--Chad Love

What's the deadliest sport in British Columbia's rugged Fraser Valley? Mountain climbing? Whitewater kayaking? BASE jumping? Laughing at large, burly Canadian men (and women) when they say "aboot" instead of "about"?

Nope. As it turns out, the most dangerous sport you can engage in is fishing.

From this story in the Vancouver Sun:
The most dangerous sport in the Fraser Valley doesn't require participants to wear a helmet. You don't need to sign a waiver. And there are no referees. Over the last three years, at least three people have died engaged in this popular local past-time. Despite that, the hundreds of people who take part in the sport continue to eschew basic safety equipment. This deadly sport is none other than fishing - a relaxing pursuit that over the past three years has taken the lives of brothers, husbands and fathers. On Aug. 11, a boat carrying three fishermen capsized near the Agassiz-Rosedale bridge. While two anglers made it to shore, a 49-year-old Agassiz fisherman is still missing. The likelihood of finding the man alive is "next to zero," Kent-Harrison Search and Rescue Neil Brewer said Tuesday.

According to the story, most anglers who fish the Fraser don't think about wearing PFDs on the river, until, of course, it's too late. In addition to the missing boat angler, the story says several wading anglers have also drowned while fishing. It brings up an interesting point: Most of us will (or at least should) wear a PFD while in a boat in moving water, but do you wear a PFD when you're wading a river?

Comments (4)

from tkbone wrote 42 weeks 3 days ago

I do a lot of tailwater kayak fishing that involves extended periods of wading and fishing shoal or rocky areas and I keep my PFD on at those times. If I'm wading exclusively I don't wear a PFD unless low light or water is extra high.

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from Bioguy01 wrote 42 weeks 3 days ago

Nope, but I don't wade in water that comes up past my knees either, nor do I cross fast moving water. It's not worth the risk.

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from Ian_hdsn15 wrote 42 weeks 2 days ago

On family road trips I have driven along the Fraser River on several occasions and the current is cookin' in a lot of the areas that I saw. Imagine hooking into a big sturgeon while wading without a PFD!

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from baconboy206 wrote 42 weeks 20 hours ago

the fraser river deosnt compare to other rivers when it comes to danger, it has the most powerful currents i have ever seen combined with bone chilling glacial runoff , unfortunately most people who frequent it fail to consider this.

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from tkbone wrote 42 weeks 3 days ago

I do a lot of tailwater kayak fishing that involves extended periods of wading and fishing shoal or rocky areas and I keep my PFD on at those times. If I'm wading exclusively I don't wear a PFD unless low light or water is extra high.

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from Bioguy01 wrote 42 weeks 3 days ago

Nope, but I don't wade in water that comes up past my knees either, nor do I cross fast moving water. It's not worth the risk.

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from Ian_hdsn15 wrote 42 weeks 2 days ago

On family road trips I have driven along the Fraser River on several occasions and the current is cookin' in a lot of the areas that I saw. Imagine hooking into a big sturgeon while wading without a PFD!

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from baconboy206 wrote 42 weeks 20 hours ago

the fraser river deosnt compare to other rivers when it comes to danger, it has the most powerful currents i have ever seen combined with bone chilling glacial runoff , unfortunately most people who frequent it fail to consider this.

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.