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Alberta, Canada's Lesser Slave Lake Walleye Fishing | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
Angelo Voila and Pete Bowman head to the town of Slave Lake in Alberta. Their goal is to see if the Walleye fishery was affected by the wildfire that devastated the area only weeks earlier. It was one of Canada’s worst natural disasters ever. 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, Pete 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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0:02
[Music]
0:32
fish in Canada brought to you in part by
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[Music]
1:00
back in the day Fresh Fish and Wild game
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was the meal of choice while out in the
1:04
wilderness but food like that spoiled
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too quick the main staple for a
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convenient meal was a satchel full of
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dried fruits and nuts or a slab of
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salted pork not the most appealing of
1:16
meals but it had keep for a few days
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without spoiling I must admit I had my
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Solutions come back comp back
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perfect so what's the connection here
1:58
well I could tell you that most
1:59
firefighters are fishing nuts that would
2:01
be true or I could tell you the Pete and
2:03
I have been looking for a quicker way to
2:04
get a boat in the water without getting
2:06
a speeding ticket that would also be
2:07
true but the real truth of the matter is
2:09
that this episode probably would not
2:11
have been possible were it not for the
2:12
courageous efforts of hundreds of
2:14
firefighters like these guys in May of
2:16
2011 a wildfire burn of the town of
2:18
Slave Lake Alberta causing the
2:19
evacuation of over 7,000 residents now
2:22
is usually the case in a natural
2:23
disaster numerous unsung heroes stepped
2:25
up to the plate in this case a group of
2:28
firefighters pulled their hard work GTH
2:30
to say but essentially it could have
2:31
been a total
2:34
disaster Slave Lake Alberta a small town
2:37
situated 280 km north of Edmonton can
2:40
now unfortunately be deemed as the town
2:42
with the second costliest disaster in
2:44
Canadian history an estimated $700
2:47
million in Damages was caused when an
2:49
out-of-control fire being pushed by 100
2:51
km perh winds swept through the town on
2:54
May 15th
2:57
2011 how did the fire affect the fishing
3:00
well that's a question that an and I are
3:01
determined to answer it it certainly
3:03
affected the wildlife that lives in the
3:04
surrounding Forest that's a given but
3:06
are the Walley affected in any
3:08
way we had never encountered anything
3:11
like that before and and having come up
3:14
here and fished some tournaments since
3:15
the fire has happened it's nice to see
3:18
that the lake is open the fish are still
3:21
there business is happening and now they
3:24
just want people to come
3:26
back our hopes are high on this
3:28
worldclass wall Lake we've heard
3:30
numerous reports as the massive
3:32
quantities of fish 20 to 30 fish days
3:34
are average here per person that is W
3:38
crazy that's a fishery not too many
3:40
lakes can
3:42
rival got her on Pete got them you got
3:45
them trolling your jig setup trolling
3:48
his jig set up put my rod down and going
3:49
to get a fish watch well that's a nice
3:52
wal is it
3:55
yeah step on your seat if you don't mind
3:58
sir that's a nice colorful
4:01
fish nice and bright that's a good
4:04
looking fish right there yeah that's a
4:06
good looking Alberta wall on that
4:08
chartreuse uh zipper nicely
4:13
done one thing I will give them here in
4:16
this province about their barbless hooks
4:18
they do come out nice oh yeah oh yeah
4:22
good look at fish yeah nice one
4:25
yeah off we go young man let's catch uh
4:28
let's catch 40 or 50 each of those today
4:30
how's that sounds like a deal we'll have
4:32
some
4:33
[Music]
4:36
fun the conditions are perfect overcast
4:39
Skies with a possible storm on the
4:40
horizon it's Walley
4:42
time
4:45
small where did all these waves come
4:47
from yeah we're we're fishing the wave
4:50
pattern oh you know what you got a good
4:52
one no but well I I hate seeing I don't
4:55
want to see that anymore yours isn't
4:58
it mine's a Wei
5:03
one mine's a little Wei one too we got
5:06
two Wei one double
5:08
headers Boy tell you what Alberta is the
5:10
province known for double headers though
5:12
isn't it oh my God no kidding double
5:15
head wal in my
5:18
life double header
5:21
Kings
5:25
Speedster giant oh yeah
5:30
as our day progressed the looming storm
5:32
on the horizon crept closer and closer
5:35
we decided to call the day and get a
5:37
fresh start the next
5:40
morning here man help
5:47
you how buddy hey I just released mine I
5:51
could have had a double header good man
5:54
not like that's not uncommon in Alberta
5:56
eh no kidding tons of them you need a
5:58
net uh not sure yet
6:01
buddy no I think he's a twin oh no
6:04
that's net worthy for sure oh yeah yeah
6:06
I'll let you get him on your side
6:08
there oh
6:10
yeah bring him in that's a little better
6:14
getting there thank you okay we're s
6:16
right the spot the spot held for us is
6:19
that wild
6:20
yeah that is wild for
6:23
sure oh he's fighting you good holy cow
6:26
I should have I should have left him in
6:27
the water a little longer yeah we're
6:29
getting there there that's a little
6:31
better good look nice light color to
6:33
yeah no real dark patches on the backs
6:36
right thank you's talking to you bu oh
6:38
buddy there oh you would do that not
6:42
going to
6:46
happen nice it didn't take long for us
6:49
to pick up where we left off yesterday
6:51
I've got a feeling at this place has yet
6:53
another Alberta Walley Factory Lesser
6:56
Slave is essentially two large deep
6:58
areas connected by Narrows areas like
7:00
this one usually are a sure thing when
7:02
it comes to walleye fishing throughout
7:03
the season somewhere in this vicinity
7:06
there will always be fish got one I saw
7:09
that would hit your Rod actually poppy
7:10
slack light you saw that light the
7:12
Wrangle like that didn't you the rod
7:13
just
7:15
dropped how we looking he's coming
7:17
forward that's usually a good sign yeah
7:19
usually like that yeah it's a little
7:20
better I think isn't
7:23
it not really no just maybe a touch
7:27
bigger they're clones eh
7:31
come on bud thank you he is bigger is he
7:35
look at that popped off not that much
7:36
he's got a bigger head that's getting if
7:38
we can pound on a bunch of them yeah if
7:40
those were uh were an average that would
7:42
be great eh little guy little big guy
7:47
nice the solid that fish is nice he's
7:49
got a bit of a gut on too that's that's
7:51
a good that's what I mean he's thick
7:53
yeah that's job Budd you know he hit he
7:55
hit a little different too right you
7:56
could just feel that one little tug he
7:59
pushed up bait forward a bit and and
8:01
just and was there yeah that's a nice
8:03
thing about throwing crank baits I mean
8:05
you usually get you really get great
8:06
feel right you can feel the bait
8:09
working and then you can feel that when
8:11
he slack lines here or whatever yeah
8:12
it's nice belly to belly yes I want of a
8:20
time to get the luster Slave Lake we
8:22
first flew from Toronto to Edmonton
8:25
Alberta we left the city and drove North
8:27
on 44
8:29
next we took Highway 2 Northwest through
8:32
the town of Slave Lake and ended up at
8:34
the realin resort in the town of
8:36
[Music]
8:45
f to survive the outdoors you first have
8:48
to prepare yourself for the onslaught of
8:50
biting insects that can cause itchy
8:52
bumps and rashes and even deadly
8:54
diseases the northern reaches of Canada
8:56
are famous for two things great fishing
8:58
and bugs most would say kamaro Manitoba
9:02
is the worst place for mosquitoes even
9:04
the town's mascot is a replica of one of
9:06
these giant bloodthirsty creatures as a
9:09
matter of fact the name comaro means
9:12
mosquito in Ukrainian however the real
9:15
bug experts refer to Churchill Manitoba
9:18
as arguably the worst place in Canada
9:20
for mosquitoes here they breeded
9:22
enormous numbers estimated at 12.5
9:25
million bugs per hectare now luckily for
9:28
those living in or thinking of visiting
9:30
these places the onslaught can be
9:32
avoided by wearing a repellent that
9:34
contains DEET like muscal repulsive
9:37
since
9:44
1951 now that we've experienced lesser
9:46
slaves incredible walleye fishery we can
9:48
better understand why people like
9:50
Princecraft Pro Staff or Cory KN speak
9:52
so highly of it it's an amazing fishery
9:55
and that it wouldn't be unusual to
9:57
handle a 100 fish in a day I don't think
9:59
the rest of Canada thinks of us as a
10:01
fishing destination and and I think they
10:03
should who who I heard that one you
10:06
heard that one I heard that brother
10:09
right here at the boat buddy oh yeah
10:11
yeah you just smacked me right at the
10:12
boat I'm tying up you're on your own
10:14
yeah I'm fine get him Megan good small I
10:17
you haven't really seen it but I can
10:18
tell you he's going to be net
10:20
worthy no a little bit bigger than
10:22
normal but not huge good jumping out of
10:25
your
10:26
net hey that's a nice one yeah that's a
10:29
real
10:29
now boy I'll tell you you get a bunch of
10:31
those that's perfect one right
10:33
there good
10:35
job on your top hook no bottom one it
10:38
fell right out e yeah no top one fell
10:41
out bottom one's still in he had them
10:42
both in there he got them both he said
10:44
I'm taking both give it all to me that's
10:46
a hungry Walter Give It All To
10:53
[Laughter]
10:55
Me the thing about U here on this Lake
10:59
know Cory n was telling us the
11:00
Princecraft guy is that we hit calling
11:04
Lake and it was amazing fishing in
11:05
Alberta right this year but he says
11:07
that's a very small window we hit it
11:09
perfect the thing about this Lake Lesser
11:11
Slave Lake is that these fish are
11:13
available the whole season and you'll
11:14
catch tons of them all all year so
11:17
there's it's probably be a better
11:18
numbers Lake here obviously for and in
11:20
terms of fishing it I mean it's a fairly
11:22
simple fishery you don't have to contend
11:23
with uh weed lines and boulders and
11:25
humps and points I mean these fish are
11:27
just sitting on these vast Flats at
11:29
you're not really snagging up or
11:30
anything you not it's nice that's some
11:32
fun it is a
11:35
blast not you go bottom bouncers and
11:39
rigs with walking sinkers and worms
11:41
along with a jig and drop shot combo
11:42
seem to work best for us in these
11:44
Alberta Walley when the bite would slow
11:45
down we'd actually pick up our speed
11:47
just a bit and drag a crankbait for
11:48
something different remember always
11:50
experiment when the fish ask for
11:53
it and you changeing baits I got one
11:55
right by the boat have you yeah size uh
12:00
don't know
12:01
yet let me know if you need a hand I'm
12:04
here for you buddy I know you
12:06
are see if I can HK them in cran them
12:12
in boy that's a pile of fish that size
12:15
way yep a pile throw them back absolute
12:20
pile so does oh look at who's coming
12:22
over to see if I oh Buddy's coming fish
12:26
Buddy's coming you say how about me you
12:28
forgot about me if a guy's got a fish
12:30
that's caught too deep these Pelicans
12:32
must probably come back after that fish
12:34
has floated up to the top and I mean a
12:35
bird that big we eat a fish that big
12:38
like nothing he's used to the OD he look
12:39
he's looking around now for that fish to
12:41
come back up look at the size of that
12:42
bird that is
12:44
amazing got it beat good stuff that was
12:48
on the uh on the faster actually I was
12:51
even pumping it forward when he
12:55
hit come here buddy oh oh the Pelican's
12:57
flying in it yet look at this oh he said
13:00
that he said I'm not swiming on this he
13:02
was trying to swim at first I saw him
13:04
paddling away and then he said the heck
13:05
that he cruised in awesome I mean so
13:07
many people be happy catching 30 of
13:08
those oh you know how many people
13:10
couldn't be happy catching 30 of those
13:13
fish what a gold mine up here I just get
13:16
a bumper or do I just get a
13:18
bottle Pelicans mad at you
13:21
[Music]
13:23
now Angelo yes sir whenever one guy's
13:26
tying up their baits the other guy gets
13:27
a fish yeah let me guess you got a fish
13:30
on I like the way this guy's holding
13:32
down oh yeah maybe we'll get maybe he's
13:35
he's definitely not a 12
13:37
iner that's the thing it's hard to say
13:39
on a big lake like this I mean you're
13:41
just as AP to run into a seven or eight
13:42
pounder as you are these twos and threes
13:45
they say a 10 on this lake is is a giant
13:47
though right I wonder why it's weird cuz
13:49
the lake is so big I mean look at it
13:51
they were saying it's like 235 this is a
13:54
good fish I think he's fighting like a
13:56
good fish I just had a pike bite me off
13:58
so I don't want to burst your bubble but
14:00
I just had a pike bite me off that's a
14:02
nice wall yeah that's better that's what
14:04
we're came up here for me get them up
14:07
here for you quick drag him and then
14:10
there you go yeah that's better that's
14:14
better let me do that just to be on the
14:16
safe
14:17
side good oh he just dropped off too
14:20
nice it's the barbless stuff for you
14:22
nice that's what that's the size right
14:25
there yeah you're liking those liking
14:27
those a lot consistent batch of those
14:28
would be fun cheeks on them oh you like
14:30
to eat them wouldn't you major eating
14:32
right there major speaking of eating I
14:35
think this is the size that you're
14:37
allowed to keep one of these fish yeah
14:38
you could be uh and I think that's
14:40
that's considered a keepable fish so
14:42
that would go into frying pan although
14:43
for the life of me I don't understand
14:45
why those smaller ones would be a lot
14:47
tastier but look at that that is nice
14:49
nice job buddy Alberta gold right there
14:51
yeah baby who easy Mama Crazy Fish don't
14:55
hit my jig always could to get back on
14:57
your
14:58
hook I love it so that's the pattern one
15:01
guy has to be tying up one one line on
15:03
the water only it's confusing to the
15:04
fish see yeah okay
15:12
we're at fishing Canada we're on the
15:14
road producing and shooting your
15:15
favorite fishing shows we need a truck
15:17
that can double as an office on Wheels
15:19
we spend so much time on the road that
15:20
our truck becomes our Command Center we
15:22
rely on the UK connect system to keep us
15:24
entertained allow us to communicate
15:26
navigate and even surf the web the
15:28
integrated multimedia system has a large
15:30
touchscreen with easy to ous features
15:32
like a DVD player enhanced GPS and
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satellite radio the available UK connect
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15:38
enabled devices from as far as 100 ft
15:40
away and we don't even need any special
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software or external antennas at fishing
15:45
Canada we need a truck that can get the
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job done right that's why this Ram is
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perfect walleye fishermen know the full
15:58
potential of using live bait in most
16:00
conditions minnows worms and leeches
16:02
will ultimately outperform all other
16:04
presentations but not always two of the
16:07
absolute best options for walleye baits
16:08
are either jigs tipped with heavily
16:10
scented plastic or crankbaits with the
16:12
jig don't just go with the same old
16:14
curlytail grow Veer off the path and try
16:16
one of the many minnow or Shad
16:18
imitations that are available today the
16:20
same goes for hard baits long slender
16:21
minnow baits are a common place among
16:23
walleye experts but short fat Shad style
16:26
bodies can sometimes save the day
16:28
alternative option options are also
16:29
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castol Edge is simply castol strongest
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[Music]
16:53
ever and what are you doing you tying up
16:55
oh yeah that's our good luck you got
16:57
what odd right one guy guys out of the
16:59
question or the other guy yeah it's
17:01
usually me doing the tie it
17:04
up good one um I can't
17:07
tell no he's our typical he's our
17:10
typical Walley he prototypical we will
17:12
catch prot we've already caught I Slave
17:16
how many of these have we caught today
17:17
and it's still
17:22
early
17:23
unreal unbelievable a couple of nice
17:25
bonuses of fishing up here is that
17:27
you've got daylight for God knows how
17:29
long it seems like every day is a week
17:31
long it's awesome for that which is
17:33
great for for folks who come up to fish
17:35
oh yeah I mean yeah we we got up at4 to
17:39
6 this morning it was pure light yeah
17:41
and you can fish till 10: or 10:30 at
17:43
night if you want so you can you put the
17:45
longest day of your life out here and
17:47
catch fish all day long this is midday
17:49
right now and we're popping
17:51
them wow are you getting any in that top
17:54
hook or very many uh maybe one out of
17:57
every three is at thep
18:04
top there's just a kazillion fish if we
18:08
seem a little bit less look at this if
18:10
we seem a little bit less emotional than
18:12
we normally would be during an episode
18:14
it's because there are so many fish here
18:17
that after a while you just kind of
18:19
expect every drop of a jig to have a
18:21
fish on it y but this is this is about
18:24
as exciting as it gets let me tell you
18:26
this is awesome one man and the other
18:28
man in good
18:31
God it's
18:33
unbelievable that's great
18:35
man let's see if I can hook up before
18:38
that one comes in perfect good idea we
18:41
get a quintuple quadruple Hoople mat
18:44
Hoople that's right behind
18:49
you and come on in
18:53
Sister wow let's just keep that net
18:55
rolling we should have brought that
18:57
ticker that we wanted to bring out
19:09
go she took
19:11
off wow unreal I love it this is so much
19:15
this is so much fun there you go there
19:17
you see how can you not love this how
19:19
can you not love that I'm going in again
19:21
but there's the net beside you oh
19:27
man now could you imagine if all these
19:30
fish were just a a tad larger oh God
19:33
like another pound you know what there's
19:34
probably days you find them you find
19:35
that right I'm sure there is get in that
19:38
school that's just a with a population
19:39
of fish this healthy it it's bound to
19:42
happen that you get into a school of
19:43
three Pounders four pound oh my God how
19:46
much fun get trolling casting whatever
19:48
you wanted to do too right so no wonder
19:49
they have those big tournaments here
19:51
well yeah the fish Tre is amazing God it
19:54
really is unbelievable it's the only way
19:57
I can describe it Alberta gold people
19:59
this is what it's all about yes there it
20:01
is we're gold
20:03
[Laughter]
20:05
mining oh man this is just constant bite
20:09
going
20:10
on good Lord I'm worried about a gator
20:13
coming in though eh yeah it' be nice to
20:14
see a big Gator come up and take one of
20:16
those you got to be honest see as cruel
20:17
as that may sound that would be the best
20:21
um cour you saying there's there's 20
20:23
plus pound Pike out here a lot of them
20:25
I'm surprised we haven't made contact
20:26
with anything yeah we get the small ones
20:28
you go
20:29
thank
20:30
you
20:33
wow oh there goes the jig beautiful I
20:37
won't even touch that guy another but
20:40
look at that wow that's just four fish
20:43
in a roll bang bang bang
20:46
bang bye
20:49
buddy wow amazing at what point do we
20:53
quit wellow when we got to fly
20:55
home watch the planes leaving the runway
20:58
what point do you quit that's the
20:59
toughest
21:04
decision well as you can probably tell
21:06
the devastation of the Slave Lake Fire
21:08
certainly didn't seem to affect the
21:09
Walley fishing on Lesser Slave Lake and
21:12
in fact we found that for the most part
21:14
it's business as usual you really should
21:17
do yourself and the community a favor
21:18
and book a trip to this Walley Factory
21:21
it'll help both the
21:23
economy and your thirst for loads of
21:26
action
21:30
[Music]
21:32
did you know that not all aluminum boats
21:34
are made of the same thing in fact when
21:36
comparing the difference between
21:37
aluminum boats the biggest difference is
21:39
the grade of aluminum used and at
21:40
Princecraft they take this to a whole
21:42
new level in general there are two types
21:44
of marine aluminum with several grade
21:46
differences 6081 is very rigid stock but
21:48
has weak anti-corrosive properties 5052
21:51
on the other hand has excellent
21:53
anticorrosive properties and more Flex
21:54
making it the best choice in Marine
21:56
aluminum most manufacturers use the 5052
21:59
series with h32 hardness as a standard
22:02
more reputable manufacturers use the h34
22:04
grade but very few use the ultimate h36
22:06
grade which is 25% harder and more
22:09
difficult to ban because Princecraft
22:11
uses special form and treatment methods
22:13
it's one of the few manufacturers able
22:14
to use h36 aluminum for the construction
22:16
of their boats the h36 grade provides
22:19
uniform strength and durability making
22:21
Princecraft boats Second To None the
22:24
folks at Princecraft know what it takes
22:25
to build a better boat without
22:26
sacrificing Comfort safety and of of
22:28
course visability
22:32
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22:34
today's hot spot is a flat near the
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narrow that separate the two large
22:38
sections of Lesser Slave Lake the way
22:40
point on your screen will get you there
22:42
this is an area that needs lots of
22:43
searching since the fish will not sit in
22:45
one specific spot for very long typical
22:48
of a flat this area has groups of Walley
22:50
moving in and out at different times try
22:52
trolling Spinners tip with worms or
22:54
Walley style crankbaits remember to vary
22:56
your speeds for more hotpots like this
22:58
one go to fishing
23:00
[Music]
23:03
canada.com fishing Canada brought to you
23:06
in part by Coleman The Outdoor
23:09
Company musall repulsive since
23:13
1951 Princecraft boats the more you know
23:17
the better we look Mercury outboards
23:20
number one on the
23:22
water and sale the outdoor Superstore
23:28
w
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[Music]
#Fishing
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