"A dracaena in our lounge flowered and my old uncle always said to buy a Lotto ticket when a dracaena flowers, because it's lucky," he said.
But, Mr Kan is a special breed of sportsman and would much rather catch a big salmon than win Lotto.
"I knew it was my lucky day, so we took the boat out about 8am."
Two hours later, he had landed a shiny 4.5kg salmon off Port Chalmers.
"It's my first for the season. I'm very happy," he said.
Mr Kan, who is blind, is the chairman of the Dunedin Community Salmon Trust, which was established at Sawyers Bay two years ago to create a salmon-rearing facility to supply smolt for Otago Harbour.
"It seems to be improving every year. There's a lot of krill in the water at the moment and there are quite a few salmon running."
Mr Kan's wife, Jessie, said landing a big fish never failed to thrill her husband.
"He was just like a little boy when he came home. He was so excited about his fish. But he's always like that when he gets a fish," she said.
"He even get excited with anticipation when he's going fishing."
And Mrs Kan was also quick to offer cooking instructions for the Dunedin delicacy.
"The best way is just some salt and pepper and a little bit of oil, then lightly grill it," she said.
