You stand on a hazy morning by the boat railing, gazing out over the Fraser River, falling in spells over the sea eagle circling the boat, or perhaps the seal chasing salmon in front of you. A few powerful nods in the tip of the rod tear you away from the dream and before you know it, you are suddenly connected to a fish you have not even dared to dream of. This is a fishing trip for Sturgeon in Canada, and if you dream of catching a freshwater fish bigger than yourself, there are probably no other places in the world where the chance is greater!
Fishing trip for the white sturgeon in the Fraser and Harrison rivers
In the southwestern corner of Canada, the Fraser River winds its way through the mountains before ending its 1375 km journey in Georgia Strait. It is the longest river in British Coloumbia and at the same time it is one of Canada’s largest rivers in terms of water volume. It has tributaries from several well-known and productive salmon rivers such as the Chiliwack, Harrison, Pitt and Stave rivers.
The mighty white sturgeon (Acipenser Transmontanus) lives in the lower part of the Fraser river system. It is one of the world’s largest freshwater fish with registered individuals up to 816 kg and 6.1 meters! The sturgeon is a scavenger and it will be over 100 years old. The sturgeon’s body shape and mouth make it ideal for “vacuuming” the bottom. It has no teeth but a protruding mouth that they can use as a vacuum cleaner to suck up the prey.
The sturgeon is caught all year round except in December and January. There is no period that is better than others, but it is often fished the most when the salmon go up into the water system to spawn. As all Pacific salmon die after spawning, there is an abundance of food that the sturgeon can mash into.
How to catch sturgeon
The sturgeon can only be fished from a boat. The guides sail out to their spots and the sturgeon typically stands in the deepest places in the river, where there is a hole in which food items are sucked down. On the edges of these holes are anchored up and the line is thrown out. The bait is a whole science in itself and every single guide has their favorites. It ranges from half-rotten salmon pieces, special salmon heads, roe, eel and often half-spoiled. The sturgeon’s favorite food depends entirely on the season and the individual hole fished in. There is also the bait for the small and for the large sturgeons.
Patience and excitement
When the line is thrown out, wait patiently. The sturgeon is largely blind, but it has very sensitive whiskers and a sense of smell with which it finds prey. Chopped from a sturgeon is a constant pull on the rod. It sucks the food in and spits it out again when it feels it is wrong. Therefore, there are intense moments when the rod pulls down, because right there the countercut must be put – otherwise the fish is gone. The counter-cut is also completely different – you simply have to pull as hard as you can 2 to 3 times to put the hook.
In that split second, you notice whether it is a fish weighing 20 kilos or a monster weighing several hundred kilos.
If it’s one of the big ones, you’ll get a big physical test. And there is no way around it – you have to keep the line tight at all times when fishing with hooks without barbs. You have to fight the fish all you can and pull everything you can so you keep the fish free from the bottom. If the line is released just a moment, the hook slips out or the fish seeks towards the bottom and wraps itself in tree roots or stones.
It is a fantastic experience to succeed with the fight and land a fish over 2 meters and up – and then you are run out.
It does not go without skilled guides
We have selected the best guides – that’s the key to success. They know the river like the back of their hand, and they constantly adjust the fishing to the conditions. Besides knowing the river inside and out, they are also flexible and they do everything they can to get you fish. All fishing takes place from the guide’s top professional jet boat, which of course is equipped with everything you could want from gear and electronics. There was bottom fishing, typically from an anchored boat, but in the case of very large fish, the last part of the fight will typically take place from land. You fish with four rods and you typically take turns to take the chops.
All equipment is provided by the guides. If you want to catch salmon on a fly or other equipment, you are welcome to use your own gear.
There are very few places in the world you can travel to and have such a high probability of catching a dream fish, as in the Fraser River!
