Fishing in British Columbia

Canada's west coast is packed with things to do if you're an outdoor enthusiast. Recently, I had the chance to go fishing in British Columbia and it was unforgettable! 

One of the highlights of my year so far was most definitely going paragliding over British Columbia's Fraser Valley in August.

But paragliding was only part of that day's adventure. It was a full, action-packed, belly-filled, happy tank overflowing kind of day, and I'm so excited to share the rest of my experience visiting Fraser Valley British Columbia.

Immediately after paragliding, my fellow adventure travelers jetted over to the Fraser River to meet up with Marc Laynes, owner of Cascade Fishing Adventures.

Cascade Fishing Adventures:
Sturgeon Catch & Release Fishing Excursion

Marc, his wife Maggie, and their experienced crew have been taking locals and visitors fishing out on the Fraser River for several years; Cascade Fishing Adventures has been in operation for a total of 25 years.

During our time out on the river, Marc shared interesting details of the area's history, information about the different types of fish, and fishing tips. In addition to his extensive knowledge, it was also evident how much Marc truly cares about the Fraser River, its tributaries, and all of its inhabitants.

After the adrenaline of running off a mountain and gliding hundreds of feet above the Fraser Valley, it was nice to sit back, relax, and experience the calm and quiet of the river we just went paragliding over.

It was so nice to be back on the water.

I grew up fishing. My dad, uncles, and cousins and I would all go up to Puget Sound, or take a boat out on the Willamette, Columbia, or Clackamas River. Back then, sturgeon were not endangered like they are now in British Columbia. We'd mostly catch sturgeon, trout, and salmon as a kid. I loved everything about fishing. And being on that boat out on the Fraser River brought all of those warm memories back.

Now, the sturgeon is considered endangered in British Columbia, so the Cascade Fishing Adventures sturgeon fishing excursions are a catch and release program. Marc shared a ton of interesting information about sturgeon, and you can read up here if you want to learn more. For one thing, the white sturgeon is the biggest whitewater fish in North America. While most average between 100 and 300 pounds, a white sturgeon can be as heavy as 1,000 pounds. This is info you need to know if you're going sturgeon fishing. Trust me.

After waiting it out for over an hour, experiencing a few nibbles from ones that got away, and switching positions once, we finally caught one.

And this guy was not going down without a fight! 

It took three of us, under Marc's expert direction, taking turns reeling the sturgeon in, over what felt like 30 minutes but was probably more like 15. My arms HURT the next day. And the next. My arms hurt for three full days after this.

Was it worth it?

Oh. YEAH.

What a rush! The adrenaline kick that comes in when you're putting your entire weight and every muscle in your body into bringing in a big sturgeon is incredible. Marc estimated that the sturgeon we caught was about 5.5 feet and weighed about 80 pounds.

Many thanks to Marc for the fun afternoon fishing! Cascade Fishing Adventures offers several different fishing excursions for small groups. Be sure to visit the Cascade Fishing Adventures website for more information and current rates.

And shout out to my adventure travel partner, Nicolle Hodges, promo host of CTV Vancouver, Editor of Valley Buzz, and Writer or VanCity Buzz.

After the rush of catching and releasing our sturgeon friend, we then had to rush back to our hotel to change and get ready for an adventure of the culinary kind. I'll share more from the Cultivate 2015 farm-to-table charity dinner next!

Have you gone fishing before? What was your experience like? 

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Thanks so much to all of the tourism boards – Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack – as well as Destination Think for this incredible experience! All opinions are, as always, my own. All photos above were taken by the very talented Yinger Wong of Yinger Fotokrafie Design.