Old favourites and traditions got that way for a reason

John Curran | Oct 28, 2020

For 20 straight years the men in my family held an annual fall fishing excursion known as the Toothbrush Invitational Derby. Their adventures took them around Central and Eastern Ontario and even to Canada’s Far North one year. Unfortunately, as families grow and age it can become harder to find the time for traditions that don’t involve grandkids and a decade ago the Toothbrush slipped quietly into the ether of our history.

Those trips were about more than just fishing, having participated in the final 10 Toothbrushes I can honestly say they were as much about healthy male bonding and family as they were about walleye, bass and pike. Toothbrush was something we all looked forward to: Great meals; Wise counsel; and, Bragging rights over all your male relatives for a year if you were lucky enough to win. What’s not to love?

With COVID-19 still afflicting our world and a second wave now a clear reality, no one wanted to head off to a resort full of people from Toronto, but a few of us did want to take the first step toward rekindling this bit of our past. We stayed close to home, my place in fact, and only three of us took part for this year; two cousins, Nick Graves and Sean Whitlock, came out and we marked the first annual Next Generation Toothbrush.

It started with an epic supper on the Friday night to welcome participants – AAA ribeye steaks, cut thick and grilled to a perfect medium rare. Twice baked potatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, and a tossed salad with everything the fall has to offer rounded out the main event with Mrs. Garrett’s deep fried butter tarts and vanilla iced cream to close the evening along with a brief but entertaining visit from my brother-in-law, Colin Youngman.

The next day started with a classic breakfast – eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, cut fruit and berries – before we hit the water. The three of us cut our teeth in the angling world catching Buck Lake bass, so this was very much a homecoming of sorts for Nick, Sean and I. With a handful of fish landed over the first few hours despite the colder than optimal water temperature, we weren’t going to be skunked, but things weren’t exactly humming either.

About mid afternoon we headed to a big weed flat partially sheltered from the wind by a group of islands and prepared to drift across it just as the sun came out from behind a cloud. We all decided it was time for a lure change and cracked open our boxes. One of my boatmates reached for a crisp new crankbait and a bottle of something called “liquid mayhem” while the other tied on a jig featuring a brass lip and a flexible shaft sold on TV as the Booyah lure. I opted for something a little more traditional: a #1 Len Thompson Five of Diamonds.

One fish, then another. A one-pounder. Then a two-and-a-half! I hit a hot streak that put my cousins and their trendy new lures to shame. In the end I landed 16 bass in less than two hours versus their two each and handily won the bass division of our little get together. They enjoyed the silver lining of tying for top honours in the pike division. Their fish – a three-pound pike that broke Sean’s line only to be pulled in hand-over-hand by Nick after we found the tag end of the lost line floating some 10 minutes later.

That’s what Toothbrush was all about, making crazy memories with the people who matter most – family. With that in mind our 2020 edition was a complete success and a couple of young bucks got a chance to learn that old favourites and traditions got that way for a reason, because they work and people love them.

Especially in our Brave New World that we’re still learning to navigate, old ways have an even more important role to play. Simple outdoor activities like fishing and a shared meal or two could just end up being the highlight of your year – the bar isn’t exactly high nowadays.