If you want a shot at catching the biggest freshwater fish in the world, you should head out to South East Asia to the Mekong Delta area of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia in search of the Giant Mekong Catfish. One specimen taken by fishery scientists a couple of years ago tipped the scales at a staggering 646 pounds. But if you want a crack at the biggest fish it's possible to catch in freshwater, then that's a different matter. You would then need to book a flight to Canada; to British Columbia to be precise, and fish either the Fraser or Harrison River in the Chilliwack area for white sturgeon. The difference between biggest freshwater fish and biggest fish in freshwater is a subtle one and comes down to the fact that sturgeon can spend time at sea, particularly when switching between rivers, though most of their life, which can be in excess of 100 years, is usually spent in the first 80 miles of so of the actual river itself.

Sturgeon are primitive looking fish that have been on the scene for around 200 million years. In some ways they are shark like with a cartilaginous frame instead of bones, under-slung mouth, and tail with its longer upper lobe. Unlike sharks however, they lay up to 3 million externally fertilized eggs. A good angling average on the Fraser is for one in every six fish to weigh in excess of 100 pounds. Not that you can put them on the scales. The current 460 pound world record gets turned over fairly regularly to the point that nobody really takes much notice of it anymore. In Canada, sturgeon are a protected species, and while rod and line fishing is openly encouraged, all fish must go back un-harmed. So every day out in the boat brings with it the likelihood of cracking the ton. There is a pretty good chance of cracking the double ton too. And every so often a fish topping the record will put in a show. Then there are the really big fish going anywhere between 500 and 1000 pounds, and the beauty is that any and every bite could genuinely be that fish of a life time. But it doesn't end there. From time to time anglers get completely spooled out on 100 pound braid by truly monstrous fish. The largest sturgeon ever recorded from the Fraser measured over 20 feet and weighed 1860 pounds.

Because of the catch and release policy which has been in force for the past 14 years, the bottom 80 miles of the Fraser River is now said to hold around 75,000 sturgeon, though fishing guides involved in the electronic tagging scheme put the true figure very much higher, having already tagged in excess of 35,000 individuals, with more new fish showing every day. Certainly while I was there, a good 30% of the fish we caught were not carrying tags. And with average catches of between 4 and 6 fish per day at the slowest time of the year (which coincided with my visit), it isn't hard to see why the official population estimate is thought to be on the low side. Actually, on our first day we boated 11 fish, though admittedly missed the predicted ton, with the best fish going around 50 pounds. That meant that by day two we were 'owed' two hundred pound plus fish. But the end of day three the 1:6 ratio was back in balance and we were accumulating numbers towards ton up fish number four. But there were times, particularly in the early stages, when I feared the average looked like being missed.

Sturgeon are present in the river all year round, but the best times are without doubt the early summer when a smelt like bait fish know as eulichan swarm into the river, and the autumn when the salmon are running. We were over in Canada for reasons other than the fishing, so the timing of the trip in July was out of our hands. What you also have to take on board is that the Fraser River receives five species of Pacific salmon. The pink salmon run alone which occurs every two years numbers around 35 million fish, which, with the many millions of individuals of the other four species thrown into to the final calculation makes for the highest concentration of salmon anywhere on the planet. What makes this fact important from a sturgeon point of view is that unlike Atlantic salmon, in the autumn when Pacific salmon spawn they all die providing easy pickings on an unimaginable scale for anything with a big enough appetite to help in the clean up, which is one of the reasons why there are so many sturgeon, and why they can grow so big.

Despite all the talk of huge fish, huge appetites and plentiful food, the baits used for sturgeon are by any comparison tiny. It doesn't matter whether you are after big fish or small ones, the standard outfit and presentation remains the same. Water clarity here is very low due to a fine ground up glacial material known as 'glacial flour' being carried in suspension. You get a couple of feet at best, and when it rains as it did during our visit, additional sediments reduce visibility still further. British Columbia see's lots of rain, so expect to get wet. If you're after salmon, visibility can be a problem. But for sturgeon it doesn't matter a damn. They have very small eyes and large sensory barbels beneath their snout, so for them scent is the important factor. A small bait with a high measure of scent is preferable to a large bait with no scent, though as I was to find out, upping the bait size is one sure fire way of eliminating the smaller fish. The top sturgeon bait is salmon eggs wrapped up in a piece cut from a pair of womens tights (preferably while she isn't still wearing them if you want to carry on fishing). Enough to make a ball about an inch or so in diameter is all it takes. The other popular bait is a small sliver cut from a lamprey, Both are fished on a very short flowing trace with a 6/0 to 8/0 hook, and 100 pounds braid loaded onto a TLD 25 with a 20 to 30 pound class rod.

Surprisingly, for the size of these fish and the degree of movement in the water, strike worthy bites barely move the rod tip at all. The best thing I can liken it to is a shy cod bite. But we were assured by our guide Chad McAidie that that's about as good as it gets. Sturgeon mooch along the bottom hoovering up edible items with their extendible mouth rather than pursuing them. With such small baits you don't have to wait to snatch the rod from the quick release holder and set the hook. We had told Chad that after catching one apiece of any size, a sturgeon in excess of 100 pounds was then our sole target. So on day one he took us down river to a quiet area behind a gravel island where small fish can be relied upon. And within the hour, both Dave and I had sturgeon crossed off our wanted lists. Mine was a very small fish down in single figures. But Dave's wasn't a bad one which probably went somewhere between 40 and 50 pounds. Then the search for the big fish holding areas was on, which doesn't take long in a 21 foot aluminium jet boat powered by a 286 hp Chevrolet 350 engine giving it a top speed of around 43 mph. Fast ali boats in a wide range of designs are very popular in both Canada and the USA, and I could certainly see a potential for them over here too, though I am reliably told they don't last as long as fibre glass due to stress cracks caused through heating of the metal during welding, which is a pity.

Day one produced a lot more fish than had been expected, but that first fish of Dave's turned out to be the best. Eleven fish boated and released meant that if we caught anything at all on day two, by the law of averages, we were 'owed' two biggies. Least ways that was our thinking as we sat in the car at the slip waiting for Chad the following morning. With rain rattling on the roof, and fearing being eaten alive by mosquito's outside, we waited patiently. Higher than normal river levels had brought out so many mosquito's that crop spraying helicopters were being used to keep them under control. So a high DEET concentration spray for the hands and face is a must. Out on the water, particularly if there is a breeze, you don't see many. So as soon as the boat was launched we were in and off with the windows open to blow any hiding mossies out of the cuddy. The rain came and went over the day, with the heavier bouts typically managing to coincide themselves with hooking up a fish. As I recall, we probably only managed four or five fish that day, but Dave broke his freshwater ton with a hard fighting beauty of around 125 pounds from the length and girth estimation chart; a tagged fish last caught in October 2000 when it weighed in at 65lbs which is almost half its current size. But at close of play, we were still 'owed' at least one more ton, and were well on the way to accumulating enough fish numbers to justify a third.

Dave didn't fish on day three. Instead I had my wife Dawn on board to operate the video camera. When asked if she wanted to catch one she said yes, but just a small one to say she'd done it. With this in mind, Chad anchored the boat up in a nice quiet little 'nursery' area where the first fish on any of the three rods would go to Dawn. Within minutes one of the rod tips was tapping. She picked up expecting to connect with something between 5 and 10 pounds, and for the next half hour or so had to deal with a fish that came out of the estimation formula at 107 pounds. It was bound to happen. Chad and I even said as much on the journey down river. That brought our ton up average back almost back on target, but it also piled more pressure on to me. Would I be the only person in the party not to crack the hundred. Well it was certainly looking that way until Chad brought one of the rods in and replaced it with a smaller outfit and a very much smaller bait. Many of the taps and rattles you get along the quieter parts of the Fraser come from what are locally known as squaw fish. A sort of cross between a barbel and a chub with a mouth the size of a cod. The aim was to catch ourselves a couple, then move over to a known big fish lie and put one out as a dead bait.

With a bait of that size, the bite detection tactics also changed. The reel was set on ratchet with the lever drag backed off so the fish could pick up bait and move off until it had it well inside its mouth. It was big fish or nothing on that particular rod, though on the other two we still had salmon eggs and lamprey strip just in case. All three rods were mine and we were probably now 'owed' two more fish over the ton. How much pressure do you need. Fortunately, relief was not long in coming. The squaw fish rod started nodding followed by line trickling from the reel. To all intents and purposes it could have been a slow tope run. Nervously I stood holding the rod waiting for the nod from Chad. When it came there was not mistaking the feel of a more solid fish. But within seconds it stopped doing anything much leaving me with just the strong river flow to contend with. It wasn't easy to get it to the boat, but it certainly wasn't fighting. We started wondering if was going to be a fish of maybe 50 pounds or so with delusions of grandeur. Eventually it appeared within reach. When Chad put his hand its mouth and started to lift it up to the measuring sling we could see it obviously wasn't a bad fish. It was at that point that it suddenly burst into life, breaking free from his grip and making off down river a a healthy rate of knots.

So much so that we had to slip the anchor and take off after it. Still not quite the fight I had expected, but now knowing I was finally going to crack the ton, and by some margin if the hook hold held, I just wanted it in the boat. Some twenty or so minutes later it was back within lifting range, and this time Chad's grip of its bottom lip and pectoral fin held firm. One good heave and it was in the sling. A quick check with the electronic tag detector showed it had been caught before. Then for the moment of truth with the tape measure. It was obviously bigger than Dawns fish, but how much bigger?. Well, according to the formula, at 155 pounds, it was almost half as big again. What's more, the rain held off throughout the entire encounter for the video. By this stage our total for the three days was running somewhere in the low twenties which meant that we could expect another ton at any time if the ratio statistics were accurate. Not long after another run did come on the same squaw fish. But no sooner had it started than this fish, which was another biggie, was tail walking on the surface trying to eject the bait, which it did with ease. So my ton turned out to be a last gasp success as no other fish were caught. The only remaining bites came from the mossies as we made our dash from the boat to the car relieved and satisfied that all objectives had finally been achieved.