Cross-Canada: The Long Way Home

 It was now time to head back home. Of course, we had to break up the long drive with a couple of stops. The first of which was fishing session on the Fraser River, to try and knock off a couple new species. This was a huge system and I soon realized I was severely under-gunned. The current ripped my 4oz sinker downstream in seconds and I could tell by the size of the fish jumping that I would never be able to land a big one.

The biggest fish we saw were, of course, White Sturgeon. As cool as it would have been to catch one, it wasn't meant to be on this trip. Just seeing them jump was cool enough!

It wasn't all bad though, there were smaller species to be had and I soon started pulling in smallish Northern Pikeminnow that were hanging out near shore. Soon, between all the pikeminnow, I pulled in something that looked slightly different! I noticed the bump on it's snout and realized this had to be a Peamouth, another new one!

Peamouth

I took some pictures of the new species and released it on its way. I quickly cast my bait back out and managed to catch several more, amongst an equal amount of pikeminnow. However, on one cast, I got extremely lucky and somehow hooked a micro on my conventional tackle. Superficially, it looked like a Longnose Dace, but I could tell something was off. I sent the photo off to a few friends, who told me this was in fact a Leopard Dace! A relatively rare species endemic to the west coat :)

Leopard Dace

I fished a while longer but the sturgies never showed up, it was time to move on and we still had a couple stops left out in the prairies. After a scenic drive back through the mountains, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere in central Alberta.

We pulled up to an unassuming pond in the farmlands, with polluted water, an algae slick, and all. But, I could see some fish milling about in the shallows. This reservoir was stocked with giant Tiger and Rainbow Trout, but I obviously wasn't here for those. The fish I really wanted were Prussian Carp, an invasive species that has been ravaging the prairie ecosystems in Canada.

Catching one was pretty well instantaneous, and well, that was that. I tried to catch a bigger specimen but only the little ones seemed interested. Maybe I could have stayed longer, but we wanted to make some good driving time. Anyway, here's the photo:

Prussian Carp

Next, we headed south to the town of Medicine Hat to fish with Adam, another angler I met online. He had been catching lots of Flathead Chub in the spring, a species I haven't been able to catch yet. As it turns out, it would stay that way... no chubs for me!

Adam did give me a spot in Manitoba though, for Black Bullhead! It was only a short eight hour drive until we got there (JK, it took until the next day haha), but we did make it eventually. Excitedly, we rigged up and baited a line, and I dropped down under the dock. I waited a few minutes but nothing seemed to be biting so I re-cast into the middle of the river. It didn't take long before I got a bite and reeled in my target! Shortly after, Alex got one too :)

Black Bullhead

And, just like that, we had caught the final lifer of the trip. We would try a few more spots on the way home in Ontario, but to no avail, so here's a final picture of the long way home:

Trans-Canada Highway