Consider the Fish: Fishing for Canada from Campbell River to Petty Harbour

Les Harding is the author of Exploring the Avalon, Historic St.
John’s: The City of Legends, The Voyages of Lesser Men: Thumbnail
Sketches in Canadian Exploration and The Journeys of Remarkable Women:
Their Travels on the Canadian Frontier.

This book, which was given the subject classification
“Fisheries—Political Aspects—Canada—Humor” is as funny as it
is informative. In Gudgeon’s view, fish are what this country is all
about. “Forget the fur trade, the railroad, the cultural mosaic or
even the Stanley Cup,” he writes, “and consider instead the fish as
the key to understanding this nation’s notion of what it means to be a
man and as a defining image of our collective experience.”

Having assigned himself the task of investigating Canada’s neglected
“Fishstory,” Gudgeon travels from Campbell River, British Columbia,
to Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, and all points in between. He seeks
salmon in British Columbia, trout in Alberta, whitefish in Gimli, and
smelt in Port Dover, Ontario. In Quebec, he participates in ice fishing
with an aging rock-star separatist and western fly-fishing authority. In
Nova Scotia, he quests for tuna and shark. The prize is cod in
Newfoundland. Over the course of his travels, the author meets all
manner of fascinating characters with fascinating tales to tell.