BC Sportfishing Group Blog

2012-01-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

We are finally digging out from our first and hopefully last winter storm of the year! It reminds me of how conditions can change so fast in the Fraser Valley. Now that the ice flow has left the river we can get back out on the water for some winter trout and Sturgeon fishing. Winter Steelhead fishing is also in full swing right now!
Here are a few winter shots to get you all back in the mood to be on the water!

2011-12-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

All of us at BC Sport Fishing Group would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a relaxing Holiday season!
The last trip before Christmas takes place today! There have still been some good sturgeon, and trout fishing days with the great weather we have been enjoying!
Eagle watching tours have been fantastic as well!
Here are a few memories from 2011!

All the best in the new year!

2011 review...

2011-12-11T11:15:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year where in order to stay sane– we need to look back at what great things occurred in the past year. I personally am very excited for 2012 and all the great things that are happening but reflection is important also. Seeing as we haven't been fishing very much because people prefer indoors this time of year I have created a little picture compilation for you to enjoy!

November in Pictures...

2011-12-06T13:55:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's been awhile. I am in here one day a week now. Tony or Beccie are here the other days. You should consider booking for next year- we are filling up quickly! Happy Holiday Season to everyone!

Long time...

2011-11-23T09:30:00.001-08:00

So there hasn't been too much going on here. Things tend to quiet down once we have a cold snap. My newest advice to people is to not stay out for 8 hours, book a 6 or a 4 hour trip. Your toes will thank you!

But we are back to being closer to the double digits than to the negatives, so the die-hards will be happier! I started singing in the rain, I had forgotten that real winters suck. I must be born and bred in BC.

The fishing has been very good, as per a typical November. If anything the Chum fishing was better than usual. It's getting a bit late though. They aren't so pretty anymore :(

SO now that it is OFFICIALLY the festive season- we tried to get creative in decorating our BCSFG tree in the Harrison Hot Springs Resort. Seriously, fishing has NOTHING to do with Christmas other then giving people fishing related gifts that either will help them catch Steelhead over the winter months or that they will drool over until the weather is actually good enough to use the new gear.

So we spent an hour tying roe balls as Christmas decorations.

Don't worry - they don't smell.

here is a pic from two days ago. Fishing in the dark. It sneaks up on you in November.

November...

2011-11-08T09:52:00.000-08:00

November exudes this serenity about it, I really don't know what it is. Maybe it's the lack of people out on the river that makes it so peaceful. Maybe its the stage that Mother Nature is in with the sturgeon enjoying a mass feeding on spawning Salmon to prepare for a long winter, without really having to work hard for it like in other months. Maybe it's the changing leaves and the calm water. It's like every living thing on each river is in this state of anticipation, except unlike humans it's a calm anticipation.

Fishing Guides....

2011-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

This just happens to be what Merr does for fun...
That is one big pumpkin, and some good-looking Fishing Guides.

2011-11-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Tony,

Just a quick email to say a BIG thank-you to Erik and Mattfor making our fishing trip so memorable. We have chosen just a few of ourfavourite pics to share with you (I have compressed them to send via email butcan send better quality pictures if required). I was lucky enough to get all 5of the salmon species in one day while fishing with Matt - 4 of them on thefly! Thanks to both Matt and Erik for being such gentlemen and looking afterNadine so well.

Missing BC already!

Regards

Wayne and Nadine

Good fisherman

2011-10-29T11:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday a $1,200 sturgeon rod slipped out of clients hands on a hook set and landed in the water. The client goes to open his wallet and Chad says to the guy, "Just wait, I am a good fisherman".
Five minutes later he's landed a nice Shimano rod. The best part is- the three foot sturgeon was still on the end of it!

A week of salmon in Pictures.... Keith with a coho, and Brian with many salmon!

2011-10-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

I threw in a couple of Erik in here too as he always gets to fish on his week with Brian!

Lucky Duck!

Nice Five Foot Fish :)

2011-10-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Favorite Picture 2011

2011-10-10T08:17:00.002-07:00

This is it- my favorite picture of 2011! Just shy of 8 feet last week on the Harrison River!

Favorite Picture 2011T

2011-10-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is it- my favorite picture of 2011! Just shy of 8 feet last week on the Harrison River!

disbelief

2011-10-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we end up with Clients from overseas who fish the Vedder on their own for weeks on end but absolutely love coming out on Guided fishing trips for salmon and sturgeon- Especially when the Vedder is shoulder to shoulder like it tends to be the week before Thanksgiving.

Hi Matt,

Here is the picture of you with the coho that Cees has caught last Friday.
You said he wouldn't catch a bigger one is his life, but I guess his luck wasn't over yet,
because he caught another giant today at Allison pool. (see the second picture)

--
Kind regards,

Martijn Bartlema

I guess we will see what next week brings- because they are coming back on the boat for a few more days before they head back home! I should also comment that the one Matt helped him to catch was a very nice chromer!

One Person.

2011-10-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a young guy come fishing with us! The best part about being on a solo chartered boat- ALL the fish are yours- no sharing!

Hi Ria

Thought you might enjoy a couple of photos from my trip, if you could forward them on to Erik he said he would put them on his blog. Thanks for a great trip, I just wish I could've stayed longer! Hope to come back with my brother in a couple of years when the pinks are back.

Kind regards,

Chris

Toot our own Horn? Not necessary...

2011-10-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

"Hi Ria
Once again we had an AWESOME time!! We had a couple of fellows from Winnipeg join us this year and as you can see on the attached picture, they were blown away!! Everyone raved about their guides."

We've got it. So my latest gimmick idea to drum up some business for November is STAFF CHRISTMAS PARTY. Why not turn down the stuffy restaurant deal and take the whole company fishing!

Chumachumachuma

2011-10-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

Apparently the Chum have arrived! Wish we had some more die-hard fly fishermen here right now, its the time of year where it is possible to catch all 5 species of Pacific Salmon in one day...

I had the most interesting weekend, dinner with one of the lawyers on the Cohen (sp?) Enquiry into the missing sockeye. The morning followed with a full blown argument with a commercial fisherman overseeing some of the netting on the river who was staying at the hotel- it was actually me giving him a biology lesson and him not understanding the basic science of mitosing cells). THEN we sent out another commercial fishermen (who happened to be First Nations) and had never sport fished before on a 6 hour trip! Sometimes I learn more things in 36 hours than in a whole semester at school. The one common theme, regardless of anyone's background or point of view- Sport Fishing is GREAT FUN!

We have open dates next week- Sunday to Wednesday. Then pretty much anytime after the 15th on wards!
It's a very good time to get out on the water! 604-796-3345
I also have a share trip available starting Oct 16th! Call or email us!

Jaiden having FUN while sport fishing!

Head in the Clouds...

2011-09-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

On a Monday morning, I am sure most office dwelling people dread the 100 plus emails that plague their inbox (today, Tuesday, just so happens to be my acting Monday this week).

This morning I received an email from a guest whom has sent me some terribly interesting things in the past which made me smile. AND now this morning the Gossip that apparently Merr passes time on the boat identifying different cloud formations?! Really? Which is an incredibly interesting hobby- LUCKILY the email link to the cloud formations site (which is very cool)
http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/cloud-tags/cloudalikes/

was also accompanied by this picture :

Which was really fabulous evidence of Merr's ability to pay attention to whether the clouds are of the cirriform category, stratiform category, or cumuliform category AND the rods simultaneously! That's a great fish especially for a 23 year old's biggest sturgeon!

Photography

2011-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Technology is really my friend, I could probably never maintain this blog without the help of the smartphone camera, or digital cameras in general.

One thing that does make me a bit upset is that the hundreds of thousands of people who have run out and bought professional grade DSLR's in the last 7 or 8 years don't seem to bring them fishing OR if they do, they are too darn busy catching fish to take pictures and send them to me!

I am calling out to you- If you've got one of those ridiculously bulky black boxes that mimics the design of the human eye (except it wouldn't even fit in the eye socket of a giant), kicking around collecting dust in your house- BRING IT next time!
Even if you're a crappy photo taker- I can edit! OR even better I can come along and take 80's style glamour shots of you catching fish!

Here are some great shots from the last week. I love the jumping shots!

lucky ducky

2011-09-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

There is recurring theme that occurs when I speak to a guide on the phone about scheduling, etc. they often have to hang up on me because their clients have hooked a fish... Thus I am Lucky.

In social psychology this is due to a confirmation bias, probably due to an attribution error in schematas, or in reality it probably has something to with the guide being distracted, allowing the client to loosen up and make the perfect cast to catch the perfect fish.

I don't necessarily think that I personally bring good luck to the boat (at all), but I DO THINK that this client is lucky because this is the first Coho I haev seen this season! Hatchery one too! Beauty!

wow- Sorry!

2011-09-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten about September during a pink salmon year. Honestly I am not sure if the memories from 2007, and 2009 were ever consolidated because it is a month where I don't sleep.

All I can really do is give you the last couple of weeks in pictures, and a very nice comment from a blog reader.
KEEP IN MIND- September is like one big day, I don't remember when the fish were caught... Sometime in recent memory. it could have been yesterday even?! Sometime in the last two weeks. There are some beauties!

Hi Ria, I had the opportunity of fishing with Tyler (Sept 7 & 8) as part of Bayer CropScience group. The salmon fishing wasn’t great but I realize we were between sockeye and pink runs. We still got a few pinks and the sturgeon fishing was great. What impressed me the most was that everyone in our group (3 Boats) was happy with their captain. Tyler showed a professional approach to what we wanted and was upbeat and positive through the whole day, no matter what rookie mistakes we made. Be thankful that you have good quality people in place because that is hard to find now adays. Thankyou again for a memorable experience and I hope to see you next year with my family. Bruce Mathieu Enchant AB P.S. keep on blogging Ria!!

This one is a collage of a clients trip to BC- obvioulsy much of it is from the Island as well.

cancellation

2011-09-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, Sorry to not be posting something exciting. Hopefully my creative energy will kick back in after a busy week of being sold out... This week is almost the same EXCEPT-
we've had a last minute cancellation for tomorrow. I am looking to sell the boat and will give you a nice discount if you can book to fill the spot so our guide doesn't miss out on a day of work during Pink Salmon season!

Here is tasty image from yesterday to possibly entice you?

604-796-3345

It's over!

2011-09-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

The exclamation point at the end of the title is well deserved. Compared to the Massive Sockeye run last year, our guides actually had to put in a bit of effort to catch the prized Sockeye (poor babies). It is a fun meat fishery, but does it ever wear a person out quickly! My arms were sore from casting even only going out once!

I am excited for Pink Salmon season, it is creeping up quickly as this week moves forward. Each day the test fishery totals get higher, so all I can say is bring it on!
A bunch of our guides are out catching pinks on the fly as we speak.
One thing I must say about this year is how good the Chinook fishing has been, and continues to be!
Here are some nice shots.

In this one Grandma has out fished grandpa :)

Sturgeon fishing has been great as usual. It will be nice when the Pinks move up the Harrison and we can start having more action packed days on the gorgeous Harrison. Any day now! Here come the 17+millions pinks!

Boats for tomorrow

2011-08-30T08:07:00.001-07:00

We have a few boats available for tomorrow if you're interested in getting out for a 1/2 day or more!

Family Day

2011-08-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

The fishing has been quite good, I've heard several rumours of Pinks being caught down at the mouth of the Vedder, glad to hear they're on time!
Sockeye fishing was a bit slow yesterday afternoon, but for us jockeying for a spot at 2pm on a busy, hot, sunny Sunday was probably a bad call anyways.

Sturgeon fishing was awesome- clearly from my first person account I MIRACULOUSLY made it out on Chad's day off (poor guy).

Long story - my cousins-brother-from-another-mothers family was over from the UK and the Tolofson/Bygraves hospitality is always second to none regardless of the situation. Chad's a sucker, so I used his fishing skills to return such favors as; days out in London, England (several times over), many a pub night, and always a good laugh on behalf of my favorite cousin!

We started with Salmon with the idea of catching our dinner... ha ha. Today I have sore arms, I remember now why it's best for beginners to sturgeon fish!

Here's what we came up with after umpteen hundred terrible casts and a defeated loss against the MANY salmon that swam by us....

BEAUTIFUL STURGEON!

Sorry it was nearly dark so Jo's fish picture didn't turn out that good!

Apologies...

2011-08-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

My apologies for being completely absent from any form of blogging or Facebooking for the past little while.

One of our greatest former assets passed away late last week. Sherry Porcina was the "script writer" helping to guide this company to it's success for over five years. She worked at Fred's Custom Tackle, and was the keeper of the Guiding Company's books and my office partner, and mentor for several years. Not only was she extremely talented at her job, she was also a great friend. She will be greatly missed and my heart goes out to her boys and her husband.

The weekend was busy, lots of boats getting their limits on Sockeye, it's still open until further notice which is nice! Pinks are very slowly rolling in and they should be in large numbers over the next 2 weeks! I look forward to fly fishing very soon...

Sturgeon has been awesome, nice to not have super hot afternoons! Here is the week in a few pictures! We hope to hear from you especially if you're looking to get out for some Sockeye, it could be the last chance this week!

I love this Story!

2011-08-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

First and Foremost- SOCKEYE IS NOW OPEN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! WooHoo!

Here is an awesome tale of a Sturgeon Convert! Published in several BC Newspapers, written by one of our clients- Adam Less.

HERE IS THE STORY!

An appreciative fist bump goes out to all Fraser River sturgeon this week.

As far as fishing the Fraser River is concerned, a lot of different fish compete for anglers’ attention. Shiny, fat, tasty Chinook, Sockeye and Coho are the brand giants of Fraser river fishing.

Sturgeon, on the other hand, always seem to get a bad rap. These ugly, spiny, old, bottom-feeding relics rarely receive equal billing when up against the allure of fishing for legendary, BC salmon.

This past week, my Brother-in-law, Redneck Rick, and I made the several hour trip to the Lower Mainland, eager to fish the mighty Fraser and bring home a couple of impressive King Salmon, in hopes our wives would see us as the testosterone-filled, chest-thumping hunter gatherers we’d like to think we are.

By the way, I call my brother-in-law a redneck (much to his chagrin), because as far as I’m concerned, if you own a hundred baseball caps, and all of them have the logo of either a brewery or auto parts manufacturer on them, you qualify.

We arrived for our fishing trip late in the afternoon, only to discover on check-in, the Chinook had apparently all left some days earlier to vacation in Arizona. Not a single Chinook salmon had been caught in nearly a week.

As an alternative, BC Sportfishing Group, our fishing guide company (these guys are outstanding, by the way, and I’m not just saying that in the hopes they’ll comp me my next six hour charter), suggested we consider Sturgeon fishing instead.

With no other realistic options available to us, we reluctantly altered our plans and booked a six-hour catch and release, Sturgeon fishing charter for the following day.

Early the next morning, we met our guide, Mike, at the boat and made our way up the Fraser to drop anchor.

Not half an hour into fishing, the sturgeon began to strike... one after the other. The first was nearly four feet long and fought like a Real Orange County Housewife at a 50% off Prada sale.

The fish just kept getting bigger and fighting harder.

Within two and a half hours we’d landed five monster sturgeon and were struggling to keep up with the action.

By the time it was all over, both Rick and I were converts, eager for our next opportunity to hit the Fraser and land more of these decades-old, gilled dinosaurs.

I suppose you could describe this week’s column as more of a fishing story, than a marketing piece. And yet, as always, there is a lesson here, if you read carefully enough between the lines.

In reality, there is little difference between battling a sturgeon or a chinook. For most anglers, the experience and satisfaction from both is virtually the same.

But while sturgeon so often get overlooked, salmon take the spotlight and draw anglers from around the world as BC’s prized river catch.

The truth is for river fishing, as with most things, when it comes right down to it, perception is all that really separates a trophy fish from a forgotten, bottom-feeder.

Sturgeon make for great fishing.

Salmon just have a better marketing team.

Sockeye Salmon Opens Tomorrow

2011-08-12T13:47:00.001-07:00

Saturday August 13th is the official Sockeye Salmon opening! Yay- time to fill the freezer for the wonderful BBQ's ahead!

Call us 1-877-796-3345

Mortality Study...

2011-08-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Once again the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is organizing a hook and release sockeye mortality study. The dates if you'd like to participate are August 15-19, August 22-26 and August
29 to September 2. They leave Island 22 boat launch at 7:30am and head over to Grassy Bar.

If you're interested in participating as part of your fishing trip- just let our office know!

Otherwise here we are catching and releasing (fly fishing)on the upper Pitt River eralier this week, these pictures are fabulous!
Thanks Erik!

"Thanks for a great day Erik. Lots of fun..Mike and Scott had a great adventure and we appreciate the effort and professionalism you put into the trip. We'll be in touch about future trips.

Cheers

Guy"

Fishing, fishing, and more fishing.

2011-08-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

Rather than my weekly attempt to add some creativity to the wonderful world of sport fishing- I will give you the low down (or at least my version) of what the heck is going on out there on the raging river waters of the Lower Mainland.

First and foremost my favorite- the one where I can't personally make the time to go- The Upper Pitt River.
The water has been odd this year, it's glacial fed, and to fish for Salmon successfully you need the water to be coloured just enough, but not blown. FINALLY the weather has turned enough a.k.a. BC Style heat wave, to allow the perfect amount of clarity and run off for both the fish to move up and be eager to nab your gorgeous-hand-tied-by-Erik Skaaning-himself fly presentation.
Luckily for those who booked near the "end of the run" it seems like it has really just started, the fish are a tad behind schedule so if you felt like you missed out for this year- you didn't. I have the 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th open. Collectively we can make Erik even more eager for hunting season in 3 weeks by making him work harder.

Second Favorite- Fraser River- It's higher than normal still, obviously that is what happens when you wake up each day believing Summer has skipped the beautiful province in which we live. So finally she showed up. The water is now officially dropping volume faster than my sister-in-law on weight watchers.

Sturgeon has been on, pretty sure it never turned off. Big fish, little fish, lots of fish, nice fish. I love them all!

As for the Salmon- Sockeye test fisheries are showing more coming through this year than the same time last year. The Albion test fishery was 116 yesterday versus 76 last year! Ummm, Wow! Fingers crossed things go good at the fisheries management meeting today.

Chinook- the river still needs a bit more clarity to bar fish, so we're stuck bottom bouncing and in that instance your chances are about 20 to 1 ratio per Sockeye to Chinook. I am going to make my F.H. (future husband) take me for a celebratory bar fish after my exams next week - assuming the water is somewhat clearer. It's only getting better on a day by day basis.

That's all I have to say for today! I will keep everyone posted on the Sockeye opening!

Here is a pic from a Danish group that came in August instead of November-refreshing change!

Family Day

2011-07-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yves took Beccie's family from the office last weekend- nice boys day out!

This fish was caught first thing (ten minutes after Yves dropped anchor. Nice day- and first time fishing for Bradley!

Our first Chinook trip of the year

2011-07-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

With the extremely high water we have been faced with on the Fraser River there has not been that much excitement or buzz over opening day for our 2011 salmon fishing season. Our first salmon trip was yesterday and Merr gave our clients a taste of what will soon be the norm. Below is a nice Chinook from yesterdays trip. Prime August dates are still available, call the office 1-877-796-3345 to book your salmon trip!

Shut Down Time.

2011-07-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

I just finished what was probably the busiest weekend of my lifetime thus far. This morning I sat at my desk and honestly, I keep taking "time-outs" to stare at this picture and project myself to this gravel bar. (Erik can you pick ME up at 5:30am tomorrow?!)

Last year, this group of guys didn't have a very good day, by not very good I mean- I don't think they landed a thing- but they came back (as usual!) Obviously they seriously honed their fly fishing skills over the winter! I've also thrown in some giant Sturgeon shots for those that are like me and don't ever have an entire day to devote to serenity on the Upper Pitt River - a couple beauties from the awesome- Dan Hartlen.

Guide Profile- Erik Skaaning

2011-07-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

In an effort to get back on track- I picked the most challenging person to write about. Ultimately, Erik's personality is dichotimous. You can break it down in to to the sum of it's parts, but as a person he is irreducilby Erik.

The parts are:

Red neck extraordinaire- check out his you tube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/EriksAngling and the bow hunting video 2010 under his favorites. He spent six weeks in the bush last summer guiding for bighorn sheep for "something different". Insane maybe.

Neat Freak extraordinaire- in fact, if something is out of place, Erik notices. yesterday he stopped in here and left water droplets on the desk. he proceeded to wipe them off with his sleeve then proceeded to dust the rest of the desk area while he was at it!

Ultimate Fly Angler Extraordinaire- sure we all have passions, but Erik is nutso. He plans and hand ties all his own flies WAAAY in advance of the season. Other guides are preparing a week before- Erik's got his lined up about a year in advance. He probably has all his pink salmon flies tied for up to 2015.

Sturgeon Hunter Extraordinaire- Admittedly, Erik really isn't your man if you want to use conventional or spinning gear. In fact he loathes it, BUT he treats sturgeon fishing like stalking game. Honestly, if they made a solid underwater game camera, Erik would probably have a whole bunch set up on the Fraser and check them weekly. He has for coyotes and deer at his mum's house in Aldergrove...

Here is a picture from yesterday- one of Erik's favorite places to fish- The Upper Pitt. Yes he goes by himself frequently, and not only with clients. That's passion.

Erik with his lovely twins- who I might add are PERFECT angels (AND they clean up after themselves).

This is when Erik came back from six weeks in the bush and couldn't eat wild game nightly for over 40 days. Pretty sure he puked after the first deer steak he cooked up when he got home...

Happy Clients- Happy Office Staff :)

2011-07-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Griggs Family for making our afternoon !!! xoooxxooo

Double Header

2011-07-04T12:52:00.001-07:00

Okay so it's been a couple of months beofre anyone has sent me a picture of a double header- glad to see these guys weren't ignoring the rods while the other was fighting a fish!

Henrik and Oliver Haggren from Denmark. Oliver has been wanting to catch a sturgeon for several years after watching a dvd on sturgeon fishing in Canada. A family vacation here gave him the opportunity, so his dad brought him out sturgeon fishing. Oliver was super stoked to catch his dream fish.

Before the iPhone....

2011-07-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

I just remembered blogging prior to the days we had a iPhones, the pictures were days or even weeks old.
Now lucky me- camera phones give me an almost real-time look at how things are going out there! Hopefully Tony invests in a Go-Pro sometime soon and we can have live action shots from his boat! Yay!

This picture is from today. HAPPY CANADA DAY everyone!

Today

2011-06-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Okay so it isn't nearly as nice as yesterday out- but it's perfect fishing weather!
Pictured is a fish from this morning.
I should tell that I heard this morning that this guy is SO old he doesn't even buy green bananas. This was after the whole group tried to convince me that they were born in 1987.

Accolade

2011-06-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Ria,
Just wanted to thank you guys for a memorable Father's Day! Chad was a great guide and good company. Everything, the fishing, the lunch, the day was excellent. We will definitely be back!
Regards, Tom

The Art of Flyfishing

2011-06-18T09:55:00.001-07:00

Fly Fishing is definitely an art form. It all about presentation and coordination, and having a fabulous guide to put you int he places where the fish are! Here are some pictures of an Upper Pitt expedition earlier this week. This is one of the most beautiful places in British Columbia; absolutely pristine, and loaded with fish!

Shady McAdie- Guide profile #3...

2011-06-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Third Guide Profile

2011-06-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryC54cEtH4o&feature=youtu.be

Check it out!

That's MINE!

2011-06-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

You know a picture says a 1000 words, except this one tells two stories. I am pretty certain that's the fish I hooked into the other day and he shook the line so darn hard I lost him. I am glad to see someone got him... looks like the same spot- way to be inventive Chad.

Has anyone forgotten that IMMEDIATELY following the Canucks Stanley Cup win is father's day?! Hey people- get booking that fishing trip with Dad! Your hangover will be cured by the fresh air and sunshine on the boat. We all know that packed pubs and packed arenas will make your skin pasty, give you a beer belly, and make your head pound. Surprisingly there is an all natural cure for these ailments- Fishing! Beat that bloat, tan that skin, and breathe deep the fresh oxygen!

First Fish!

2011-06-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hello All! My next guide feature should be quite fun. Chad is my next target, except I hope to have a video of him because yesterday we went filming with this lovely friend of mine- Corrin from Shaw Cable! It airs Friday on Shaw TV.

We caught 4 fish in total (we weren't fishing for very long). I had a few "whoa- swing and a miss!" moments, at one point I actually had a fish that looked to be over four feet but I lost the poor bugger- he was obviously camera shy!

Anyways, this is a picture of Corrin's first ever fish! It's awesome to introduce someone to something that is completely out of the ordinary! I believe her filming/interviewing routine was a bit displaced seeing as almost every time she started to interview someone, we happened to get a bite! Special thanks to Ted from Sandpiper for coming out and setting hooks! Nice way to start the day!

Yesterday

2011-06-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here is another one from yesterday- perfect way to end the fishing day!

Today!

2011-06-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

The best question is "when is the best time for Sturgeon fishing?" The obvious answer is "anytime." However, my own personal response is- SUMMER TIME!
Honestly, who the heck wouldn't want to be out on the water when it's a beautiful? I would much rather be fishing than be at work. Maybe Monday afternoon (my Friday), we'll head out, oh wait- there's a Canucks game. Scrap this whole post, I'd rather be cheering for the Canucks than fishing OR sitting outside in the sunshine!

This picture is from today- these guy will be evicted form the boat at approximately 4pm for his guide to make it back to the couch in time to watch the game at 5pm.
Guides have priorities too. Fish by day, cheer by night.
Go Canucks Go!

Fatty, fat, fat, fat...

2011-06-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that every time I've been on the boats with clients that someone had always said "here fishy, fishy, fishy".

Well this spring that's not necessarily the childhood slogan- this time i t's more taunting- "fatty, fat, fat, fat". For some reason the fish right now are just massive- similar to the Fall!

Here's a couple nice ones from yesterday and the day before!

Seven foot ten, and a nine foot four.

Mr. Sprogsters

2011-05-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Back to personality:

Merr, Anthony, Sprangers, Asprang, Mr. Sprogsters (this one he doesn't know about yet... hehe), Merv (this is when people mis-hear your name and they'll never call you the correct name for as long as you live- yes I'm Ri-ta- ha!). Pretty sure before Merr retired to become a fishing guide he was known as Tony in the electrical contractor world.

Around 15 years ago Merr retired as an electrician to devote his life to the wonderful world of Sturgeon fishing, that being said he is also an avid fly fishermen and Salmon angler. Merr is probably the youngest old guy that I know. His environmental adaptability is extreme in most cases; alcohol causes him to mimic the giddiness and excitability of a 19 year old boy. Pumpkin growing or any form of gardening in general causes him to mimic the giddiness and excitability of ummm... Brian Minter? The two pictures below reflect the former and the latter.

YES those are TWO GIANT pumpkins!

Merr is probably the most calm and collected person on the water that I have met, but his patience always pays off- as you can see below!

This is strange that the ONLY pictures I have of Merr with fish are also with beautiful women...

Happy Anthony!

Buy your Dad a tie.

2011-05-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

To celebrate BC's Family Fishing Weekend we are offering boats for $609 (up to four people). This is for 8 hours of fishing. This is our one person rate, thus it is an excellent deal if you want to celebrate Father's day and Family Fishing weekend Fishing in Style! BC residents are exempt from buying licences on this weekend also! Yay! This is June 18th and 19th. Call us to book! A great idea to celebrate with your Dad! It's about ten million times better than a new tie!

Personality...

2011-05-16T15:45:00.001-07:00

Since guiding for sturgeon boomed in the weekend warrior department (I'd say the peak was 2008 or 09), I've really been contemplating what we offer compared to all the others that guide individually or run guiding companies much like ours. Most guides these days have a bank loan for a super fancy jet boat (oh the joys of living in seemingly recession-proof Canada), mostly everybody has good gear, many of the other guys have knowledge about how to sturgeon fish, or are capable of faking it (yes we may have been the pioneers in this business, but almost everywhere you go, someone will follow). So it leads me to wonder - what do we do different? We have somewhere around 95% repeat business (Thank you corporate Canada and Europeans alike!), so besides exuding incredible awesomeness in the administrative/organizational department and being question answering machines seven days a week from 8am to 4 pm how else are we different?

Of course being a Psychology major I think: like all others, like no others. It's really in the PERSONALITY (Good lord I've paid $30,000 for that useless knowledge)! THEREFORE, I've decided to end my working week this week with a guide feature which I will continue until:

a) all our staff hate me for posting pictures and making fun of them

b) it's deemed off topic and inappropriate from the big nood-e-boss man.

HENCE, here's Mike in not so many words, and many pictures.

This is Mike with his brother Paul, they share a brotherly love that is at times probably questioned by their significant others.

Aren't they adorable? They've been bonding via fishing for many many many years.

This is Mikes super-duper awesome family, they're smiling awkwardly because Mike probably decided it was no pants day on his boat and when he stood up to take the picture they decided to call the lawyer to find out how disown their eldest child.

Here is Mike with two of his best friends Hoff and Soper, they actually don't like Mike they just like how he catches them big fish and has a fancy jet boat to take them out in. this is probably the reason you should pretend to be friends with Mike too.

This picture doesn't need any comment. If you think of something appropriately witty, please post it on our Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BC-Sport-Fishing-Group-Ltd/147793765992

Lastly, these are the two most important things that make Mike a responsible, sometimes normal individual: his dog Gord and his super kick-ass wife Miranda.

Happy Fishing- don't be a guide hater- book one for your next fishing trip!

Awesomeness

2011-05-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

It's funny how people send accolades almost a year later. I'm glad to know we leave a lasting impression!

"We went sturgeon fishing with you guys last year. I just found these pics and thought you might like them!! I have some more of the fish in the water splashing around but Im sure you see hundreds of those - let me know if you want me to send them :)

Thanks for a great time and a great guide! he thought it was the best birthday ever

thanks again

Robyn"

Tony is on his last day before he heads to the Grand Prarie Oil Show- if you're going to be there be sure to head over to our booth and make sure he is working!

Pretend or Juxtaposition?

2011-05-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

On my Facebook post today I decided to pretend today is yesterday outside (obviously my back is to the window in this office!).

But on here I will just Juxtapose the two days...

YESTERDAY

TODAY (okay I honestly expected them to be soaked...) They must've waited to catch fish when the rain stopped...

22 fish so far this week with 1 over 9 feet, 1 over 8 feet, 1 over 7 feet, and 2 others over 6 feet!

Rain rain go away...

2011-05-09T09:40:00.001-07:00

Finally for the first time in what seems like forever the rain has stopped, the golfers are coming out of hibernation, and the fish, well they've been there all winter, but they're just waiting for you to catch them! Sturgeon in the Spring, especially once it starts to warm up like today, are hungry.

It is really the perfect time to get out on the river, no crowds, just nature at it's finest.We've been doing lots of trips out of the Vancouver area, but when I look around at the scenery here, it's really unbelievable. Everything seems so green and lush. Here is a picture from yesterday. Alison is a seasoned pro at fishing with us! Wish Tony luck, he headed to the Canyon with Mark and Alison today- last time he did that in May his guest hooked into an eleven footer!

I Forgot!

2011-05-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

I have officially been back in the office for a week now and I forgot we have a BLOG! Social Media is a crazy thing- it's the best way to get real time info, the easiest way to be bogged down with information overload, and the greatest for learning other people's fish stories!

Between twitter, Facebook, hopefully a whole bunch of youtube videos, and this blog it's easy to get excited about fishing!

I look forward to the new season- I hope to see all of our clients smiling returning faces sooner, rather than later! Happy 2011 fishing season everyone- I will keep the blog as entertaining and relevant as possible over then next 7 months! Tight Lines! Here is my favorite picture of 2011 thus far...

Spring time in the Fraser Valley

2011-04-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

There have been some great fishing days this past week. The Sturgeon fishing has been good despite the unsettled weather and the trout fishing on the Harrison has been good as well. We have a lot more boats going out from now on so we will be updating the blog on a more regular basis. Fortunately Ria will also be back on the 26th. She is much more creative and has a way of providing real time reports! Here are a few shots from yesterday.

2011-04-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

It has been far to long since our last post. (Tonys fault)' The fishing has been good for both Steelhead and Sturgeon fishing and now is prime time for Cutthroat fishing on the fly as well.

Some of our best sturgeon fishing opportunities come during the beginning of Freshet. Book your trip now! Here are a few shots from the last few days.

We still have some good April and may dates available. 1-877-796-3345

2011-02-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

Its almost time to get the 2011 fishing season started!

Well we are still fighting a few cooler days of winter weather here and there but overall the Fraser valley has been fairly mild this year! We could do with a little less rain but i guess that is the trade off for having year round open water fishing opportunities! Steelhead fishing has been good for the past few weeks and we are seeing plenty of fish in the high teens both wild and hatchery! March is always a great time to get out on one of our walk and wade tutorials. We offer teaching guides for both gear and fly fishers.

Sturgeon fishing Charters have been limited lately due to weather and the well needed rest our guides have earned after an extremely busy 2010 fishing season. We have had a few boats out on the water this past week and although the fishing was not fast and furious the end result was a couple of beautiful fish up to 6 ft 10 inches. Every week now we will see an improvement in weather and with that will come charters and more frequent reports! If you are looking for a last minute trip give us a call and we will get you out for a great day on the water! 1-877-796-3345

The Guides are getting restless!

2011-01-31T14:08:00.000-08:00

It is only the end of January and most years our guides would be busy hitting the ski slopes, dealing with the honey do list, or just hibernating (Merr) ! But this past week i have had several guides call me to say "we are ready to go" . The weather here in British Columbia's Fraser Valley has been pretty mild this winter and the conditions are great for a little winter fishing. The Fraser River is in prime shape for some trout fishing, and the Sturgeon fishing has been quite good as well! This past week we had fish to 7 feet with good numbers of fish on most days. We fished the lower Fraser for 2 days and had a combined catch of over 30 sturgeon. The re-cap rate was only 30%, not bad for winter fishing! As long as the weather remains mild the good winter Sturgeon fishing should remain strong. The Vedder river is another good bet with Steelhead fishing beginning to turn back on this past week. Allow one of our teaching guides to help you learn more about Steelhead behavior and methods used to catch them.

BC Sport Fishing Group will be in Calgary this week at the Boat and Sportsman show from Thursday through Sunday. Come and say hi, we will be in booth 510.

The summer and fall are booking up fast so if you are looking to fish in 2011 call the office at 1-877-796-3345 or e-mail us at info@bcsportfishinggroup.com and get your dates booked in.

It is Trade Show Season!

2011-01-19T10:57:00.001-08:00

Well we are just back from our first trade show of 2011! It is great to see the interest and commitment for the 2011 sport fishing season. We have 4 more shows to do between now and June so if you want to get booked in for 2011 call the office at 1-877-796-3345 or 1-604-796-3345 to see whats left!

2011 promises to be a good year for Steelhead (Feb-April) Sockeye (Aug) and Pink (Sept) Here are a few great shots to get your Steelhead and Salmon fishing interest renewed.

Steelhead - Feb -April

Sockeye Salmon - August

Pink Salmon - September

Of course our year round trophy Sturgeon fishery cannot be ignored!

2011-01-01T12:48:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! We wish you all a great year in 2011.

2011 is already shaping up to be a great year in business for BCSFG, and the fishing is forecast to be strong again this year as well. . 2011 is a Pink salmon year, and our Sockeye returns in August are expected to be around 15 million fish as well! Add in strong fall Coho, Chinook, and Chum salmon and we are in for a banner year.

Sturgeon fishing is great year round and our remote fly fishing trips offer some of the best trout fishing anywhere! June and July are prime time for the upper Pitt!

July through November is booking up fast so plan your dates and give the office a call 1-877-796-3345

Salmon fishing anyone!

Pitt river bull trout

Double header Sturgeon action

2010-12-24T12:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Here are a few shots from the past few days on the river!

Book a trip over the holidays!!

1-877-796-3345

2010-12-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

Well, 1 week before Christmas! Gift Certificates are a great way to reward good clients, employees, or to share a day with loved ones. Gift certificates are available for complete packages, daily trips, or in dollar credit towards a fishing trip or wildlife tour! They can be sent out electronically to anywhere in the world with in a few hours! Give us a call at 1-877-796-3345 to give that special gift.

Here are a few more great shots from our 2010 sport fishing season!

Introduce the next generation to sport fishing and conservation

All Sturgeon caught by BC Sport Fishing Group are tagged, measured and released as part of the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society tagging program!

Gary Lagdon with an October 2010 fly caught Coho, yes he is wearing a tux!

A perfect Fraser River Sturgeon!

Here our Swedish guests enjoy a Fraser canyon fish

Year end review!

2010-12-12T14:34:00.001-08:00

Over the winter months our trips are a little less frequent. We will update with recent trips as photos come in but for now we will choose a couple of high light shots over the 2010 sport fishing season! Keep in mind 2011 prime time dates are filling up fast! Our first trade show of the year is only 1 month away! here are a few shots to get us started!

Here is Marc with his largest sturgeon ever!

Joe with a beautiful fall Chinook salmon (John Wilson photo)

Here is a friendly little cub photographed on a Sturgeon trip in the Fraser Canyon. The scenery up there is amazing as is the wildlife!

Last Week....

2010-11-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

We had a few people who braved the cold snap last week and it totally paid off! Sturgeon fishing was excellent as it usually is in November! The salmon picture makes me look forward to four years from now!

Don't forget about us for your chritsmas gift ideas!

Returning the Dignity... / Christmas Gift Ideas

2010-11-26T13:52:00.000-08:00

This is to help Rob fell like a man again after I posted the neoprene wader's shots... This was the biggest fish from the week at a whopping 8 and half feet!

I am stuck, and the big guy is supposed to pop down the chimney in under 30 days. I wish people in my family fished because then I might have a clue what to buy them:

Here are gift ideas for those who fish- all of these you can purchase by calling our office/emailing

1) Fly Kits of local patterns for next year's Pink salmon run...

2) Walk and wade tutorial trips for steelhead on the Vedder/Chilliwack River (get dialed in before it starts)

3) Gift Certificate for your loved one to take a guided sturgeon fishing trip. Available in any denomination.

4) Folbe Rod Holders- yes this is a great gift for someone with a boat!

5) I have to plug the sturgeon society on this one- Adopt your loved ones special fish! If they've been out this year and caught an amazing fish- Adopt it and help us to learn more about these amazing dinosaurs through your donation! For this one you have to call the Fraser River Sturgeon Society!

Fall 2011

2010-11-22T08:06:00.001-08:00

Just a heads up to those who would like to come fishing with us in Fall 2011 for the Pink Salmon run- the remaining dates are becoming quite limited. It's the most pre-booked that I have seen yet, so be sure to give us a ring or an email to secure the dates you want!

Stay warm!

604-796-3345

It's a Love Story...

2010-11-20T10:36:00.000-08:00

If mushy stuff makes you queasy, then stop reading!

The Griggs party came for a week in early October with some great friends. The ladies were going to enjoy the spa at the Harrison Resort and the men were going out to round up some sturgeon each day. The ladies decided to join on the second day, but only for one day. I told them I thought they might really like it, but one day for now was fine. By the end of the week, they had gone everyday with the Gents and were in Love!

Tanny and Rob enjoyed the trip SO MUCH that a month later they are BACK AGAIN for a week! This time with some different great friends! This time around it's a little different, colder, windier, and snowy. Rob definitely just made the trip one to remember and a BC Sport Fishing Group first by asking Tanny to marry him!

I look forward to being in the wedding party next fall (ha ha)! Congrats you two!

How Could any Beautiful Lady Resist a Guy Who Looks this Good in Neoprenes?!

Moral of the story: Ladies- if you're looking for a ring- Go fishing! Here are some more shots from the trip:

Rain or Snow?

2010-11-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

I am currently undecided whether I'd prefer fishing in the rain or the snow.

Either way I am glad to be stuck in here because behind the smiles of the crews that went out this morning was chattering teeth! The sun is shining- I hope it warms up a bit!

48 inch girth

2010-11-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

Really- that's what Jordi said. Time to go on a winter diet of leftovers.... This one was Friday. You have got to love how healthy the fish are in November!

This Made my Week!

2010-11-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

This was a couple of weeks ago now (sorry anglers, but you all tend to shy away from the excellent fishing in November because of an average 5 degree c temperature drop- if you want current news come fishing, or get the guides that are out right now to speed up their lines of communication) Ahem, anyways...

A couple of weeks ago I was graced with the presence of a legend... meeting these sorts just doesn't happen everyday, but you know when you start discussing their achievements to random strangers, that you've stumbled across one.

Legend- 79 years old-Stan.

North America has an aging population, it's inevitable, it's cyclical. Stan knows his fishing skills are not going to be what they used to be unless he works on them- therefore he works out just to battle mighty fish such as the White Sturgeon of the Fraser river.

Dedication is what makes a legend.

Here is Stan with several of the many fish he battled over a four day trip. The nine footer was the one that made my week. Most anglers have some trouble, but Stan- nope- not a CHANCE!

November or August?

2010-11-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Mike has come multiple times this year to go fishing. We had him hooked from his first sturgeon in May! I had to do a double take on these pictures Tony sent yesterday- was it from the late August trip? Or this trip? George is in the pictures and he didn't come in May or August so I have to assume this is November. How beautiful is it here?! Wow!

This year is still rocking, I can't hardly believe how good we've had it-Sunny Olympic weather and awesome February fishing, the record Sockeye opening, the great sturgeon fishing all summer & fall, the lack of rain in October, and now we are into the best month for sturgeon and it hasn't been stormy or below freezing yet. It's only getting better for the monster fish, there are so few guide boats on the water it makes the trip amazingly serene. Fall colours, no people, lots of fish. this is where you need to be!

604-796-3345

Gary the Magnificent

2010-11-04T09:19:00.001-07:00

After three seasons of working here I started to tell people I believed that coho were extinct; or likely the most elusive fish in the Fraser/Harrison. Then last year the word coho kept coming up in conversation and I started thinking their route to extinction must be experiencing some freakish variance. Then this year my theory was vanquished... primarily by Gary the Magnificent. I had to throw in some chum pictures anyways because they are more fun... plus someone other than Gary cause then you might think he is our only able angler!

We still have space for 2010, so feel free to book your days for November! Next fall is filling up fast so if you're planning on getting out here you'd better call soon! 604-796-3345

Shared Trip Available

2010-11-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

If anyone is interested I have a shared trip available. One of our (future) clients was given a gift certificate for his 14th Birthday and is looking for a shared trip for sturgeon. He can put $300 towards a 6 or 8 hour trip if you or, you and another are willing to share!

Call us if you're interested, weekends are preferred. We can offer you the six hour trip based on 2 plus the shared angler for $140 each plus tax!

All Cleaned Up...

2010-10-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

It is very difficult to tell the difference between fishermen on most days. Once they don their slimiest jacket, or the one thats the "luckiest" and put on their hat, you really can't tell who's- who on the water. Ability, style, and casting technique are some things you could identify if you watched an angler for a few hours, but it would take a trained eye. Gary's group shows up every year with an ingenious way to have a wee bit of fun on the water. One year called for classic Englishman's breeks, the next year brought out some beautiful colourful tartan in the form of kilts. For this year he had emailed me and said it would be Borat Man-kini's for the group, (he didn't miss a beat when I told him Chad already owned a fluro yellow version...).

I think the idea was set aside once they realized our sunniest and warmest October wasn't going to stick around for their stay... Here is what we ended up with- you need not worry about your long term vision, nothing was racy enough to be censored..

Some spiffed up fishermen with a couple nice looking coho, and a chum...

The pipe was not a part of the get up- it's always there!

Woody.

2010-10-28T08:50:00.001-07:00

This fish looks like a Lillooet River fish as it has the same nose as the fish typically caught up North! Crazy to think he must have been hungry enough to brave Hell's Gate!

Earl Masse played a fish which at first sight appeared to be approx 7 ft. for over an hour. Struggling through the rapids and back eddies we landed this sturgeon at least a mile down river. Earl was really exciting to land it as no one on the boat had ever caught a sturgeon this big.As I went to pull it in I saw a huge head and a smaller body. It turned out that this fish had tried to swollow a piece of wood the size of a cantalope and it had become totally stuck between its throat and lips! Andy and I could not pull it out on the first try but eventually dislodged it. "Woody" (Earl named him) measured at 253 cm or 8'3" with a head on him the size of a 9'3" and was happy to swim off to eat in comfort. Well done guys, lots of laughs!!!Shane

Chum Fishery Closing!

2010-10-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

It's good and it's bad, but most people who fish Chum do it for the fight, not the meat!

There will be no commercial opening this year that means there will LOTS of fish for all you fly anglers or conventional fisherman to get out and fight. It closes Sunday at Midnight on the Harrison- we hope to get you out there so you can experience the hardest fighting Salmon pound for pound!

Yesterday's Derby

2010-10-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Cantera Management sponsored a 20 boat charity derby for the Kwantlen Polytechnic scholarship fund.

Out of 14 guides that have reported back to me- a total of 218 fish were caught yesterday. One of the prizes yesterday went to the boat with the most Virgin Fish (untagged sturgeon)- there were 25 virgin fish caught on one boat!

A total of 136 sturgeon (so far in my totals) were tagged for the Fraser River Sturgeon conservation society- Thats a 62% new capture rate! Things look good! Thanks to everyone who participated and sponsored a boat!

Accolade...

2010-10-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Tony,

Just a quick note to thank you all once again for such a wonderful holiday, you guys sure are lucky to live somewhere so beautiful and have such great fishing on your doorstep!

We have fished with a number of guides in different countries, some were good, some not so good, some excellent and some awful.

We would like to reiterate how impressed we were with the guides working for BCSportfishinggroup, all three of them were utterly professional, knew their stuff and were also great guys. We would have no hesitations fishing with any of them again in the future.

We hate to single anyone out, but thought we should draw your attention to Mike, who was exceptional. His genuine joy/excitement when fish were caught was extremely refreshing and we loved the way he would have a gamble on trying new/lesser pressured spots, very similar to the way we like to fish.

Attached are a couple of pictures, please pass them onto Mike who commented how much he loved those pics.

Would you also mind passing on our email address to the Wrights?

Looking forward to returning soon!!

Kind Regards

Ian and Elizabeth

Right is Wright!

2010-10-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Some nice pics from the Wright party's trip to the Fraser!

Loads of Sturgeon, lots of Salmon!

Difference Makers- a sturgeon story

2010-10-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Difference Maker: a problem is something you can solve.

At the twice annual sturgeon series event (which raised over $18,000 for sturgeon) Rick Hansen shared his version of how the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society was formed.

He was sturgeon fishing with Fred Helmer back in the early 90's and Fred regaled Rick with a story of how he caught a 13 foot sturgeon (when there was a kill fishery in the 70's) and the sheer abundance of caviar that spilled from the fish made him realize that if harvesting of these magnificent fish continued, they would eventually reach their demise.

That day prompted Fred to become one of the first guides to practice catch and release only.

After hearing this story come from Fred's mouth, and after catching, fighting and releasing some sturgeon with Fred that day in the 90's, Rick was inspired. What could he do to make a difference? And thus the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society was born. This is a pioneer program showing how a little support can go a long way in species recovery! Over 40,000 fish have been tagged for the society by our guides and other volunteers. Rick's decision to be a difference maker has helped to promote a promising future for a species considered at risk.

I hope this little story inspires you to be a difference maker- consider adopting your next sturgeon! It's an amazing way to support the program and follow your fish through its incredibly long life! It's a good idea to come fishing first- then you can say you've met your adoptee face to face, who knows maybe your grandkids will meet him or her on the river one day long after you're gone!

Tight Lines

2010-10-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

So I lost some creative energy here, but Tony has gained- these are some fabulous pictures from this past week. The jumping shots on the Harrison look so good- sturgeon are antsy fighters!

And in the words of the British- THAT'S a proper Coho!!!

Great Shots!

2010-09-27T09:18:00.001-07:00

Hi Tony and the great lady’s in the office,

Please accept this email and pictures as my and my son’s gratitude to Yves and your firm for such an outstanding trip this past Saturday. I can not express enough how great it was to meet Yves and enjoy his expertise as a quality guide. Yves was very focused on the job at hand and ensuring we were informed and educated on sturgeon fishing. He was an all round great guide (person) we truly enjoyed being with. This is my 6^th trip with your firm and they have all been great! “O” yes we did catch a few sturgeon as well! J I am from Campbell River and have fished for many years in salt water and this experience tops them all except for the meat! J

Bets Regards........... Randy L.

Please ensure Yves gets to see these pictures as I do not have his email address, Thanks...............

Busy busy busy

2010-09-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

I just looked at my facebook post and realized I managed to write busy 4 times in the same 4 sentences. Just when I thought that there would be breathing room after sockeye... along comes October and November. Must have been the selective memory kicking in... here is a shot from today- Have a great weekend-

We have a couple of afternoon trips left for this weekend but thats about it! Book for October and November!

Fatty, Fat, Fat, Fat!!!!!

2010-09-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

Below are a few pictures from Merr's boat on the Gordon Food Service Day (I keep posting pics from this day because it was so beautiful out! The rain shots make me sad Summer is over...)

Merr said if he was this fat- he would stop eating...

This is an engorged sturgeon, surprisingly he still went after the bait ball, but hey from the looks of it he/she totally needed the exercise!

Gordon Food Service Day

2010-09-16T12:40:00.001-07:00

So we've been holding this event for 4 lovely years now- it is always the BEST dinner, and usually an even greater fishing day. I personally Love the 45 day aged Angus Steak after the day of fishing, but the guests usually love catching Sturgeon more!

This is such a great corporate event- here are some pictures of Josh's boat who caught the largest fish at 8 foot 3 (or 4?). This group combines girth and length for a Derby winner- pretty sure Lucas's boat got the title. I do believe Lucas puts everyone at BCSFG's jobs in jeopardy seeing how he can BOTH run the office and blow guests away with ridiculous amounts of fish. I would feel threatened if he didn't prefer firefighting to guiding! PHEW

Bad Weather, Great Day!

2010-09-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday morning and after taking the dogs out, I felt decidedly terrible. It was POURING! I had asked on of our clients to switch his trip from, what ended up being a beautiful sunny 20 degree Saturday, to Sunday so we could properly accommodate his group, I knew that he was hoping that Sunday would be just as nice. No such luck!

I was feeling a bit bad, but I also knew that the 3 boats he had booked were in the excellent hands of Jordi, Yves and Mike. Here's what he had to say...

Hi Ria

Had a great time and the guys were excellent as well. one of our group limited out on sox in 3 casts, tonne of fish out there. here's a pic of a little one we landed. When your having that much fun the weather doesn't matter.

Thanks again Mark

Swedish Roeballs.

2010-09-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, where we are graced with the Swede's presence and a mega desire for a HUGE sturgeon! They seem to be pulling them in quite nicely on this trip, lots of big ones! Here is a 220 cm. Anders Sundstrom 2nd largest of the week. Largest was 255 cm. Congrats!

SOCKEYE UPDATE

2010-09-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

THE SOCKEYE FISHERY IS STAYING OPEN THROUGH SEPTEMBER 19th!!!!!! Book soon, we had a sold out weekend and it keeps on going...

Call 1-877-796-3345

First Fish!

2010-09-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

This ones a nice dark looking Harrison Fish- Nice first fish for Chris Upright! Congrats!
This weekend is pretty much completely sold out except for an afternoon trip today and one left for tomorrow! Happy Labour Day weekend and Happy Back to Class!

Busy Busy Busy

2010-09-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Words do not even begin to describe how busy it is in here... here's a quickie update-
Sockeye is supposed to stay open not just past the long weekend- but for 2 MORE weeks... I secretly want it to stop so I may resume a normal life. Sturgeon fishing has been really good. It only gets better from here until the end of November.
We have officially entered the time of year where guides wake in the middle of the night crying out "ROD 2, ROD 2!" This is a pic from yesterday- Tony's boat. Rob from Whistler Cigar always brings one of his Aussie, British, or Kiwi employees to try out one of the best fisheries in the world!

Jack's First Sockeye!

2010-08-27T09:22:00.001-07:00

Jack aged 7 from Pitt Meadows - his first ever sockeye caught on the Fraser River!

This one is from Kees Van Rhee of Benchmark Realty- A beautiful sturgeon caught up in the Canyon!

Sockeye should remain open through the long weekend so book now! 1-877-796-3345

promised pictures...

2010-08-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

I had promised the double header shots last week-it took awhile but here they are! Worth the wait for sure!

"Quin Mah with his first salmon, a tasty sockeye. After catching some salmon for the bbq the group caught a 7.5 foot sturgeon. Maybe half hour later another 7.5 foot sturgeon while friends on the other boat land an eight footer."

merr

Sockeye Still Open...

2010-08-22T09:20:00.001-07:00

Sockeye fishing is still open until further notice! Tonight the West Coast Adventures Program airs on PBS - or you can check it out online!

Sturgeon fishing has been really good- lots of big fish- Biggest one this weeks was a 9 foot 3!

http://www.westcoastadventurestv.com/episode-guide/season-2/episode-11/sturgeon-fishing

finally...

2010-08-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

So patience is not exactly one of my stellar attributes, which makes this the first sockeye that I have both hooked -and landed (I also took the liberty of vaccuum packing him later). I lost about four others, funny how I caught it on Merr's boat on Friday the 13th.

There are a number of reasons why I don't catch many fish, such as; bad technique, joy of sitting on the boat rather than fishing, poor listening skills, and seeing how I am not a paying customer the guide has usually had one or two and could really care less about assisting me with a lost leader, or removing some extreme bird nesting occuring in the line...

After I removed my "bad luck prescence" to another boat Merr and his friend both got their limit.
Book your 4 hour sockeye trip without me and catch your limit! We have a few afternoon spaces left for the weekend.

Sturgeon fishing is awesome with the fresh bait the guides have kicking around!

1-877-796-3345
Tight Lines- Ria

Where are all the Four Footers?!

2010-08-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Seems like with the Sockeye opening our sturgeon trips that have gone out have caught big fish! Here is a pic from Tuesday. One of our clients came in today to tell me that his fathers tendons in his hands are grotesquely large from fighting this one (He's an old guy, guess that's what happens!) All reports are of big fish!

Tight Lines.

Psycho Salmon!

2010-08-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Yes we are out in full force this week trying to fill the freezers while the sockeye fishing is hot. Guides are working double time trying to get their families out on their boats after their working day is over to enjoy the dog days of summer, or maybe I should call it the Sockeye Days of Summer! It's a great time to be on the water! Above is a fish Ted caught on Monday evening. Nice catch! 1-877-796-3345

Celebration

2010-08-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

The Klinicke family was celebrating their Dad/Grandpa's birthday - this is a nice Chinook that went back to Washington state! Sockeye Salmon is open, this morning we started off one of our sturgeon trips with a double header! Things are looking up around here! 1-877-796-3345

IT'S ON!

2010-08-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Sockeye Salmon officially opens on Monday! Book your trip now!

1-877-796-3345

www.bcsportfishinggroup.com

SOCKEYE SALMON ???

2010-08-06T10:22:00.001-07:00

Stay posted for a Sockeye Salmon opening! Another meeting is happening this afternoon! Fingers crossed!

Family Day in the Canyon

2010-08-02T10:51:00.001-07:00

Smoky has been fishing with Shane for over 6 years now in search of that monster. After lots of patience and countless smaller sturgeon, this big game hunting/fishing fanatic finally celabrated with his family the catch and release of a 9'9". Congrats Dale, Lisa,Chase,Chance+Caleb Mohan for a fight of 2hrs. + 40 min. Good job!

Fisheries meets tomorrow regarding a sockeye opening. We will keep you posted of the resutls- we have our fingers crossed for this weekend.