Fraser River June Sturgeon DIY Trip

[joshtar]

Hey All,

I finally got around to compiling a little slideshow/video of my June trip to the Fraser (Lillooet area) and a few people mentioned I should share it on here.

My sister and her husband had their first baby just this side of New Years, so I decided to take him (a new father) and my father out for a Father's Day weekend of fishing.

two and a half days of non-guided shore fishing for white sturgeon. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlhKsOgaV9o

[Kurt505]

That's great man!
Where you by Chilliwack?

[joshtar]

No, we were upstream at Lillooet. I've heard nothing but good things downstream, but I prefer the noise and views the canyons have to offer.

[Positrac]

Cool video. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I'm going on a three day guided trip to the lower Fraser this September and can't wait.

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by joshtar

No, we were upstream at Lillooet. I've heard nothing but good things downstream, but I prefer the noise and views the canyons have to offer.

I've only fished Hope-Mission. I've had great luck, but it's always been with a guide on a jet boat. I've always wanted to just try and shore fish or float the river. I've fished it enough that I know a few good spots in between for bar fishing for salmon and still fishing for sturgeon. It's on my bucket list, thanks for sharing!

[tim3500]

Nice vidio . Its nice to see the differece in the upper fraser fish as to the lower (Different nose) the upper fish are better fighters !

[Fishslayer99]

Awesome! Looks like you guys did great, I have been thinking about doing the same thing but wondered if I would be successful from shore. The guides are not cheap around there. Did you night fish as well, how many hours approximately did you have to put in per fish? Looks like you got into some nice sized sturgeon as well! Congrats!

[joshtar]

Originally Posted by Fishslayer99

Awesome! Looks like you guys did great, I have been thinking about doing the same thing but wondered if I would be successful from shore. The guides are not cheap around there. Did you night fish as well, how many hours approximately did you have to put in per fish? Looks like you got into some nice sized sturgeon as well! Congrats!

Haha, thanks fishslayer. Certainly going on your own from the shore isn't a sure thing. I was well prepared for disappointment, and aimed to make the experience as fun as possible even if we never hooked up. As for hours, I was ready for 24hrs/day of fishing with lights and comfy chairs, but luckily we never had to stay out late. Probably a good 4 hours between fish (we're all Dino newbies of various degrees.) It's a blast.

Keep up with the regs! Zone 2 recently shut down all night fishing on the fraser and a lot of the law-abiding locals are not impressed.

[CK Angler]

That's awesome buddy! Thx for sharing! I love the shot where your just kicking back with your feet up, rod in hand, mountains in the background, that's what it's all about !

[Glenstr]

Great video - brings back a lot of memories. I grew up in Hope and back in the 70's a buddy and I used to shore fish for sturge from a booming ground a few miles upstream from the Coquihalla-Fraser confluence. Our gear wasn't very fancy, short salmon trolling rods & knuckle buster single action reels. Sure was fun when you hooked a big one though! Biggest we landed was about 100 lbs, hooked a couple that were just too big and had to cut the line.

There are some monsters in that river - once in awhile you get lucky and are looking at the right place at the right time and see one of the beasts jump. My Aunt & Uncle had a house on the river just on the north side of the bridge in Hope, there's a huge deep back eddy across the river and quite often they'd see them break the surface and on occasion do a full breech.

They fisheries guys and loggers that worked the log booms always had good stories about sightings too. One fisheries officer said there was one around Yale that was as big as the killer whale they had at the Stanley Park aquarium.

One time when we were shore fishing from the swifter float (setup for boring boomsticks) a couple of guys were coming down the river on the other side, they saw us fishing and paddled over to chat. Told us while they were resting in the back eddy across from us a big sturgeon surfaced right beside them, said it was almost as long as their canoe and thick as a 45 gallon drum - one of the guys eyes were still like saucers..

[Adwittoutdoors]

That was fan flipping tastic I'm hoping next summer to get into those beasts down there !!!!!!! Thanks for the video 👍

[Mitchthefisher]

wicked!

[neilsledder]

Man that looks like fun! That's a must do for me one day! Might take the jet boat on the North sask here one weekend and try my luck

[WayneChristie]

great had to add another page to my bucket list.

[Fishslayer99]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

great had to add another page to my bucket list.

Well said Wayne, I feel the same way....Now you just have to convince Dago to drag his boat out there!

[Bobby B.]

Excellent video! Great fishing with beautiful scenery. Have to admit, I'm feeling a wee bit envious.

Bobby

[ryisnky]

Awesome!!!

[lone wolf]

Awesome video !! Good times for sure.