Heavy Canoe

It’s been a while since I last sat down to write a post. Without a doubt this has been one of the more hectic off seasons I’ve had in a long time. Lots of news to pass on — some good some bad. Might as well start with the bad and move from there. Two deaths have kind of hurt the Brûlé family. The first was long time Brûlé sport and supporter, John Pratt. John passed on after a very lengthy and courageous battle with cancer. A battle he’d fought since before his first days at Brûlé 9 years ago. I’m going to miss John’s visits to Brûlé. He was a generous, intelligent and kind guy. John championed several causes in his life but never bragged about them. He was well known for his support of substance abuse programs that serve the northern indigenous people, as well as issues involving education for all children. John was also a champion of adopting the idea of catch and release in Quebec and encouraged the continuous improvement of ethics within the fish and game world. My extended family and I will miss John dearly, and I know those of you that fished with him would join me in wishing condolences to his family.

The other bit of bad news that has touched me was the recent passing of my best friend of 13 years, Evening. Evie was simply the best and my canoe is going to be heavier this coming summer in her absence. I hope John and Evie hook up and go fishing together.

Onto some brighter news. We recently held a mini-spey enclave in Stamford, CT. It was a fantastic time and a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. Long time friend, Marty Cannon, was kind enough to invite several of his colleagues to attend. 16 folks showed up to take lessons in two handed casting from Spey Casting Northeast. I’d like to thank instructors Fred, Jerry and Mary for taking the time to lead the class. They did a great job and I hope that some of you take the opportunity to hook up with them in the future.

Thanks as well to Scott and Bob from Compleat Angler for dropping in and chatting about gear and such. The boys know their business and I was pleased to see that Bob also knew a significant amount about the rivers in my area.

And one more thanks to Troy Jacques from Thomas and Thomas for driving out from Greenfield with the bamboo gear and a whack of T&Ts new kit. That new two-handed DNA rod line-up is very, very sweet. The rods, when correctly matched with the latest lines, have got quite a few folks excited to hit the rivers this summer. I hope that this mini-enclave is something that will become an annual event and look forward to seeing everyone again.

As is often the case, these kind of early spring events get my thoughts headed, rightly so, in the direction of opening the camp and getting back out on the river. To that end, we are moving forward in our endeavor to bring more than just a fishing experience to the camp. In the early days there were artists, writers and all sorts of celebrities invited into the camps to fish and entertain — and to increase our understanding and appreciation of salmon and trout. An abundance of books and pictures were produced, as well as theories on everything from parr survival to early discussions on biodiversity and other  land use management ideas.

Sadly those days faded away as society’s interests shifted. Opportunities to discuss events and issues became sidetracked by other pursuits, and fishing camps fell back into a stupour of fishing, fishing and more fishing. While I think fishing, fishing and more fishing is a great great thing, I’d also like to bring back the opther aspects of what the lodge once represented. To that end we are working towards an idea that we refer to simply as A School of Excellence. I have extended an invitation to well-known artist and  fly fisherman Galen Mercer, long time anadromous fish researcher and present holder of the Molson/Meehan Salmon studies chair at UNB. I’ve also invited Rick Cunjak, Lance Wilt and master bamboo rod builder, Troy Jaques. Additionally, we’re planning on hosting 1 or 2 spey enclaves at Brûlé, hopefully led by the talented spey instructor and Pacific Northwest steelhead guru, Brian Chou.

All-in-all, we’re excited for a successful 2013 season and the social, cultural and educational opportunities that it will bring. If you’re interested in learning more about availability or to reserve your spot, drop me an email at kevin@campbrule.com.