The Bet

Friday July 21st – Today we are heading out of Prideaux Haven to once again head north to Dent Island Lodge. The lodge is owned by the Nordstrom family, it’s fancy (for BC coast standards) and expensive but it’s also a lot of fun with a great restaurant and charter salmon fishing fright from the lodge.

But first we had to check our shrimp pots. We had a bit of a wager going to see who could catch the most shrimp but we were at a disadvantage right from the start because one of our pots had a missing door and couldn’t be used. However, we won the bet with a measly 11 shrimp. Not great for an overnight soak but we were excited because it was the first shrimp we’ve ever caught.

We left Prideaux Haven for a timed arrival at Yuculta Rapids. These rapids run like a river except at slack water when the current is starting to change directions. In a slow heavy boat like ours its only safe to run these rapids at slack water. You have about a 1-hour window to get through before you would need to wait for the next tide cycle.

We charted our course and arrival time with a brief detour up Teakern Arm to see a large waterfall. We had a great cruise through the rapids and tied up on the Dent dock in a great location.

That night all 14 of us had an awesome dinner in the lodge where we got a little riled up and placed bets on our salmon fishing trip tomorrow. We chartered 3 boats. One boat was our family, one had Bruce, Todd and Zach and the other Scott, Vickie and Curt. Each boat had to put $100 in the pot. The boat with the biggest fish would win $150 and the boat with the most total pounds of fish would win $150.

7am the next morning before our charter we all confirmed the bet. It all sounded great after a few drinks at dinner but now the wager seemed a little steep. However, we were all committed regardless of our bad judgment the night before.

Off we went all cruising to our guide’s favorite fishing spots. It was still raining a little, and the thick fog made for eerie but beautiful sights.

Lines in the water searching for the Salmon we patiently waited for the bite. At about 9am one of the reels set off with a whizzzzz… Skylar grabbed the pole and started fighting the fish. The look on his face was pure joy! It fought hard, coming almost to the boat then taking off again several times. We could tell it was big! When our guide Jon finally netted the catch we all had a sigh of relief. It was in the boat and we couldn’t believe how big it was. Jon said it was defiantly over 20lbs but we would have to wait and see its true size when we get back to the dock and officially weigh the fish. We fished for a couple more hours with only a small Pink Salmon we threw back to account for.

We didn’t have a whole lot of fish but the one we did have seemed to be pretty big. The question was, would it land us the win. When we got back to the dock one of the boats in our group was already there and they had 1 fish! Their fish weighed in at 20lbs. Jon put Skylar’s fish on the scale as we waited in anticipation. 30lbs on the mark!! Not only did we beat the other boat but 30lbs earned Skylar a spot in the Tyee Club, a board that lists all the fish caught that season 30lbs and over. Nice job Skylar!!

However the bet was not over. As we waited for one more boat to come in we heard they convinced their guide to stay out an hour longer. All we could think is cheaters!! Regardless, they came in with 1 nice fish as well but their 18 pounder didn’t match up to Skylar’s 30. He was the winner in both categories!