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Fishing Reports
Adventures with STS Guiding Service
November 25, 2004
Posted by STS Guiding Service
Email: sts@guidebc.com
Current Report
A Day on the Fraser
(A guides day off)
This past summer on a day off
with my girls, we did what
all guides do, went fishing.
My girls have spent many days
on the Fraser in the past but
this year there was limited
opportunity as we were very
busy. A good friend Tom
Fiebel and his two girls
decided to come along for the
day. We decided to go for a
long boat ride up the Fraser
in search of a fisherman free
bar. As most of you who
fished the Fraser would know,
this would be a challenge in
itself. We departed from
Kilby and headed into the
Fraser, we decided to boat up
past Herrling island or until
the girls got bored of the
ride. We made it just past
Herrling where we found a
great place to spend the day.
The island had a nice sandy
beach, there were two day
shelters that had been made
to look like Tee Pees, they
where great for the girls to
explore and use there young
and sometimes wild
imaginations.
As soon as we hit the beach
Tom had his rod out while the
younger girls immediately
headed for the sandy beach to
build a castle. The two old
girls were off finding a
secret hiding spot witch was
quickly labeled off limits to
the younger ones. I had
absolutely no desire to fish
but had a lot of reels to re-
spool and leaders to tie. Tom
was relentless; he pounded
the water for two hours
strait with nothing but a few
lost leaders to show for it.
The girls were having a
blast, I went on more than a
few nature hikes looking for
lost treasures and exploring
the unknown. We had a nice
lunch on the beach but Tom
was quickly backed at it, he
was determined to catch his
first Fraser Chinook, even if
it took all day.
A couple more hours had past,
a few more lost leaders for
Tom but the girls were
beginning to get bored. I was
sitting in the boat tying
leaders when my daughters
approached looking for
something to do. I had
suggested they comb the beach
for hooks, corkies, weights
and leaders, I offered them
25 cents for weights, five
cents for corkies and sharp
hooks. The girls began to
search the beach collecting
old fishing tackle that had
been snagged up during high
water. My daughters and I
have spent many hours in the
past searching the shore
lines of the Fraser for
agates and jade and cleaning
up the beaches so this type
of activity wasnt new to
them. They had made good
money in the past so they
were quite willing to search
and clean the beaches. It
wasnt long before my oldest
daughter Nicole came running
back. She had found a very
strange looking rock; it was
approx 16 inches long 5
inches thick with the center
carved out. At first glance I
thought it might have been
shaped by fast running water,
which would have explained
the odd shape in the center.
Nicole placed the rock on the
boat and headed back to
search for more tackle and
treasures with her little
sister Deanna and Toms two
girls.
Tom finally hooked a fish and
what a fish, a 20 minute
battle ensued taking Tom down
200 yards of beach, Tom came
back with his first Fraser
Chinook, a nice fish weighing
over 20 lbs. By this time the
girls had returned with more
rocks than they could carry
and enough tackle to empty my
wallet. Toms oldest daughter
found a large piece of jade
while the younger girls had
some very nice looking rocks.
We showed Tom Nicoles odd-
looking rock; right way Tom
new she had found something
special.
We took the rock to XA:ytem
(Hatzic Rock interpretive
center). Although there were
no archaeologists on site at
the time, the staff there had
never seen anything quite
like it. One of the staff got
very excited when she notice
the rock had a carving of
what looked to be a Sturgeon.
Tom, the kids and I hadnt
even noticed it, but once she
pointed it out it was very
obvious. Chris Gatson a
director of the Fraser Valley
Salmon Society took a few
pictures and wrote a story
for the Mission city record.
In his research he took the
pictures to Dave Schaepe, an
archeologist with the Sto:lo
Nation. He said it was a
sculptured river cobble, with
the base finished into a hand
mall. It was most Likely
used as a stone hammer to
pound stakes, hammer wedges
for splitting cedar planks,
for house construction, and
as an all-round hand tool.
He said that it also could
have been used as a war club.
Mr. Shaepe said that grinding
formed the artifact and the
head of the tool is quite
unusual being carved into a
fish head, possibly a
sturgeon. He estimated the
age to be pre-contact and up
to 2,500 years old.
Nicole has yet to have the
rock officially identified
but plans on having it done
sometime over this winter.
Nicole is looking at several
options for the artifact
including donating it to a
museum.
The Fraser River has been a
big part of Nicole and
Deannas lives, this one day
on the river will hold a
special place in her heart
for the rest of her life.
There are many gravel bars on
the Fraser that have good
access from shore. If you
have some spare time and
would like to spend some
quality time with your kids,
take them for a day of fun
and adventure on the Fraser,
its free and fun for both
the kids and you.
If you would like to see a
color picture of the artifact
visit our website at
www.guidebc.com
Tight lines and hope to see
on the water
Vic Carrao
STS Guiding Service
www.guidebc.com
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