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Fishing
Holidays Shop: Tackle, clothing, rods, reels Weather
for fishing
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Kevin grabs the rod and uses his perfected
technique to see what this fish really has. HE IS NOT MOVING. This is BIG.
He laughs to himself and wonders how this is going to work. He brings the
fish up ever so slowly about 3-5 feet and then feels two big head shakes
and the Sturgeon is back down to the bottom. They are in about 25-30 feet
of water in a section of the river that is mostly calm. These conditions
play to the Sturgeon's advantage. When fishing in moving water and
fighting a big fish like this, they would normally pick up anchor and stay
on top of the fish for the duration of the fight. However in this case,
under these water conditions, the fish is given the opportunity to use
little energy as possible and sit at the bottom. After a few hours go by, The BBQ is fired up and some gourmet hot meals are made for the clients; as everyone takes turns on this massive Sturgeon. Three months previous a local fisheries biologist had recorded a sturgeon with a length of over 14 feet in the electronic fish counter. This was seen less than a mile down river, could this be the same one? If so,this would be a world record. Six and a half hours into this fight the guys are trying everything to move this fish; but are only left scratching their heads. Within this time the men are able to gain on the fish. At one point they have it within inches of the surface, but with a couple heads shakes, back down to the bottom where this gigantic pig of a fish will not move. The sun is disappearing over the mountains and with a 40 min boat ride back to the truck, they need to put some serious pressure on this fish or they will have to cut the line. Although getting clients into fish and taking nice pictures play a key role, safety is above all the most important part of guiding. Accidents do happen on the river but maintaining protocol and always being aware of the situation, drastically minimizes these incidents. Although this was a fish of a lifetime, it is not worth risking lives. Guide Kevin Estrada decides to make the call to grind it out with everything they have got. Keeping in mind these are three very fit men in their mid 20's, reeling this fish in together. Bringing up the rod together, and reeling back down to the water. The tension and power of this fish is incredible. This is like nothing our Guide has felt or even heard of before. This fish is making a 500 lbs Sturgeon feel like nothing. When fighting big fish like this, within the 2-3 hour mark is when they usually tire out enough for us to bring them in for data and pictures. |
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As
the men continue to give it everything they got, every fisherman and guides
worse nightmare happens.......The line breaks and he's gone back down to rest in
the sand bottom of the Fraser. The most deflating day of Kevin's 20 plus years
of fishing. He knew that one of two things was going to happen in this situation
and warned the clients this was one of them. |
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For our reels we use Shimano Torsa 30. These are not
cheap, but have held the test of time. With an exceptional drag system and big
easy to reel knob. I can't imagine using anything else. It is important to note
that services for all
reels is really
important to the overall lifespan of these reels. When
guiding we are constantly wiping down the reels and keeping them clean. When
using bait different types of bait, sometimes the reels can become sticky thus
decreasing performance. Staying with the Shimano family we use Technium rods. We have not had one break in the 5 years of using these rods. I will mention on the 2 plus hour fights we do notice a little bit of fraying within the guides, which will be noticeable if your hands start turning black. We have also had once instance where the reels seat broke which made bringing the fish interesting. It is worth looking into getting the roller guides and reinforcing the reels seats. Lines and leaders again are a preference. We use braided 130 pound test main line made by Stren and 96 pound test leader. It has been known to use less on both, one theory being that it gives more. Basically more bounce in the line. This is another preference that is up to the angler. Some clients have asked me why I don't use a higher braider leader as well. My reasoning and it's a big one. Protection of the Sturgeon. While fighting a Sturgeon it's not uncommon for them to get tangled up in the line. If this occurs the braided line will cut and leave scars on the fish. Remember this is a prehistoric fish that we are extremely careful in the fishing and handling. Hooks can become an expensive product when fishing. We use Gamakatsu for their maintained sharpness and strength. Obviously it is important to check the sharpness each time your line goes in. Other parts of the rig for Sturgeon are beads and swivels. Swivels are made by Kodiak and the beads can be anything the separates the swivels. We use large beads and are shown on our video. Each video we have done on gear and bait is an individual one. Gear,Beads,Line and Knots,Bait,Rigging up the bait, and Tapps. Which is what we are looking for when fishing for Sturgeon. Along with these informational videos. We have posted 2 Sturgeon videos and 1 Trout video. These are all teaser videos to a full length dvd coming out. Questions and comments can be sent to kevin@sturgeonslayers.com please visit our site for all info on trips http://sturgeonslayers.com/ Videos can be viewed on our website under VIDEOS For those of you on facebook feel free to join our Sturgeon Slayers Business page for updates and promotions. |
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