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Sunshine Coast Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee: Brian Mottishaw

Brian Mottishaw was an avid sports fisherman who loved fishing the Sunshine Coast waters. I was fortunate to get my guiding experience with Brian and his son Corey (my best friend and best man) back in the mid 70's, when he ran his charter boat out of Secret Cove. Back in those days, most of the big corporations booked their charters out of Secret Cove for their employees. Brian would be entertaining the clients, and talking to other charter boat skippers in the 'Jolly' while Corey and I tied leaders and got things ready for the early morning fish. We used to head-out right at day-break.

Brian mainly fished Sangster, which was better known as the 'Horseshoe or #3' and Lasquetti Island: 'Hunter's Hole'. He would also fish Anderson Bay, Epsom Point, Pirate Rock, Bargain Harbour, Trail Islands, Sargents Bay, and Mary Island. The coho and spring fishing was awesome and it wasn't hard for him to get his clients a cooler full of fish mooching or strip casting with herring. His 33' Mariner boat the "Duffer Too" was well equipped to find and produce good fishing results. I remember when the coloured sounders first came on the market and Brian was excited about going down to M.O.S. in Vancouver and picking up his new Seaport Sounder. The only problem with the new sounder was he couldn't bring back the images that were on the paper scroll sounder he had with all the bait and salmon that showed on it. He made sure we all saw it!

When you fished with Brian, he always 'sounded' the area and made sure he had two lines in the water while looking around for feed. He would practically bend a herring in half, closing the mouth making sure it had a good roll that he referred to as the 'western roll'. When the anchor went down you knew that you were going to be sitting on fish because there had to be a lot of bait before he put it down or else you went somewhere else. All the charter boats worked together and Brian's buddy Gene Brehm who had the "El Barco" was always close by.

I remember going into Brian's Auto Body Shop business he owned that was located where Rent it Canada is now, and asking him if he wanted to go fishing. I had a pretty good evening the night previous in Anderson Bay. He was all excited about heading out and was ready to jump in the truck when the shop phone rang. Brian yelled to one of his employees " Tell them I'm out on Business" which was the nickname for his boat and his favorite line he used quite often when he wanted to leave the shop and head out fishing.

Brian always made people feel comfortable when they were on his boat. Just when you thought you had heard all of his stories, another new one would emerge. He was also good a pulling pranks: like tying a beer can on somebody's rod and telling them that they caught it. His best story was when he had an English couple out and they had just arrived at Sangster. The husband approached Brian and said they had to return back to Secret Cove. Brian asked why, and he replied by saying that his wife had a hook caught in her. Well, Brian said that was no cause for alarm and that he had taken out many hooks, especially having 3 sons and taking out a lot of charters. When he went back to see the guys wife sitting on the back of the boat, he asked where the hook was. She replied "in my breast," and she started to undo her buttons on her shirt. Brian said his only problem was he didn't know how he should position his hands on her breast to see how far the hook was caught in. Like the gentlemen he was, he managed to get the hook out and they finished off the day fishing.

Brian and his wife Bev, there close friends Gene and Theresa and many other local charter boat fishermen would hold a boater's barbecue at Bucanneer Bay towards the end of summer each year. It was a great time to swap fishing tales and take a break from fishing and get in some swimming and eating.

The last time I spoke to Brian he wasn't doing very good and was in St Mary's hospital. I was fortunate to listen to him tell me about his last fishing trip: As weak and sick as he was from his battle with cancer he managed to make it to Bella Coola with his second wife Joan for one last fishing trip. They fished all day on the riverbank trying for a big spring. After fishing all day no one had got a bite. Brian was not able to help get things ready to go because of his illness. He sat and watched the boat getting loaded up. While this was happening someone went to grab Brian's rod. He said "don't touch the rod! It's going to be the last thing that goes back in the boat and I will bring it in." Well, as any good fishermen would predict just as it was time to go, the big fish hit and it hit hard. Brian used every bit of strength that he had left in him to land this 36 lb Tyee. He figured that there was someone up there that made sure he got to do the thing he loved doing the most one last time.

I will always remember Brian as an excellent fishermen and a good friend!

Written by Sid Quinn

Sunshine Coast Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee: Charlie Brookman

Charlie Brookman was an old and weathered man. As a kid, I first saw him down at the Davis Bay dock. His clothes were always the same: brown wool pants and shirt, a thick wide leather belt with suspenders, and ball cap. His rod was made of cane, his reel an old single-action Windex. Everything about Charlie was worn and comfortable, but clean and in good working order. He lived on the highway, just as it curves around the sand bar. Charlie would make the short walk to the Wharf every morning, rod in one hand, cane in the other, canvas bag, and crab trap hung over his shoulders. He would say," If you want crab don't cheap out on the bait." Charlie would set his trap, strip cast out a line to the bottom, and take up his normal spot against the rail, and wait patiently for dinner. As soon as Charlie would land a flounder or two, a rock cod, or from time to time a big ling he would pull up the trap and head home with his catch. He never took more than he could eat, and he never went hungry. Charlie loved fishing and loved us kids. He was always helping us with our tangled mess we called "fishing tackle", and never got upset with us jumping and diving off the dock when he had his line in the water. Twice during the summer Charlie would put on a great fishing derby for us. He would get the Davis Bay store and Claytons to throw in some frozen herring and some pies and we would catch shiners, perch or whatever would bite. Then we'd eat a piece of pie with our hands behind our backs. Our parents would love to see us coming home with cherry pie filling up our nose and smelling of herring on a hot summer day. Man, those derbies were a blast! There is a great picture in my son's elementary school of me when I was about ten years old: buck teeth and crew cut holding a three pound perch and Charlie handing me the trophy. I can still remember that fish hitting my hand line, and Charlie telling me it was the biggest perch he had ever seen. I'm sure if you spoke to anyone my age that grew up in Davis Bay, they would have a fish story from one of Charlie's annual derbies. In my teens, I fished from a boat, away from the wharf. I could still see Charlie walking slowly to and from the wharf for a few more years. I don't remember when he passed on, and I didn't know what he did when he was younger or where he came from. He was just 'Charlie Brookman, the great old guy at the wharf'. He wasn't fancy or flashy, his gear was simple and in he kept it clean and good working order. He was very patient and friendly, and he was always happy at what he did. Charlie was a great roll model for me, and still continues to be. In his honor, there is a park in Davis Bay named after him. His spirit is still with us, and won't be forgotten.

Written by Bob Dixon

Sunshine Coast Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee -Herb Stienbrunner

Herb Stienbrunner is part of the Sunshine Coast's heritage, as was his father before him. The name is often read in local history publications about the coastal communities. Herb was badly injured in a logging accident in mid-life, and as he grew older he suffered from the injuries. I remember Herb best around the docks in Gibsons and seeing him out fishing in his 14ft put-put inboard boat. He studied the fish patterns and the tides and loved to catch the big springs in Gibsons gap. Herb was a true troller and to me he was the forerunner of today's method of down- rigging trolling. To see Herb trolling was so interesting: he sat very low in his boat and his rods were always bent toward the water. His gear was homemade and some of his reels were carved from wood. The lures he used were anything from a tom mack spoon to plugs he carved and painted and even some were made from old tooth brushes! His net was bent from steel roundstock with fish net for twine.

Herb loved to talk about the tides. I beleived him when he said even two or three minutes made a difference when the bite would occur. I rememeber going to the dock and seeing him sitting in his boat getting his gear ready. He would say to me, "HEY KID, no sense in goin' out there yet. The tide isn't for another hour." Those were the days when the locals would anchor in Shoal Channel in the spot called "the hole". Usually, as many as six or eight boats would be there. Herb would troll the inside of the gap in a triangle, feeling his way along the edges where the feed were.You were never sure when he took a fish because he would not stop his boat but rather circle and play the fish on the inside. As the boat turned, his net would slip under the fish and it would be in the boat with one swift motion. The amount of wieght on his line was often two lbs - more than four times what was usually used in those days because most fishers didn't fish deeper than one hundred feet. Herb told me to fish deeper because that is where the bigger salmon feed, and to always know the tides in the area where you fish. I will always remember him carryng his salmon up Smitty's dock. Many times, they dragged the stairs as he made his way to the top. Herb would say, "If you get the big ones, you don't need two." He was a fine man who caught the biggest fish and wondered "what the hell that mooching stuff was" !!!

Written by Steve Holland

Sunshine Coast Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee - Charlie Robinson and Sons

The Robinson's lived in Gibsons and were well known fishermen. In the beginning, there was "Charlie" the father, and sons "Chuck", "Carmen", "John", "Winston" and "Godfrey". All of the boys fished with Charlie on his old gas boat in the late fifties and early sixties, and were often seen fishing Gibsons Gap and Gower Point. In those days, they were pioneers of the mooching method. Old Charlie smoked a pipe and generally supervised the boys as he tended the boat. In later years, Chuck and his brothers were often fishing out of small punts in their favorite spots around the Gibsons area. All of the Robinsons were aggressive fishermen, they worked the bait and had their own style of cutting bait to gain the movement they wanted as it was retrieved.

Strip casting was the method used then because the use of live bait had not begun. The freshest thing to live bait was fresh raked herring or herring jigged at night off the Gibsons dock. In the 1960's and 1970's, there were many fishing derbys each summer, and all the locals were up for competition of a derby! One in particular I remember was in May and the prizes were: $100 for first, $75 for second and $50 for third place. The fish had been biting near Grace Island so the plan was to run down there first before daylight and tow several skiffs so that the Robinson's could be set free from our anchored boats. All went as planned and fishing started at first light. John was first to hook a fish and soon had it in his net and was boasting that it surely was the winner. Several other smaller fish were landed but none matched John's 20 odd pounder. Now Winston was not one to have good fishing gear, to him all you needed was a pole and a real with some sort of line on it and away you went. The same could be said about his boat. At times he was bailing as much as rowing, and often he didn't take a net because it was just as easy to have someone toss him one if he needed it.

I remember we had just landed a nice spring that challenged John's fish and Winston suddenly stood up in his boat and said, "I HAVE THE WINNER ON!" When a large fish is hooked from a small skiff it will tow the skip about as you play it, so long as the rod tip is pointed to the bow of the boat. Well, away went Winston in tow of an obviously large salmon! He circled the group of boats putting on a very wild show with the fish running off live and towing Winston, then all at once as the fish was running line off his reel the reel spun off the rod and was bouncing around in the bottom of the boat. The howells of laughter rising from all who were watching! The bottom of his boat was by now several inches deep in water and the reel was spinning like a yo yo sending water about. Somehow he managed to get the reel back on the rod and finally was ready for a net. Hey, you guys bring me a net !!! Well, we all were having fits of laughter and we knew he did have the winning fish so what was the hurry for a net?

The big spring was laying on its side and John finally rowed over to Winston and gave him the net. His fish was 30 lbs, Johns was 26 lbs, and mine was 28 lbs. One, two, three in the derby. Chuck Robinson caught the largest fish I have seen locally in Seargents Bay, it was 48 lbs. Godfrey is the fellow who fishes for the live herring many of us use nowadays and he sells herring out of the local area. He too is a very knowledgeable fishermen and can catch fish when there just aren't any there for the rest of us. Unfortunately, Winston and John died at young ages and are missed very much by all who knew them. I will always remember the Robinsons with fond memories of mornings on the water seeing them casting and retrieving their special cut baits.

Written by Steve Holland

Sunshine Coast Fishing Hall of Fame Inductee - Harold Parrell

I thought it would be interesting to write about an old-time fisherman who lives and fishes out of Gibsons. His name is Harold Parrell. Harold came to Gibsons from Newfoundland in the early sixties. Having the fish smell in his veins, he took up fishing here. On Harold's days off from the mill he was out fishing on most mornings. In those days when nearly everyone mooched with herring strips, (as live herring were not heard of then) raking herring or jigging was often used to obtain fresh bait. In those days most local boats were readily recognized although hundreds of boats from Vancouver were fishing the local waters on weekends. Harold fished from a tin boat at first, usually following the local vets to wherever the fish were biting, usually Gower Point was not fished untill the coho arrived in July. Harold was determined, and soon began catching fish. He learned the tides and studied the weather and became a regular Sunshine Coast-Gibsons fisherman. Over the years, Harold has been the most consistent fisherman in Gibsons, usually fishing alone until recent years. Now he has a partner who helps him net the fish. Harold bought a 16 ft fiberglass boat that he used for many years, it's still on the coast at Secret Cove and is owned and catching fish by Andy (Chief). When he retired, he got a new 17 ft Double Eagle complete with an anchor winch. I sometimes wonder how many miles of anchor line he has pulled during his 40 years of fishing! Now, the thing about being a good fisherman isn't just to catch a fish,.but it's to catch fish regularly. Harold does that. To be a respected fisherman one shares his success with others, and Harold does that. Harold also looks out for others and is willing to help anyone in need on the water. I can personally attest to that when I received a tow home from Gambier Island when my engine failed. Although fishing hasn't been like the good old days and many of us have sunken to the dreaded DOWNRIGGERS, Harold has not. He fishes the old way with herring trying his favorite spots. Prawning is something Harold has taken up in the last couple of years and he is very good at that too. Harold is your diehard, polite, successful, good 'ole time fisherman'.We all could use a friend like him.

Written by Steve Holland

Davis Bay Sportsfishing

4830 Laurel Road
Sechelt, BC V0N 3A2
Bob Dixon
Voice: 604-885-7046
Contact:

Email: bobdixon@telus.net

Sunshine Lady Fishing Charters

Box 2554
Sechelt, BC V0N 3AO
Sid Quinn
Voice: 604-885-2708
Contact:

Email: fishingsechelt@dccnet.com