It’s easy to forget. You know how it goes, thirty five years in the same business … thousands of brook trout photos, a million sunsets, and busy summers, it’s easy to forget why you do the things you do and what keeps you going. That is, until you stand in that Goose Bay airport and meet folks that have been coming here for just as long as we’ve been running Anne Marie.  They’re delighted to be here, and tell you that they think about Labrador and being here every single day of their lives. It is literally like seeing where we live and what we do through new eyes. And somehow it brings back meaning and purpose.

Minipi is more than a fishing trip to those that come here every year. It’s coming back to see friends and family, it’s the fresh breath of sitting in the canoe listening to the loons.  It’s that great laugh we had at Petche’s that day. And oh yes, that beautiful, beautiful 7 pounder we caught just at dusk on the second evening. It’s the whole package. If you come just for the fishing, you’re missing out on ninety percent of the fun, and that is an absolute truth.

Fun? We have had fun so far this summer. It has been one of the best fishing years in a long time … tons of big hatches, lots of moving, feeding brookies and a lot of happy fishermen. We’re having just the best time at the Little Minipi and Minipi Rivers and catching some great action in the evening at Anne Marie.  Many stories told, and many more in the making.

Easy to forget? We can’t forget. I think Labrador is the tonic that takes so many people through the long, cold winters. We’ll be back next month with a wind up of the fishing this season, and some great pictures of the brookies and char in their fall colours as they get ready to end their 2013 time with us.