Canadian Fishing Adventures
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When fly fishing for trout, on river or stillwater there are a variety of techniques which can be used:
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River Dinosaurs
Are there really dinosaurs roaming the earth even today?
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Are there really dinosaurs roaming the earth even today?
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Quote of the Month
Fishing stirs a special passion in some people. For true fishermen, the sport blends the serenity of nature with the challenge of the catch. Fishing takes them away from their everyday worries and forces them to focus on the line, the water and the beauty around them."All men are equal before fish."
Fishing stirs a special passion in some people. For true fishermen, the sport blends the serenity of nature with the challenge of the catch. Fishing takes them away from their everyday worries and forces them to focus on the line, the water and the beauty around them."All men are equal before fish."
Tight Lines, Randy Beck www.ultimatesportfishing.ca
March 2007
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March Issue 2007
© Sport Fish Canada Newsletter 2006 - 2007
Photo of the month
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RIVER DINOSAURS
Are there really dinosaurs roaming the earth even today? The answer is a definite yes. We have these creatures from the past living in many of our waterways right here in British Columbia and their called Sturgeon. These fish are the largest game fish in North America growing to lengths in excess of 19
feet and weights of over 1300 pounds. History proves that sturgeon can be traced back to over 200 million years old.
These amazing fish have survived through two ice ages and continue to
flourish in today’s environment. Sturgeon are known to be bottom feeders and zero in on their food source with a row of four wiskers called barbels, once they locatetheir food they suck the food into their vacuum like mouths called a
protrusible mouth. Sturgeon don’t have any teeth so they just swallow their food whole. Sturgeon don’t have any scales either, they have a rough shark like skin with five rows of sharp spiny spikes called scutes that they use to protect themselves from predators. These incredible creatures don’t have bones in their bodies they have a skeleton of cartilage. The spawning times for these fish is usually May-June. Normally the sturgeon will become ready to spawn around 20 years old. They are known as “broadcast” spawners, as the females release anywhere from 100,000 to 3,000,000 eggs that are fertilized by the males. The eggs then become sticky and attach to the rocks of the river bottom for approx. 3-5 weeks before they hatch
Sturgeon where harvested commercially in the late 1800’s – early 1900’s, they were also harvested by recreational anglers right up until 1994 when the Provincial government banned any retention and imposed a catch and release only fishery for these fish from the past.Angling for these brutes from the deep is a complete delight. With the great numbers of Sturgeon, fishing can be done year round, but generally there are two major times when the fishing is at its best. April marks the time when the eulachon run starts in the Fraser river, and the sturgeon hone in on these oily little smelt like fish and simply gorge themselves on them, and then again in the fall, October-November when the migrating salmon have spawned and died and the carcasses wash into the mainstream of the Fraser and the sturgeon once again fill up on the plentiful salmon parts. There is a plethora of other baits that can be used for sturgeon like dew worms, salmon roe, lamprey eels, ditch eels, salmon parts like hearts, gills and bellies. The addition of bait scents like sturgeon feast or Krill paste is all that is needed sometimes to trigger a take. Try to keep a few Different baits on hand to experiment with to find out what they are biting on that day.
There are two ways to fish for
sturgeon, from an anchored boat or from
shore and the equipment used will vary.
Shore anglers will use heavy casting rods
in the 11-12ft. range capable of casting a
20oz. lead weight, coupled with large
spinning or level wind reels spooled with
100 lb. braided main line (I prefer Hi Vis.
Yellow Tuff line). Where as the boat angler
will use a shorter rod in the 6 ½ - 8ft.
range complete with large level wind reels
spooled with 100 lb braided mainline.
Both types of rods must have a very
sensitive tip section to detect the most
softest of strikes but have enough back
bone to handle a large fish. The rods and
reels that have proven the test of time are
the Penn 320/330, Shimano TLD 20 as for
rods I recommend the Shakespeare 12ft.
Ugly stick for shore angling and the 8ft.
Shimano Technium or Trophy XL sturgeon king for fishing from boats. Although there are countless other combinations these set ups have always stood up and have never faltered. The business end of the gear, Hooks. This is a VERY important part of your terminal tackle. I use sizes 5/0 to 9/0 and only the best hooks get onboard my boat. Mustad Ultrapoints and Gamakatsu. These hooks come right out of the package razor sharp and seem to keep a sharp edge that’s need to stick in the sturgeons hard mouth. I use about two feet of 72lb. sturgeon leader tied to a Kodiak coast lock slider swivel and the wedge weight should be 8-20oz., depending on the river current.
One of the biggest mistakes I see happen is this, the rod tip starts to twitch a little and in all the excitement the angler will run for the rod rip it out of the rod holder and set the hook only to come up empty handed. Setting the hook on a sturgeon can be very tedious. The angler must wait for the tell tale sign that the sturgeon has actually sucked the bait up unto its mouth. This is indicated by a constant pressure and a throbbing feeling on the fishing rod. When you feel this, it is your queue to hammer the hook home and play your fish.
It is such a privilege to fish for these prehistoric fish, lets not forget to handle them with the proper care they deserve, so that the present day dinosaurs will live for another 200 million years.
Are there really dinosaurs roaming the earth even today? The answer is a definite yes. We have these creatures from the past living in many of our waterways right here in British Columbia and their called Sturgeon. These fish are the largest game fish in North America growing to lengths in excess of 19
feet and weights of over 1300 pounds. History proves that sturgeon can be traced back to over 200 million years old.
These amazing fish have survived through two ice ages and continue to
flourish in today’s environment. Sturgeon are known to be bottom feeders and zero in on their food source with a row of four wiskers called barbels, once they locatetheir food they suck the food into their vacuum like mouths called a
protrusible mouth. Sturgeon don’t have any teeth so they just swallow their food whole. Sturgeon don’t have any scales either, they have a rough shark like skin with five rows of sharp spiny spikes called scutes that they use to protect themselves from predators. These incredible creatures don’t have bones in their bodies they have a skeleton of cartilage. The spawning times for these fish is usually May-June. Normally the sturgeon will become ready to spawn around 20 years old. They are known as “broadcast” spawners, as the females release anywhere from 100,000 to 3,000,000 eggs that are fertilized by the males. The eggs then become sticky and attach to the rocks of the river bottom for approx. 3-5 weeks before they hatch
Sturgeon where harvested commercially in the late 1800’s – early 1900’s, they were also harvested by recreational anglers right up until 1994 when the Provincial government banned any retention and imposed a catch and release only fishery for these fish from the past.Angling for these brutes from the deep is a complete delight. With the great numbers of Sturgeon, fishing can be done year round, but generally there are two major times when the fishing is at its best. April marks the time when the eulachon run starts in the Fraser river, and the sturgeon hone in on these oily little smelt like fish and simply gorge themselves on them, and then again in the fall, October-November when the migrating salmon have spawned and died and the carcasses wash into the mainstream of the Fraser and the sturgeon once again fill up on the plentiful salmon parts. There is a plethora of other baits that can be used for sturgeon like dew worms, salmon roe, lamprey eels, ditch eels, salmon parts like hearts, gills and bellies. The addition of bait scents like sturgeon feast or Krill paste is all that is needed sometimes to trigger a take. Try to keep a few Different baits on hand to experiment with to find out what they are biting on that day.
There are two ways to fish for
sturgeon, from an anchored boat or from
shore and the equipment used will vary.
Shore anglers will use heavy casting rods
in the 11-12ft. range capable of casting a
20oz. lead weight, coupled with large
spinning or level wind reels spooled with
100 lb. braided main line (I prefer Hi Vis.
Yellow Tuff line). Where as the boat angler
will use a shorter rod in the 6 ½ - 8ft.
range complete with large level wind reels
spooled with 100 lb braided mainline.
Both types of rods must have a very
sensitive tip section to detect the most
softest of strikes but have enough back
bone to handle a large fish. The rods and
reels that have proven the test of time are
the Penn 320/330, Shimano TLD 20 as for
rods I recommend the Shakespeare 12ft.
Ugly stick for shore angling and the 8ft.
Shimano Technium or Trophy XL sturgeon king for fishing from boats. Although there are countless other combinations these set ups have always stood up and have never faltered. The business end of the gear, Hooks. This is a VERY important part of your terminal tackle. I use sizes 5/0 to 9/0 and only the best hooks get onboard my boat. Mustad Ultrapoints and Gamakatsu. These hooks come right out of the package razor sharp and seem to keep a sharp edge that’s need to stick in the sturgeons hard mouth. I use about two feet of 72lb. sturgeon leader tied to a Kodiak coast lock slider swivel and the wedge weight should be 8-20oz., depending on the river current.
One of the biggest mistakes I see happen is this, the rod tip starts to twitch a little and in all the excitement the angler will run for the rod rip it out of the rod holder and set the hook only to come up empty handed. Setting the hook on a sturgeon can be very tedious. The angler must wait for the tell tale sign that the sturgeon has actually sucked the bait up unto its mouth. This is indicated by a constant pressure and a throbbing feeling on the fishing rod. When you feel this, it is your queue to hammer the hook home and play your fish.
Sturgeon fishing is just like buying real estate; it’s all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION and timing. When fishing for sturgeon limit your time in a particular spot. It’s not uncommon to pull anchor 10-20 times a day to try and find your quarry. If you don’t get any takes within 30 minuets pull anchor and change spots. I normally like to start off with finding a deep hole in the river bottom and I’ll anchor just above it and set out the rods, then if I don’t get any takers within the first 30 minutes I work my way down river and fish through the hole, trying to locate the sturgeon. When angling for sturgeon on the lower reaches of the Fraser river, I find the best bites usually happen about 1 ½ -2 hours before and after high tide. So check the tide tables and schedule your fishing times around these tide changes if possible.
It is such a privilege to fish for these prehistoric fish, lets not forget to handle them with the proper care they deserve, so that the present day dinosaurs will live for another 200 million years.
Randy Beck is the owner of Ultimate Sportfishing Guide Service. Randy offers guided fishing trips for salmon, trout, steelhead and sturgeon on the Fraser River and its tributaries.
