83 year old Lynn Hall of Camarillo California and Grandson Christian Hall spent the last 6 days fishing with Vic and crew at STS Guiding. The first 5 days produced some great fish, Lynn managed his first ever sturgeon; his largest fish ever; a 7 ft sturgeon weighing aprrox 150 lbs. He also caught several large trout on the Upper Pitt River in the 5 to 6 lb range and saw some incredible scenery. The last day Vic and Lynn agreed that it would be nice to see the Fraser Canyon and maybe run a few of those famed and feared rapids near Yale.
Most of the day was spent trying unknown fishing locations as water was very high in the canyon. Most of our usual haunts were 20 feet higher than normal, so looking for new fishing locations was the challenge of the day. By 12:00 noon we had still not landed a fish but we were getting closer. On our 4th drop, we saw a fish splash beside the boat, got a couple good images on the sounder so my confidence was building.
I was on my way down river to a spot that I usually save for last, it's one of those honey holes that over the years you come to expect a few fish from, the game saver, the 9th inning home run, the 3rd period game saver, the 4th quarter touch down. As I rounded the corner near Yale, I spotted a small sandy beech with enough room to park the boat, it looked fishy so I pulled in for a quick drop. When i say quick drop, you have to understand that after 4 drops and 3 hours of no fish, we do start to get a bit ansy. Stopping at unproven locations is not usually something we do when fishing is slow.
I beached the boat and lowered anchor on the sandy beach, Christian offered to pull the anchor up the beach so I went to the back and started casting lines into the water, The first line was a Lamprey eel, second was a Roe bag, before the 3rd line was in the water, my first rod got a solid hit. I jumped over the engine box and set the hook, Game On!
The first tug was solid so I knew it was a good fish, I handed the rod over to 83 year Lynn who began to lay hard into the fish. The water is fast in the canyon so you can't stay anchored very long. About 3 seconds into this battle I knew we were going for a ride downstream. We pulled up for the chase and began our 1 hour long battle. Once the fish got into the current, we couldn't do much to hold it. After 3 or 4 minutes it seemed that something was wrong as we were going downstream and the fish was going up. Sure enough, the fish got wrapped around a large rock and we were down to our last 3 wraps of line on the reel. With some team work and sweat we managed to free the line and carry on downstream chasing our first fish of the day. Once we freed the fish and line, our freindly giant gave us a incredible show of power by jumping half out of the water. When I saw that 2 ft wide head, I knew we were in for a fight and fish of a lifetime.
Lynn and Grandson Christian have been through some difficult times the past few years with some unexpected family deaths. This trip was their chance to spend sometime together to heal and appreciate how important family and life really is. Hopefully the memories of a fish of a lifetime caught together will help heal the thoughts of lost ones. I know I will never forget this day when an 83 year old Californian and his grandson landed a Fraser River Monster and my largest sturgeon ever, 10 ft 11" inches fork length weighing an estimated 500 lbs.
To book your fising trip of a lifetime, please call or e-mail Vic Carrao at
sts@guidebc.com or call us toll free 1-866-771-3474.
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Topic: 83 year old lands 11 ft - 500lb sturgeon (Read 12685 times)