Sturgeon Fishing in British Columbia
British Columbia sturgeon fishing is recognized around the world as one of the most unique sport fishing adventures available. Intrepid anglers venture to the Fraser for the chance at a fish over ten feet long. Imagine watching a rod gently dip as you get up to it and then set the hook into a fish that doesn’t even move. Once realizing it has been hooked Sturgeon often peel a few hundred yards of line from your reel and jump, leaving you completely scrambled and holding on for life. We don’t use fighting chairs just muscle!! On the bigger fish we will assist you and get you fitted with offshore style fighting belts to ease the fight a bit. There are few places on earth that anglers can fish for huge big game species on flat calm water. Once you have landed that trophy fish we fit you into waders and get some great photographs of your catch. All of our large fish must remain within the water to protect them. Once we have some great pictures you will be able to help your guide tag and measure your fish for the sturgeon tagging program. After tagging your sturgeon, you will get the opportunity to gently release your giant back to the depths and hopefully catch him again years to come.
A day of sturgeon fishing consists of 8 hours of fishing, my clock starts when we are fishing not when we leave the dock as many of our competitors like to do. You are here for the experience and I want you to come back feeling satisfied instead of shorted. We typically hook between 7-10 sturgeons a day although we do have great days and there are a few poor ones. I will not book your trip if it’s not worth it, again I want you to come back and bring your friends. The average size of sturgeon caught is between four feet and seven feet long. A six foot fish is my favorite as you get a great fight that is manageable for one person and is a great fish for a picture. We get larger fish most days and get a lot over that seven foot mark; one just needs to get a bit lucky and have eaten a good breakfast!!
Our sturgeon fishery is completely catch and release. We have had this since the early 90’s and I wouldn’t ever want that to change. We are a company that volunteers to the sturgeon conservation society. We participate in the tagging program and supply our data back to them. We also encourage our guests to participate in the Adopt a sturgeon program which directly funds sturgeon related conservation studies. You can adopt a sturgeon for life for a fee and you will periodically receive information about your fish for the rest of its life, which could be as long as you live. We also donate our time to causes that benefit sturgeon research and enhancement including British Columbia institute of technology’s wildlife program.
These long lived giants spend the majority of their lives feeding in the slower currents of the Fraser River. Sturgeon feed all year but from April to December they feed on a rich diet of eulachon (a small annually running smelt), lampreys, crayfish, coarse fish and most importantly salmon. The sturgeon basically feeds to sustain itself during the spring and early summer until salmon arrive and then they switch over to heavy feeding to build high fat reserves for the upcoming winter. Sturgeons are found throughout the entire 1,375 kilometers of the Fraser River but the majority are found in the lower two thirds of the Fraser or from Prince George down. There are two unique sub species of the white sturgeon in the Fraser River one has a long pointed nose area that is generally found in the canyon stretch and up. The second has a fairly blunt nose which is common in the lower river from about hope downstream. Each sub species generally stay within their preferred habitat but they do migrate occasionally up or down stream.
Sturgeons generally spawn within the last few weeks of May and into the first week or two of June, river condition is the dictating factor in spawning. We know that sturgeon spawn above Chilliwack in some of the main back channels of the river and all the way up to hope. There is some spawning activity within the canyon although the exact locations are difficult to determine. It is believed they spawn in the softer back eddies and gravel runs.
I believe there are some true giants out there that are yet to be caught, each season we hook a few fish that we never get the chance to see. Time will tell!!
British Columbia sturgeon fishing is recognized around the world as one of the most unique sport fishing adventures available. Intrepid anglers venture to the Fraser for the chance at a fish over ten feet long. Imagine watching a rod gently dip as you get up to it and then set the hook into a fish that doesn’t even move. Once realizing it has been hooked Sturgeon often peel a few hundred yards of line from your reel and jump, leaving you completely scrambled and holding on for life. We don’t use fighting chairs just muscle!! On the bigger fish we will assist you and get you fitted with offshore style fighting belts to ease the fight a bit. There are few places on earth that anglers can fish for huge big game species on flat calm water. Once you have landed that trophy fish we fit you into waders and get some great photographs of your catch. All of our large fish must remain within the water to protect them. Once we have some great pictures you will be able to help your guide tag and measure your fish for the sturgeon tagging program. After tagging your sturgeon, you will get the opportunity to gently release your giant back to the depths and hopefully catch him again years to come.
A day of sturgeon fishing consists of 8 hours of fishing, my clock starts when we are fishing not when we leave the dock as many of our competitors like to do. You are here for the experience and I want you to come back feeling satisfied instead of shorted. We typically hook between 7-10 sturgeons a day although we do have great days and there are a few poor ones. I will not book your trip if it’s not worth it, again I want you to come back and bring your friends. The average size of sturgeon caught is between four feet and seven feet long. A six foot fish is my favorite as you get a great fight that is manageable for one person and is a great fish for a picture. We get larger fish most days and get a lot over that seven foot mark; one just needs to get a bit lucky and have eaten a good breakfast!!
Our sturgeon fishery is completely catch and release. We have had this since the early 90’s and I wouldn’t ever want that to change. We are a company that volunteers to the sturgeon conservation society. We participate in the tagging program and supply our data back to them. We also encourage our guests to participate in the Adopt a sturgeon program which directly funds sturgeon related conservation studies. You can adopt a sturgeon for life for a fee and you will periodically receive information about your fish for the rest of its life, which could be as long as you live. We also donate our time to causes that benefit sturgeon research and enhancement including British Columbia institute of technology’s wildlife program.
These long lived giants spend the majority of their lives feeding in the slower currents of the Fraser River. Sturgeon feed all year but from April to December they feed on a rich diet of eulachon (a small annually running smelt), lampreys, crayfish, coarse fish and most importantly salmon. The sturgeon basically feeds to sustain itself during the spring and early summer until salmon arrive and then they switch over to heavy feeding to build high fat reserves for the upcoming winter. Sturgeons are found throughout the entire 1,375 kilometers of the Fraser River but the majority are found in the lower two thirds of the Fraser or from Prince George down. There are two unique sub species of the white sturgeon in the Fraser River one has a long pointed nose area that is generally found in the canyon stretch and up. The second has a fairly blunt nose which is common in the lower river from about hope downstream. Each sub species generally stay within their preferred habitat but they do migrate occasionally up or down stream.
Sturgeons generally spawn within the last few weeks of May and into the first week or two of June, river condition is the dictating factor in spawning. We know that sturgeon spawn above Chilliwack in some of the main back channels of the river and all the way up to hope. There is some spawning activity within the canyon although the exact locations are difficult to determine. It is believed they spawn in the softer back eddies and gravel runs.
I believe there are some true giants out there that are yet to be caught, each season we hook a few fish that we never get the chance to see. Time will tell!!