'The Big One' - My Sturgeon Fishing Adventure

Sturgeon Fishing on Canada's Fraser River

The day started at 8.00 am. I was picked up by my fishing guide Cej and taken to the boat launch, along with my wife Leanne and daughters Kaiya and Remy. I was very excited as this was my second trip out and my first trip a couple of days earlier had only produced one sturgeon of about 40lb. I had been warned that the fishing would be slow that day but Cej said the fishing had picked up, so I couldn't wait.

We reached our first spot, baits went in and after about five minutes the right hand rod showed signs of action, I picked it up, put my thumb on the spool and lent back into it trying to pull the rod right back. The rod stopped and the reel began to sing and I was suddenly aware of the smell of burning flesh. A little tip, always remember when a sturgeon wants to take line… let it, and take your bloody thumb off the spool!

After a full show of tail-walking, an awesome sight, I got it to the boat only to watch it turn and strip off another 100 yards of line. This happened three times in all before the fish was finally beaten and landed. It was 6ft 2ins and weighed around 120lb. I remember thinking if this what the 100-pounders go like what the hell must the 200-pounders go like.

I didn't have to wait long to find out, after landing a 6ft 4in fish, which put up an equally hard fight as the first, the rod went off again and I was into a bigger fish. I couldn't believe it, we seemed to be the only boat catching big fish and there were three other boats from Cascade out that day. This is when things took a very unexpected change for the better.

While I was playing the fish Cej pointed out that Marc had a bite on his boat, which was right next to us. I watched Marc lift the rod and lean back, the rod bent over and Marc handed the rod to his client for the day Cyril, who was with his girlfriend Lindy. The fish tore off then came out of the water…. after a chorus of four letter words and blasphemes, it was decided that the fish was definitely 10 feet if not bigger!

Marc was in radio contact with us and said “I think we are going to need the big guy”. That was my cue, I wound down on the fish I was playing and really gave it some stick. Eventually it was beaten and turned out to be 7ft 1in over 200lb! I was made up but eager to get on to Marc's boat and do battle with the monster.

Cej took me across and I jumped on to find Cyril struggling, he handed me the rod and I leant into the fish. It pulled back and sped off. I remember thinking, "Jesus we are going to struggle to land this fish!" I thumbed the spool and stopped it, eventually, and started to get some line back on the reel. But not for long, this fish was just taking line at will and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

When Cyril had recovered a little strength I handed the rod back to him but I think the initial run from the fish had taken it out of Cyril and it wasn't long before I was back on the rod. I mean no disrespect to Cyril as he put up a great fight with this fish and there is only so much a man can take. My muscles were really burning so I knew just how he felt but I seemed to keep finding an inner strength that just kept me going.

After about 90 minutes of heart-stopping moments with the line twanging off the fishes scutes (sharp scales down their sides), it finally surfaced and kited across the back of the boat, giving us a good look at its awesome size. Unfortunately we had no decent banks to beach the fish so we had to drift for about 30 minutes, with one hairy moment when we drifted into 5ft of water and Marc told me to keep the pressure on and keep the fish on the surface.

Me and the crew with 'The Big One'

By this time just about every muscle in my body was burning up, but with adrenaline pumping through my bloodstream I gave it everything I had and managed to keep the fish up in the water and out of trouble. After the spots disappeared in front of my eyes, it wasn't long before Marc drove the boat onto the sandy shore line, jumped out and with the help of Dave, Cej and Harry rolled the fish on its back, put a hand in its mouth, and landed it.

I looked at Cyril, I think we hugged. To be honest it was all a bit of a blur, the tape measure came out 11ft 4ins but I still didn't know what the weight was, then the girth 5ft, bigger than the fish landed last year and Marc estimated the weight at 800 to 850lb and its age about 120 years old, probably the biggest freshwater fish ever landed on rod and reel. “Cyril, Marc we did it!”.

Cyril and I releasing the 11ft 4" sturgeon whopper!

After the photo's and tagging Cyril and myself helped the fish back into deeper water where it sulked for a few minutes before gracefully gliding back into the depths of the Fraser.

After fully recovering we got back on our boats and went back to the same spot. After catching several small sturgeon I then had another 6-footer, I can't find the words to describe how hard these fish fight, and I've had Catfish to over 100lb and they fight hard, but I can safely say they do not fight anywhere near as hard as these phenomenal fish and to top it all they bloody tail-walk as well!

We then got a call on the radio from Marc asking if I wanted another fish as Cyril was struggling, I smiled and gave Marc the thumbs up, but he shook his head, laughed and called me an animal before motoring over and picking me up. This fish led me a merry old dance, jumping at least four times, the last time right next to the boat and gave me a right soaking. It also got hooked round a snag until, with a bit of skilful maneuvering by Marc and some serious rod bending by me, it came free.

This fish turned out to be 7ft 10ins and weighed about 260lb - what a way to end the day! Twelve fish in one day, estimated total weight 2000lb. Marc nicknamed me the 'Sturgeonator' after that day and I got a round of applause from the lads when I got back in the hotel bar. I felt about 10 feet tall; it really was the stuff dreams are made of. I don't honestly know how I kept going that day but all I do know is I'm bloody glad I did.

I landed a total of 30 Sturgeon in six fishing trips with an estimated total weight of 3500lb. But Wednesday the 2nd of August 2006 is a day etched into my memory for the rest of my life.

My thanks go to my wife Leanne, my daughters Kaiya and Remy, who's presence made me all the more determined to land the big one, Marc (the Legend) Laynes whose skills on the boat that day made sure we landed that fish, Cej for putting me on so many fish that day, of course Cyril, Lindy, Dave, Harry and special thanks to Micky, Rob, Lee, Nigel & Anthony for giving up their fishing time to help with the big one. But of course the biggest thank you of all must go to the fish.

If you ever consider going to Canada to fish the Fraser river then I can genuinely say don't go with anyone other than Cascade Fishing Adventures www.bcsturgeon.com, talk to Marc and tell him you read my story, I think he might remember me. Good luck to you all in your fishing adventures. I hope that one day you too have a day that dreams are made of, just like me.