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St John River Muskie Tournament | Fish'n Canada
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Nov 22, 2023
Pete Bowman makes the long drive to Canada's east coast as he meets up with the New Brunswick chapter of Muskies Canada, where he covers the inaugural St. John River Muskie Challunge. The St. John is without a doubt the nation's most unique Muskie fishery that faces a lot of negativity. This event hopes to open up the eyes of this old school tunnel vision. ► Subscribe http://bit.ly/youtube-fishncanada 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/fishncanada... ► 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
View Video Transcript
0:00
Welcome everybody to the first St. John River chapter, a national musky challenge
0:12
You know, they call them a destination fish because most people will travel hundreds of kilometers to pursue them
0:18
Oh my gosh. We have something really special
0:28
and we have to understand that if we don't take care of it early, we could lose this
0:36
The Fish in Canada show brought to you in part five. Ram trucks built to serve
0:44
Prince Craft boats dominate the waters. Garmin Panoptics, all-seeing sonar. Mercury outboards, go board
0:55
And Outdoor Canada. Canada's only national fishing and hunting magazine. We're in for some good fishing in Canada
1:06
On today's program, I have the distinct honor of traveling to New Brunswick
1:14
to work with and cover the Muskees Canada St. John River Chapter Muskie Challenge, spelled C-H-L-L-U-N-G-E
1:21
which of course is a derivative of the word muscalunch. Oh my God, that is a beast
1:27
Well, there's been talks about having a national event for Muskees Canada for a few years
1:32
And when the St. John River chapter here decided to potentially host it, I fully supported it
1:38
I thought it would be a really good opportunity to get a bunch of us together for many different areas
1:42
and fish together, talk fish stories as well as talk about what we can do to make things better for muskies
1:49
First of all, I want to say thank you very much and welcome everybody to the first
1:54
St. John River Chapter National Musky Challenge. It's great to see everybody here
1:59
I think we have over 60 participants. What's so special about this event and the musky fishery in general on the St. John
2:05
is that the almighty muskulunch, the top of the freshwater fish food chain
2:10
is classed as an invasive species here. And that puts this chapter of anglers in the uncomfortable position of fighting for what they feel is right
2:18
That's the whole reason why we're putting this outing on. We want to promote our musky fishery
2:24
We actually asked the question how many fish are being called at the dam
2:28
They've called up to 60 and as low as 18 in a year
2:32
The musky come up to the dam. They do get caught in the trap net
2:36
They take them down to the fish hatchery, where what they'll do is they basically kill them
2:42
I have seen some pictures of fish that have been killed. But you think about that, if you say you're averaging 20 or 30 fish
2:51
they've been doing it for 10 years or more. We're talking several hundred fish that have been killed that really takes away from the spread of musky and really takes away from the sport
3:02
They're still killing the muskies here because it's considered an invasive species
3:06
I certainly recognize that technically the province of New Brunswick is correct when they say that the muskies are an invasive species because they are not native here
3:16
But neither are smallmouth bass. And they are promoted all through the province by the government
3:23
They are not killed. So they're considered naturalized now. New Brunswick Smalley, look at that
3:31
This all boils down to the St. John being one of the top Atlantic salmon rivers in the world, or at least it used to be
3:37
We're a bit of a salmon culture here, and I understand that. Back when I was very young, I started salmon fishing with my dad
3:44
I caught my first salmon on the St. John River. But many things have changed over the past, say, 30 years
3:50
The river has warmed up drastically. The salmon populations are dwindling. A number of locals in the area feel musky
3:58
are the reason for the demise of the Atlantic salmon on the St. John. They feel the musky population is eating the salmon population
4:05
The local powers at B are desperately trying to save what's left of a diminishing salmon fishery
4:10
Very commendable, but here's the deal. We've also had studies done through Muskees, Canada and CRI
4:16
that have shown that the musky aren't eating the salmonoids. Basically what they're eating are Gasparo, Shad, suckers, yellow perch and white perch is the main diet
4:30
And with millions of these high-protein munchies in the river, there's little reason for the musky to show interest in Atlantic salmon, especially when its stomach is full of this never-ending supply of baitfish
4:40
So really, what is the point of calling musky? To this day, at the end of 2018 and into 2019, the mandate still still still
4:50
stands to kill any and all musky in the St. John. What a shame
4:54
The only way that's going to stop is by the public or the majority of us recognizing the fishery
5:01
that we have and saying, listen, don't kill these fish. We're going to pay hundreds or thousands
5:07
of dollars to come to Frederton and the St. John River in New Brunswick to fish for them
5:12
So make sure you participate in it. It's the best way that we can protect and promote our fishery
5:20
Okay, folks, I would encourage you to socialize and have a great evening and we'll see you all in the water tomorrow
5:26
Thanks, guys. We had a little incident there Bro you dripping blood everywhere
5:44
Muskees, Canada, New Brunswick, based this event out of the Riverside Resort on the Mactquack area of the river
5:51
a central location for anglers to choose whether to travel up or downstream. There are Muskie in both areas
5:57
With this challenge being a club event, the participants can choose any boat line
6:01
they want within the event boundaries. With so much water available, there are lots of
6:06
great launching facilities to choose from. I've heard a number of participants will be launching
6:11
at Nacquick on a section of the St. John above the Mactiquack Dam. I'm going to start by dropping
6:15
the Princecraft in around this area. It's perfect to take in some spectacular New Brunswick
6:19
scenery, and also to hopefully encounter a few of the tournament participants. Any reps, boys
6:29
No. So over there right now, beside us we got Marlon Prince
6:38
probably the number one musky guide in the whole area. The amount of bait we're already seeing, it could get crazy
6:47
It's the... As painful as musky fishing can be in all the hours and days we've put on
6:58
you finally get one and you feel so happy, and it's like the The weight of the world is lifted out over your shoulders
7:04
and you forget about all that pain that you just went through for days, maybe, weeks even to get a fish
7:09
And you forget about it all, and you're happy, and you just want to go get another one
7:13
Yeah, like childbirth. It's true. You got any yet? One trip. Yeah
7:25
That's Frank Thurston from the Thirsty Lures. Frank has got a really interesting story in that he was
7:31
sick and tired to try to pay the big bucks for custom cranking
7:35
A lot of the premium and the nicer crank customs, I just couldn't afford
7:40
And I started thinking, going, well, I have a woodworking experience. I thought, I can do this, or I can try at least
7:47
So Frank started making his own to use them, and then all of a sudden, he's catching fish with them
7:52
Now I've involved to trying to put premium baits into the average musky fisherman's hands
8:00
Now Frank is selling his baits too, the thirsty lures. So if you're looking for a custom bait at a decent price
8:06
that guy could probably help you up. You know what he's doing. You want your baits to always come back to true
8:12
But if you have a bait that will go true, then kick off left or kick off right, then come back
8:18
Those are the golden ones. Muskie are also ambush and they're also stalkers
8:23
Well, they'll follow right behind the bait. And if the bait's just doing that constant, constant, constant, constant
8:29
and also does a kick off, muskies a lot of times have this instinctual attack
8:33
when they think that the prey is taking off. So Frank's boat had the hot hand yesterday
8:41
We know he was fishing this area. We were coming into our minor period, the moon period here
8:47
We figured we'd come down and check it out, and it looks like they beat us to the fish and kept their hot street going
8:55
On the minor, right? Right on it. Yeah, that's what we were. We're going to slide right in, and that was our fish, man
9:04
Nice little fatty. St. John Husky. The uniqueness to an event like this is it's up to the contestants to measure and record their catches
9:15
34.5. It's all on the honor system. This ultimately is the best method to ensure fish survival
9:22
Something every contestant here is adamant about. Good job, boys. We had a little incident there
9:28
The gill plates are sharp. You got to watch. Chuck was reaching over
9:33
aside, putting his hand in the net, and he just started to get his fingers underneath
9:37
to actually grab up through the gill plate to grab the bone
9:43
And as he started to do that, the fish thrashed and rolled on him
9:49
Since he didn't have the grip on it, the gill plates slashed
9:54
and when it rolled, the teeth actually got him on the thumb, too. But at the time, you don't realize it because you're adrenaline, you're excited, you got fishing the net
10:03
He didn't even realize it after he's done re-biving it. Then he got up, I'm like, bro, you're dripping blood everywhere
10:11
Where's all this blood coming from? Oh, it's me. Yeah, it's me. There's blood pools everywhere
10:17
It looked like somebody was massacred. But, you know, it's funny now
10:21
Well worth the trip up to the St. John River here in New Brunswick, though. Worth every minute of it
10:27
One for me, one for the musky. We have heard that you guys got like four fish in it
10:39
Is it true or not? Woo! Muskie
10:57
guys are all about catching the nastiest fish out there, but they want to really take
11:01
care of their fish. Fish care to them is number one. And some of the tools they'll be
11:05
using in this tournament and they use all around If there a bit of trouble then you got jaw spreaders What it does is just keeps the mouth of that fish open so he doesn bite down on the pliers He doesn bite down in your fingers or anything like that It a spring kind of in this steel
11:19
It doesn't hurt the fish, but it'll hold his mouth open properly. This is a new type of jaw spreader
11:23
I love this little deal. It's on a ratchet. It's got a little trigger there, so you just pull that trigger and it opens up until you do your work on the fish and then you pull the trigger and it closes back up
11:34
So this is pretty cool too. And then finally, this is a real
11:38
significant tool and most musky fishermen will have this. And what these are for, what the musky guys
11:43
will do is if a fish is hooked badly, if it's hooked really deep or really embedded in there
11:49
what they will do instead of grabbing the pliers and ripping away at this fish, they'll simply take
11:54
these pliers and cut it. And then they'll just pop that out. They'll take the, you know
11:58
they'll work the bait out with the rest of the hooks that'll all come out. So there's one little wee piece of hook left in the fish's mouth and it'll dissolve within two weeks. It'll be
12:04
gone because of the asses of the fish. So these tools, they're all very handy. And if
12:08
you're a musky fisherman or a pike fisherman, you should have all of them. With only a couple hours left in the tournament, I get word a bunch of muskies have been caught near Fredericton
12:17
below the dam some 60 kilometers away. Without wasting a moment, I race back to the launch, hoping to get a glimpse of the action
12:26
Rumor has it, Matt Myers and his team are on fire. So I just picked up the boat, and now I've trailed it all the way down to Frederington
12:35
There's a city of Frederington right there. There's a few boats around here, and the first boat I see is the only boat I've seen today casting
12:41
So these guys are casting whereas everybody up above the dam was trolling. I'll guarantee you the guys that are casting are warmer
12:47
It's a lot of work. One guy's firing downwind, the other guy's firing into the wind, which is a good tactic, too
12:52
just to see if the fish are facing a certain way. These guys are making a move now, so we'll see if you can find somebody else quick
12:59
So right here, this is very interesting. We've got two trollers, two musky trollers, and they're both working the bridge piers here
13:06
Bridge piers are very interesting in that, no matter how much pressure they get, there's always fish on them
13:13
Because there's bait on these things all the time. Bate fish always nip at the algae that grows on the edge of the piers and all that
13:19
So these guys are all working the piers. How are you making out
13:23
You getting them? Not good, eh? I'm on cast 9,999, so I know the next one's going to be good
13:31
There's a fish of 10,000 cats. There's the other boat over there
13:35
So they're all working the piers here, so it's just a classic pattern. When you have two or more bridges with lots of pilinges
13:42
how do you figure out which ones are good? Ange and I now do it with Garman's new Panoptics LiveScope
13:48
Check out the big ball of bait just off the corrugated steel wall. If you look closely, a big fish appears and quickly disappears
13:56
It's a place to definitely concentrate on. On this sequence, check out how a fish suddenly appears out of nowhere near this bridge pier
14:03
This is groundbreaking technology that pretty much. eliminates the guessing game. So you'll see how Matt and the boys are, they're not trolling a straight line
14:14
Like trolling a lot of times you need to make turns to change your bait
14:18
He's doing it drastically, these little weak turns, like that. All that's doing is just changing that bait ever so slightly faster, slower
14:26
and just a little bit of directional change. And that's, that could be crucial, that could be the whole key
14:30
We need a little motor. motivation. We have heard that you guys got like four fish today. Is it true or not
14:42
If I catch a fish great, we don't catch a fish today? Oh well. Sucks to be you. Oh
14:49
fish on, fish on. We've been into five so far. Have you voted any yet or no? Have you
14:56
voted for? Did you really? Yeah. And then we just lost probably about a 40-4-2-inch musky as well. Really
15:21
Oh my god, boys, that's a big fish. Get the net on, Mark
15:26
Oh, what? What? That's the f*** he just came off. I saw it jump
15:31
Oh, that's all we're going to do. That's awesome. Good for you guys
15:40
Okay, boys. We'll let you get back to fiction. You too. Take care. That's great
15:46
So the rumors are true. Oh my gosh, here we go, Paul
15:52
That's a nice fish. The largest musky caught today. Today's unique Muskees Canada event took place on the St. John River in New Brunswick
16:08
To get there, I traveled east on Highway 401 to Highway 20 in Quebec. I next turned southeast on Highway 30, which eventually joined back with Highway 20
16:16
Then I went south on 1.85, which turns into 85, and then joins Highway 2
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I next exited on Highway 102 at Long's Creek and finally took the Mactaquack Road north to my final destination
16:27
the Riverside Resort, and Conference Center. Riverside is a great facility with comfortable hotel rooms along with a lounge and restaurant
16:33
If you want some isolation, they also have fully equipped cottages on the property, everything that a traveling angler needs
16:40
Something else you going to see with musky anglers is gigantic nets This one called the Big Cohoona And there a reason for that This thing is massive This net is unbelievable A 50 inch fish can sit in this net in the water You can do all your work on that fish
16:57
getting the hook out, no harm. So it's like a gigantic lie well once you get the fish in the net
17:03
So they're very handy. They're huge, but again, very essential for musky fishing
17:15
Oh my gosh, here we go. Come back this way, Mark. Oh, that's a nice fish
17:25
How's that for a net job, boys? Oh, my God. Oh, my God
17:32
Okay, pliers. Okay, Mark, hold back there, buddy. Oh, my gosh, this is a big fish
17:40
What a nice fish. Awesome job, brother. Okay, rain on the bumper
17:45
board head first oh my god let me get this underneath oh my gosh what are we looking at 55
17:55
55 centimeters okay I'm gonna say 55 okay and what's the length 43 and a quarter
18:06
there you go now we got them just just let them recover now well done well done
18:15
43 and a quarter by 55 centimeters so we're going to have to check that and see what that
18:21
conversion is. Is she how fat that fish was? Yes. So long people look at muskies Canada is just a bunch of fishermen and we're so much more
18:29
than that as an organization. We support conservation as well as supporting research to find out more information about muskies
18:37
Our club here in the St. John River has I think made some pretty good strides
18:42
We're changing public perception. We want to see them given the sport fish status or at least need to be naturalized so they're not killed
18:50
Because this is a great recreational fishery, literally in the heart of our capital city
18:56
We have something really special. We have to understand that if we don't take care of it early, we could lose this
19:03
That's why we're here to try and open the eyes of the whole country to see this episode and say they're not an invasive species
19:10
You should treat them like an endangered species almost. They are like the epitome of all game fish
19:14
in Canada really. The largest musky caught today was 33.8 pounds by Lyndon Bartley
19:28
If I can make a recommendation to all you men out there, take your wife
19:32
I had a good feeling that morning, I even told her, I said, you're my lucky charm today
19:39
because first time out musky fishing in a tournament with me. When I hooked the musky
19:44
I was all in a panic. She took over the throttle. She was cool as a cucumber. She did everything perfect
19:50
When I went to pull the fish closer to the net, I told her she had to move
19:55
She said I was on her foot. And when we finally got it landed in the net, she did the netting and did a fantastic job
20:01
Well, when I went to lift the net up, her arm was intertwined with mine. So when I lifted it up, it started to jam her wrist
20:06
And she said, you're breaking my wrist, you're breaking my wrist. I almost broke her wrist, but anyway, it did land it. It was all good
20:13
Sure enough, it worked out. She was pretty excited. I was probably more excited. Today's hot spot is the area where Lyndon caught is winning fish during the Muskie Challenge
20:34
The wait point on your screen will get you there. Incidentally, this hotspot is very close to where Angelo caught his giant last year while fishing with Buddy Steve Nizwee
20:42
Remember, musky fishing is all about covering water. in where trolling becomes a very effective presentation
20:48
Baked crankbaits are the number one lure on the St. John, and most anglers try to imitate the color of a local baitfish called Gasparo
20:54
more commonly known as Alewife. When this match-the-hatch method isn't working, then deviate from the norm and try something that totally doesn't make any sense
21:02
Trust us, it's worked before, and it'll work again. If more hotspots like this one, check out Fishin Canada.com
21:14
In Canada show, brought to you in part five. Ram trucks, built to serve
21:21
Prince Craft boats. Dominate the waters. Garmin Panoptics, all-seeing sonar. Mercury outboards, go boldly
21:33
And Outdoor Canada. Canada's only national fishing and hunting magazine. Close captioning for this episode was brought to you by Fishing Canada.com
21:43
the gateway to your next fishing adventure. Come home to our cabin in the while
21:50
because we're in for some fish in Canada. Yes, we're in for some fish in Canada
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