For the past few weeks I have been off traveling around BC with my wife Teresa visiting our daughters so time to catch up on the local fishing scene. As you have probably heard on the news there was a big slide above Clinton and record rainfall up north so the Fraser has been a mess the past few days. Trees, logs and all kinds of debris coming down the river.

The water is beginning to drop so it will only take a few days for the Fraser to clean up but slide area needs some quick action to help the salmon migrate past this new obstacle. I’m not really sure what the answer is but hopefully a few good engineers will come up with a solution.

Fraser River Sturgeon

The water conditions are poor right now but with a dropping river we should see improvement over the next few days. Most anglers are using lamprey eel, salmon eggs or some of last year’s salmon parts to catch sturgeon. The average catch right now is between 3 to 5 fish per day but we should start to see some improvement as more salmon enter the river.

Our Fraser Canyon Adventure is almost sold out for 2019, Our last available weekend date is Saturday Sept 28. If you would like to book this date e-mail us at sts

We also have a few Fridays in August available, please call or e-mail us if you would like more information.

The Canyon Adventure begins in Hope, British Columbia and travels 132km round trip to Hells Gate. We include sturgeon fishing, barbecue lunch, jet boat trip through some of the largest rapids on the Fraser River with Vic Carrao and Renee Coghill. Learn all about the Canyon War, Caribou Gold rush, Hills Bar and visit two of the current Fish Ladder sites at Saddle Rock Canyon and Hells Gate. E-mail us for pricing and availability

Also in the news has been the Fraser River Chinook Salmon, there has been lots of discussion regarding ocean closures in regions that don’t see Fraser stocks, you really need to wonder why this government has chosen this path. They could have closed areas known to catch high volumes of Fraser Chinook and left other regions open. The sport fishing industry brings in millions of dollars to the local economy so really makes no sense.

Cool shot of a monster sturgeon on the line.

The Fraser Salmon fishery forecast for 2019 does not look good, we are closed until August 23, the bright spot is we might see an opportunity to catch and release salmon after August 23 and maybe even keep a few pinks or sockeye. The Vedder river is now open for retention of Chinook Salmon, the Harrison river has been fishing good for Cutthroat and the occasional pike minnow and sturgeon.

We having been guiding out of Mission, Harrison and Hope for Sturgeon and Harrison and Pitt River for Trout, if you are looking for a guided fishing trip please give us a call or e-mail us at sts We still have some great dates for our prime fall salmon and sturgeon fishery.

Celebrating 25 years of Guiding Fishing Adventures 1994-2019

Please feel free to call or e-mail us with any questions or concerns

Vic Carrao

STS Guiding Service

www.guidebc.com

sts

Local 1-604-671-3474

Toll free- 1-855-223-5453

This past week has been decent out on the Fraser, we just finished up with our guests from Saskatchewan who fished 3 days, we managed to land 4 or 5 fish over 6 feet and 2 over 7 feet and a few smaller ones. Water still has lots of weeds and sticks but it is starting to clear up and water is dropping even though we have warm weather which tells me the snow melt is over.

As I mentioned above sturgeon fishing has been good, we expect the conditions to continually improve on the Fraser as we get closer to primetime sturgeon and salmon. For 2019 we are running a smaller crew so if you plan on joining us this summer or fall, please don’t wait as we have many sold out dates already.

Trout fishing has been fair to good, we have been targeting cuttroat trout on the Harrison and Bull Trout on the Upper Pitt River. Both systems are p;roducing some good results and should continue through June and July. We offer daily trips on both Harrison and Pitt and the Lillooet River as well.

Our Fraser Canyon Adventures are starting up this weekend, we will be in the Canyon both Saturday and Sunday so watch our social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram for daily updates. Your best source for up to date reports.

Hope you all have a great weekend and hope to see you out on the water.

Celebrating 25 years of Guiding Fishing Adventures 1994-2019

Vic Carrao

STS Guiding Service

www.guidebc.com

sts

Local 1-604-671-3474

Toll free- 1-855-223-5453

Celebrating 25 Years Fishing the Fraser 1994-2019

There has been lots of negative news lately regarding BC West Coast Salmon fishery. It seems as though our Federal Government is not only going after the oil industry in Alberta, they are also hell bent on destroying the Sport fishing industry in British Columbia. Although there are many areas along the West Coast that are now catch & release for Chinook Salmon until July 15, there is still some great fishing for Halibut, Ling Cod and other ground fish. There are also some areas that are open as usual like our west coast adventure in Quatsino Sound.

On the Fraser it will be business as usual, we will still target some salmon on tributary rivers but for the most part we will be targeting sturgeon on the Fraser until late August early September. We will also be targeting some salmon and trout on several remote tributaries rivers in June, July and early August. By late August we should be able to find some Pink salmon to fish for as well as some hatchery Coho. As usual September, October and November will be our Peak fishing season for both salmon and sturgeon.

April was a great month for sturgeon fishing on the Fraser, the big snowmelt did not come and spoil our great fishing and still today as I write this report, the Fraser is still in great shape for fishing. With the way that the weather has been, hot/cold/hot/cold, we could see a slower than normal snowmelt which will result is good fishing conditions all through Maybe, June and early part of July.

Big jumper shot taken by one of our guides Doug E on a guided trip this past April, who would have thought a 200lb fish could jump like that?

As I mentioned above lots of negative news about salmon closures on the West Coast. The fishing community along BC coastline relies on this industry like no other, many of these small remote communities get 100% of their annual revenue from the sport fishing industry so this catch and release Chinook regulation will severely affect them. Please keep in mind that these restrictions are only until July 15 so you will still be able to fish your favorite spots. If you’re an avid Saltwater angler or have frequented the West Coast each year for your annual salmon harvest, please support the SFI, you can visit their website at https://sportfishing.bc.ca/ or facebook @ sportfishinginstitutebc

For those of you who had planned to visit the West Coast this June/July and are still looking for some salmon fishing opportunities, we have several areas that have not been affected by the closures, just give us a call and we can discuss some options for you. If you’re looking for some salmon on the fly action ( all catch and release) we do have several options fishing one of our remote river systems.

We are open for business, Jet Boat Tours are running daily, fishing charters for sturgeon are available 7 days a week, salmon fishing opportunites will be made available as they are announced and the fly fishing for trout is just about to heat up. Next up for May, June, July – Sturgeon on the Fraser, Trout on fly and light spin tackle.

Have a great weekend

Vic Carrao