Dec 2013 Newsletter

FISHING STURGEON
First of all, I want to take this opportunity to
congratulate the SCI Drayton Valley chapter for all
of their outstanding awards and success in 2012! If
there was an award that said “Your Organization
Really Kicked Ass In All Areas Of What SCI Stands
For”, Drayton Valley Chapter you would have won
it!!! So I tip my hat to all who are involved in making
Drayton Valley SCI world class, CONGRATS!
Now, on to the article….
It started once again at the SCI banquet in Drayton
Valley in 2012. A fishing trip to Harrison River near
Chilliwack, BC was on the docket for bidding and
my wife ended up being the winning bidder of the
fishing trip. We found family and friends to join us and
booked it for October 2013.
I had never fished for Sturgeon before, and having
listened to all the stories of the big prehistoric fish
and the fights that ensued after hooking up with one
of these giants, I was very excited to get a hook in the
water. Prior to the fishing adventure, I also learned
of a little tradition called the “bait ball shooter”, for
which I have to say, being a fisherman I'm up for just
about anything that has to do with a tradition that
might bring you luck when fishing.
We settled in for the night at Harrison Hot Springs
15 |
Resort after our 11 hour drive to our destination. All
the while listening to Coby and Bill tell me about how
hard of a fight these fish put on. With the arrival of
our next morning we met Chad, our guide with BC
Sport Fishing Group and headed on our way down
the Harrison river.
We fished a few hours with nothing more then a few
taps, finally as we were reaching the confluence of the
Fraser River, all was not quiet anymore and our first
fish of the trip was on. My brother Coby was the first
to reel in one of these giants, it ended up being our
biggest of the day as well. It was my first look at the
sturgeon up close and personal. We checked the fish
for a tag as they record the length and girth of all fish
caught to see how the stock is doing.
Finally my turn and wow, I mean for a fly fisherman
I can say the fishing technique for Sturgeon is pretty
straight forward, bait, bottom, wait…. fish on .... The
power of the sturgeon is intense as these fish can
really put up a fight pulling line, breaching the water,
they do it all. The strength they have is incredible;
all the talk about the fight was true. My arms were
shaking as I finally landed my first of many sturgeon
on this trip.
It was now time for the tradition of the bait ball