NIHO Staff, May 16, 2008

After winning the 5th Annual Salmon Masters Satellite Tournament in Walters Cove in 2007, Rudy Nielsen, and son Dean Nielsen, headed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on May 11th to represent Canada in the Ninth Annual International Game Fish Association’s Offshore World Championship. They joined two other Canadian Champions, Aaron Anderson and Jade Stevenson, the winners of the Salmon Masters Tournament in Queen Charlotte Islands, to form a Canadian foursome that took the tournament by surprise.

The Canadian representatives in 2007 finished in last place, and this year the Nielsen’s were determined to make the leader board, competing against 64 teams from around the globe.

Contending against professional sport-fishermen from Australia, Croatia, the West Indies and the United States, to name a few, this Canadian foursome learned fast the difference between salmon and marlin fishing. Earning 31 points the first day, with the success of catching one Dorado, Canada ranked 39th out of 64 at the close of day one.

Day two was better, as Rudy Nielsen, 67, caught their first Marlin, adding 300 points to their score. That moved the Canadian contenders up to 38th place. Feeling the pressure from some of the world’s best sports fishermen, the Nielsen father-son pair focused on their proven ability to work well as a team, as founders of the BC based NIHO Group of Companies.

Day 3 was an eye opener for just how important a good crew and boat are. “I used to say there was no such thing as a bad day of fishing; I was wrong.” Said Dean Nielsen, “We knew we were in trouble when we asked our deck hand to tie some bait for us and he said he did not know how.” Managing to pick up one Dorato for 35 points did little for their score as day three proved productive for many other teams. The Canadian’s took a dive on the score board, finishing in 56th place on day three.

Fortunately, day 4 was ‘as good a day as day 3 was bad’ for this determined Canadian team. Thanks to a fantastic crew and a fast boat, these Canadian hopefuls went from 56th to 11th place in one day, earning the highest score on day 4, picking up 7 marlin and a couple Dorado for a total of 2,465 points.

“It was an experience of a lifetime” says Rudy Nielsen. “Next time I am confident we will go all the way.” All four Canadian representatives are headed back to the Queen Charlotte Islands to defend their title at the 6th Annual Salmon Master Tournament on May 28th.