Whitbourne cod fisher hoping for another big one after monster catch on last trip
CBC
Hilda Whalen says she finally feels good enough to get back on the water after a battle with cancer, and hopes she can replicate her last catch.
Whalen caught a 30-kilogram, six-foot cod in Trinity Bay during her last fishing trip in 2018. She only got around to posting the photo on Facebook this past weekend to one-up a friend who posted about their fish, but the photo has gone viral on social media since.
"At the time I didn't think it was a big thing. A friend of mine was holding up a cod fish, and I just whacked off the picture to him saying 'Try to hold this one up with one hand!" Whalen told The St. John's Morning Show Thursday.
"Someone else said, 'did you ever think of throwing it back?' … I said no. What Newfie would throw that back in the water after the cod moratorium?"
Whalen looks back on the day as a battle, saying she was almost pulled off the side of the boat as her rod bent in half. The cod was able to shake the hook from its mouth and was snared by its cheek, requiring two gaffs to get it on board.
She and her brother were unable to weigh the fish on the boat, so they got creative and used a bathroom scale.
They ended up gutting the fish and making fish and brewis, saying the meat was a little tough. However, she didn't have to worry about finding any bones.
"You don't have to worry about getting a small bone in your mouth, cause every one of them was as big as your finger," she laughed.
Whalen, who is the mayor of Whitbourne, says she's excited to be healthy enough to get back on the water after a spell of poor health and a battle with cancer. She's been fishing since she was a kid, and said it's a great tradition within her family.
"I'm gonna make some time and try to get out and jig another one," she said.
"I'm happy enough to get the little ones … I won't bother trying to top that one."
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