Fraser Valley report for the week of Jan 7, 2009

Free Steelhead Literature
We still have a few copies of our steelhead handout, if you would like a copy please e-mail us your mailing address and we will be happy to send you a copy.

Win a Free STS Hoodie

Winner of the draw was Mark Higgins of Washington State, Congratulation Mark.

We will be doing one more draw for an STS Camo Hoodie on Jan 31, just send us an e-mail and we will enter you in the draw. All names from previous draw will stay in for the next draw.

Fraser Valley Report

Fraser River

Most of the ice flows are now melted but beware of hidden ice chunks near the shoreline and back channels. Weather patterns are on the warming side so we should have clear access to the Fraser over the next few days. Mission Boat launch should be clear by end of this week. Water levels will begin to rise as most tributary rivers are expected to rise in the next day or two.

Sturgeon

Although you can find sturgeon feeding all winter most of the larger fish are not active and hard to find. You can find smaller active fish feeding in some of the deeper holes, salmon eggs seem to work best during winter months. We are now selling seats for our annual Sturgeon seminar held in April, to book a seat please call or e-mail us. You can read more about our Sturgeon Seminar.

Our next peak sturgeon season is in the spring, which brings our annual migration of the Eulachon (small bait fish) to the Fraser River to spawn. Food in winter is scarce so when the Eulachon arrive the Sturgeon are eager to feed, it's not uncommon to hook 15 to 20 fish in a 6 hour trip. If you're looking for a great spring fishing adventure, sturgeon/steelhead combo makes for a great angling vacation.
Monster Sturgeon Caught on Fraser River
This fish is the largest sturgeon hooked and landed on the Fraser river this year by a sport angler. It measured 11'1 with a 58 inch girth or 337.82 cm with a 148 cm girth and was caught by Missions STS Guiding Service Guide Matt Schaap and guests from Langley. The day was 5 minutes from being over when Matt recognized a small bite, he thought it was a small fish, set the hook and 90 minutes later landed one of the largest sport caught fish ever caught.


Fraser Trout Fishing

If your looking for some winter trout fishing you can find some decent Cutthroat Trout fishing on the Fraser River during winter. Many of the side ponds and back channels hold fish during winter months. You can also find actively feeding trout in the main stream near the shoreline.

For fly fishing I highly recommend using winter stone fly patterns. Stone fly?s are readily available in the Fraser and are the main food diet for feeding trout. You can also find some decent Pike Minnow fishing in the Fraser using small bead headed stone fly patterns. If you?re a fly tier, check out our fly patterns fly patterns


Vedder River Steelhead

The Vedder has been fishing pretty well the past week. STS Guide Gerry Dewar has been landing some nice fish in the lower and mid river area. The lickman/peach rd area is getting some heavy fishing pressure for good reason. Lots of nice fish both hatchery and wild are being hooked in this area. Most anglers are float fishing with cured salmon eggs and wool.
Over the next few days we will start to see the Vedder rise and color up due to snow melt. The warm weather will definitely bring some water inot the system so watch out for a rising river over the next day or two.
If your looking to get out on the flow for steelhead, we offer guided steelhead fishing on the Vedder River which is one of our largest steelhead producing rivers in SW British Columbia. STS Guide Gerry Dewar is considered one of the top anglers on the Vedder and has been catching brood stock for the past 30 years. All guide trips on the Vedder are walk and wade with instructional steelhead fishing available on all of our guided trips. Best fishing is between Feb 15 to April 15.


Trout fishing in the Valley

The Upper Pitt River sea-run Bull Trout fishery is almost hear. End of May through the month of June is best. Book now as we limit the number of anglers per day on this river. Last year our biggest trout was 12 lbs but we did manage quite a few fish between 8 to 10 and lots of 4 to 6 lb trout. Our best day was 40 fish on the fly so don't miss out on this world class fishery. Check out these fish from last year. http://www.guidebc.com/photos/photofly2.asp

There are several local rivers that offer some great winter trout fishing on the fly. Although these rivers can sometimes be difficult to reach due to bad weather, they are definatley worth the effort. We will continue to offer guided trout fishing throughout the winter for those anglers looking for some real adventure. Please give us a call or e-mail to find our more about our winter trout fishing adventures.

Harrison River
The Harrison River can produce some good results for cutthroat trout during the winter months. Fishing egg patterns under a float with a drift rod or fly rod is a great way to entice them, also fly fishing with streamers and minnow patterns can work well. One fly that should not be overlooked in the winter is the Flesh fly using a down stream dead drift presentation. If you're not planning on hitting the flow over the winter, spend some time on our fly tieing gallery, you will find hundreds of fly patterns to choose from.
STS Guiding Service is committed to providing current and future clients with the highest level of service and quality angling experiences at the lowest price possible. We pride ourselves on our personal and friendly service, our ability to catch fish on 95% of our guided charters. We are fishing the area 12 months of the year. For us fishing is a year round commitment, not just a summer job.

Join our team of 8 professional guides for the 2008 season and see why STS is considered #1 in the valley.
To Book Your next guided adventure, call us Toll Free 1-866-771-3474



Extraordinary Fly-fishing for Sea Run Bull Trout

BOOK NOW FOR JUNE 2009
45 minutes from Vancouver is one of British Columbia?s best-kept secrets. The Upper Pitt River is located at the north end of Pitt Lake, North America?s only freshwater tidal lake. Each spring the Upper Pitt River receives thousands of Sea-run Bull trout heading back to their home waters in Garibaldi Park to spawn. Each high tide brings a fresh run of fish into the lower reaches of the Upper Pitt River. We begin targeting this bright chrome fish in mid May with fantastic fishing opportunities through June until mid to late July. Some of the best fishing occurs between May 21 to Jun 31. These fish reach as much as 14 lbs with an average size of 4 to 8 lbs. incredible action on the fly and light spinning tackle. We are now booking for our May ? June 2008 Sea-run Bull Trout Fishery. This trip is limited to 2 boats per day so book now for best dates.



To Book Your next guided adventure, call us Toll Free 1-866-771-3474

Remember to conserve your catch
Tight Lines and we will see you on the water
Vic Carrao
www.guidebc.com
sts@guidebc.com
604- 671-FISH ( 3474)