604 Pulse

Note: This is the 3rd and final part of our Fraser Valley Adventure. Read Part 1 and Part 2.

Photo: A White Sturgeon statue greets us in Mission BC.

Sturgeon is often considered the dinosaur of fish, being a prehistoric species that has survived two ice ages. They can live to be 150 years old and can grow to be six meters in length. And they live right here in the Fraser River.

According to the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society,

“The white sturgeon is the largest and longest-lived species of freshwater fish in North America.  The ancient fish is at the top of the Fraser River food web, and one of the few year-round resident species of fish in the lower Fraser River. The population of white sturgeon in the lower Fraser River (downstream of Hell’s Gate) is a fraction of its historic levels.”

As a result of diminishing populations, sturgeon fishing is strictly catch and release, and it’s been so since 1994. However, a lot of work is going into aiding its recovery. Little did I know that we would be a part of this sturgeon monitoring program and that we’d be collecting some critical data on our fishing trip.

On the morning of Wednesday, October 19, my sister Erin and I met up with Dominique and Tony of the Coast Chilliwack Hotel, both of whom would be joining us on our sturgeon fishing adventure. We were then introduced to Dean Werk, owner and guide extraordinaire of Great River Fishing Adventures. Dean grew up in Chilliwack and has been guiding fishing expeditions for 23 years. We knew we were in good hands.

Launching the Boat

Initially I thought we’d be fishing right out of Chilliwack, but we actually launched the boat out of Mission, about a half hour drive west of Chilliwack on the north side of the Fraser.

Photo: Getting ready to launch the boat.

As we waited for the boat to launch, we did a quick stroll down Mission’s riverfront where an enormous white sturgeon statue greeted us, almost as if to say, “You’ll be seeing me soon!” Dean told us that yes, the sturgeon that live in the Fraser can be that big. It was humbling.

Photo: Robyn and the sturgeon in Mission.

One thing that I noticed along the banks of the river were dead salmon. Usually the sign of dead fish would be alarming, but I knew that this was a part of the natural life cycle of the salmon. After living four years in the ocean, they come back to the river of their birth, spawn, and then die. These were post-spawning salmon corpses. Slightly unnerving, and yet beautiful in the grand scheme of things.

Along the Fraser River

It was around 11am when we departed Mission and we began to go over safety procedures and fill out the paperwork for our fishing licenses. Dean explained what since we’d be fishing west of Mission, we’d all be required to have tidal fishing licenses, not freshwater like you’d assume. The reason for this is that Mission is the furthest place up the Fraser River where the tide can influence the water. If you’re fishing in the Fraser downriver from Mission, you’re technically fishing in tidal waters, not fresh water.

Photo: Dean and Tony.

Photo: Erin enjoying the ride.

As we ventured west down the river, I realized that I had never been on a boat on the Fraser River before. I had been on boats at the mouth of the Fraser by Steveston, but I had never been further up; it was an eye-opening experience. Our journey along the Fraser provided a really unique perspective of the Fraser Valley – one you don’t get by driving, and it almost felt like we were seeing our own back yards for the first time. Erin and I continually tried to guess where we were, although Dean was one step ahead, naming the different islands, First Nations communities, and features we passed along the way.

Photo: Dean explains the intricacies of sturgeon fishing.

Baiting the Hook

We anchored down just east of Fort Langley and Dean gave us the choice of baiting our own hooks (but having at best a 70% guarantee of catching a sturgeon) vs. baiting the hooks himself and having a much better chance. We looked at one another in mutual agreement and opted for the latter.

Two different types of bait were used: fresh salmon roe and “stink bait”. The stink bait was pieces of rotten salmon. Putrid to us, but irresistible to the sturgeon.

With the fresh roe, Dean would form little bait capsules with net and twine.

Once the hook was baited, he’d cast the line several dozen feet downriver and he taught us how to keep our eye on the lines for nibbles and bites. You knew if a sturgeon was biting the line by the intense tugging and the distinctly shaped arc of the rod.

It was then up to us to reel these sturgeon in.

Reeling in the Sturgeon

Almost immediately after casting the lines, there was a bite.

“Who’s first?” asked Dean.

I had my camera in my hand and encouraged Erin to go first…

… however, as soon as she started to reel the fish in, it escaped off the hook! Apparently this is rare when you’re sturgeon fishing. But in any case, we got a secondary bite moments later so the game was on! This time I volunteered and took my place behind the fishing rod and lifted it out of its holder.

Sturgeon are massive, powerful fish. If you have girly noodle-y arms like I do, it can be a bit of a challenge to reel one in. Fortunately, we had a belt-like harness that helps keep the rod in place and equally distributes the weight of the sturgeon. Of course, Dean was always there to offer assistance. With the rod in the harness, I’d reel it in 1-2-3 and then pull back, lifting this bottom feeder up from the depths. 1-2-3, pull! 1-2-3, pull!

A short moment later, it jumped!

I continued to reel it in until it surfaced. With Dean’s guidance, I brought the sturgeon around to the side of the boat, away from the other lines and Dean began to prepare the boat for the sturgeon’s brief visit.

The Marine Biology Expedition

Before bringing the sturgeon on board, Dean prepared a trough at the back of the boat. He lifted the sturgeon up out of the river and into the trough, immediately removing the hook from its mouth.

Photo: Dean estimated this sturgeon to be 15 years old.

Once in the trough, the sturgeon was very docile. “They can live in this for up to 20 days” Dean told us. “They’re resilient fish. They’ve survived as long as they have because of their resilience.” For the most part, the sturgeon wouldn’t move except for the occasional tail swish. This was our first experience seeing a sturgeon up close and we were all fascinated.

Since this was our first sturgeon, Dean pointed out its distinguishing features such as the sharp bony scutes along the fish’s sides. We learned that sturgeons have a bony head and tail, but the rest of their body is pure muscle. And although sturgeons have beautiful golden eyes, they use their whisker-like barbels and taste bud-like sensors on the outside of their snouts to detect food in the muddy Fraser River.

I must admit, the weirdest feature on the sturgeon is its mouth.

Being bottom feeders, their mouths are located on their flat underside. It’s all very unassuming, but then Dean demonstrated that their mouths can protrude out like a tennis ball-sized suction cup. He encouraged us to feel the mouth, which I did. The sturgeon didn’t seem to mind. The mouth wasn’t soft or fleshy like I had imagined, it felt hard and rugged like a piece of plastic. Apparently this toothless mouth can crush small fish and even clams!

Next step was to scan the sturgeon to see if it had been previously tagged. This monitoring is a completely voluntary procedure, but it’s one that Dean feels very strongly about as it helps us learn about the sturgeon, its growth, and its migration patterns. Ultimately this process aids in the fish’s conservation.

If the sturgeon has been tagged, the scanner will beep and display an alphanumeric code. Our first sturgeon had been tagged, so we wrote down the code on the tracking sheets.

If the sturgeon had not been tagged, we would then tag the sturgeon ourselves – a skill we each mastered that day. The tag is a microchip-looking capsule that is injected just below the surface of the skin about a thumb’s length’s distance behind the end of the sturgeon’s skull.

After the scanning and tagging, we measure the sturgeon’s length and then we measure the sturgeon’s width, right behind the pectoral fin. Again, the sturgeon remains docile and lets us measure it without putting up a fuss. It’s really quite amazing.

Finally, just before returning the sturgeon to the river, I put on gloves and got to hold the sturgeon for a photo op. It was strangely delightful to be holding this creature.

After a few shots, I returned the sturgeon back to the river where it swam back down to the bottom.

The Jackpot on the Pitt River

Over the next few hours we didn’t catch a thing, and that seemed to be the trend for the other boats we encountered. It was a very slow day on the Fraser, but that’s the nature of the beast: some days are better than others.

We ventured to the Pitt River just east of the Port Mann Bridge, but we had no luck there either. We returned a short distance back to the Fraser, but again, nothing. Finally, we returned to the Pitt River where out of seemingly nowhere, we caught 3 sturgeon all at once!

Photo: Erin giddy with excitement.

Photo: Tony’s happy with his catch.

Photo: Dominique loves her sturgeon!

Photo: Laughing because it’s heavier than it looks and he’s starting to wiggle!

Photo: Well, hello there!

Photo: The whole team – Tony, Dominique, Erin, and Robyn.

By the end of the day, we had caught six sturgeon in total. While we didn’t catch a giant, our largest still measured in at 126 cm, which is just over 4 feet! Congrats to Erin for reeling that one in!

We returned to Mission in the dark around 7pm and although it was a long day on the water, none of us were eager to stop. We we drove back to Chilliwack, I reflected on my new-found appreciation for this truly unique fishery.

50% Marine Biology Expedition + 50% Adventure = 100% Fun

That’s how I described our day.

I came away from the whole experience really impressed – impressed by how much fun I had fishing, but also how cool it was that something so rare and amazing like wild sturgeon fishing can be done right here in our own back yard. And yet, most people have no idea that this opportunity exists so close to Vancouver. And from what I learned from Dean’s stories that day, people travel from all over the world – Russia, South Africa, the UK, the USA – just to fish for sturgeon in these waters, an experience we locals take for granted.

And as a nature lover, I was equally impressed by the genuine love and respect that Dean has for the sturgeon and the fishery in general. His passion is infectious. I now have a new-found appreciation for fishing. I know I’ll be back… it’s just a matter of when.

Note: This is the 3rd and final part of our Fraser Valley Adventure. Read Part 1 and Part 2.

Disclosure: A huge thanks to everyone at the Coast Chilliwack Hotel and to Dean at Great River Fishing Adventures for providing us with this amazing experience. Our fishing excursion was compliments of our hosts.