Haig-Brown Institute

Outdoors with Ralph Shaw Roderick Haig-Brown Learn to Fish

Program at the Brant Festival

By

Ralph Shaw

Some events seem meant to be, such as this “Learning to Fish” event at the Brant Wildlife Festival (BWF) is a case in point. It is a most appropriate way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the births Roderick Haig-Brown and his wife Ann Elmore Haig- Brown who were a most creative family force who left a legacy of literature and conservation to the world. Roderick Haig-Brown by his world class writing and steadfast conservation ethics paved the way for many of us who try to follow his inspiring challenges to create a better world through solid conservation ethics and practices in our everyday lives; especially in the mythical world of the angler. They lived in Campbell River most of their lives, where they raised their family and we proudly claim him as one of Canada’s greatest citizens. It is most appropriate that the Brant Wildlife Festival with its broad new programs under the sponsorship of The Nature Trust, of which he was a director, honors his huge contribution to recreational fishing.

The Learn to Fish program is the creative work of the Freshwater Fisheries Association of BC and will take place on March 29th. 2008 at the Spider Lake Provincial Park between the hours of 10.00am to 2pm. The fishing program itself is sponsored by Duncan Freshwater Eco Centre, Gone Fishing Stores, and The Freshwater Fisheries Society. The fees for the day are - $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for kids. Coffee snacks and so forth will be provided by the BWF. It might be prudent to bring a sandwich to supplement the snacks and refreshments at noon break. Gone Fishing stores are providing tackle grab bags for the participants. All funds raised by the event will go to Brant Wildlife Festival conservation programs and The Nature Trust of BC

This is a hands-on program for all ages and levels of experience. From my readers who are new arrivals to the valley or have decided it was time to get on with their freshwater fishing career, I suggest you will gain much from the day. Listed here is a partial agenda of what the information of the day will contain

1. Fish Identification and Biology.

2. Habitat and Conservation themes

3. Rods, Reels, Lines and Tackle Note: All gear will be supplied for participants.

4. Fishing knot tying skills will be taught.

5. Proper fish handling skill and ethics.

6. Casting and retrieving skills will be presented.

7. Freshwater Fishing Regulations and Water Safety will be presented. (Note: A member of the BC Conservation Corps will be on hand to help with the program.

8. Expert information on when, where, and how to catch fish.

9. There will be some hands on fishing with our expert anglers.

At the noon hour break yours truly will be giving a short talk on my associations with Roderick Haig Brown and his family. I do not profess to have known him as a personal friend, but I was privileged to meet him on several occasions, share a day fishing with him and one time in the early 1970,s we shared a program on conservation at the Strathcona Lodge Outdoor School on Upper Campbell Lake run by the late Jim Boulding and his wife Myrna, where Haig-Brown discussed his conservation ethic and I talked on Outdoor Education as applied at the McQueen lake Environmental Centre (Kamloops)

The overriding sponsor for month long festival of the activities of the BWF is The Nature Trust (TNT) of British Columbia. The TNT got its start in the early 1970s when the federal government gave the newly formed trust $4,000,000 as Second Century Funds to buy and preserve for future generations of British Columbians key pieces of land to preserve nature in a natural state. It has continued to grow and preserve natural lands throughout the province and today it holds title to many parcels of land that are incredibly important to natural ecosystems in our rapidly developing province. TNT continues to enter into partnerships with individual families and organizations with similar goals to preserve for future generation our disappearing wild places. In our area there are two recent TNT acquisitions of conservation reserves in the foreshore of the Trent River and the Cook Creek Estuary Lands that are dedicated by private families to this worthy cause.

The timeliness of this event is unique because it closes the old season and two days after the 2008-2009 fishing season is ushered in. The weather is predicted to be cool so wear warm clothing. Good Luck.