My first sturgeon: A relative puppy at 4 feet 6 inches. But sweet.

Bucket List Scratch: White Sturgeon!

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There’s nothing like catching giant prehistoric fish to make you forget how tired you are from four days of skiing. Yesterday morning, I was flying down B.C.’s Blackcomb Mountain—the last of four days on the slopes. Then there was the cool nightlife at the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival, which, of course, my skiing buddies and I just had to take in.

That’s right: we skied hard and played hard.

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Then last night, I arrived here in Harrison Hot Springs for the first of three days of fishing, which got underway this morning courtesy of my new friend Tony Nootebos, president of B.C. Sportfishing Group.

Today’s game was pursuing white sturgeon up the Fraser Canyon from Hope to just beyond Yale. The chance to take a jet boat up this rugged stretch of the Fraser, with cliffs and mountains towering over either side of the river, was alone worth the price of admission.

My fishing buddy, Ted Cawkell, caught the big fish of the day. The beast stretched the tape to 7 feet 9 inches, just inches shy of Ted’s personal best sturgeon. As for me, I brought in two fish under five feet—my very first sturgeon—before high winds, debris-laden water and an engine problem forced us ashore.

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No mind: I still have two more days to catch even bigger sturgeon. We also plan to fly fish for cutthroat and bull trout, which is pure bonus—bulls are also on my fishing bucket list. And when all is said and done, I plan to finally visit the namesake hot springs here at Harrison Hot Springs Hotel.

After four days of skiing and a few days of fishing, I’m pretty sure the soak will do me no end of good.

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My first sturgeon: A relative puppy at 4 feet 6 inches. But sweet.
My first sturgeon: A relative puppy at 4 feet 6 inches. But sweet.
Close, but no cigar: this giant was just three inches short of Ted Cawkwell's personal best sturgeon
Close, but no cigar: this giant was just three inches short of Ted Cawkwell’s personal best sturgeon
My second sturgeon: A respectable four foot two inch specimen. So cool.
My second sturgeon: A respectable four foot two inch specimen. So cool.