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The Canadian Sturgeon & Salmon Experience - 25/09/15

One of the items that has always been on my bucket list is fishing for Sturgeon in British Columbia. A friend put me in touch with BC Sportfishing (BCSF) in Harrison on the West Coast of Canada and it was recommended that I chose an odd numbered year so that I could catch pink salmon too, possibly on the fly. I have caught several salmon in the past on baits as diverse as spinners, corn and spam, but had never one on a fly.

 

The destination was especially good because we were located in a spa hotel which meant Sandy could tag along and enjoy the experience. She booked the flights and discovered that if we flew from Exeter to Edinburgh and then Edinburgh to Heathrow with a connecting flight to Vancouver the saving was huge - £300 per person and we used that saving to spend some time with our son, Lee, who lives in Edinburgh and was travelling with us.

 

So, Saturday 12th September finally arrived. We checked in, booking our bags all the way through to Vancouver. The flight from Edinburgh was short, just over an hour, but then we began the tedious leg of the journey – London to Vancouver which took approximately 9 hours 20 minutes. Economy class is not great for me as I am just over 6’ 2” and weigh 17 stones. The British Airways steward suggested I book World Traveller Plus next time.

 

On arriving at YVR (Vancouver Airport) we were met by BCSF’s chauffeur at the airport who drove us for two hours to the hotel. He gave us a running commentary about Vancouver so we were able to relax and enjoy the journey.

 

 

The spa hotel was on the shoreline of Lake Harrison, a pristine lake which varies from about 3-4’ at the end by the hotel to over 900 feet at the far end which we couldn’t even see. There are swimming pools heated by natural hot springs, a gym, a bar with outdoor seating, a restaurant overlooking the beautiful lake and mountains in the near distance, and a fine dining restaurant within the hotel. The office of BCSF is located in the hotel so that you can talk with friendly staff about your trip, find out about your guides, pick-up-point, collect your permit and schedule for the week.

We didn’t eat that first evening – there is an 8 hour time difference so we crashed out and were ready for breakfast at 7 am the next morning. This is great – buffet presentation in the restaurant with omelettes freshly cooked by a very chatty and precise chef!

 

As the stay went on we learned to eat quickly and be on the jetty a little earlier than most so that we could get away to the best fishing spots first.

 

Our guide on the first morning was Chris who was very welcoming. We headed just a few yards down Harrison Lake and turned into the Harrison River which is clear and blue and flows roughly 11 miles into the Fraser River which was highly coloured. The boat ride didn’t take long as Chris’s boat is capable of 48 mph. However, it was breezy that day and this boat was a little smaller than the others and flat bottomed and the ride was like a speedboat hitting the water hard. It did mean that we reached our fishing spot quickly and we couldn’t wait to start catching.

 

First stop was at Junction Pool to start fly fishing for pink salmon, but Chris saw few moving so we headed up the Fraser until we saw more fish moving and anchored up.  The cross wind was a little more fierce than we thought which was a problem for my fly casting with the large weighted fly necessary to enable it to sink. I had two salmon and lost the first when it tried to get to the anchor rope and I pulled to hard on the line. The second fish was lost because I was too gentle after losing the first. Lee managed a hen fish which we stripped for the eggs to use as bait for the sturgeon.  I tried jig fishing, caught a cock fish and managed to lose 5 others!!! It was just one of those days.

 

 

At just after midday we switched to sturgeon fishing. The eggs were tied in small golf-ball sized packets using tights (panti-hose) to keep them in place. These could be readily hooked.

 

 

After the first two stops we hadn’t had any takes as the wind and current were fighting each other so Chris headed to a more sheltered spot where there was a much stronger flow and our luck changed. We quickly had four sturgeon (two each as we took it in turn). We then moved a few yards upstream to another spot and had another four. The best went to Lee at 5’ 2”, my best was 4’ 11”.  Quite an end to the day, and a reward for Chris’s perseverance.

 

All fish up to 5’ are lifted into a cradle on the boat where they are scanned for micro-chips and the number, length and girth recorded. If there isn’t a chip, the guide gently inserts one and records that number with its vital statistics. All fish over 5’ are taken to the shore where they can have the same data taken without removing them from the water, lessening the risk of distress or damage to these fantastic fish. That’s when you get to take your photographs provided that the fish isn’t lifted too far out of the river. What a great first day.

 

Tired and happy, we returned to the jetty at about 4pm in time to shower and sample the local retaurants. Dinner that night was at Morgan’s on the Esplanade; looking out from the terrace over the lake, we enjoyed probably the best meal of our stay.

 

The rest of the four days' fishing was with Jeff Sayewich in his slightly larger boat.

 

 

 

The wind had dropped – all the skippers said that wind (not gas!) was the angler’s biggest enemy on the river. The journey this time was so smooth as we stopped at the confluence and anchored by some weed.  You could see the salmon in the water, and they travelled through in waves. Each time a wave went through and you cast, you quickly got a hit. Thanks to Jeff’s guiding my luck had changed and I had 9 salmon including 5 females to be stripped for bait, the males were returned – Lee had 5 males and lost a few as I had the previous day. 

 

 

We had told Jeff we would like to catch a variety of species, even down to the Pike Minnow (previously known as the squawfish, or because of their numbers, lack of size and voracious appetite, the Canadians also refer to them as “shitfish”!). As we were fly fishing, I hooked a different smaller fish which proved to be the sought after (though not for long) Pike Minnow. Lee then had two, one of which Jeff said was possibly the biggest he had seen in his eight years as a guide.

 

As we fly fished, Jeff cast out a sturgeon rod and midway through the session, Lee had the first sturgeon of the day.

 

Tiring, we decided to switch to sturgeon fishing further upstream in the area that proved so difficult in the wind on the previous day. In that afternoon we bagged 14 sturgeon, seven each with three double hook ups, the last one being the best fish that day – 5’ 6” for me and a 4’11” for Lee. This had us in stitches as it was like a co-ordinated dance routine on board for two not-so-elegant dancers, as we endeavoured to keep the fish apart and get them to the shore for a photograph.

 

 

That evening we were joined for dinner at the hotel by Graham, Abby and Robin who are fishing friends; they were fly fishing on the river at Chilliwack. They regaled us with a tale of a sturgeon they had hooked which towed the boat for 3 miles upstream; they couldn’t see how big it was but were amazed by its strength and the 2.5 hour battle before it shed the hook and carried on its journey.

 

Jeff proved to be a fabulous guide, joining in with the good-humoured banter and rivalry between Lee and myself and the bonus was having Sandy on board for the next day's outing. She wasn’t fishing as she didn’t have a permit; she just came along for the experience and afterwards said it was the best day of the holiday. Jeff made her feel welcome and pointed out the wildlife; a seal mother and pup, bald eagles, turkey vultures, buzzards and for the first time ever, she saw a sturgeon and Lee’s biggest of the trip – 7’ 8” in length. After a little tuition from Jeff on the use of his mobile phone (she’s a technophobe) she managed to stop photographing her boobs and get some good ones of the three of us with Lee’s fish! Great.

 

 

The next morning we were out at 8am again. Jeff suggested we try for Chinook Salmon (sometimes called King Salmon) We anchored on a gravel bar and cast out using a heavy lead. A spinner like a Devon Minnow but shorter and wider is paternostered and as the Chinook swim by they are aggravated by the lure and smash it.  Just like Atlantic Salmon, they don’t feed in fresh water and take purely from annoyance and when they hit the lure you know exactly what you’ve got.

 

 

This is a much slower, more static technique and not for the impatient.  Lee had the first take followed by a brief run before it shook the hook free.  I should add that all the hooks used in the river for whatever species are barbless and whilst this may make hooking with the heavy leads easier, it also appears to help them shed the hook as they shake their heads.

 

I had the next run and after a brief fight, got the fish to shore alongside the boat where it threw the hook just as Jeff waded out into the shallow water with the net. To say I was frustrated by the loss is an understatement, but fortunately the rod went off again and as Lee was distracted, I grabbed it and had a fabulous Chinook in pristine condition. This lovely looking fish is, in my opinion, much prettier than the pinks.

 

 

It was nearly midday so Jeff suggested we try again in the morning for Lee to catch one, and that we try the Harrison for sturgeon that afternoon. Whilst the pinks weren’t running in any numbers, nobody had fished it for a long while so he felt there might be a chance of a fish or two. He said we would enjoy catching there, even though there were far less numbers, as the water is clear and we can watch the fish fight all the way to the surface.

 

As mentioned earlier, after nearly and hour, we had a light bite and Lee struck into a really powerful sturgeon, the best of the trip so far. After several minutes we saw it rise in the water just as Jeff has said, and we took the fish to shore. It was 7’8” and really pretty. Jeff told us that it would probably be the best fish of the trip – and Lee started ribbing me relentlessly from that point on. Sandy took the photographs and I was really happy for Lee but that was about to change. More later.

 

 

 

Dinner that evening was in the local pub which has a good bar menu at reasonable prices.

 

At Jeff’s suggestion, we started earlier the next morning so we wolfed down our breakfast and were on the dock at about 7.15am.  We took the boat back to the Chinook spot from the previous day. The sport that morning proved even slower with just one take on the rod I was next to, so I struck and the fish just took off until its first run ended some way away, it then shook its head and out came the hook. That was it, so we had one last crack at the sturgeon in the afternoon.  Lee started with a small one which leapt four times and proved to be an average size fish of around 4’. There was then a light tap and I struck, the fish ran a few yards and then launched into the air, and we knew instantly that it was a good one. Jeff quickly pulled in the rest of the tackle and drones used to stabilise the boat as I entered into a lengthy physically demanding fight using the reel clutch at about the maximum setting. It wasn’t the fastest fight I’ve had but it was just so powerful that I had to use the harness to minimise the pain as the rod butt dug into my mid-riff. By the time I got it to shore, the fight had lasted about half an hour. Every time the boat moved forward, the flow through the gills seemed to invigorate the fish and off he would go again.  Finally, we reached the shore to measure it and it was 7’11”, three inches bigger than Lee’s fish of the day before. They say he who laughs last laughs longest and so it is proving here – serves him right!!! Using the published weight/length table for the Fraser River it equates to 265lbs and I felt every one of those down to the last ounce.

 

 

What a great way to end the holiday. You can see a video of the first part of the fight and photographs of the fish on the River Reads Facebook page.

 

I cannot praise the professionalism of BCSF too highly, but particularly Jeff who helped us achieve everything we wanted to on the holiday. We said at the outset, that our prime objective was to catch a sturgeon each, ideally we would like a 100lb fish, and a salmon on the fly.  If we could catch more it would be a bonus. We ended up sharing 28 sturgeon in four afternoon sessions with bests of 235lb and 267lb respectively, plus 6 salmon on the fly for Lee, and 9 on the fly and one jigging for me plus the Chinook. We both had pike minnows, Lee having 2 specimen ones. However, the thing that delighted me most was the care taken by Jeff in his handling of the fish and seeing the delight on his face at each catch. It was very clear that he has the respect and love for the fish and that makes him an exceptional skipper; we were very fortunate to share our experience with him and to benefit from his knowledge of fishing those waters. His skills added to our enjoyment of the entire trip and we can’t recommend him highly enough to others who love their fishing and care about their catches.

 

If this feature has grabbed your interest and you would like to have your own unique experience with BCSF (which is probably my best fishing adventure to date) I suggest you make contact with www.bcsportfishinggroup.com and I  have no hesitation in recommending that you ask for Jeff Sayewich as your guide. He’s a natural.

 

Also, if you have a partner you’d like to accompany you, I can tell you that Sandy enjoyed the experience too; she sampled the pools, short walks, enjoyed the scenery and meeting the people and says she had one of the best massages ever in the hotel’s spa, and to ask for Deborah.

 

Finally a picture of tomorrow’s monster.