52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 14 Prompt - Water

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 14

Prompt – Water

Fishing!

The first and only time that I went fishing was with Bill and his father on their boat at Blackstrap Lake (near Saskatoon) on a lovely summer evening.  We were just going out for a ride in the boat.  Of course they decided to try their hand at fishing.  They caught one.  I was squeamish just to see it wriggling on the line.  However I was not prepared for what happened next.  The fish was flopping around in the boat freaking me out so Bill's father took some heavy object and hit it to kill it.  Well that finished the lovely evening on the boat for me.

Once again I look back at the scans of Bill's family slides and photos. Fishing pictures, beach side family fish fry picnics and trophy fish photos are predominant. 

I had no idea that I married into a family of recreational fishers.

Leonard, Arthur and Henry Fesser

The earliest photo of fishing is one taken somewhere between 1933 and 1936.  The 3 men are Bill's Grandfather Arthur and Art's brother, Leonard and Art's brother-in-law, Henry. It was in those years that Arthur, Ida and their family moved to Yakima to try fruit farming on Leonard's orchard. Henry Fesser was Ida's youngest brother who also joined the business of the fruit farm.

Henry Fesser was a bachelor who lived in California.   I love that Art and Len are in overalls and Henry is dressed up.  This seems to confirm a statement from another family member that Henry was a “very fussy” dresser.

In previous blogs I had mentioned that Arthur did not like the hemmed in feelings in the mountains of their orchard farm.  In 1936 they moved back to Killaly, Saskatchewan to resume farming on their  mixed farm.

Crooked Lake was often their choice of a fishing hole closest to home.

Clara Jahnke (Before Married)

Clara, Her Mother and Father Ida & Art & her Aunt Freda & Uncle Len

Grandpa Jahnke's Boat: Lt to Rt. Herb (Clara's brother), Len, Freda & Clara.

These photos are taken in the 1940's while fishing at Crooked Lake.   It was a family affair followed by a "fish fry picnic."  Bill recalls that the “fish-fry picnics” were always a Crooked Lake thing.  I had once asked Bill's mother if they ever had picnics.  She told me about going to Crooked Lake. Someone would bring a potato salad and someone brought dessert.   It was with varying family and friends.  Bill remember his Grandmother Ida brought a bag of butter and a bag of flour, salt and pepper.  After filleted the caught fish it was immediately fried in a cast iron pan. Bill said it was always good.

Bill's mother, Clara was no slouch in fishing either.

The above photo was dated 1952.  However it did not say where Tony caught this big one.

Bill was 4 years of age when this was taken. From other photos from this same trip I guess that it was a family outing or vacation.  Bill says he did not catch this fish, but one is never to young to pose with a caught fish.

In 1959, Bill's father and some of his friends actually flew in to Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan.

Bill's First Fish

 This is Bill's first fish caught casting off the shore of Crooked Lake.  It was taken circa 1960.

The boat Elaine was Tony and Clara's first boat. Bill thinks that his father had bought this one. Bill has very little recollection of riding in this boat. Bill is about 6 and his sister Elaine is about 1 year old.  Bill remembers the "orange crush" cooler made of steel. On any family trips they packed their lunches and rarely ate at restaurants on the road.

 

Tony's Boat Called Norma

I knew that this boat was built by Bill's father.   I asked Bill if he remembered when this was.  He remembers it was built after they moved into their home on Park Avenue in Saskatoon.  They moved there in September of 1963.  The house had no garage when they bought it.   Since Tony built the boat in their garage we figured it had to be after that.  Bill thinks the garage was built the next summer.  The garage was built of “reclaimed wood”.   Bill said grudgingly that his summer job was pulling the nails from the boards.  He remembers painting the inside of the garage and the paint would not stick to the boards which made him think it was reclaimed wood from some fire.  But I digress.  So if the garage is built the following year of 1964 then perhaps it was 1965 ish when the boat was built.   I asked Bill if he remembered anything about the boat being built.  He said his father had ordered a kit.  Bill, his mother and siblings had been out for a Wednesday evening church probably Lenten service.  When they got home his father had put together the skeleton of the boat in their basement.

Henry Fesser and The One That Did Not Get Away.

His father built the boat almost entirely by himself in the garage. He did have a buddy who did the fiberglass coating for him. So the boat Norma was born.

1968 Birch Creek Fishing Trip.

Birch Creek is east of Saskatoon.  Henry lived in California but would come up to stay with Tony & Clara for several weeks during the summer.  I guess it was cooler in Saskatoon than in California.   However Uncle Henry also liked fishing in Saskatchewan.   There are quite a few photos from the Birch Creek fishing trip.   It seemed like it was Tony (Bill's father), Art (Bill's grandfather) and Henry (Bill's Great Uncle) on this trip. One photo shows what has to be one of the family's biggest fish caught.

The strangest fish photo is a fish wrapped in fur.   I asked Bill what the story behind “fur fish” was.  It was apparently Uncle Henry's story.  I guess that Uncle Henry thought that it was so cold up north that the fish grew fur. He took a photo to prove it for his friends back home.  Something reminiscent of the fierce mythical critter of a Jackalope.  Well that is one heck of a fish story!

1983 and Bill's Sask Tel office phone is what else, but a fish.

Don't ask! Or maybe ask him.

 On a 1993 family camping trip with our neighbors, Bill caught a whopper.  This was caught at Pyramid Lake in National Jasper Park. 

Wendy, Christina, Alanna, Daniel & Bill. His Fishing Audience.

Grandpa and Alanna

Summer of 2000.  Mount Lorette Ponds in Alberta Kananaskis  Country.  We were spending a Sunday afternoon in Kananaskis with some family having a barbecue picnic with hot dogs and not fish. Sounds like a familiar family thing from Bill's previous generation or two!

... and maybe onto the next generation!

Alanna Fishing at Shannon Lake

Shannon Lake

2019 Summer at Shannon Lake, Okanogan, British Columbia
Alanna's fish by fishing off the dock. 

Wendy