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Northern Alberta Northerns | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
Angelo Viola travels to Alberta with the editor of Outdoor Canada Magazine, Patrick Walsh. Winefred Lake Lodge is where they test their tackle on giant Northern Pike. They prove that fishing in Alberta is not limited to the Bow River! Don't forget to leave a COMMENT and give us a LIKE if you enjoyed what you saw. SUBSCRIBE for new videos and episodes released weekly! CONNECT WITH US -------------------------------- WEBSITE: http://fishncanada.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/FishnCanada/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/fishncanadaofficial/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/angeloviolafnc/ One of Canada's longest-running fishing shows, Fish'n Canada travels from coast to coast in search of trophy fishing opportunities. First started by brothers Angelo and Reno Viola in 1986, The Fish’n Canada Show has been on the air for over 30 years. Today, Angelo is joined by lifelong fishing buddy, Peter Bowman, and the pair continue to travel across Canada educating anglers using the experience they’ve gained over the years. #Fishing
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0:00
[Music]
0:29
the fish in Canada show brought to you
0:32
in part by sales the outdoor superstore
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Coleman the Outdoor company musk all
0:42
proudly Canadian since 1951 Cooper Tires
0:46
life's a road trip come on let's go and
0:49
Princecraft boats dominate the waters
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[Music]
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today's show is a classic example of why
0:59
you should never judge a book by its
1:01
cover and I done so we probably would
1:03
have missed out on a great opportunity
1:04
to discover yet another tremendous
1:06
Canadian fishing adventure I got a call
1:09
from the CEO of Fort McMurray tourism in
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Alberta making these wild claims of
1:14
giant Pike of walleye that we're being
1:15
caught in a little lake called Winifred
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now I don't know about you but I always
1:20
thought Fort McMurray was an oil town
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not a fishing Mecca right well wrong
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Fort McMurray is a bit of a frontier
1:28
town it's been known for that it has a
1:30
bit of an attitude which we love the
1:32
people that are here are just amazing
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there's a lot to do here whether it's
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indoors outdoors spring summer winter
1:38
and fall if you bring the family we can
1:40
take care of them if you come with some
1:42
gents we can take care of you that bring
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the whole family it's just amazing well
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it doesn't take much to get my attention
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especially when you start talking about
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20-pound Plus northerns in the secluded
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gem of a lake surrounded by the boreal
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forest my partner for today's adventure
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is good friend Patrick Walsh
2:01
editor-in-chief of this country's most
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influential national outdoor publication
2:05
outdoor Canada magazine oh that's a nice
2:08
fish Patrick and I have known each other
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for years but I've never had the
2:12
opportunity to travel a fish together
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well that's all about to change this
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might be the beginning of a beautiful
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vague or the end of a wonderful
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friendship it's a fight sweet God
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although this Lake is known primarily
2:30
for its insane walleye fishing Patrick
2:33
and I both agreed that we'd focus our
2:35
attention on winter Ferg Lakes
2:36
trophy-sized northern pike and it didn't
2:39
take long for the action to begin at
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least long that's a nice fish thank you
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whoa whoa when I say whoa yeah he's just
2:56
caught on the outside there innit yeah
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there we go
3:00
first fish of the day nice start
3:03
something to build on a Angela mm-hmm
3:08
Matt it's great to see Patrick in action
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on the business end of a fishing rod but
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make no mistake about it this guy is one
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of the best magazine executives in the
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industry and it's no coincidence that
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he's in charge of Canada's biggest
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national outdoor publication well I'm a
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career journalist first and foremost I
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grew up in Bracebridge Muskoka when I
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grew up I was hunting and fishing with
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my father from a very early age I went
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to school for journalism I was always
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wanted to be a journalist and I had a
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quite a long career in journalism before
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outdoor Canada came along it just seemed
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to be a happy coincidence in the year
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2000 I was looking for something new to
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do and out dark and I was looking for an
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editor and we found each other
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and I've been there ever since that's a
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good fish boy yeah no stinger hook
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either there you go he wants it bad
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enough he look out port he's getting
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better
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Beauty better than us not better than us
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not you got that right okay you can let
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go now you're done acting he didn't even
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have it wasn't even in him he was just
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bite down on it I literally went to all
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right yeah they won't let go he's
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clamped it in Ben wasn't hooked no it
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wasn't hooked at all
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Waterford Lake is a large body of water
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located in the northeastern quadrant of
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Alberta it's actually in the most
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southerly reaches of the municipality of
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Wood Buffalo which stretches all the way
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up to the border of Northwest
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Territories situated between cold Lake
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and Fort McMurray the remote but
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accessible Winifred Lake Lodge home base
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for today's episode is 50 miles away
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from the closest community the hamlet of
4:57
Conklin Alberta folks if you have any
5:00
phobias about being in the wilderness
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this is not for you
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I just supposed to say it's gotta be
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something yeah looks too good
5:11
no nice nice that'll work that one good
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good Nadal Patrick okay grab the net for
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me please he's all yours
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easy big guy easy you're gonna be using
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the surgical work there so you know I
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think they're one of our special game
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fish that we've got in this country that
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has got to be certainly one of my
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favorite fish to get to today's great
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pike fishing we first flew from faunal
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to Fort McMurray Alberta next we drove
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south on highway 63 and then onto
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Highway 881 to Conklin we then turned
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east on Northland Drive and followed
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signs to the winter furred Lake Lodge
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with outstanding meals accommodations
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and of course great fishing this
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destination is classed as one of the top
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lodges in the province of Alberta
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[Music]
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there's very little mapping available
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for this body of water and so little is
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known about the fishing patterns here
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then you could spend days if not weeks
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hunting down these giant freshwater
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predators fortunately for us another
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friend of mine and well-known Alberta
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guy ray Cole Russell's on hand in the
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searching process now Ray's had some
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first-hand experience fishing these
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giant Gators of winter print trophy Pike
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out of this Lake would be you know 20
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pounds plus and there's more than enough
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opportunity to get one here although we
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were faced with post cold front
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conditions these big birdie critters
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were still quite willing to bite I can
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only imagine how aggressive they'd be if
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they were really cranked up to the net
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brother to the net with you
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good one nicely done nicely done you
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want to measure him sure Lou just get
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ready okay wow that's the beauty of the
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bar bus no kidding that no kidding yeah
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brother okay that needs to be better
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yeah all right so what do you think I'm
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gonna say 35 yeah 35 I let this bad boy
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go one of the most satisfying elements
8:01
of my job is the opportunity to share
8:03
great fishing experiences with others
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and of course being able to broadcast
8:07
those moments with a television audience
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puts it over the top what I really like
8:12
doing with the magazine is being able to
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talk to the doors men and women of
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Canada and enter into a conversation
8:20
with them about what it is they like and
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what it what it is they'd like to know
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more about about their great outdoors in
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this country whoa good mud yeah hit hard
8:30
oh I think he is a good one
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weed Laden look at him he's all wrapped
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up yeah that's all he gave me a good
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feeling though and another one to go
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with that hurt me stay down and I'll
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give you another one to get off buddy
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he's not even hooked he's wrapped
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don't you dare kick I said don't do that
9:06
drop it oh good thank you that's where
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you get him off by the way Oh be careful
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I am he's wrapped he's new why do you
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want those pliers no he's not hooked
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come on there you go so much for my
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theory that's nuts one hit this big bait
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look at that was opened
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he opened it jiminy crickets you know
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I've been asked hundreds of times by
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young people how do I get into the
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fishing television business and my
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answer usually starts by saying research
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study and observe
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I asked Patrick to share some of his
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advice for aspiring outdoor writers you
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know if you're a good writer if you're a
9:49
good photographer you will stand out the
9:52
one thing I would encourage you to do is
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check out your local community college
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whatever courses they might have on on
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how to become a freelance writer or go
10:02
online learn the tricks of the trade and
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proceed from there I'm getting
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despondent Oh give me a second chance
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net worth a buddy that's an Atty
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that's an Eddie for sure well just look
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at how far as tail is oh yeah he's got
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40 41 so he's off the chart off our 40
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inch shirt look at him already
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oh yeah he's off the chart for sure
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that's a gorgeous gorgeous fish man
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let's let her go
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[Music]
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[Music]
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it's one thing to have a trophy fishery
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but to truly call a place world-class
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you need much more than that you need
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the right philosophy and it usually
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starts at the very top earlier I had a
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chance to ask a lodge manager Carol
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regular why people should come to
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Winifred Lake Lodge it's on your very
11:20
first visit you'll be welcomed as a
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family member as a friend and you will
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come back time after time for the
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fabulous fishing the great food and the
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warm welcome from all of us here at
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Winifred Lake Lodge look at you you're
11:34
on fire now what I thought he was off oh
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yeah that's that's a nice fish boy look
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at this look at the fish that's nice
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that's your 40 buddy calm down there
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he's birthday - oh I know look at that
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there you go nice hey let me look at
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that bait get that bait over here look
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at the size of this bait in comparison
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that was it he was having an
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after-dinner mint that's what we're
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talking about
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nice you know for a magazine guy he's
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not that bad
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oh no Patrick forever I've never seen
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this side of him and I've got to say
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fishing definitely brings out the best
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of them we need to do this more often
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what do you think Patrick I thought
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fishing with Angela feel I thought he
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was gonna be a little bit more hardcore
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in terms of do this do that be a bit
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more of a task master but it was like
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fishing with a buddy and I was it was
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fantastic
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these are not huge that's what if I saw
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right that's a big friggin fish man love
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this bait I was very Oh No the baits
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gone
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he took my bait I'm proud of my boy he
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wanted in the game I put him in the game
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and you know we have a casualty on my
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hands but at the end of the day I'm I'm
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proud that I did what I did and you know
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im Welling up a little bit but I've had
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that childhood though that date has been
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whisking for two years it just keeps on
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ticking
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oh right here at the boat until he's
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pulling good though
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oh nice fish nice fish get the net buddy
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[Laughter]
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give up on this spot whoa nice fish Ange
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man that's nice I think there was only
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six feet of line before you took it I've
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learned is gonna break it off that could
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be our 40 oh that's important I think
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let's see what we can do with this guy
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[Music]
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[Music]
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how do you like that
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there's over and the beach oh that's
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Louie you want it okay
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let's measure this puppy before we let
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him go it's gotta be a 42 43 nice trips
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like this or once-in-a-lifetime before
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here they were worse than fish sure you
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can see something like that this size
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that beast put a pretty fish and smack
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me right at the boat all right buddy can
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you go
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[Music]
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[Music]
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I think scared me more than anything
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else literally at the vote normally a
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fish like that I mean you got a chance
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to pay him out a bit yeah hit him I
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don't know 30 40 feet 50 feet into the
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front of open six feet it was like bang
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right there this great nice night job
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nice job
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[Music]
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today's hot spot is a series of wheat
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clumps located on the north east shore
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of lake winter fret the waypoint on your
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screen will take you right there now
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although the northerns here came to
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migrate up and down this massive weed
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line throughout the day we found this
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little corner have the best and most
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consistent action concentrate on both
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the outside deep edges as well as the
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shallow inside points oversize blades of
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plastics are a must and the gaudí are
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the better for more hot spots like this
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one be sure to visit fishing canada.com
16:25
the fish in canada show brought to you
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16:45
and outdoor Canada Canada's only
16:47
national fishing and hunting magazine
16:53
[Music]
17:05
you
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[Music]
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