Fishermen are well-known to be laconic and wary of "the media". It must be something to about men spending long periods alone. Or what happens when lots of waiting is usually followed by disappointment (the fish are rarely as big or numerous as one would hope for). The fishermen presumably think that an outsider-- someone who isn't there to fish-- may spoil their luck.

It was strikingly different at a recent dawn when I was sent to Dash Point. Nice-sized pink salmon were being caught left and right. The mood was festive. Running around with my camera and wide angle, I could barely keep up. With so many fish around, the normally dour men were almost giddy, and they were happy to have a news photographer chasing their fish with a camera.

Yes, LITERALLY chasing their fish with a camera. As you can see in my favorite shot, the camera is just a couple of feet from the fish. So as the fish is dragged from the water and flops around, I have to run to stay with the fish, holding the camera at ankle level, keeping it two feet away, ripping lots of frames.

And why not? We were are ALL giddy.