july 2014 BCBusiness 169
"For car nuts, it was 1957 and the
Chevrolet Belair; for music aficionados,
it was 1969 and Woodstock; for wine
lovers, it was 2005 and Bordeaux. If
salmon fishing occupied the same level
of popular awareness, then surely 2013
would go down as the biggest year of
all." So begins the Winter 2014 volume
of Tight Lines, the annual missive
published by the West Coast Fishing
Club (WCFC). Those fortunate few
hundred who, in 2013, travelled from
around the world to one of the WCFC's
three lodges, each some 50 kilometres
south of Alaska in the spectacularly
pristine Haida Gwaii, knew that not a
word of it was hyperbole.
The salmon, however, are almost a
red herring for the
WCFC's true raison
d'être. For the bulk of its clientele,
business executives from around
North America, a trip to this remote
corner of Canada is as much about
the fish as it is about uniting associ-
ates outside of the office, whether to
strategize, debrief or simply to bond
and build a powerful team.
"It's a corporate tool, really. This
is a place where you can forge and
cement relationships," explains
Terry Cowan, manager of the
WCFC's
Clubhouse, the jewel in the crown
of the company owned by Toronto-
based business partners Richard
outofoffice
The West Coast Fishing
Club in Haida Gwaii reels
in the business crowd
by upping the ante with
a well-rounded luxury
experience
by Kate MacLennan
Angling for
Business
y
W
t r a v e l
fly fishing
Visitors arrive at the
West Coast Fishing
Club by helicopter.
1 7 3 pat i o s
1 7 5 f o o d
1 7 7 s o c i e t y
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