Spring Fishing – Something for Everyone in 2013
The fishing over the winter has been some of the best in years, many great sturgeon fishing days, Steelhead fishing has been consistent and the Trout fishing days on the Harrison River and back waters of the Fraser River superb. Family’s and all levels of fishers from novice to expert have come out to enjoy the days on the river with myself and our team of guides. This has been another mild winter allowing outdoor sport to flourish and living in “the great outside “ near Chilliwack and Vancouver keeps us somewhat sheltered. All methods of fishing have been utilized, fly fishing both single and double handed spey, spin, float fishing with levelwinds and centerpins.
Brad and Howard with the biggest of the Day!
I have had a chance to fish with many returning clients and friends already this spring and over the winter which gives me a real sense of why I continue to love running a fishing company here in Beautiful British Columbia. Howard and Brad had a super day with myself and “Murkywater” Steve – this not only was a spectacular weather day but a chance to spend sometime unwinding with a “Father and son “ day. We landed, scanned, measured and released unharmed some fine specimens of sturgeon and we look forward to a Fraser Canyon Adventure later in the year in July.
Martin J “MJ” came for a weeks fishing or so early March to chase some Steelhead on the Spey rod, not the most productive week of fishing with all the rain but he was able to get his hands on a beauty for sure and then we finished off the week with our usual day on the river chasing Dino’s. We had out the MR3 Islander reels and had a fantastic day together talking business and fun and landed 13 fish together. “MJ” will return again in August to fish the Pitt River for 2 weeks and then with a group in October for another 2 weeks to chase Chum and Coho on the spey rods. Hopefully we will get a few days together in the Fraser Canyon for Dino hunting and chilling together. Always a few great meals shared together and maybe even a few bottles of red wine.
Martin just finished tagging the beauty and about to release it!
I was thrilled to have a chance to fish with a long time friends from the Chilliwack area Rick and Debbie. Debbie booked a surprise Sturgeon fishing trip for Rick’s 60th birthday and it was one that did not disappoint. Rick has been fishing the lakes of the interior and the Fraser River for many years, but had never caught a Sturgeon. We had an exciting day on the river together catching up on many memories of the past old Bar fishing days. Debbie and Rick ended the day with 9 sturgeon and the first one was small and gave us a chance to really give them both a good thorough overview of the fish, all its parts and the cool things that make Sturgeon dino’s. They both enjoyed the conservation of these fish and being a big part of their day. The largest fish came right at the end of our day and was a 7 foot 2 inch mammoth fish that they will not forget soon. Talk about a great day on the river for your first ever Sturgeon day. We did finish the day with Dean falling in the river – burr a chilly 39F – also I was good enough to get their camera wet, my camera and also my iphone – something I will never forget.
Rick’s Birthday Sturgeon!
Next was a visit by my long time friend Keith Rae from Edmonton who owns “Get Hooked Fishing Adventures – www.gethookedfishing.com the Premier guiding operation in Edmonton, Alberta. Over the years we have shared many laughs and fun surrounding the many shows we have attended for fishing. Keith has always given me a nice place to stay when I travel to Alberta and home cooked meals and not to mention a few of our favorite Grolsch beers. Keith brings a few groups of Sturgeon fishers to us every April and hosts the trips, as it is a little frozen still on his rivers and lakes. Target for this trip was the elusive Steelhead – fish of a thousand casts – we had some challenging weather that brought up water levels and made this a feat left for next year. All in all we had a wonderful visit some good fishing on the Harrison River and caught some non target species like Cutthroat and Whitefish so we definitely did not get skunked. As two guides that share many of the same challenges throughout the year with scheduling, long days and endless hours of trying to just keep many people happy, it is really nice to share stories and to build off of what we have learned. Helping each other over the many years has been rewarding to both of us and we continue to try to make time to see each other and to have long chats on the phone. A great friend and a relentless businessman a combination that is hard to beat. See you in April to chase Dino’s buddy.
Another real warm heartfelt adventure was my next, Dawn (granddaughter) and Brian (Grandpa) – some of Keith’s customers and Dawn has fished with us last year up in the Fraser Canyon too. Late in the week I took Keith to the airport then carried on with Dawn and her Grandpa for what was going to be the best Sturgeon fishing day of their lives together. Knowing the background of Brian growing up in the Abbotsford area, fishing in the Sumas River and Fraser River but never ever catching a Sturgeon really made me hope the fish would bite lots today. Brain enjoyed the area here prior to him traveling away as a young adult with the Air Force and finally settling down and retiring in Edmonton. Dawn had fond memories of fishing a with her Grandpa – just as I did with mine – and taking him on this trip meant the world to her. We started the day off with a nice 6 foot Sturgeon, off we went to the shore and took some incredible pictures after taking all the data and letting Brian see and feel these Dino’s that had eluded him growing up. Having this fish on his line and seeing all we do with conservation, the scanning, measuring and tagging of this incredible fish really hit home for them both. We shared in 13 Sturgeon for the day together and had so many highlight moments with double headers to a special picture of them sitting together on the drive back up river. This is a trip of a lifetime that will never be forgotten by them or me. Thanks for allowing me to share in your day and special moment in time.
Dawn and her Grandpa are 2 happy anglers!
Finally another trip with 2 long time clients and friends, Dave and Norm and the boys. Dave’s boys Max and Mitch and Norm’s Grandsons, Drayden and Marshall what a day we would have together. The day prior to theirs was a little slow on the river with the reports from our team of guides so in knowing how much this meant to Dave and norm, I was hoping the fish gods would help us out a little. Started the day downriver out of the Fort Langley boat launch and went to a favorite haunt near the Billy Miner as we call it. Rigged up the rods with Eulachon which has been the bait of choice in the past weeks. The freshness of bait is so important and we are always lucky to have a good stock on hand. With great anticipation the young boys all looked on to the rod tips hoping for a indication of a bite. I went on to tell many of the stories that we shared in the past outings and some of the slow days and the good days too. As one of the rods nodded I suggested possibly I show them how to hook the fish up, as they all watched I hoped and hooked up our 1sthanded the rod over to Drayden and away he went, fighting the first of the day and his first ever Sturgeon. Once to the boat we put water in the cradle and started to process the fish by letting Drayden, scan and measure his trophy fish. The hope for me was to get all the boys into each of their own Sturgeon on this day. The bites came slow during the day but it seemed every hour we picked off a Sturgeon and that kept us all enticed. There was talk of moving but I knew we needed to stay put in the
Banana’s……really?
location, moving too much means no fishing rods in the water and you know what that spells. Working the waters of about 1 km we finally had all the boys fish, Max, Mitch and Marshall all hooked and landed their own fish. We then moved onto Norm and Dave, where Dave hooked up first and then it seemed the fish didn’t want to be hooked by Norm, but he patiently tried a few times and hooked up a nice fish. We fished a little longer than our usual 8 hour day but tallied up 13 Sturgeon and even ended with a double header. Another day for the family fishing record books for all of them and a day that was so important to Dave, Norm and me. Sometimes the pressure of catching gets the best of guides but patience and persistence with knowing the water and where the fish are can make a huge difference. This day was meant to be and thanks to the fish gods for sharing the bounty. As I said to the boys, this was a catching trip and a fishing trip and I look forward to seeing them all again a number of times in the years to come. Rumor has it we are possibly going to the Fraser Canyon on our next trip and I personally look forward to this.
Dean Werk ´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((((º>
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