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MONSTER PIKE in the Northwest Territories! | The Fish'n Canada Show
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Mar 20, 2025
If you like watching big predator fishing in exotic areas, then this is the episode for you! Angelo Viola and Pete Bowman head to the upper reaches of the Northwest Territories at the mouth of the Mackenzie River, which joins Great Slave Lake to the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean. The species they’re after will undoubtedly surprise you… it’s the ill-tempered and short-fused Northern Pike. And let’s just say… the boys have got their hands full!
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0:01
[Music]
0:05
oh God yeah this is a beauty bud it's
0:08
the second ever on the show man is that
0:10
crazy he's on cuz they took drag oh it's
0:13
a big fan
0:15
just oh look at the tail on that
0:19
thing
0:22
oh yeah nice fish answer nice oh nice
0:25
fish that's a monster oh my God that's
0:28
the biggest fish yet you
0:31
goon the fishing Canada show brought to
0:34
you in part by the spectacular Northwest
0:37
Territories something here will change
0:39
you yui fishing lures fish the best
0:44
Mercury El fors go
0:47
boldly and Outdoor Canada Canada's only
0:50
National fishing and hunting
0:53
magazine Canada
0:55
[Music]
1:11
[Music]
1:26
[Music]
1:36
hi everybody let me start this show out
1:39
by saying this trip has been a long time
1:42
coming yes we get to encounter some
1:44
pretty amazing destinations across
1:46
Canada but every now and then we'll hit
1:49
one that just blows us away today's
1:53
location is one of those places the
1:54
Northwest Territories we haven't been
1:57
here in a long time but all that is
1:58
about to change as we team up with the
2:00
folks at nwt tourism and show the world
2:03
why this place is considered fishing
2:05
Nirvana no wonder is referred to as the
2:08
spectacular Northwest
2:10
Territories home for this episode is an
2:13
oasis called brebant Lodge nestled on a
2:16
tiny fantasy islandlike setting at the
2:18
mouth of the mighty McKenzie river the
2:21
largest river in Canada from here at the
2:24
bottom end of great Slave Lake it will
2:26
flow over 1,000 Mi Northwest before
2:29
dumping into the Arctic Ocean as you can
2:33
imagine the journey is definitely a big
2:35
part of this amazing adventure a few
2:38
flights an overnighter and Yellow knife
2:41
and then jump on a flow plane in Hay
2:43
River somebody please pinch me normally
2:47
trips to this part of the fishing world
2:49
are filled with catches of giant lat
2:51
trout pure 30s 40s 50s and even 60
2:54
pounders are realistic
2:57
expectations but lurking at the bottom
2:59
end of great slave in the Mackenzie
3:01
Delta is another heavyweight Contender
3:03
who's been hiding in the shadows esox
3:06
Lucius the northern pike that's right
3:08
kitties today it's mono Amano with
3:11
monstrous nwt
3:13
Northerns the plan is to search for fish
3:16
that are migrating from their spring
3:17
spawning grounds on the McKenzie back to
3:20
Great slave and according to owner guide
3:23
Peter Fox our timing couldn't be better
3:27
as these trophy fish should be in full
3:29
postpone mode meaning the only thing in
3:32
their minds is eating everything in
3:34
sight as they make their way back to
3:35
Great slave that my friends is a good
3:42
[Music]
3:53
thing now when we finally arrive at most
3:56
fishing spots it usually takes us a bit
3:58
of time to figure things out but here it
4:01
was on immediately literally on our
4:03
first two
4:07
casts he smacked me good don't know how
4:09
big it is he's coming too easy now big
4:12
fish will do that sometimes they they'll
4:14
you he's spinning though he's rolling
4:15
he's rolling yeah you know what decent
4:18
way to start it good starter starter
4:20
fish well you know what's nice about it
4:23
we know that the colors work and we know
4:25
the right there first cast you know it's
4:26
going to be the deal right yeah you got
4:28
to feel good about that
4:31
oh maybe he'll come off I got one too on
4:32
my first cast on First cast okay oh Bud
4:35
look it what I think I got an in canoe
4:38
no I do you got an in canoe I swear to
4:41
God oh my God you do look at this this
4:45
is a phenomenal catch we've only had one
4:48
of these fish on the fishing Canada show
4:50
in the 40 years that we've been in
4:51
business this is the second one right
4:53
here called an in canoe or they also
4:56
call it a she fish check that out folks
4:58
we don't really want to pull her out cuz
4:59
they're very delicate yeah so we'll just
5:01
flip her off but what a cool looking
5:03
fish I'll just bring it over I'll leave
5:05
mine on on hold here for a
5:08
minute beautiful done woohoo there you
5:11
go brother there's a kind of a bucket
5:12
ler that's the first that's my first in
5:14
canoe ever it's the second ever under
5:15
the show man CRA that's crazy that's
5:19
awesome add one to the list Angelo yes
5:21
sir yeah you take us off the Rocks don't
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worry there you go this is the McKenzie
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river Canada's longest running river by
5:29
the way cou years ago a good friend of
5:30
ours uh Roy arms told us about the
5:34
walleye fishing in British Columbia and
5:38
we said you're an old fool there are no
5:40
Walley BC you're an old fool Roy watches
5:43
this show he's going to beat you
5:45
up there's no walleye in BC he says yeah
5:48
he says not only walleye but they got
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giant Pike out there too said you're
5:54
you're crazy man anyways long story
5:56
short we looked into it and he was
5:59
absolutely
6:00
right uh in the Northeast sector of the
6:03
Rocky Mountains in British Columbia it's
6:05
probably some of the best walleye
6:07
fishing and pike fishing that you could
6:09
possibly experience so how did these
6:11
walleye get into the Northeast sector of
6:14
the Rockies we started looking into it
6:17
and we found out you guessed it it all
6:20
starts here at the mouth of the McKenzie
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river these fish are not here very long
6:25
they are here about 90 days about 3
6:28
months of the year as the ice melts on
6:31
great slave and U starts to recede these
6:35
Pike will come into the mouth of the
6:37
McKenzie here to spawn what we are
6:40
trying to do is intercept them and it's
6:42
a game of finding out where are those
6:45
fish at this particular time are they up
6:46
at the spawning grounds have they
6:48
finished spawning are they moving back
6:51
and that's what this uh this episode's
6:53
going to be all about it's going to be a
6:54
blast and we just got an in canoe a
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sheep fish double header and the first
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two cat
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well although that Pike didn't break any
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records the in canoe was such a great
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surprise Pete got a bucket Lis and we
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finally put another she fish on camera
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man that's a long time between
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catches time to move on we're going to
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work our way towards great slave using
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the current and wind to ease the boat
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along but even here making minor
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Corrections with the electric trolling
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motor can pay big dividends
7:33
oh I saw fish see some fish I saw some
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fish oh look
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at oh yeah buddy yeah yeah yeah those a
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good one we'll get the net for that one
7:46
yeah this is a n oh God yeah this is a
7:49
beauty
7:51
Bud oh my god look he's going to jump no
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no no don't don't jump yes don't jump oh
7:56
my god oh this is a nice fish Bud w easy
8:00
easy what is he doing that for easy oh
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oh easy you just got the one hook the
8:05
back hook think the small hooks just a
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little it's a jerk bait right big
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Gator I almost had
8:13
him try it again there you go nice nice
8:19
woo there we go leave him right like
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work on him now you can Bud buddy you
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could wrestle with them in there yeah
8:27
these nets are perfect for this now yeah
8:30
got it nice nice nice there you go f
8:34
nice how was that for a nor Pike Beauty
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Northwest Territories McKenzie river
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northern pike good work buddy let me get
8:43
the net out of the way I'll drop it
8:44
right back in go
8:49
ahead oh yeah baby you are a beast
8:52
shouldn't take much to get that fish
8:53
going again come on baby look it there
8:56
we go byebye byebye
8:59
good work the glove the glove worked eh
9:02
nice
9:07
nice got it oh he's off he's off yes
9:10
that thing took no no he's on he's on
9:13
he's on I was going to say took drag oh
9:15
that's a big F just
9:17
just I'm locked D I'm locked okay that's
9:20
the on okay I think we're going to need
9:22
a net on this one oh we're I'm netting
9:23
this guy an yeah I think so oh look at
9:26
the tail on that thing
9:29
here we go coming at you beautiful nice
9:32
nice job buddy nice I'm going to hold
9:34
the net I'll let you do the honors just
9:36
a barely in them man I think out out
9:40
nice so let me get this let me see if I
9:42
can get this bait out yeah get the
9:43
little out first cuz the fish is see
9:45
that's why people musky Anglers ESO
9:47
Anglers use Nets like this when you you
9:49
got a chance for a big fish that fish is
9:51
sitting in there his face is under the
9:53
water breathing perfectly good it's just
9:55
recuperating for that little bit of a
9:56
fight and uh
9:59
wasn't much of a fight no it wasn't it
10:01
came in pretty good but then n can pull
10:03
the the hooks out of the net makes it
10:05
safe for everything you know what I mean
10:06
then you give the fish a little lift
10:08
kiss some goodbye and seems like a
10:10
little Overkill with the net but it's
10:12
not not with these nets eh no especially
10:14
when you got a potential for a 50-in
10:16
pike I tell you as we're working this
10:18
fish the lodge has got Garin Force
10:20
trolling motors I'm on anchor mode right
10:22
now makes this life so much easier you
10:25
see the wind there's current and this
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wind and we're just sitting here working
10:28
on this fish now it's perfect perfect so
10:29
it's a great addition to the
10:31
lodge nice W it's going to slime you
10:34
watch the hooks and everything yeah
10:37
woohooo nice Bud that fish got me slime
10:43
bad all right here we go pull a net back
10:46
if you can bit P there you go got her
10:48
all right baby the Net's heavier than
10:50
the
10:51
fish there he goes beautiful job
10:55
beautiful job brother I've been
10:57
officially slimed by y y
11:00
River and I love it I I me never was
11:03
this
11:05
[Music]
11:13
off so we quickly figured these Pike out
11:16
they're relating to a quick drop off
11:18
that breaks from a shallow flat and
11:19
drops into 6 to 8 ft of water although
11:22
it's not a drastic depth change it's
11:24
enough to hold these Giants and pretty
11:26
much textbook for post spawn Pike
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yeah nice fish an nice oh nice fish
11:33
that's a monster big one that is a
11:36
monster
11:39
oh that is spectacular that was it right
11:42
there buddy big old Gator head that's
11:44
the price of admission right there yeah
11:46
that's awesome when they do that oh my
11:49
God and stay on he got her in there
11:51
doesn't he I think he's got it good
11:54
oh I think you got it real good I got to
11:57
try and pull him in Bud yeah
11:59
anytime right into the net you are a
12:02
beautiful fish there you are they're
12:04
like Gators in these nets eh like it's a
12:07
it's craziness got it so we're just
12:10
letting him sit in the net now it's like
12:12
a live well we're just going to let him
12:13
recoup a little bit if he looks good
12:17
I'll pull him up for a quick show you
12:19
guys and if he looks good we'll release
12:20
him if not we can put him back in the
12:22
net and he's just sitting here perfect
12:24
really and breathing away upright okay
12:28
here we go
12:29
nice nice Pike gorgeous real long not
12:33
fat but long huge head on them
12:37
yeah there we go there you go go on
12:41
buddy good he did yeah
12:44
nice so awesome woo that's what he just
12:49
did is probably even more important than
12:51
catching that fish and that is making
12:52
sure that it's ready to go I mean that
12:55
fish probably would have survived it
12:56
anyways even if we had have just thrown
12:58
them in but boy why would you want to do
13:00
that when you give him a chance to
13:01
recoup just lay him in that big NE he
13:03
fought good you know it's a little time
13:05
it's a little time yeah it's time
13:07
consuming fish fantastic good job
13:14
buddy I'm feeling a lot of weight down
13:17
there man coming
13:19
up no oh yeah that's a big fish that's a
13:22
big F that's better yeah that's that's
13:25
better grab the N oh he T-boned it too
13:28
nice nice you tell me when you want to
13:30
bring them yeah I'll slide them toward
13:32
you yeah we can try here he goes there
13:34
he goes wo on him man come on baby here
13:39
you go here you go nice one nice scoop
13:41
nice scoop let's see what we
13:45
got I wonder if they had any idea when
13:48
they designed this switch bait at yzui
13:50
that it was going to become such a
13:52
popular and fish catching monster for
13:54
pike yeah not this one because it's salt
13:56
water yeah yeah exactly that's what I
13:58
mean yeah oh me he's big he's heavier
14:03
than I
14:05
thought Bo they're beautiful huh nice
14:08
fish beautiful the LOD says you get tons
14:11
of these by the way they say you get
14:12
tons of these that is
14:17
incredible all right let's see what we
14:19
can do with
14:23
you
14:26
yes this swam away did you see that
14:29
thing kick all of a sudden it just went
14:31
Boop
14:32
yeah nice good
14:37
[Music]
14:45
stuff today's Hotpot is one of the many
14:48
Monster Pike holding areas that are
14:49
accessed through brav an Lodge on the
14:51
MacKenzie River in the Northwest
14:52
Territories the way point on your screen
14:54
will get you there we primarily use two
14:56
bait styles that both work with the same
14:58
present ation Yuri twitch baits and jerk
15:01
baits were the deal for us and the
15:03
bigger the better we constantly changed
15:05
bait colors throughout the day and it
15:07
seemed to make a difference by shooting
15:09
our Liv scope beam forward we could hold
15:11
the boat out about 40 ft from the brake
15:13
line we would then cast up towards the
15:15
shallower portion and work our baits out
15:17
to deeper water every now and then we do
15:19
the exact opposite casting deep and
15:21
retrieving towards the shallows and that
15:23
too produced the odd giant bait casting
15:25
rods and reels wire leaders and at least
15:28
50 pound test braided lines are a must
15:30
in this situation don't come here
15:32
unarmed for more hotspots like this one
15:35
checko fish andc
15:36
[Music]
15:47
canada.com this is exactly what we
15:49
dreamed about before this trip
15:51
materialized catching big post spawn
15:53
Pike on Yuri hard baits we couldn't have
15:56
scripted this any better
15:59
[Music]
16:04
oh yeah look at this that's a nice fish
16:06
that's more 12 are you kidding me I know
16:09
that's huge I know oh my God that's the
16:13
biggest fish yet you
16:16
goon I wasn't even excited about it
16:20
we'll try and get them on the other side
16:21
here an just because of all our Liv
16:22
scope stuff yeah I'm going to try my
16:24
best bring them around
16:27
buddy there we go
16:30
gorgeous fish yeah nicely done nice
16:34
that's close to 20 if not a little bit
16:36
more I'm telling you right
16:38
now wow that was so fast he's not bad
16:42
either huh no he's not he's not bad man
16:45
did they ever do they ever hit this
16:47
stuff is it on the inside
16:49
there right there it's not even in there
16:51
is it we're not we're not in there at
16:52
all it's around the mandible there there
16:56
now he's free now we can give him a
16:58
drink of water
16:59
you got it out yeah yeah I can't believe
17:04
I miscalculated that fish so like oh 10
17:07
lb I just calculated that by 8 to 10 lb
17:09
oh my God that's the fish of the trip
17:12
right there brother so I'm just going to
17:14
let him do his thing there like that
17:16
he's good there's no blood he's he was
17:18
hooked really easy I'll get this out of
17:20
here so that it makes life easier for us
17:24
don't go too deep you'll get yourself
17:25
cut bad oh I've done her before lots of
17:27
cuts on these guys
17:29
they do they do damage here we go going
17:32
to try and be this as quick as I
17:37
can look at
17:46
this there's a blooper for
17:48
[Music]
17:54
you what a gorgeous Northern fight
17:57
Northwest Territory
18:00
that's almost spawning colors you know
18:01
that oh man what a beauty fantastic just
18:05
watch that net I'm going to put him in
18:07
right
18:09
here yeah his tail looks spawning too
18:11
doesn't it yeah this fish will release
18:13
really well guaranteed he's not going to
18:15
have any worry in the world oh man I'll
18:18
tell you what that's quality fishing
18:21
right here I'll tell
18:22
you it's loaded I mean loaded with fish
18:25
like that and bigger
18:28
[Music]
18:31
oh yeah that's better let's have a peek
18:34
at that's big fish how about you I I
18:36
hope so oh yeah he's he's he is fighting
18:38
like a big fish oh yeah look at the tail
18:40
on him wo oh my God that's a monster
18:45
dude that's tank of the day what are we
18:47
going to do with that trip you're
18:49
kidding me you're pulling them out of
18:50
that net what are we going to do with
18:52
that oh my God buddy musky siiz Pike big
18:57
Pike nice big Pike got some scars on him
18:59
man oh
19:01
yeah right to you right there nice swey
19:05
look at the size of that fish nice
19:06
that's the ones that they talk about the
19:08
40 High to Mid 40 in fish macro woo oh
19:13
he's out he's out perfect perfect this
19:15
is a world class pike fishing trip if
19:19
you want a if you want a good get
19:21
yourself Pike like this and it's pretty
19:22
much guaranteed you know I'm not going
19:24
to guarantee anything but brav an Lodge
19:26
is the place to go and Northwest
19:28
Territories and I'll tell you what
19:30
you're if you want to catch 200 300 Pike
19:33
a day you're going to get it easy easy
19:35
oh it's just a question of finding the
19:37
bigger ones right yeah yeah if you want
19:39
to just go out for fun you are going to
19:41
rail them you want to get a biggie you
19:42
got to take some time here we go 3 two
19:45
one wow there we go folks how fantastic
19:50
is that how cool is that that is amazing
19:54
look at this fishery this fishery is
19:56
unreal you know we were told that you
19:57
could come into this body of water and
20:00
if it's bang on if it's really really
20:02
cranked up you can get yourself seven or
20:04
eight of these a day a
20:07
day that white across the back look at
20:10
that thing dude all right put that Beast
20:13
back he's going to release well her she
20:15
I don't know what that would would be
20:17
probably a big
20:18
female that makes the trip worthwhile is
20:20
it oh yeah here we go here we go
20:23
bye-bye a I love
20:26
that I love that ah and you know you can
20:29
tell right off the Hop hey you just when
20:32
you set the hook I knew you had a big
20:34
one the little on the little guys do
20:36
this this this you tell those big fish
20:37
right away he just stays there and you
20:39
go oh my God here we
20:42
go all right
20:45
[Music]
20:47
Beauty getting there brought to you by
20:50
The Outdoor Journal Radio podcast
20:54
Network to get to today's absolutely
20:57
amazing pike fishing
20:59
we first flew from Toronto to Yellow
21:01
knife in the Northwest Territories after
21:03
spending the night there we took a short
21:05
flight to the town of Hay River where we
21:07
boarded a flow plane which took us to
21:09
brabant Lodge situated on the headwaters
21:11
of the MacKenzie
21:13
River when booking an exotic once in
21:15
a-lifetime fishing lodge trip remember
21:18
the more out of the way the destination
21:20
is the more travel elements you'll
21:22
encounter it's a small price to pay for
21:24
such outstanding fishing accommodations
21:27
and service
21:29
Rayband offers a premium all-inclusive
21:31
experience with fully guided 12-hour
21:33
fishing days included in your trip price
21:36
and there's no extra cost for fishing
21:39
after dinner along with outstanding
21:41
meals they offer a complimentary bar in
21:43
the main Lodge standard queen siiz beds
21:46
starlink Wi-Fi hot and cold running
21:49
water and full power Connections in
21:52
every cabin their premium boats are
21:55
equipped with all the bells and whistles
21:57
you'd expect in including Garmin Force
21:59
trolling
22:00
motors although we concentrated on
22:03
Northern Pike there's also walleye Artic
22:06
grailing lake trout and in canoe
22:09
swimming in the waters of the Mackenzie
22:11
as you could tell it's all there you
22:14
just need to show up and be prepared
22:17
This truly is a worldclass fishing
22:23
experience the fishing Canada show
22:26
brought to you in part by Princecraft
22:29
votes the spirit of voting Garmin tell a
22:33
new fish
22:35
story The Outdoor Journal Radio podcast
22:38
Network every Pursuit every platform
22:41
every
22:43
day close captioning for this episode is
22:46
brought to you by fishing canada.com the
22:48
gateway to your next fishing
22:51
adventure to our cabin in the wild cuz
22:55
we're in for some good fish in Canada
22:59
yes we're in for some good fishing
23:01
Canada
23:07
[Music]
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