Our first day fishing was a Fraser river Sturgeon fishing adventure out of Mission, British Columbia. We started our 6 hour White Sturgeon trip at 10am to coincide with the right tidal effect on the river. It paid off. I found a spot that has produced some big fish over the years and dropped anchor. A few minutes later both rods were sitting in the rod holders and waiting for action. We sat down, started to chat about fishing and the father's son hollered we're getting a bite! I instructed dad to grab that rod and set the hook. He was into a beast. Line was screaming off the reel very fast and I had to act quick to get the boat off the anchor and go chase this monster. When big fish start running you don't have much time to react. They can spool 300 yards of line in 30 seconds. We were in pursuit after we were free to drift downstream with our fish.
We got a excellent view of the giant Sturgeon shortly after when it surged out of the river to expose it's massive body. Over the course of the 1 hour battle we saw it breach 5 times! Dad's arms were ready to pop by the time he was half way through the fight but he held on. Near the end of the battle he let his boy help him reel the fish in. Dad held the rod and son cranked the handle for about a minute.
60 minutes later and we were on a sand bar and pulling the fish into the shallows where it would be photographed, measured and safely released to continue it's life.
This Fraser White Sturgeon measured in at 104 inches or 8 feet - 8 inches. On the Sturgeon weight conversion chart that equates to over 350 lbs with a average girth. This fish had a fat belly on it so I predicted 380 lbs. Either way that's a beautiful fish!
Columbian anglers are preparing to travel here next year! We'll be ready.
Brian Mack
