It was a beautiful Fall day. The wind, which had blown near gale force from the Southeast all night, was slowly subsiding. My brother Robert showed up while I was doing the cleanup, and asked if I wanted to go for a ride to Black’s Point. The 60-mile trip north of Gimli was enjoyable. Thousands of geese were landing to feed in the farmer’s fields. Not much traffic but a lot of good conversation.

We arrived at the snug harbour in the early afternoon. Now what?

 

Robert hauled out a pair of oilers and slicks and said, “Let’s go fishing. You remember when we were kids. We would take Uncle Siborg’s skiff out early in the morning, so we could catch fish to sell to the South Beach cottagers – this is the same thing.”  I said, “I am 80 years old. That was almost 70 years ago!”  Well, he said, its time to rediscover your roots. Come on, the seagulls are hungry. Sure enough, they were lined up on the sea wall out of the wind. As soon as we cleared the harbour they fell in formation behind our sturdy craft. Not to be outdone, a flotilla of pelicans formed a convoy and shipped out. The first waves reminded me how hard the skiff seats are. My poor bum.

Lake Winnipeg has a peculiar attribute due to its hourglass design - when the wind blows hard from the North or South, the related basin empties, forging a strong current. The nets become roped if they have fish in them - very difficult to clear. This is what happened to Robert’s nets - they were full of tulibees. This fish is a first cousin to a whitefish, which is a great smoker fish and very tasty. The tulibee usually grows to 1/2 pound or larger. In my grandfather’s time, before the first war, it was regarded as the poor family’s whitefish - cheap and available. He would tell us when the tulibees ran in late October or November, they would get 4 or 5 boxes to a net. Of course, these were either linen or cotton nets. This all went to hell, as he often said, when some ill-informed US biologist in 1929 said the tulibees had worms and were unfit for the US market. Baloney.

This season, the tulibees have come in force and the Marketing Board is buying them so we get to work.

Today we are just trying to clear the net. The Seagulls are helping - practically sitting in the bouncing skiff to grab a meal. I have seen a pelican take a 5 pound fish and swallow it in one gulp. It always amazes me. Back to the chain gang. I tell “Simon Legree” my arms are tired; my hands are cold and I can’t see out of my glasses. I need to take five. He agrees. Then proceeds to take a picture. After a few minutes he announces that the break is over. I make a mental note to self. Next time you see him coming, “Hide”.

Ken Kristjanson

October 2016