults. They are bored by anything not related to "social" and I fear for their futures. Bullying is finding another avenue in cyberspace, and it's equally as hurtful and concerning. We just have to trust I guess that it all works out.

I'm pretty sure Momma would have found lots for me to do if I'd ever complained of being bored, but that's another story for another day...........