Tuesday, July 24, 2012

chilliwack ~ making the news

Chilliwack.
We are famous for growing the best sweet corn around.
(It is now available at the stands...and as good as always!)

But we made the international news over the weekend!
One of the biggest fish ever caught in North America was snagged right here in the Fraser River.
The sturgeon is believed to be over 100 years old.

A few years ago we gave my dad a sturgeon fishing expedition as a gift...
and went along on the adventure.
He caught a nice-sized sturgeon and I documented it right here.

But his four-foot prize was not nearly the monster that Margaret and Michael Snell 
of Salisbury, England landed last week.  
It took 4 1/2 hours and a ten-kilometer chase down the river to bring in the 'dinosaur fish'.  
They will have a whopper of a fish story to tell! 

Also on the weekend news...
a story about the record-breaking mosquito plague in Chilliwack.
I'm staying away from the Fraser River these days...
and wondering if the Snells weren't eaten alive as they struggled with the great white sturgeon!

Sturgeon, mosquitoes and sweet corn...
giving Chilliwack a name!






19 comments:

  1. Wow! What a catch! I can't imagine how excited they must have been. But, I like your dad's story even more.

    I am a mosquito magnet for some unknown reason. I guess I will have to stay away from Chilliwack for a while:)

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  2. Incredible fish story! I've got to Google that one!

    Hmmm, mosquitoes and my story for the day...a lovely combination and all resulting from too much water I think.

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  3. Silly me...found the link right here on your post. Does anyone swim in the river? I imagine that would be something you might not wish to see!

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  4. Now, that is some fish story! Surprise me that you have mosquitoes..one more thing we have in common! ha!ha!

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  5. That big fish could be BC's loch ness monster. Glad it wasn't me in that water with it.

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  6. Fun post Judy. Your corn is fantastic....that fish is amazing....and those mosquitos are down right annoying.

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  7. Oh my! It would have been interesting to see them reel it in. Yikes! Your dad's is pretty impressive.

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  8. That is almost unbelievable - 1,100 lbs. - yikes!!! Those fish really do look prehistoric don't they! Note to self - never go swimming in the Fraser River :). I think all the mosquitos are in your part of the country - we have next to none this year - all because it's been so dry here I guess! We have an over population of flys and beer bugs however.

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  9. I'm in your neck of the woods this week, but the rain has kept me indoors - no mosquito bites to show! I certainly wasn't prepared for the rain, and spent last night in a warm bath, trying to get the chill of the day out of my bones!

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  10. That was an interesting story. I'm sure your dad has made many great memories while fishing on the Fraser. Scot has come home with stories of catching sturgeon on the Fraser too.... but not the biggest:)

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  11. Wow! I did not know fish got that old! How did he do it is my next question!

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  12. That was an amazing fish story. And the corn is out already? Is that early? I'll have to look for some. Nothing like sweet Chilliwack corn. You can keep the mosquitoes.

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  13. That is one BIG fish. Hubby did a sturgeon trip a few years ago and caught a 9fter; I can't imagine how exhausting it was with this one!

    And the mosquitoes; ack! They are so horribly bad this year. We've spent hardly any time in our backyard they are so bad :(

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  14. That would be a BIG catch! Amazing! Not much wonder the mosquitos are bad with all the rainy weather you've had this summer. Enjoy the day! Pamela

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  15. Wow, that is quite a fish story! What does someone do with a 100 year old sturgeon? I'll have to come back and click for the article (I tried but they say the site is undergoing maintenance at the moment)...

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  16. I'll have to show this post to my fishing hubby. He'll be very interested. He's slapped quite a few mosquitoes on our rivers too - but he's a fly fisher so mosquitoes mean lots of fish jumping. And that's good!

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  17. A hundred year old fish...wow! I wonder how much older it could have lived to if it had not been caught? I love fresh corn on the cob so I wish I could taste Chiliwack corn, Judy. We drove past many farms in Nebraska this week that were suffering from the draught... Their corn was stunted.
    Mosquitos are a problem! Do you have to worry about West Nile virus from bites as we do in NY?

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    Replies
    1. Pat...the sturgeon are a protected species and can only be caught on a 'catch and release' basis. They are always measured and tagged with an electronic chip. This one had never been caught before!

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