Big Ass Sturgeon

[jonny5]

Just passing an email I got this morning.

 

I fished with Vic once, and it was very educational, but nothing like this

 

I wonder why they don't get these big ones in the columbia where they are allowed to keep em?

 

---------------

 

MISSION, British Columbia – October 27, 2008 – Every angler dreams of catching ‘the

big one.’ Saturday, October 25, 2008 was a dream-come-true for STS Guiding Service’s

Matt Schaap and his guests, as they hooked and landed the largest sturgeon to be

caught on the Fraser River by a sport angler in 2008 (pictured below). The 11-foot

one-inch (337.82 cm) long sturgeon had a huge 58 inch (148 cm) girth and was caught

in Mission, British Columbia’s Hatzic Bench. The sturgeon took over an hour to land.

 

 

Vic Carrao is the owner of Mission-based STS Guiding Service, and called the catch

“XXX. Autumn on the Fraser River is without a doubt some of the best fishing you

will experience anywhere in North America.” And there’s good news for anglers

everywhere who are hoping to visit the Fraser River to try their luck at hooking the

big one: sturgeon fishing in British Columbia is catch and release only, so this

11-foot-plus prehistoric beast is still out there.

 

Mission, British Columbia – just 80 km (50 mi) east of Vancouver on the Fraser River

- is home to one of the largest populations of sturgeons in the world today. Eight

species of sturgeon can be found in North America including the largest of North

American game fish, Acipenser transmontanus, or the white sturgeon. In large river

systems such as the Fraser River in southern British Columbia, white sturgeon may

reach ages that exceed 100 years. These fish are modern day dinosaurs and can grow

up to 14 feet and weigh as much as 1200 lbs.

 

There are two times of year when sturgeon fishing in British Columbia reaches its

best: the first is in the spring, which brings the annual migration of the Eulichans

(small bait fish) to the Fraser River to spawn. Food in winter is scarce so when the

Eulichans arrive the sturgeon are eager to feed. In the springtime, it’s not

uncommon to hook 15 to 20 fish in a 6 hour trip. The second peak period is autumn,

between mid September to late November, when the largest salmon migrations occur.

This is also when some of the best salmon fishing occurs, so visitors can often fish

for both salmon and sturgeon on the same day.

 

 

[admin]

WOW! Vic knows his stuff, that's for sure.

 

I wonder how long it wil take before other people start claiming this one for thier own. lol it happened a couple years back when a 1100lber was caught.

[Guest RedWiggler]

BEAST

[Noud]

On a size 18 PT I bet.....

 

But seriously that is one big old dino fish....Pfew

[Guest Outcasts]

I grew up in mission from 3-14 years old and I can attest to the size of these fish and you almost never hook anything smaller than 4 feet. But if your ever down that way and dont want to take your kids fishing for them but want to show them or yourself there is a fish hatchery called "inch creek fish hatchery" that has about 8 sturgeon in maybe 9 feet of water...very easy to see and i think the largest was 9ft when i was there last (3 years ago) and you can feed them and the other salmon fry...pritty cool and very inexpensive...which explains why my family visited it so much

[Jayhad]

I grew up in mission from 3-14 years old and I can attest to the size of these fish and you almost never hook anything smaller than 4 feet. But if your ever down that way and dont want to take your kids fishing for them but want to show them or yourself there is a fish hatchery called "inch creek fish hatchery" that has about 8 sturgeon in maybe 9 feet of water...very easy to see and i think the largest was 9ft when i was there last (3 years ago) and you can feed them and the other salmon fry...pritty cool and very inexpensive...which explains why my family visited it so much

 

for some reason they are down to 3 sturgeon now. ON a side note the abbotsford paper ran a cover story today about sturgeon in the fraser system and biologists estimate the population to be over 50000... yes 50000. i am getting a copy of teh article in next few days which I will post

 

Jay