The fishing is slow but steady today.

My boat landed 3 Chinooks by lunchtime. The daily tally was twenty-five. No Tyees (30 lbs +) among them, but there were plenty of big fish in the mid-to-high twenties. Slowly but surely the people who want to are filling their quotas, and those who don’t are releasing enough to enhance their karmic footprint.

Meanwhile, there is a problem. In only a couple of days everyone heads home and will no longer have David Hawksworth, Normand Laprise and the rest of the gang working as their personal chefs. Sure, this comes as a relief to the waistline. But it can also be an emotional letdown. Fortunately, the chefs recognise this and want to help. So, every morning they give cooking lessons.

For Hawksworth’s turn, he cooked spaghetti with Manila clams and jalapeño, and to follow, a focus on some fresh local catch in the form of ling cod with bouillabaisse broth (ed. note: stay tuned for recipes!).

Dinner duties fell to Phil Scarfone, head chef at Nightingale. We started with a dish from the Nightingale menu: kale salad with shaved fennel, chickpeas and garlic dressing, topped with grated ricotta salata. It was paired with a stellar Pewsey Vale Riesling, from Eden Valley, Australia.

After that, we had an excellent dish of side-stripe shrimp and grits, the cornmeal toasted for nuttiness and layered with extra levels of corn flavour (built with corn stock, enhanced with fresh corn kernels, etc.).

Slow roast, sweet, tender lamb neck with harissa came with a Musella Amarine 2011 – and in case you weren’t into that, an Alpha Box & Dice Dolcetto 2014.

After the salted caramel pot de crème with a Taylor Fladgate vintage port 1998, it was very much time for bed.

For more information on The West Coast Fishing Club, click here.