White Sturgeon

Sturgeon can be caught year-round in the big rivers where they live, but April through October is the productive stretch. April brings the eulachon run, which pulls sturgeon into feeding areas along the lower Fraser and comparable systems. Activity often slows through the June-July spawning period when fish are focused on that instead of feeding heavily. September and October are widely considered prime time, as water cools, salmon runs provide abundant food, and fish feed aggressively ahead of winter.

In summer heat, early morning and evening tend to produce better results, since fish move less during warm, high-traffic daytime hours. In cooler spring and fall water, sturgeon feed steadily through most of the day, so picking the right depth and current seam matters more than the clock.

This is a bait fishery, not a lure fishery. Fish a stationary bait on or near bottom with a sliding sinker rig heavy enough to hold in current, cast out and left in place rather than actively worked. Heavy rods, sturdy reels, and rod holders paired with bite alarms are standard, since bites can be subtle and fights are long. Barbless circle-style hooks are required gear in most BC sturgeon waters and also allow a faster, cleaner release. Because fish can be very large and fights can run long, match tackle to the size of fish present in that water so fish are landed quickly rather than played to exhaustion.

Look for deep holes, river confluences, current seams, and slow eddies just off the main flow in large rivers such as the Fraser system and comparable interior rivers. Sturgeon hold tight to bottom structure and drop-offs, sitting in slower water adjacent to strong current where food collects. They are bottom feeders in big-river environments; a small number of BC lakes and reservoirs connected to these river systems also hold fish, but river habitat is where the fishery is concentrated.