Tuesday was spectacular weather, sunny, warm and clear with little or no wind and the perfect October tides where the Fraser Currents are often just steady enough to maintain the scent flow from the bait and keep the fish in the biting mood.
As I cranked up the line the weight showed up but the leader line was gone from the swivel........one of sturgeon fishings worst sins had occurred. It looked like the knot let go and there is no way to describe how dumb that feels.....but, that is fishing and it happens to the best of us.
Before too long my rod indicated a few tentative bumps but then nothing.......the lines were pulled in, the bait checked and after about three more declarations that "this is the last cast"bthe last cast was made. Just before the last cast was about to be pulled in Art's rod did the deep bend as another fish sucked in his bait and the circle hook went to work.
The hook was set and the reel began to scream. This fish did not break water so there was no telling just how big it was. This was definitely another "pull the anchor" fish and as we drifted downstream with the fish towing the boat in circles my estimate as to its size steadily began to increase. Eventually after about 25 minutes and a kilometer downstream this beast began to tire and I was already there, but managed to hang on so we could tow it to the beach and get a good look at it.
An interesting note in the slide show just above this text is the fact that the boat behind us is drifting farther and farther from the beach.......note to file, always drop the anchor to secure the boat BEFORE YOU START TAKING PICTURES.!!! It was not till the boat was completely gone from behind us and just starting to drift downstream with the main current that we twigged onto what was happening and I am happy to say the water was not above my chest waders when I raced out into the main river and was able to retrieve it!! (rookie moves to be sure!)
So if you want to see what the battle was like, just click on the buttons below.