Recreational cod fishery not just about the fillets for this 'townie with the heart of a bayman'

As outdoor traditions go, the recreational cod fishery will never match our May 24 trouting trips or fall moose hunting excursions with friends and family.

The "food fishery," after all, has been around less than 20 years, while our moose and trout traditions go back further than even our oldest residents can remember. And we never know from one year to the next when this "food for the table" fishery might come to an end.

But for "townies" like me, invitations from friends around the bay to go "out in boat" and catch some cod is indeed a real treat — one I look forward to every summer.

Growing up smack-dab in the middle of downtown St. John's, boats to us were those huge, rusty steel vessels tied up in the harbour and filled with Portuguese fishermen. Nobody in our family ever owned a rowboat for trout fishing. Even in later years, my father never had a motorboat.

Come to think of it, neither have I. Still don't.

But it's not just coming home to Mount Pearl or St. John's with a load of delicious cod fillets that I long for; it's the quality time spent with friends — old and new — that rekindles my tremendous appreciation of our province. Hell, I could stay home and buy the fish at a supermarket for considerably less than what it costs in fuel for my truck to get around the bay.

Port Rexton, Marystown, Harbour Grace, Old Perlican, Bellevue... I've been most fortunate to bring home few meals of cod from these and a few other areas over the years. But never was fish the primary reason for my visit. Not once.

Last summer, my friend Trevor LeGrow of Bauline invited me down for a few hours on the water, and we had our fish in no time. A few days later, my lifelong buddy Brian Levesque was home from Ontario visiting his brother Keith, and I sent Trevor a message, asking if he could take another couple of townies out in boat.

"Absolutely," was the immediate response.

Next day, he not only took us out and provided rods, reels and jiggers to catch the fish, he did all the filleting back on the wharf and gave us the works to take home. Brian bought a small cooler to take his share back to Petawawa, Ont., and the fish was still frozen when his wife greeted him at the door.

My newest acquaintances around the bay this summer, through longtime friend Tony Vinnicombe, have been Kevin and Melanie Porter of Spaniard's Bay. Actually, while Tony had been chatting with Kevin via Facebook messenger for several months, he had yet to meet him face to face, either.

A couple hours on a beautiful calm and sunny Saturday morning in July on Conception Bay, however, not only resulted in us catching our three-person limit, but we engaged in some interesting conversations and laughs aplenty as well.

"It's like I've known you fellas for years," Kevin commented with a chuckle.

"We feel the same, bud," I quickly replied.

He suggested we return the following morning for more fishing, but not before inviting us back to his house where Melanie had prepared a scoff fit for a king.

Sunday's fishing, fun, friendship and food was a repeat of the previous day, except for a change in the menu, of course. And once again, Kevin refused to take any fish for himself.

"I can go out any time," he said, pointing to the fillets in a pan that I was rinsing with fresh water. "That there is for you fellas."

In mid-August, Tony and I were Spaniard's Bay-bound again, and while rolling seas made it difficult to get our lures/jiggers near the bottom, resulting in just six fish between us, the rest of the trip was nonetheless spectacular, thanks to our new friends.

As I write this article, I'm reminding myself once again that this is how things and people are in rural Newfoundland … not that any of us need a reminder, of course.

It's no wonder then, that oftentimes as I'm heading out the door with fishing or hunting gear in tow, I take such pride in my wife's often-used description of me as "a bayman in a townie's body" or "a townie with the heart of a bayman."

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