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Smallmouth and Largemouth After the Spawn | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
Mike Miller and Pete Bowman try to tackle Bass fishing’s worst time of the season… the Post Spawn. Mike concentrates on Smallies using everything from Dropshots to Wake-baits while Pete looks for Largemouth with Shaky Worms and Whacky Rigged Senkos. ► 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
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0:01
[Music]
0:16
you're alive
0:18
come on let's go fish it
0:22
[Music]
0:25
whoever Creek Lake our stream and
0:29
everywhere in between come on let's go
0:34
[Music]
0:35
the fishing Canada show is brought to
0:38
you in part by Coleman the outdoor
0:41
company must call serious bug
0:44
protections Princecraft votes the more
0:47
you know that better we looked and
0:51
mercury number one on the water
0:55
[Music]
1:06
[Applause]
1:09
[Music]
1:13
if you were to take a pull around the
1:16
fishing Canada office a couple of things
1:18
would prevail one our favorite fish is
1:20
bass both large and small mouth and to
1:23
the toughest time to catch bass is
1:25
during the post spawn period although
1:27
that would stall but stole my Bane got a
1:29
free lunch on today's show Mike and I
1:35
are dealt the arduous task of trying to
1:37
vote either species of poach Bob bass
1:38
now the good thing is run an awesome
1:41
body of water but the bad thing is these
1:42
fish are fresh off the beds the lake
1:45
we're on today is small on about 100
1:47
acres and has a maximum depth of around
1:49
72 feet the shoreline varies from swampy
1:52
lowlands to granite rock cliffs which
1:54
plummet into deep water whole species of
1:56
bats can be caught from opening weekend
1:58
a closing day on this great little body
1:59
of water when I'm fishing a lake with
2:02
great potential I always start the day
2:04
with super high hopes even though we're
2:06
here at the worst time possible we know
2:08
where the fish are we just have to make
2:10
them bite Pete and I are going to attack
2:13
different parts of the lake and use very
2:15
different patterns Pete's going to use
2:17
some finesse tactics like shaky and
2:19
wacky worm rigs for largemouth while I
2:21
throw tubes clog and wait baits for
2:23
small ease
2:32
okay so here I am I'm okay in the middle
2:34
of a lake virtually nothing around me
2:36
there's a point here I got a point over
2:37
here
2:38
an island over here and in back of these
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long days that you can see is where all
2:44
the fish in this lake spawns there's
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beds everywhere smallmouth largemouth
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you name it they're all back there what
2:50
happens though is after they spawn the
2:52
females move off and sort of it's called
2:55
post spawn and they sort of do nothing
2:57
they'll hang around deep water and feed
2:59
on the first available food source which
3:03
is usually crayfish or perch and in this
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case of this lake
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there's no perch or pan fish there's
3:10
rainbow smelt and linked up so they're
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gonna move to the deep deep water and
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they're gonna be on humps and points
3:16
with real close access to that deep deep
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water so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna
3:21
work the first break to that deep water
3:24
which is I'm in 15 feet and just out
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here in front of me is thirty seven feet
3:28
and then at the middle lake there's
3:30
about 80 feet and we're not that far
3:32
from and I can fight throw a stone and
3:33
hit that deep water look at how long
3:35
this smallmouth is good that's a skinny
3:45
fish but long why because if you look
3:48
here they've done spawning they've
3:51
exhausted themselves they're a little
3:53
light but they're hungry and when that
3:58
water warms up in summer kicks in
4:01
they'll come shallow and they'll start
4:02
eating stuff but right now they're just
4:05
down there getting ready for summer post
4:08
spawn Beauty fish there's still a little
4:10
lethargic the week from the spawn
4:14
and they're not going to want to chase
4:16
too much down so I'm gonna fish the
4:17
bottom close to the bottom as I can I'm
4:20
gonna tie on a jig head
4:22
with a little craw to imitate that great
4:25
fish food source all this is is just a
4:30
little it's a three inch black sort of
4:33
crayfish fire that on a jig head
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that'll be weapon number one so that's a
4:42
simple little setup is easy you can get
4:44
a lot of people will actually use a real
4:46
crayfish for that but when you're using
4:48
this Berkley Gulp and birthday
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live bait stuff my beats not required
4:54
tastes it's better than live bait they
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say secondly what I'm gonna do is I've
5:02
got a drop shot rig here this is a
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little sixteenth ounce drop shot weight
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and I've got a small octopus hook here
5:09
about a foot up from it so I'm gonna be
5:11
just off the bottom with this and what
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I'm gonna do with that is put a leech on
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it and again not a real each it looks
5:19
like a real each but it's this yummy
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stuff right here where do you see this
5:29
thing it's even got the little sucker
5:33
mouth on it right there what you do with
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that and you just put that the hook
5:38
little octopus hook right through the
5:41
sucker mouth and bam there's your little
5:44
drop shot bait now a lot of these
5:49
techniques I'm doing were originally
5:52
live bait tactics for live bait
5:55
fisherman but through fishing
5:56
tournaments and competitive fishing
5:58
you're not allowed to use live bait so
6:01
guys have adapted to deepwater tactics
6:05
for slow fishing so basically what I'm
6:07
showing you here is if you even if
6:08
you're not a competitive angler is if
6:10
you want to go to a lake and catch fish
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and conventional baits aren't working
6:14
spinner baits and you're topwater baits
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that's because the fish are is not a
6:19
negative mood but they're deep and
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they're lethargic and you're gonna want
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to most guys would go in and say I guess
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it's just not good fishing today it's
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good fishing you just got to get
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down to them and fish slow with small
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baits fish must be little ones look at
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this it's gonna go right past everybody
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here maybe it's not little oh it looks
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good from here
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oh nice decent small y'all we're gonna
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spit out stuff
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that thing was headin for the middle of
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the lake
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[Music]
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like energy this thing's God Wow that
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crawls gone I can't see it little
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stinker disappeared edit good bridge me
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pliers that thing with dist hit the
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water and then took off sideways it's
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heading for the middle of Lake barely
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hooked
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look at that cute little bass your
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friends you're wet out here see I'm out
7:42
here nothingness it's not the most
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picturesque the see there's bass all
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underneath me be stacked in there all
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the females hanging out like a bunch of
8:01
old ladies having tea so who did you
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spawn with this year Martha well I'm
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sorry to interrupt your tea party ladies
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[Music]
8:14
since Mikey did this mama thing I
8:16
figured I'd give large mother try hey
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why not now I know they'll be tough they
8:19
catched but they are a little more
8:20
predictable than a Smalley and they move
8:22
around a lot less I'm just gonna work
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this bay here this is one of the primary
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spawning bays probably the second-best
8:31
largemouth bass in this lake don't you
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say second-best cos there's one that's
8:35
bigger than this so
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but I'm gonna work it a little different
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and all of the guys I know guys I know
8:42
the guys actually better hit this
8:44
already and they probably beat the
8:46
shallows up real good in itself
8:48
this is poke spot he's fishing but off
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the beds probably week at least maybe
8:54
maybe even longer the three areas I'm
8:57
fishing today are actually quite
8:58
different
8:59
first is the extreme shallows with all
9:01
the weeds wood and jump this is always
9:03
good for a fish or two next is the drop
9:06
off in front of the weedy shoreline
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which is a good transitional area for
9:09
either species of bats last is a bit of
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wood near the brake line on the
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shoreline leading into the bay which is
9:15
a great spot to hold the fish that's on
9:16
the move is better fish oh yeah yeah
9:21
that's a good one it's a real good look
9:23
a little off the end of the pass again
9:30
[Music]
9:31
great
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[Music]
9:49
[Music]
9:56
now take a while like sliding into a
10:00
medium-sized spawning Bay I can try
10:02
different tactics at various structures
10:03
trying to put some kind of pattern
10:04
together that's awesome okay that's
10:07
looking skinny is I've got a 5-inch
10:08
shaky worm a six inch wacky worm a
10:10
five-inch saenko on a drop shot all in
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adult or dark colors these are three
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post spawn baits that I'm very confident
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in really not typically stuck in the
10:19
pads waiting for a you know top water or
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a flap a chat or something like that the
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fish is out off a little break off the
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pads so got one
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what as we got here large multi just
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have a stripe not a bad one that's great
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but come on jump work you jump these
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fish look gorgeous in this clean water
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Northern Ontario water than at that fish
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right there
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yeah jump not much of a jump he ate that
10:55
down he ate my worm off big time oh boy
11:01
good looking fish nice typical fish
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that's gonna really after today is that
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guy hook right in the top of his mouth
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hoping for bigger but expecting I'd like
11:15
to get two boatload of those probably
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won't but that's just a nice typical
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typical largemouth bass on almost any
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lake in Ontario at least I pulled into
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the back of a bay just out in front of
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the weed bed there's a break there that
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goes from five to 15 feet of water which
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is absolutely perfect for post Bonners
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the odd thing about an area like this is
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the big fish could school up there one
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day and be gone the next
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in fact they could be there for an hour
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and then gone this truly is a crazy time
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of year to try and put something
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consistent together
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[Music]
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that is scary
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that's an invisible oh well he visited
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the ocean Thomas Edison no she's not out
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[Music]
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I'm gonna get this person than that
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quick
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[Music]
12:11
and they jumped down into that
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scooper like that bring in my line the
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yo-yo technique that's bizarre that it's
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totally bizarre I can enter the pad
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right now I couldn't see her but I got
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her on white stuff that's 12 whoa
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well pound white so ever come into the
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pads in the morning it was gonna work a
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little bit
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wow she was exactly where she's supposed
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to be and the opening like this I just I
12:49
just do a silly casted I thought you
12:51
know what I'm just gonna Chuck a cast in
12:53
there thinking I could see everything
12:55
obviously not seeing everything catching
12:58
a great large moffat like that's a
13:01
that's a good one fish you're fully
13:06
totally now I'm gonna see one here I'm
13:08
going in on this thing gonna probably
13:09
see when I blow it totally 12-pound line
13:21
I started fishing a 12 foot brake line
13:25
adjacent to a spawning area that was
13:26
just loaded with fish unfortunately they
13:29
were all small ones and big fish didn't
13:31
get a chance to get to my feet when
13:34
you're faced with a situation like this
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you have to think to yourself do I stay
13:38
and try and catch 20 tiny fish in hopes
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of getting a big one or do I move on and
13:45
look for another area
13:49
when I make a move like the one I just
13:51
did I try to keep in mind that certain
13:53
presentations consistently work I was
13:56
gonna stick with the slope raw and the
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drop shot rate but I was gonna add one
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of my favorite early season fast
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presentations awake bait this little bad
14:06
boy you could reel in as fast as you
14:08
want it just stays under the surface it
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leaves a trail of destruction behind it
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with the average crank bait the harder
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your reel the deeper the bait goes with
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a wake bait it stays just below the
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surface and the speed of the retrieve
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only dictates the speed of the lure bomb
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[Music]
14:39
right there oh come on
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that's a Duker this thing was way out
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there man
14:50
[Music]
14:52
deep water
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top water he's taking me into the swamp
15:07
man and it just fold it up out there on
15:10
that thing look at that black beauty
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that's awesome this thing I can't
15:20
describe but the feeling you get when
15:22
you get hit on a wake bait it's better
15:24
than a top water bait because they don't
15:27
explode on it they just come up behind
15:28
it and slurp it that's just awesome
15:31
oh it's biting me again oh man
15:38
it's such a cool feeling casting that
15:40
thing out into the middle of a lake and
15:42
just watching it warble like and then
15:43
fish come up and smash it god that was
15:46
great time is probably the biggest
15:53
downfall when you're fishing for any
15:54
species during the post spawn eventually
15:56
though you should be able to figure the
15:57
fish out now since I'm on such a small
15:59
portion of the lake time is definitely
16:01
on my side
16:07
come on fish bunch of ice one two boys
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I'm big one big Somali thank all right
16:15
yeah there's a good small e this is from
16:22
the bads just op that wow that's a good
16:28
fish that there's a nice mom or bad I
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say to that fish I mean that help just
16:37
figure there's a small mouth mouth isn't
16:40
so easy to get a thumb into and I want
16:44
to get into the boat and they don't want
16:46
to go to a spot II haven't had for a
16:49
small e up of lily pads
16:50
now he's doing you're gonna want to get
16:52
smallmouth bass but I'll take my words
16:56
back I guess on that one that's a duper
17:00
big dude on the little shaky water good
17:05
smile a long fish I mean get along that
17:09
fishes yes lily pads right in front of
17:16
so you I saluted it far side of the lily
17:18
pads up on the break but not in the pads
17:21
hereo before him into these pads
17:25
like myself laughing again okay slowly
17:31
but surely if I keep getting three and a
17:35
half to four pound fish every hour four
17:38
and a half whatever they are every 20
17:43
minutes be happy
17:44
[Music]
17:48
holy this feels heavy what are we
17:57
dealing with come on show yourself
18:00
problems with it you can't pull too hard
18:02
because the hooks so small you know
18:05
you're using the light line he's gonna
18:07
let the fish do it once here
18:09
[Music]
18:12
the only good thing is I don't keep
18:14
water and I get nothing
18:15
I don't feel I'm breaking the operator
18:18
let's see you show yourselves look like
18:22
a good one well that's not a bad small e
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this point stacked a little if it's got
18:30
the belly yet but it's long
18:31
[Music]
18:40
two heads one on the table order one on
18:42
the net big Smalley I'm getting tired
18:47
I'm running out of breath okay this is
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it
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yeah I want a porker I gotta catch my
19:06
breath here now see what I'm talking
19:11
about here is all these fish are in this
19:13
deep water you can see how skinny this
19:15
fish is it's probably just gonna start
19:16
feeding for summer but it's down there
19:20
deep water getting ready and these are
19:22
rainbow smelt eating fish so they hang
19:24
out off this 20 feet right off the edge
19:26
of the 50 feet and they're gonna start
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eating the fish like there's no tomorrow
19:30
that's a beauty still skinny but I'll
19:33
take it
19:35
vision get in the hot spot be ultimate
19:38
fishing guide presents getting there
19:42
today's hot spot is a shoreline leading
19:45
into the largest spawning Bay in East e
19:47
Lake the waypoint on your screen will
19:49
take you right there as with most early
19:52
season bass fishing definitely cast
19:54
close to shore however do not neglect
19:56
firing random casts directly away from
19:58
the shore post spawn fish cruise
20:00
randomly for whatever reason and
20:02
sometimes a cast into the wild blue
20:04
yonder will pay big dividends for hot
20:07
spot like this one check out our website
20:13
69 or another highway 17 west and west
20:18
hills and then on those on aviation on
20:20
Lake Lausanne from there it's a quick
20:22
float plane trip integrate cars on
20:24
beautiful icy Lake Lausanne Aviation is
20:27
a family-owned company that's in
20:29
business since 1959 they offer nine
20:31
fly-in katas on nine different lakes
20:33
waiver from five to 20 minutes each way
20:37
visit fishing canada.com
20:39
for more details
20:42
fish in Canada was brought to you in
20:45
part by the rocket fishing rod my
20:49
outdoor tv.com outdoor television on the
20:53
Internet Stern the lifejacket experience
20:58
and radio world dot CA closed captioning
21:04
provided by Ontario tourism go fish
21:08
in Ontario calm
21:14
for more fish in Canada visit fishing
21:17
canada.com
21:20
[Music]
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