A Mans Last Fish

I have met some great people over my years of guiding. Some stand out more than others as being story worthy. I believe it was my 2nd season in Northern Saskatchewan that I met a man named Al T Sr. Al was an 85 year old gentleman that came off as a strong, take no BS kind of man. He seemed to have an edge on near all sarcasm and so much so that time in between was nil. Having said that he was full of a remarkable spirit. I took him and his son Jr. out for 4 days in the hunt for Monster Pike. He would rise early and each morning as I walked down from my cabin to the coffee maker he was seen pacing the property apparently exercising and wide awake. The T’s had fished all over the World from the time Jr. was very young. They had caught Nile Perch, Tarpon, Marlin, Muskie and many more great sportsfish. But the T’s had always wanted a giant pike and having Al Sr. getting on in years Jr. had come to fish with me for possibly his dad’s last chance at this dream.
Al Sr. would get on these topics like how he had been security for Panama Canal, or other wild stories of cartels and jungle living. He would talk for hours of these amazing events in his life. These stories were this man’s legacy. I mean I’m sure he had lots of money as he was paying a premium to fish but these stories were the truest form of what he represented. Between these stories Al Sr. would pass me his rod so I could throw the lures out for him. I guess a 21 year old could toss it a bit further was his mentality. My goal was to get this 87 year old man what he was after. I took them all over my best spots. Jr. pulled a few fish reaching the mark of master angler but not what they were after. They were after a 45”+ fish.
We pulled into a bay that I regularly saw giant fish digesting in the warm sun. I would normally enter the bay slowly with the motor up and a paddle to catch the big females off guard and maybe aggressive enough to hit a well placed bait. Picture crystal clear water, wearing polarized glasses and looking for logs on the bottom of 3-5 foot of water. It was exciting.
I tied up a #5 Chartreuse Mepp’s spinner for Al Sr. and got into a position to cast the length of the spot. 5 turns of the reel and Al Sr. was into a fish. I couldn’t tell how big because he had played with my drag a bit and the line was just streaming out. I realized that the drag was in fact tightened rather than loosened and then I looked out to see a massive fish slowly rise up from the sand bottom. Sub-surface it looked big and when its back came out of the water it was even bigger. Jr. coached his dad for awhile in order to get it to my cradle. There were times when Al Sr. had been pulled so hard, so fast that his knees buckled against the side rail of the Alumarine we were in. I had to actually grab his life jacket to keep him up once or twice. The fish made three impressive runs streaming the drag of the Shimano Calais. Finally it gave in. As soon as the cradle snapped all of our adrenaline had peeked. Al T. Jr. looked at me with a face that I will always remember. One eye had salty liquid in it and his face was in a state of shock. His son Jr. was completely stoked with his father.
I kept quiet and let the two of them share this time while I revived the fish. I watched them both pass each other these vibes that I could feel in the back of the boat. It was absolutely amazing to witness this father and son bond. After a few pictures I slowly pulled out of the bay as neither angler could fish. They were way to excited. Al T. Sr. was so excited that he was blabbering and not making much sense. In fact he made mention to the fish he had just caught as another species. Haha. I remember thinking quickly that I was scared he was going to stroke out on me. A complete turn around from the man that I had been with those four days. He said to me after 30 mins of pure excitement that that was the best fishing experience of his life.
Over the years I have always remembered Al T. Sr. as a man whose life was filled with amazing stories and events that shaped him into something great. He didn’t live a traditional life as most do in our society. He lived a full life. And in the end of his life’s chronicles he met me for a fish.