Fresh Lower Mainland Fishing Reports

Skyler, "We had an incredible experience contributing to the conservation and tagging of White Sturgeon on the Fraser River in Vancouver! We’re excited for the information we collected to be shared with FRSCS - Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society and to adopt the sturgeon “Bob”, named by the 30 kids who ran to us on shore. Thanks again, Peter Krahn P. Eng., for taking us!" The November bite was on and half way through a 1.5 hr lunch break at a river side pub renewed energy and let arm muscles recover and then back onto the water for another 3 hours to end the day with 11 fish hooked and 9 landed! A great day was had by all.

Ertug wanted to give his friend Armondo a birthday surprise while on a trip to take their sons to a hockey tournament in Victoria. So they landed in Vancouver and got on board for a four hour trip and the November bite came on strong and kept the time on the water interesting and active. I had warned them that there were some big fish around and that they should keep good posture and that their arms might feel it by the end. And so it happened. The late October and mid November fish had been fattening up on salmon carcasses washing out from the tributary rivers after the spawn so the sturgeon have been well fed and the cooler water temperature meant they had plenty of zip when they took the bait. In the end, 7 fish in four hours was a day well spent on the water!

A great few hours on the river today. A little windy but aome great reaults for this solo angler. A nice 6’10 (210cm) highlight.

Bonny asked if I could take her husband Mike, their three sons and her on a Saturday sturgeon trip and they were eager to get on the water when the day arrived. The boys ranged from 4 1/8 to 9 years old and it was a perfect time for a family get together as the boys were keen anglers having pursued pink salmon and now wanting to up their game to sturgeon. The day began with some nice sized starter fish to get everyone going, including this double header. Bonny celebrated catching her own fish which didn't have a tag so she could tag it and claim to be the first person to have recorded its capture and release. The sizes picked up and they were on to a great day of sturgeon fishing. All this hard work creates an appetite and we broke out the on board barbecue and cooked up some bratwurst on buns to keep everyone's energy going. Mom took the younger brother home and the two older boys stayed on with dad to get the biggest fish of the day and claim the perpetual "Sturgeon Polka Trophy"! In other words, fun was had by all! The ride home was surprisingly quiet!

Once again, September in Vancouver saw simply incredible salmon fishing with an abundance of large chinook (king) salmon, as well as great numbers of coho and pink salmon as well. It really was one for the record books. Fall fishing continues to be strong, with good numbers of coho salmon being caught throughout our fishing area, with a few large chinook still left in the mix. October is a transition month for Vancouver fishing, where the migrating chinook and coho run their course by about the third week of the month, while at the same time, our “feeder” chinook begin to show up in bigger numbers. This October is no exception and fall fishing is off to a great start in the Vancouver area!

This group had some real nice fish before this one. The highlight is a great 252cm x 108cm sturgeon. This fish put up a great fight with several runs in the 150 yard range. This is what memories are made of.