"The Experience"

"The Experience" is what makes us time after time head out onto the river, lake or ocean in search of something that may not have anything to do with fishing.

We all have heard the stories about the catch or their friends catch and how big or long it took, or where they hooked it and some unknown secret place in the world. Is that what it's about? Is that the secret as to why people fish?

I would like to think it is something a little more, than just the bragging part, or the picture on the wall.

Around 10am I meet my clients and we head out for what is their first time Sturgeon fishing. It was an overcast day and the sun we had hoped for that day did not look like it was going to break through. We piled into the Thunder Jet and made our way up river.

As we got closer to where I was going to anchor down first today, I had a good feeling about the day. Maybe it was the excitement of the four from Victoria and their first venture, even in a Jet boat, but I was optimistic about what the day was going to bring us. We anchored down and I got the lines out in a nice relaxed fashion, with nothing to rush us this day. For me, this was a day of giving a true Experience. One, they had never Sturgeon fished before, Two, never been on a Jet boat and Three, had never been in the Upper Fraser River. If I couldn't offer "The Experience" to four rookies how was I going to be able to offer it time and time again to those would are veterans to the mighty Fraser and Sturgeon fishing?

Now, some outlooks of guiding and running a guiding company are this. Get them on boat, catch a fish, get them to boat launch and get ready for next clients. If you can do two trips in one day, even better. If you’re looking for a quick buck and money is the number one concern for you, then I would agree, maybe the "get em in, get em out" approach might work for a given time. If your looking to change people lives and their outlook not only on fishing but the beauty that surrounds us. Then I believe you take a more lasting approach which is high quality first, you build that, in time the financial side will take care of it's self.

As I threw that last line out and these thoughts were surfacing, I saw a hit on one..My heart stopped for a quick second. I don't care how long you have been fishing or if you think you're the king of the Sturgeon Fishing world. When you have new people on the boat and you get a hit soon as you get into a hole, (there is no better feeling). Right away, my thoughts and feelings of trying to make this the ultimate fishing day for them all evaporated. We were good to go, first fish on in less than a couple minutes from putting down. It wasn't huge only about four and a half feet, but for someone who has not caught a Sturgeon before, that’s a massive fish. As we got the first fish in, I instructed on how we were going to go through the tagging process and how they could help. All went smoothly and everyone had something to do, as we made the process quick and effortlessly released the first back into the river.

As we got the gear back into the water and settled into conversation about the first fish and how the tagging and releasing went, it wasn't long before a big hit on the inside rod. Right away, we were back into the game again. Second time around everyone was a little more relaxed and aware of what had to be done to make the process of getting the fish in, recording date and taking quick picture before releasing again. So everyone aboard did their part in getting ready to do so. This one was a little bigger a little over five and a half feet, still not a monster but they were very excited.

This game continued on for a little while until in one of our dry times, of waiting to get another hit, something had happened. The Sun came out. Now this was a nice relief, not only does it right away have everyone in an upbeat, energetic mood but it makes "The Experience" just a little bit more special.

As we sat there, across the river we spotted a healthy Black Bear that was cruising around for anything he could eat. As we noticed him, (all of us now looking in that direction) we spotted a doe and fawn down river drinking and walking around. This is not going where you think it might be. No the bear never attacked the deer, never the less; it was a moment of being totally one with our surroundings. We had just released a few fish, the flowing river against the side of the boat was the only sound around, and across the river we had a bear and two deer unaware that we were on the opposite side. "The Experience."

As we pulled up and decided to move up river to another hole, my four rookies were starting to wonder to themselves, why I haven’t done this before. We carved the river through the canyon, they sat there speechless as they looked at their surroundings. They had driven on the highway countless times before, up above the river, but never could imagine the view from being on it. We settled into another hole and that is when I fired up the BBQ and passed around some of what I think is great cooking...the smell of the smoked hickory Aunt Diana's sauce on the BBQ and the eagle soaring above, (later landing close by with his watch on us), in the hot sun was just the icing on the cake for them.

Time passed and each had been able to catch, record data and release two fish each. Knowing we had a little bit of a drive I announced it was time to head down, immediately the younger two men ask " What about 10 more minutes"? So there we were waiting a little longer now into our 11 hour of the trip, dark upon us. "THERE", and just as I thought, we were back at it. As I set the hook, and attempted to pass it off, I knew this one was going to be a while, immediately my thoughts turned to “Hmm getting kind of dark out”. The fish took only about thirty minutes to bring in, although a little skinny it was the biggest of the day coming in at just under seven feet.

As we headed back to the truck the sun now setting is was all quiet on the boat. The four rookies, now, were feeling like pros in Sturgeon fishing. Reflective on the day that was. For them, it was a rare treat, something they had never done before. Not only did they get to catch and release Sturgeon they cruised in their first Jet boat on the Mighty Fraser River. They watched as wild game went on uninterrupted about their business. The smell of the BBQ and laughter over good times filled in the moments while they weren't hard at work battling Sturgeon.

It was after the boat was on the trailer. They all came over thanking me for such a great day. I believe I only had a small part of it. The more I take people out, the more and more I see that as much is it about them catching a fish, it's really not. What they had not realized during their time on the boat. Is that their cell phones were out of signal (we have sat phone on board if needed), they didn't see any other boats or cars driving by, sounds that you normally hear from construction of busy roads were non existent. The pressures of the daily grind and getting out of the rat race were what they really got that day. They were taken out of their comfort zone into a world of simplicity and beauty at it's finest. That day time stood still as the Sturgeon Slayers came through on offering up yet again, "The Experience."