The Biggest Freshwater Fighter in Canada

What’s the biggest fish you’ve caught in your fishing career? Do you still dream of it?

By Patrick Campeau

The most imposing family of fish in terms of length and weight that swims in our waters is the white sturgeon. It can grow to almost unbelievable sizes!

Social Networks

Over the past few years, like many of you, I have received photographs via Facebook and Instagram showing three, four, or five fishermen immersed in water up to their stomachs and holding at arm’s length a sturgeon that looked disproportionately large at 8, 9,10 feet. I must have received at least 20 different versions of these shots with different anglers from one picture to another. Then, the net surfers got carried away, and many of them started talking nonsense. Some even resorting to what I consider to be the simplest and most boring answer, Photoshop. As if all photos of big fish were automatically retouched, and the fish were too big to be real!

Real facts

The White Sturgeon is unique to BC and is the largest freshwater fish in North America. Predominantly found in freshwater, this survivor from the dinosaur age over 200 million years ago can live more than 100 years. These giants can measure up to 6.1 metres and weigh up to 816 kg.

Spawning populations of white sturgeon are known to occur in three large river systems on the Pacific coast of North America: the Fraser, Columbia, and Sacramento Rivers.

Since 1993, only catch-and-release sport fishing has been allowed to ensure the species’ survival.

A great invitation

On August 17th, Yeti Canada’s PR and community event manager, Emma Bray, sent me a special invitation to a unique event. As she explained, a media guest had just cancelled, and she asked if I could participate in the Wild Sheep Jurassic Classic Fishing Experience to be held August 23-25 in Chilliwack, BC. I would be part of the Yeti media team with Emma Bray and two outdoor writers for various magazines, Mike and Courtney Hungle. We wouldn’t be able to participate in the tournament, but we could fish at the same time and compare our catches with those of the competitors. Guess what? I immediately said yes right away!, and hopped on a plane to Vancouver. Yahoo!

The event

The 8th edition of the Wild Sheep Jurassic Classic Fishing Experience of British Columbia is organized to raise funds for Wild Sheep Conservation and to spend a weekend on the Fraser River, which is a conservation success story with sturgeons.

Using this iconic species of the Fraser River to bring sportsmen together is a fantastic way to raise funds for the four sub-species of wild sheep in BC. They invite people from all over North America to compete in a friendly environment and experience a fantastic fishing event in a unique part of the world.

A total of 28 teams comprised of two anglers accompanied by the guides of the Great River Fishing Adventures spend two days trying to catch the biggest sturgeon for bragging rights and claim victory. Major prizes are awarded for the longest fish, the most overall length for the event, the smallest specimen, and for a random length so anyone can win. More than $18,000 is given in prizes and awards, fully donated by generous sponsors like Yeti, Sitka, and Stone Glacier.

Most available teams are sold at auctions at various conservation organization fundraisers in North America. These very exclusive, limited spaces are usually bought by anglers and nature lovers from Florida, Alaska, California, and all over Canada. “The Jurassic Classic has attendees from across North America and several Western Provinces. In the past, we’ve had guests from as far east in Canada as Ontario but have yet to have guests from Quebec or a Maritime Province. It would be a great opportunity for someone to come and represent Eastern Canada at this event and compete,” explains Trevor Carruthers.

Every year, the Wild Sheep Society of BC raises from $50,000 to $ 75,000 for this great cause, which they put directly back into conservation projects such as disease testing, habitat burns, and other initiatives to support those iconic mountain animals. All of the fundraising operations like this tournament are organized and run by unpaid volunteers.

The fish

These large fish are scavengers. They scour the seabed at depths ranging from 40 inches to 100 feet to locate various forms of food. Its mouth is ventral and is directed downward. The white sturgeon has no teeth; instead, it uses its mouth as a “vacuum cleaner” to literally siphon up food.

The guide usually uses powerful 8-foot rods with 13 guides to distribute the weight evenly across for maximum leverage. A large Penn round reel is used with a 170-pound braided line. In the end, there’s a large 16 to 32-ounce sinker, a leader, and a 9/0 semi-circle hook. As bait, we use a large, dead finless minnow beveled to ¾ or pieces of sockeye salmon sliced into strips.

The white sturgeon has an extraordinary sense of smell, which is estimated to be 25 times more powerful than that of dogs. When the fish locates its prey, it positions itself over it, lifts its tail, and lowers its head. It can then siphon the food. Once in his mouth, he’ll chew and grind it before spitting it out and starting again. He repeats this operation up to 15 times. During this time, the angler can only see subtle movement from the surface. So you have to be very attentive.

“It’s almost unthinkable to catch a specimen over 12 feet with just a rod and reel because they’re too heavy and, above all, too powerful,” says guide Rich Stahl, who has never broken the 11-foot barrier.

Our results

On the first day, the Yeti team caught an 8.3 feet, a 7.2 feet, and one that was 53 inches. You don’t weigh the fish to avoid hurting them. The measurement helps determine the approximate weight, like the 8.3 we caught, which weighed between 285 and 300 pounds.

On the second day, we started with a 4-foot catch, and that was it for the day.

Many of the competitors had some really great results. For the longest fish, the team of Riley Luenberger won with a 9-foot, 10.875-inch, and an estimated weight of 640 pounds. The next four positions were 9’2”, 9’1”, 9’06”and 9’02”. Their estimated weight was 621.59, 571.24, 525.29, and 516.87 pounds. Incredible, isn’t it?

The 9-foot, 10.875 inches is the record for the last five years. In 2023, the largest fish was 8’4”, 8’11” in 2022, and 9’5” in 2021 and 2019. The tournament was cancelled in 2020 because of Covid.

For the most overall length for the event, the winners caught a total of 122 feet, and the runner-ups were 97, 69, and 62 feet.

For the most number of fish caught, A guide named Dawson helped his guests land 25 white sturgeon, followed by 19, 12, and 10 for the weekend.

When the anglers participate in such a tournament, it’s under an all-inclusive format, from meals to hotels, alcoholic beverages, fishing guides, boats, etc. To participate or to donate to this great cause, you can call Trevor Carruthers at 250-919-5386 or check out the Wild Sheep Society of BC website or social media pages. 

Patrick Campeau is a professional fisherman and a three-time provincial champion, inducted into the Canadian Pantheon of Fishing. Find out more about Patrick Campeau at 

www.pcampeau.com or www.facebook.com/lapassiondepatrickcampeau