Since I had to travel to BC to visit the wifes family I figured I should make it a better trip.
Not the biggest but 89" and about 250/300 lbs is a fun day.
Holy cow! that's a monster! Makes a trip to the in-laws to a new level
Yep! Sure is a lunker Larry ;D
Man you made lemonade out of lemons there....great fish....Bill
Nice work Larry, thanks for showing us, cheers Don.
Bravo!! 8)
Awesome! Larry,
What a fish. :o
A good catch. Uder the circumstances a great one. Ive come to accept my son, Luke & I more than likely will never do a long range trip where big tuna are possible.
But the sturgeon is a big fish that can reach huge size & is a doable affordable trip for us. A fish that has always been on my bucket list... Jeff
In BC do you have to turn a fish that size loose?
Quote from: theswimmer on July 08, 2018, 06:38:17 PM
In BC do you have to turn a fish that size loose?
Sturgeon are a catch and release only fishery in BC.
My nephew got a 94" on the same trip. Back in 2013 three of us went 18 for 19. unbelievable day and pretty tired when it was over.
I have great memories of fishing with my Dad on the Sacramento River for sturgeon in the seventies.
We were fishing near Hamilton City one night and he got a big hit. Spooled a Dam Quick Super and broke off at the knot.
Never saw the fish and I always told everyone he had hooked a floating log except logs don't run upstream........
Quote from: Lunker Larry on July 08, 2018, 11:51:22 PM
Quote from: theswimmer on July 08, 2018, 06:38:17 PM
In BC do you have to turn a fish that size loose?
Sturgeon are a catch and release only fishery in BC.
My nephew got a 94" on the same trip. Back in 2013 three of us went 18 for 19. unbelievable day and pretty tired when it was over.
BTW
Nice fishie !!!!
Nice fish Larry-cool photo too!
The Best time to fish the Might Fraser for Sturgeon is September into early November with stable barometric conditions-the numbers we've put up are amazing and fish the size of Larry's are jumping constantly.
Quote from: whalebreath on July 09, 2018, 12:57:58 AM
Nice fish Larry-cool photo too!
The Best time to fish the Might Fraser for Sturgeon is September into early November with stable barometric conditions-the numbers we've put up are amazing and fish the size of Larry's are jumping constantly.
Exactly. We fished in Sep when we went 18 for 19 with a number over 8 feet
Quote from: Lunker Larry on July 09, 2018, 07:46:31 PM
Quote from: whalebreath on July 09, 2018, 12:57:58 AM
Nice fish Larry-cool photo too!
The Best time to fish the Might Fraser for Sturgeon is September into early November with stable barometric conditions-the numbers we've put up are amazing and fish the size of Larry's are jumping constantly.
Exactly. We fished in Sep when we went 18 for 19 with a number over 8 feet
Wow, big fish Larry, what were you guys trolling for that beast?
Barbless hooks in that system?
Nice fish Larry...what a catch! Thanks for sharing.
Sal
Fun times and nice fish. I like fishing the Fraser and have had some great days. I love when you are sitting at anchor and look over to see a 10 footer free jump in the same pool. You are right those fish can wear you out and give you a sore back.
Cheers:
Todd
Big fish,,,,great job man!!! ;D
Grandpa used to take the eggs and cure delicious sturgeon caviear!
Runied me forever.....
Quote from: Gobi King on July 09, 2018, 07:59:19 PM
Quote from: Lunker Larry on July 09, 2018, 07:46:31 PM
Quote from: whalebreath on July 09, 2018, 12:57:58 AM
Nice fish Larry-cool photo too!
The Best time to fish the Might Fraser for Sturgeon is September into early November with stable barometric conditions-the numbers we've put up are amazing and fish the size of Larry's are jumping constantly.
Exactly. We fished in Sep when we went 18 for 19 with a number over 8 feet
Wow, big fish Larry, what were you guys trolling for that beast?
Barbless circle hooks. 4 and 5 ounce led with chunks of salmon. For some reason, the head always seems to get the largest fish.
Back in 2013 there was a tourist pamphlet for Chilliwack, BC that had our guide at that time standing in the water holding the tail of a 13 footer. I could only imagine!
Barbless hooks in that system?
Quote from: Hardy Boy on July 09, 2018, 08:59:32 PM
Fun times and nice fish. I like fishing the Fraser and have had some great days. I love when you are sitting at anchor and look over to see a 10 footer free jump in the same pool. You are right those fish can wear you out and give you a sore back.
Cheers:
Todd
We had all sorts of big fish jumping around us that day also. Here's a pic of my 6'4" 240 lb nephew fighting his fish and first ever sturgeon with his father looking on. Afterwards he told me he couldn't believe how hard they fought and was surprised because he said afterwards: "Uncle Larry, you made it look easy". Must be experience over brawn :)
Wow! You beat my biggest by about... 5ft.!
Thanks Larry for the lunker pictures. I'm glad you got to go fishing 🎣 on that visit. The look on the boys face is priceless. Great moment.
We used to fish the Columbia river mostly below bonneville dam. But it was poorly regulated and that fishery crashed. It takes a great river to make great sturgeon, you can enjoy these fish hopefully in the future every year. Thanks for the pictures. 😎
Maybe fill in some rigging and bait pictures so we,ll be educated if you got time.🤷♂️
wow, awesome fish Larry, truly a monster
congrats buddy
That is a great pic of that young guy fighting that fish. Not trying to high jack you thread but here was my buddy after he landed his first sturgeon. He is not an experienced fisherman. Skill over brawn is a thing when it comes to playing fish.
Cheers:
Todd
Yeah. My forearms were like stone when I landed the fish.
Ref tackle and bait. Big fresh salmon chunks the size of your open hand was bait. Reels were Penn. No idea about the rods. Here's the best pics of the tackle. I'll let you forensic reel heads figure it out :)
Quote from: Lunker Larry on July 10, 2018, 05:00:19 PM
Y..... No idea about the rods. Here's the best pics of the tackle. I'll let you forensic reel heads figure it out :)
because of the rods wrapping job and custom decal on them (same logo on the rod than one on the jacket ) they are for sure custom made.
Check out Greatriverfishing.com for some giant fish. Great guides who really know the river. Highly recommend them.
Thanks again Larry, those big Fish are great fighters and in some current even more. Great fishing 🎣 great post. Tanks👍💪
Quote from: Lunker Larry on July 10, 2018, 08:21:31 PMCheck out Greatriverfishing.com for some giant fish. Great guides who really know the river. Highly recommend them.
GRF used to use Quarrow rods when I fished with them in the past.
Just to let people down gently-Sturgeon don't fight all that hard- I can beat a 6' fish to the boat in five minutes easy-that's using an ancient Seeker Classic 665H and a Shimano TL20 loaded with 65# Tufline.
In the Fraser about 10% of the fish are true anadromous specimens-much sleeker & stronger those put up a real battle but my experience is that most anglers once they see a fish jump overestimate the size and back off instead of putting the wood to the fish which is what C&R is all about.
In addition most Fraser river guides have mismatched gear -too long rods/no fighting belts/no coaching since the guide himself doesn't know how to fight the fish they just let it do 'whatever' since it's probably hooked quite well with large Gamakatsu 9/0.
It's a fun fishery but you have to careful who you hire I have seen a guide take 90 minutes to C&R
one 5' fish while my partner & I C&R'ed a half a dozen larger specimens out of a 14' Lund.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/Esox_Lucius/harry_8_ft_sturgeon.jpg)
I can see 5 minutes for a experienced angler on a 5 footer but not on the bigger fish. Our guide told stories of those who were either older, smaller, weaker or completely inexperienced and how frustrating it was as to how long they fought the fish. But...they paid for the experience and the guide can only sit back, watch and coach. They even had clients who had to turn the rod over to the guide so you can't paint the whole fishery with one brush. I've had guides who knew their stuff, had the right tackle, belts , a pleasure to be fishing with and worked their #### off to find fish.
My 2 cents U.S. (3.5 Canadian) :)
I saw an old b&w photo with handwriting on the bottom that said a sturgeon taken below the then new bonneville dam on the Columbia was 19ft long. Pulled out by a team of horses. Maybe died of natural causes? Now the offsprings are in big impoundments locked up between a dozen dams.😿.
Back in the 70-80s we used a whole shad for bait, before spectra we used stranded wire line, that stuff was standard equipment and a pain to fish with. I,m glad you have a good fishery and can still go.🎣