GIANT Fraser River Sturgeon

[vanillagorilla]

I have just returned from an amazing fishing trip on the Fraser River. Our primary target was STURGEON and the Fraser delivered. The average fish was 6' long and weighted 200 pounds. Our largest fish weighted about 275 pounds and was just short of 7' long. This is a catch and release fishery so the only way to determine their size is by a length and girth measurement. These fish are without a doubt the kings of freshwater fishing. I have traveled to many exotic fishing destinations and I have never experienced fish averaging over 200 pounds jumping through the air and fighting on 150 pound test and heavy action rods and turning them into spaghetti strings. If anybody ever gets the chance to experience fishing for Sturgeon on the Fraser I would highly recommend it! Here are a couple of photos of the trip.

 

The serenity of the River in November

 

 

The Fight Begins

 

 

The Rewards

 

 

Another Crazy battle

 

 

The Prize

 

 

Too Big to Bring in the Boat We Had To Bring It To Shore

 

 

Another 250 Pound + Fish

 

 

The GIANT @ 275 Pounds +

 

 

A Beauty From The Clear Waters of the Harrison Tribuatry

 

 

Vanilla Gorilla.

[fatherof3]

great pics and fish.Something I want to do someday.

[ccmtcanada]

Oh man....I get sooo jealous when I see these reports! Someone recently started a thread about where in the world would you like to fish if money was no object....and one of my choices was BC for sturgeon fishing.

 

Amazing report and pictures....must be such a rush to land one of those beasts!!!

[blaque]

Awesome trip. How the heck do those things sense a bait in that staind water with those beety little eyes. Must have catfish like senses (stinky baits?)

[Deano]

That's some awesome fishing. Funny thing happened, someone posted about sturgeon fishing earlier this summer, and about 3 weeks later, my brother in law went to the same place with his workplace, they ended up getting one big one like yours, nearly seven feet long and some smaller ones. So now that makes it the third time now I get to drool over such a trip. Hope to one day go. Congrats on a fishing trip of a lifetime.

[keram]

I could say WTG, thanks for sharing, great report, even better pictures, but I will say this:

[fishindevil]

WOW...What an incredible sturgeon !!!!!! man thats some amazing fraser river fishin....great pics too,a trophy trip of a lifetime !!!!!!! congrats cheers

[huntervasili]

VERY NICE... Thanks for sharing your incredible report with us

[FinS]

love it congrats

airfares are fairly cheap heading to bc

maybe next year

[tonyb]

Excellent photos!!! it's great to capture a trip of a lifetime like that with great photos to remember it by.

 

Were you getting the Sturgs on roe still? or worms?

 

Tony

[Photoz]

Wow!WOW!!BOW WOW!!!Best catch I've seen on this board! I'm just wonderin' if my carp gear would handle fish like that? Hope you don't mind a few questions? Are these fish edible? Or strictly catch & release? Not sure, but I THINK they are netted commercially in Ontario . . . . but, I've NEVER seen sturgeon at any fish counter in the stores? What rod, reel & line do you use? Are these fish bottom feeders . . . . what bait(s) are used to catch 'em? Sorry about all the questions . . . . but I'm REALLY interested in putting sturgeon fishin' on my 'things to do' list. If they are strictly C & R, are they pretty tough (like carp) or they fragile (like muskie) and require a lotta TLC before releasing? If one of these is not edible, I'd hate to accidentally kill one . . . . they are so ugly, they're beautiful! Again . . . GR R R R R E A T post!

[tdotfisherman]

Great looking pics, and report VG.. I was just watching a fishing show where the guys were sturgeon fishing on the Fraser River, they caught some huge fish, and looks like you did too.. that 275 pounder is an absolute beast... scratch that, they all are absolute beasts! Good Job!

[TJQ]

speechless.... wow....

[mattyk]

great report, some amazing pics!

[irishfield]

Some great fish there...thanks for sharin! And to think my buddy is on Harrison Lake and doesn't even fish for them....

[blizzcat]

hollyy. those fish could eat me O_o..

haha nice job!!

[solopaddler]

Just awesome, the pic of the 275lber could be a magazine cover!

How'd you manage to drag the others into the boat?

[vanillagorilla]

All the fish were caught on either "Stink Bait" (Dead old rotting Salmon Carcases) or on Golf Ball size salmon roe sacks. The gear was Penn International 2 speed reels loaded with 150 pound braid and a 130 pound leader. We used 22 oz weights to get the bait to the bottom. Most of the fish were caught in 10 - 30 feet of water. We used extra heavy / extra fast action fishing rods custom made by Lamiglass. This is strickly a catch and release fishery.

 

I think I have answered all the questions? If not let me know.

 

Mitch

[bowshep]

So Cool... Saved this post 4 sure Thank you for the info... to pull them in you are a vanillagorilla... Peace Ken... Hey Nancy Christmas is coming HO HO HO

Edited November 7, 2007 by Bowshep

[Tarzan's Jane]

Giant...no kidding. Congrats.

 

Ken...honeymoon remember.

[Photoz]

Yeah h h h h h . . . . that LOOKED like pretty heavy-duty equipment . . . . makes my (supposedly) heavy duty carp gear look pretty penny-ante, eh? And thanks for the answers . . . . . I can barely imagine wrassling one of those behemoths into submission . . . . but I'd sure love to try!