Wow! Just got back to Houston from an outstanding fishing trip and I can't resist sharing it. In fact, I'd feel irresponsible not posting this, as I firmly believe this should be a bucket list trip for anybody that enjoys the outdoors. Thursday morning, I flew out of Houston and headed for British Columbia to take a couple clients fishing for white sturgeon. Our ultimate destination was a small town called Agassiz, which is situated on the Fraser River about 90 miles east of Vancouver.
The bed and breakfast we chose was beyond a pleasant experience. It was a very nice pad nestled on top of a huge boulder, which overlooked the adjacent mountain sides and a huge field full of ducks/geese, just several hundred yards off the Fraser River. The place had everything you would want.....cozy beds, heated floors in the bathrooms, gazebo with fire place, a hot tub to soak in after a full day of fighting the huge dinosaurs called white sturgeon, entertainment room with big screen tv/couches/mini kitchen, and a view from the 2nd floor dining room that was jaw dropping. The owners were extremely nice folks and catered to us over the two days, when we weren't fishing. The food was superb. Smoked salmon, Alberta beef steaks, fried chicken, salami/cheese platters, mouth-watering desserts, and huge breakfasts spreads. The drive from the lodge to the boat ramp was a mere 2 minutes, so that was very convenient too.
The fishing outfit came highly recommended and were great guys that were very knowledgeable and fun to hang out with for a couple 8-hour fishing days. We had two boats with 2 fishermen and a guide in each. The craft were aluminum jet boats with 400+ HP motors. Needless to say, these boats could scoot up and down the river very quickly.
If you've never been sturgeon fishing, it's an absolutely grueling fight once hooked. The bigger fish would take 20-30 minutes and your arms would be one of two things by the time the fish was landed....either burning or numb.
Prior to the first day out, we made it very clear to the guides that we were after big, quality fish instead of quantity and that's exactly how it shook out. The first day we caught 14 fish combined between both boats and the second day we caught 12. Below is the breakdown on the sizes.
4 fish 3-5'
7 fish 6-7'
2 fish 7-8'
Big 3 were 8'4", 8'6", and 8'8"
The 8'+ ones were all in the 330 - 350 lb. range and estimated to be around 50 - 55 years old. Pretty awesome! My personal tally was the 8'4", 8'6", and 3 of the 6'+ fish. Mind you that the "official measurement" which is reported back to the Canada Wildlife Services (and what is shown in the above breakdown) is not from nose tip to tail tip, but rather nose tip to the base of the V in their tail, so you actually lose around 10-12" of length on the bigger fish. Unlike the Columbia River, all of the white sturgeon on the Fraser River are wild and did not come from hatcheries. Many of the sturgeon on the Columbia River are hatchery fish. Around 75% of the Fraser River sturgeon are micro-chipped. In order to assist CWS with collecting data points for study purposes, many of the guides have volunteered to record the length, girth, chip number, date, and general location of all fish caught. If a fish is caught that is not chipped, then the guides have the tools to chip them. We never caught a fish that wasn't chipped, so unfortunately, we didn't get to see that process. Few pics of the two big boys I caught....
Since I did take clients, we opted for a little more high end lunches that were grilled on the boat, in lieu of sack lunches with sandwiches. That was a great decision that costed minimally more and was a unique touch to the overall experience.
Anyways, I wanted to share the experience and pics, as the trip had exceptional scenery, action packed fishing, great weather, and tremendous table fare. I'd highly recommend it if you are looking to chase some white sturgeon......not only the largest species of the sturgeon family in North America, but also the largest freshwater fish in all of North America! If anybody is interested, let me know and I'll hook you up with my guy that sets everything up.
The bed and breakfast we chose was beyond a pleasant experience. It was a very nice pad nestled on top of a huge boulder, which overlooked the adjacent mountain sides and a huge field full of ducks/geese, just several hundred yards off the Fraser River. The place had everything you would want.....cozy beds, heated floors in the bathrooms, gazebo with fire place, a hot tub to soak in after a full day of fighting the huge dinosaurs called white sturgeon, entertainment room with big screen tv/couches/mini kitchen, and a view from the 2nd floor dining room that was jaw dropping. The owners were extremely nice folks and catered to us over the two days, when we weren't fishing. The food was superb. Smoked salmon, Alberta beef steaks, fried chicken, salami/cheese platters, mouth-watering desserts, and huge breakfasts spreads. The drive from the lodge to the boat ramp was a mere 2 minutes, so that was very convenient too.
The fishing outfit came highly recommended and were great guys that were very knowledgeable and fun to hang out with for a couple 8-hour fishing days. We had two boats with 2 fishermen and a guide in each. The craft were aluminum jet boats with 400+ HP motors. Needless to say, these boats could scoot up and down the river very quickly.
If you've never been sturgeon fishing, it's an absolutely grueling fight once hooked. The bigger fish would take 20-30 minutes and your arms would be one of two things by the time the fish was landed....either burning or numb.
Prior to the first day out, we made it very clear to the guides that we were after big, quality fish instead of quantity and that's exactly how it shook out. The first day we caught 14 fish combined between both boats and the second day we caught 12. Below is the breakdown on the sizes.
4 fish 3-5'
7 fish 6-7'
2 fish 7-8'
Big 3 were 8'4", 8'6", and 8'8"
The 8'+ ones were all in the 330 - 350 lb. range and estimated to be around 50 - 55 years old. Pretty awesome! My personal tally was the 8'4", 8'6", and 3 of the 6'+ fish. Mind you that the "official measurement" which is reported back to the Canada Wildlife Services (and what is shown in the above breakdown) is not from nose tip to tail tip, but rather nose tip to the base of the V in their tail, so you actually lose around 10-12" of length on the bigger fish. Unlike the Columbia River, all of the white sturgeon on the Fraser River are wild and did not come from hatcheries. Many of the sturgeon on the Columbia River are hatchery fish. Around 75% of the Fraser River sturgeon are micro-chipped. In order to assist CWS with collecting data points for study purposes, many of the guides have volunteered to record the length, girth, chip number, date, and general location of all fish caught. If a fish is caught that is not chipped, then the guides have the tools to chip them. We never caught a fish that wasn't chipped, so unfortunately, we didn't get to see that process. Few pics of the two big boys I caught....
Since I did take clients, we opted for a little more high end lunches that were grilled on the boat, in lieu of sack lunches with sandwiches. That was a great decision that costed minimally more and was a unique touch to the overall experience.
Anyways, I wanted to share the experience and pics, as the trip had exceptional scenery, action packed fishing, great weather, and tremendous table fare. I'd highly recommend it if you are looking to chase some white sturgeon......not only the largest species of the sturgeon family in North America, but also the largest freshwater fish in all of North America! If anybody is interested, let me know and I'll hook you up with my guy that sets everything up.