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Sometimes it is hard to believe: my first time in Canada seems to me like yesterday, but actually it dates back 24 years! My first trip to Vancouver Island took place in 1990. I had been aware of the fact that Roman Moser then had a few years more of experience in that field, and shyness not being one of my primary problems, I picked up the phone and called him.
I hoped to get some preliminary pointers before departure. As he told me, he had been there during fall, whereas I had planned on going there in winter. Still, he gave me some valuable pieces of information. Looking back, this conversation with him was the best I've had so far.
Our party of four reached Campbell River in February 1990. It was a rather short trip, lasting two weeks. Getting there and back taking up two days, we had 12 days left for fishing. We spent three days trolling for salmon on the sea. To avoid losing even more time for activities other than steelies, I asked my friends to drop me off on the Campbell in the morning, and pick me up on their way home in the evening.
So, in eight days fishing the Campbell and the Quinsam, I hooked 24 of that fish and landed 12 of them.
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In February 1991, I traveled to Campbell River again with two other friends of mine. On these first two trips, we actually flew into Campbell River from Vancouver. From 1992 on, we picked up motorhomes or rental cars on the mainland.
My expectation on this second trip was: I've done this before, so I know what to do, and it's easy anyway. Oops! In 12 days on the river I barely succeeded in landing one "decent" fish! The largest one of my first trip, measuring 86 cm, held first place for over 5 consecutive years.
Sometimes I ask myself how my relationship with BC would have turned out, had the results of the first trip been as lousy as those of the second one. Probably that first visit would have remained the only one - the way it actually turned out, however, I'm looking back on 38 trips, not mentioning the wholesale business I ran in Canada from 2004 to 2010.
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Of course, the pictures will give you just a hint of our adventures on those trips
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