The Sanchez's Battle Royal!

Bronwen and Darwin decided that while they had done other fishing and now a sturgeon trip was definitely on their Bucket List and it turned out to be quite a day for them. As predicted the early part was slow as the tides were not favourable but when the bite came on it really came on! The first three hours were only two fish but the last three hours were 9 more fish with 6 hitting in the last hour including what was the "Hail Mary Fish" which was likely the largest of the day but broke us off just as we were about to head into the dock. In total 11 fish hooked and 8 landed (we are required to use barbless hooks) with 4 "Newbys" or fish that had never been tagged before and were added to the Fraser River White Sturgeon Conservation Society inventory. Bronwen and Darwin wanted to get out of the city and into the fresh air and sunshine, maybe catch some sturgeon and they hit a grand slam on all fronts. A great day on the water!

Mathew called up, his dad, Theunis was visiting from South Africa and he wanted to fish in British Columbia and could we fit in a day sturgeon fishing. Turns out the pressure was on me as Theunis had made a bet with his wife that if he didn't finally catch a fish he would sell all his fishing gear! Well that just couldn't happen so we went to work and tested our gear. Mathew's comment while fighting the first fish, "I sit at a computer terminal all day, I don't use these muscles!!" Then we caught one where Theunis said, "This one is bigger and weighs more than my wife and I get to keep my fishing gear!". In the end we had about a dozen hookups, landed 10 and we tagged three newbies and had a great April day on the river.

Crystal called up and wondered if a sturgeon trip would be good for an "almost 7yr old" who was enthusiastic about fishing. Her son Zander told her, "It's OK mom if we don't catch a fish" She booked a four hour trip and the April fish did not disappoint! It was going to be his 7th birthday the next day and Zander and Mom got all the fish they could handle including a very nice "shore fish". We measured them all and tagged some new fish! Zander learned about sturgeon conservation, they both "tested their muscles" and Zander and Mom's day was "just perfect".