Tuesday, April 7, 2026

A Reel Passion

A journeyman shares his journey from construction sites to guided fishing adventures

By Alison Brown

A beautiful sunrise. A drifting boat. A quiet early morning. A fishing line screaming. And that familiar tug of a fish on the line.

Anyone who’s ever fished knows the thrill all too well.

For Local 63 member Chris Smith, fishing is a passion, a past-time, and now a profitable business.

“There’s just something about the anticipation of fishing,” says Chris. “As the saying goes, sometimes it’s not you who catches the fish—the fish catches you.”

From impressive eight-foot sturgeons to Alberta golds, Chris has made more than his fair share of remarkable catches. Now, through the formation of 1st Nations Creations and guided fishing adventures, he’s helping others catch the fishing bug.

Chris has been hooked on fishing since he was a small child growing up on Vancouver Island with his parents.

“My parents taught me how to fish, and I learned fast and started to get really good,” he says. “They said they had nothing left to show me.”

For many people with Indigenous heritage, like Chris, fishing is not only a hobby, but a source of food and a cultural practice deeply tied to identity, knowledge, and relationship with the land and water.

“I love to be at the river and the lakes and checking out the scenery,” says Chris. “To be the first one to show up, getting out to the lake for sunrise and fishing until sunset, putting in the miles and putting in the work—it’s just exciting.”

Chris has fished in so many lakes and rivers across western Canada that he has his favourites.

“In Alberta, the best place to fish is Lac la Biche. I can sometimes catch 40 to 50 fish up there. In BC, I like fishing on the Fraser River. The most beautiful place is on Spuzzum First Nation land in the Fraser Canyon by Hope, BC. It’s the most beautiful place, because the mountains are so big and the river’s so fast. It makes you feel so alive to fish there.”

Chris’s passion caught on with his friends and coworkers, helped in no small part by his Kingfisher Extreme Duty 1755 jet boat, which he says is a big draw.

“It always builds camaraderie when you have a sweet boat,” he says. “I saved up for that boat for a long time—every five-dollar bill that I could’ve spent on coffee or energy drinks went toward that boat. And it’s been a game changer. The hardest part about going to work is having a boat, because I want to be on it every free moment.”

Chris began taking his buddies and coworkers out on his boat for fishing adventures, and much like the salmon that tirelessly leap obstacles during the Fraser River’s epic annual migration, his transition from hobby to business felt seamless and natural.

His fishing ability, knowledge, and experience have helped shape a business that continues to gain traction.

“The idea for starting my own business came when I was guiding in northern Saskatchewan on Reindeer Lake. I caught a 43-inch lake trout, which ended up on the lodge’s website and brochure,” Chris says. “After that, I started attending outdoorsman shows, talking to people about coming out on my boat and showing them photos of my biggest catches—45-inch pike, 8-foot sturgeon, big lake trout, Alberta golds, and walleyes, which are my go-to fish.

“I used to spend three or four months at a time up there and always made strong connections with people. I’d take them out on the boat, tell stories, entertain them, and then we’d finish the day with a shore lunch—laying down six- and eight-foot logs and frying up fish with beans and potatoes.”

Chris’s impressive catches and guiding adventures eventually caught the attention of Alberta Outdoors magazine, leading to an article and photo shoot at Lac La Biche. From there, luring business to 1st Nations Creations came naturally—and when he’s not on the construction site, he’s likely out on his boat, casting a line.

Whether on the water on the job, that work ethic defines his career as a journeyman carpenter and welder at Golderado Contracting Corp.

“I’ve been welding for over 20 years, and I consider myself a carpen-trier,” Chris muses. “But I do good work and my bosses are always impressed with my work ethic. You always have to work like your boss is looking over your shoulder, right? You have to work hard to play hard. Hustle hard when you’re working, and then you can have some good times.”

Through his work at Golderado, Chris has been able to pursue his passion with solid financial backing, supported by encouraging bosses and coworkers.

“When you ask someone if they want to go out boating, pretty much everyone is going to say yes,” says Chris. “My boss, Percy, met up with me in BC along with his grandson. His grandson is seven and going a mile a minute, so my boss and I were calm and patient with him and taught him how to fish. Even months later, his grandson asks about me once a week and wants to know when he can go fishing again!”

Chris takes advantage of his shift schedule to optimize his time on the boat, wherever he happens to be working.

“It’s nice if I do a 12-days-on, 2-days-off shift. When I was working in Sundre, the Red Deer River was right there, so I’d work 15 to 16-hour days and spend all my free time on the boat. Having the boat and the side business just motivates you to keep working hard.”

One of his work locations also brought him close to his kokum’s (grandmother’s) reserve.

“I got to hang out with my kokum every day and cook for her,” he says. “She’s 87 years old and has experienced some tough times on the reserve. So it was nice to bring her fish every day—smoked salmon, sockeye. I like doing these traditional things for her. I’m a hunter and a fisher and a gatherer. I don’t go to sweat lodges, but fishing is how I connect to my culture and take care of my family.”

Aboriginal Fishing Rights include the ability to harvest and keep fish for food. Chris uses a wide range of methods for preparing fish, noting that salmon, sockeye, perch, and walleye are the tastiest varieties.

“The sides of a walleye have a nice, buttery taste—the meat is nice and flaky and the chunks are just so perfect,” he says. “If you cook it just right, it just flakes apart. One of my favourite things to do with salmon is Indian candy smoked fish, which I make with honey, brown sugar, maple syrup, and a bit of salt. You have to blast the fish with two air-moving fans for about a day and it candies the salmon. Then I’ll hold it up to the sun outside, and once you can see it’s nice and transparent, I’ll put it in the smoker and finish it off. It’s pretty much the best.”

For walleye, Chris likes to use Munchies party mix chips for an added crunch.

“I’ll throw it in a blender, put in some lemon, salt, pancake mix, and flour, and fry it up. It’s absolutely delectable.”

Fishing is not just a means of obtaining food. It is also about the act itself, including the calm, the connection to the land and water, and the thrill of the moment. At other times, Chris turns up the music on his boat and enjoys a more upbeat experience.

“I have a little Bose speaker on my boat, and I’ll put on some Pow Wow music or have some good country songs playing,” says Chris. “Sometimes, if the fish aren’t biting, I have to put on some music, and it changes my mood and lifts my spirits. It makes me happy and then bam! . . . I’m catching fish again. I have three or four good luck fishing songs—electric Pow Wow music—that bump hard. Sometimes, I’ll play that until I catch a fish or to scare the bears away.”

At other times, Chris lets nature be his soundtrack.

“Sometimes, you just have to enjoy the quiet,” he says. “There are hundreds of birds overhead, and the ZZZZZ sound of line peeling off the drag on your rod. The calm can be exhilarating too and being away from the city and the sound of sirens.”

It's often in those quiet moments that the line tightens and one of his biggest catches begins—most notably an 8.5-foot, 250-pound sturgeon on the Fraser River.

“That was the biggest fish of my life,” he says. “I was trying to get him out of the water, and I was literally anchored in the sand on the shore, my arms were straining, and it was 35 degrees Celsius. My dad and cousins had to pour water on me and the fishing rod because it was getting so hot.”

Like most fishers, Chris will never forget “the one that got away.”

“I’d been trying to catch a 30-inch walleye and must have spent 5 grand on fuel just chasing it,” Chris laments. “I was getting ready to net it, but the hook had caught the tail of the bait fish that was already in its mouth. The hook flew out, the little fish popped free, and the walleye got loose before I could net it. It’s upsetting to see it, hook it, and then watch it get away.”

The thrill of the chase is what keeps Chris coming back, and his methods include rod and reel fishing, traditional Indigenous fishing, ice fishing, and spearfishing, though the latter isn’t permitted in Alberta.

While Chris is focused on building up his clientele for the warmer months, he plans to expand into ice fishing during the winter. Word of mouth has been his most effective way to network and gain business for 1st Nations Creations, and he has made business cards, hats, and T-shirts for friends—and even his barber—to help promote his business.

His plan for the next couple of years is to secure government grants for Indigenous tourism and to encourage other Indigenous people to come work for him.

“I hope other Indigenous folks will remember how much they liked fishing when they were younger and come do some work for me,” he says. “And teaching kids to fish—that’s the best part.”

For Chris, it’s about more than fishing. It’s about passing on skills, culture, and a love for the water that will stay with the next generation long after the lines are reeled in.

To contact Chris and learn more about 1st Nations Creations, visit 1stnationscreations.ca.

Indigenous Fishing

Indigenous fishing (often called Native fishing or Aboriginal fishing) refers to fishing practices carried out by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples based on treaty and ancestral rights that existed long before modern regulations.

It is primarily done for food, social, and ceremonial purposes, using both traditional and modern methods, and is guided by respect for the land, water, and conservation.

The focus is on taking only what is needed to support family and community while passing knowledge and responsibility down through generations.

According to the government of Canada, the right to fish for food, social, and ceremonial purposes is protected under section 35 of the Constitution.

Indigenous fishing may include traditional techniques such as dip-netting (which is common on fast rivers like the Fraser), gill nets, fish traps and weirs, hook-and-line, ice fishing, and spearfishing.

Source: Government of Canada, Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) resources on freshwater fish