One never forgets those who teach them and Noel Kaludjak has fond memories of learning valuable hunting and fishing skills from his father and brothers.
Kaludjak said while growing up in Whale Cove, char fishing was very, very profitable.
He said they would sell char to the freezer being run on the community and, from there, it would all be shipped to Rankin Inlet to be processed and canned.
"My brother, Joseph, and my brother, Paul, were very avid fishermen when char was profitable, " said Kaludjak. "But, before that, my dad would try to find lakes with char and travel around the lakes North of Whale Cove to look for a place to set nets.
"He was not much for jigging through the ice. He only used mostly nets."
Kaludjak said he would also go with his dad and his younger brothers, Victor and Patrick, to set nets.
He said it was always fun to find the lakes with the most, and best tasting, char.
"We had regular lakes near Whale Cove where we went to, but my dad would travel further out towards the Ferguson River area to look for a place where there might be char.
"With my two older two brothers, Paul mostly taught me about rodding, but Joseph was mostly into netting.
"They also taught me how to properly clean the fish for sale."
Learning new skills rarely comes without a cost and Kaludjak said their fingers would often scar a lot from cleaning the fish properly.
He said they would all have really rough finger tips by the end of the summer.
"When I moved to Rankin back in the early 1980s, Rankin Inlet Building Supplies actually started the fishing derby in the town.
"My mom, Louisa, loved ice fishing, so I would take her out fishing before we had ice augers."
Kaludjak said when he would tag along to check the nets with his brothers seeing the net being pulled and the fish coming up and out through the hole in the ice was a real joy, and still is today.
He said it's just an overall good feeling to witness that.
"Like, out of nothing, suddenly there's a char there in the net. It's a lot of fun," he said.
"I do that every fall up at Diane Lake and I still enjoy it very, very much, both the fishing and the memories that it brings back, such as my mom winning the very first fishing derby that Jose Kusugak ran in Rankin.
"I enjoy it all and, every spring, around the month of May, I take my family up to Peter Lake to try and catch the biggest fish.
"Fishing is a great skill to learn and it can also provide countless hours of fun and relaxation with friends and family members as the years pass by."
