Sturgeon
Winter brings cold water
and low river flows. Its a good time to let the sturgeon
lie in peace and quiet, as their activity levels really
start to dwindle at this time of year. By mid March we
start seeing the Fraser warm and color up from snowmelt, and
this brings the sturgeon out of the deep in their search for
food.
2009 was as good as I've
ever seen when it comes to sturgeon, the numbers hooked and
the overall size of the fish encountered. From May onwards,
the sturgeon were active and fairly consistent. The slowest
part of the season seemed to occur in October this year.
And, with the upgraded pink salmon run that entered the
Fraser River, it was no surprise that the sturgeon were
contentedly full. Approximately 20 million pink salmon
entered the Fraser River in September. Take an average of 5
pounds per fish and you have a serious biomass accumulation!
In 2009, the provincial
Ministry of Environment finally put an end to roping
sturgeon. This means that our sturgeon are not subjected to
tail ropes or any devices that grab them around the pectoral
area. This is good news for the sturgeon and we applaud the
Ministry for taking on this issue. For years we have been
advocating the banning of ropes on sturgeon, and we are
happy to see noosing become history.
Below you will see some
pictures of sturgeon and some salmon that we caught during
the season. Some photos are new and some photos you may have
seen in earlier 2009 reports, but are worth mentioning
again.
The early season sturgeon
fishery started off a little slower due to winter hanging
around a bit longer in 2009. By the early part of May,
things started to move along and the sturgeon picked up the
pace. The fish above was taken in June and tested the grip
of these two anglers! This beautiful fish taped out at
10'1" and over 550lbs. Just look at the marvelous color of
this fish, and check out that gigantic and near perfect
tail! What a great start to a season.
Ron D. brings his son and
son's friends for a day of sun and sturgeon. This
sturgeon provided some arm aches for the three young guns
and Dad, and showed a never quit attitude right to the end!
There are no harder fighting fish in North America than a
summer sturgeon, especially when they are over 8 feet
and exceed 300lbs, like this one!
Garth, Travis and Bruce
headed over for a few days of July sturgeon fishing.
We averaged 6 fish per day, and several were beauties like
this one above. Garth, in the center, shows his second 8
footer of the trip.
When you come out fishing
for one day, you are hoping for some "piscatorial
cooperation". The guides make a call based on previous
days' fishing, and make their play, hoping consistency rules
the day. This day was no exception and this group land a
9'3" and this 8'4" fish a couple hours apart from each
other.
A shadowy picture of the
9'3" fish mentioned above, but still worth seeing. This
fish had a 45" girth, with an estimated weight of 460#.
Colin (center) and Marg
(right) come out regularly to enjoy the challenge of
sturgeon fishing, see the river and its wildlife and also
take a few pictures. Colin regularly contributes photos of
wildlife and fish for us to use on our website - this is
graciously appreciated. Here is a nice 7 footer guided by
CEJ. I would have to suspect it is Marg that landed it -
she generally has the "lady luck" and uses it to her
advantage every time out. Marg has a 9 foot plus
fish to her credit - she is no stranger to the hard work it
takes to land these incredible fish.
You are correct. Marg
strikes again. Nothing new to report here - fish bites,
Marg sets the hook and fights fish - fish has no chance and
rolls over... This is the script and the smart money is on
Marg to land big fish regularly - "bank" on it.
A unique photo taken by
Colin. The beauty of this shot is it includes some
perspective; the angler, bend in the rod, scenery in the
background and a fish over 7 feet leaping in the air - all
in focus.
How hot did it get this
summer? I read 40 degrees Celcius on my thermometer! A
lunch time swim was mandatory. The wash down sprayer in the
boat was also heavily used to cool off with. Those were the
days!
Here is Craig S. (far
right) with his largest sturgeon to date - a 9'1" fish at
44" girth estimated at 430lbs. This fish is a reminder of
how we like to do things in the boat when it comes to taking
turns. No matter how you decide the order of anglers, once
you have established the turn, don't mess with fate. Eric
(in blue beside Craig) was first on rods that morning - it
was his turn. As the rod bounced for the first bite of the
day, he opted to bow out and let Craig hook the fish, thus
changing the order. The fish was a small one, as Eric
suspected, and he didn't want to use his turn up on a small
fish. The trip had been like that for Eric for the previous
two days - he was first up both mornings, he would land a
smaller fish, and the next turn or two would yield a larger
fish. Eventually on this day, Eric's turn came and so did a
small fish. The third angler, "Flash" as he's known (not
shown here as he's taking the photo) had his turn and landed
a nice fish. So, we've got three fish landed and we're back
to Craig. Picture this - end of day, one last crack at
another spot, the rod bounces and Craig leans into the bite
and all goes solid. Imagine this fish flying out of the
water a few times in front of you! The fish was expertly
played and off to shore we went for a photo and a release.
What a dandy!
Everybody already knew what
had just happened, but only Eric mentioned it - that
would've been his fish!
Photo by Allan. This is
why we fish for sturgeon...
Steven (L) and his father
Peter, enjoyed some good fishing, particularly on their last
day. It seemed the fish were a little fickle for the first
part of the week, but eventually the sturgeon decided to
give a good showing. Here is a photo of Steven's 7'7" fish
of roughly 250lbs. It is great to see father and son teams
out fishing and watching the Dads join in the excitement
when their sons (and even daughters - remember, Marg started
somewhere!!) land the big ones.
Bill is a longtime guest
who has seen and fished the Fraser river in all its phases,
including the big water of June 2007 (it was near flood
levels). This year Bill wanted to try a later fall trip to
take advantage of some salmon fly fishing and perhaps do a
bit of sturgeon. We picked a day to fish for sturgeon - it
was unusually cool for late October, and damp, but onwards
we went. We chose our spot, set up and quickly hooked and
released a five foot fish. We re-rigged and threw the baits
out and ended up waiting for another 30 minutes without a
touch. I was thinking of moving on but then the rod
bounced. Bill grabbed the rod and I grabbed his camera to
attempt to capture some jump shots. Bill set the hook. I
was looking through the camera and got a glimpse of the
rolling fish and pressed the shutter a few times. Job done,
fish hooked pictures were taken. My impression of the size
of this fish was just over 7 feet long - this impression was
through the lens of a digital camera. Bill - who is 70
years young I might add, is leaning hard on this
fish. After 30 minutes or so, I'm expecting this fish to
come around the boat a little more with the kind of effort
Bill is putting out. But it doesn't so I have to (of
course) lean on Bill a little bit... Bill, is sweating -
his hands are starting to get a little tired, and I would
imagine his arms ache and his neck, which he kinked horribly
earlier in the week, is probably giving him grief under his
neck brace as well. We weighed the options and decided it
was best to pull anchor and try to get over this fish a
little more. Upon feeling the change in the fight, the fish
promptly decides he's going to Vancouver. Another 30
minutes later with the boat on idle and on the drift, and
seeing two more jumps from the fish, the boat sputters and
quits. No problem, I"ll switch tanks. I "switch" tanks but
can't get the boat to start. I look at the switches again,
I"ve got them turned right, and I just filled the tank.
Still no go. After some time of cursing ( it was all me
doing the cursing, trust me on this) and some hard
paddling, Bill brings the fish to the stern of the boat and
all I can say from my helpless position is "Bill, that fish
is close to 10". I am not very pleased with our predicament
at this time - we're in the middle of the river and drifting
to the wrong side. I grab the paddle and bear down with as
much digging as I can muster to paddle us away from a snaggy
shoreline to the other side of the river. At least the
other side has a better beach and we stand a chance at
landing this fish. Bill is understandably beat, but he is a
patient and determined man. It doesn't take too much longer
and we tow the fish to the opposite shoreline. Bill landed
his fish - it taped out at 10'2" and weighed nearly
600lbs! Well done, Bill! After a bit of a rest, and a
chance to dry off, the boat started wonderfully as if
nothing ever happened and we headed for home. Sometimes,
these things just happen....
Steelhead and Trout
Steelhead and trout season
are currently upon us. From now until late April is
steelhead season. Early indications are a good season will
unfold and we are looking forward to getting out and trying
our hand. We will have more information on the steelhead
season later this month or early February for those
interested.
Salmon
2009 showed some good
chinook salmon numbers during the summer. Poorer than
average water clarity made for difficult barfishing, but
that is the way it goes with fishing and Mother
Nature. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Many
anglers would simply start bottom bouncing or flossing,
however that is just not our style. And, to add, any
guide who is leading the charge to go bottom bouncing, or
leaving it up to the their guests to determine the fate of
our fisheries by letting them decide if they wish to bar
fish or bottom bounce, needs to sit back and think about
what they are "promoting" and perhaps why they are even
guiding.
Everybody knows about the
sockeye salmon issue and how disastrous that was. We don't
fish for sockeye for a variety of good reasons, but it is an
alarming situation when 10 million sockeye are expected to
show up and nearly 90% of the run does not materialize. The
federal fisheries branch, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, can
list a number of reasons for them not to show up, including
the all encompassing black hole of "marine survival" but
nobody knows for certain, because there is no information!
However we have the technology and ability to know so much
more (the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking program - POST - is
one program that can answer a lot questions). The bottom
line is that this effort costs money, but our government
(and they are ALL the same) will not put fish into any
priority for funding. The fact that Canada and British
Columbia prides and sells itself on the beauty of our vast
wilderness and the abundant wildlife that inhabit our region
and that people from all over the world come here to see it,
should provide some push to our governments to look after
our resources a whole lot better than it does. Sadly, this
is not the case. It seems it's about numbers of voters.
However, just because one does not fish, it does not mean
that you don't benefit from the fish and wildlife that
inhabit and share the country. Living here means you are
part of Canadian culture, and our fish and wildlife are as
much a part of our culture as the maple leaf flag.
As for our sockeye, our
federal government has announced another inquiry into the
missing fish. Yes, they will ask the questions, but will or
can anyone actually answer them? This seems to be the case
for all our government investigations when it come to fish,
and Brian Mulroney.
Garth with a nice Fraser
coho. Once the rain began, the fish really started to move
in.
A closer look at the fish
above. This wild coho is worth the wait and standing in the
river during those damp and chilly fall mornings.
Another wild Fraser river
coho.
The chum salmon appeared,
but perhaps a little on the late side. Our late October and
early November chum arrive in very good condition. Picking
out the nice clean fish produces excellent fish for the
table and for smoking. Pictured above is Bo from Denmark
with a nice doe.
Chum are very aggressive
and will take a fly, jig, spoon, blade.....
Bill shows one of the many
chum he landed. These fish are not only aggressive, but
they pull hard too! Bill, who had just the day before
landed his 10 footer, was happy to relax with some chum
salmon.
We hope you enjoyed the
pictures and some of the stories that went with them.
We thank all those who
fished with us and supported us in 2009. We wish you all
good luck, health and prosperity in 2010 and look forward to
seeing you again!
Our very best to you all,
Cascade Fishing Adventures
- Marc, Maggie, Jessie, CEJ, Big Walt, Dave, and Rob
We wish you all the
best in your fishing adventures!!
Marc and Maggie
