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Giant Upper French River Muskies | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 17, 2025
(Episode 444) Angelo Viola and Pete Bowman team up with the Beasley Brothers from the hunting show Canada in the Rough. They take separate adventures “hunting” for the ultimate freshwater predator, the Muskie. One team fish’s the French River while the other takes on the Kawartha Lakes... both excellent Muskie fishing areas! Don't forget to leave a COMMENT and give us a LIKE if you enjoyed what you saw. SUBSCRIBE for new videos and episodes released weekly! CONNECT WITH US WEBSITE: http://fishncanada.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/FishnCanada/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/fishncanadaofficial/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/angeloviolafnc/ One of Canada's longest-running fishing shows, Fish'n Canada travels from coast to coast in search of trophy fishing opportunities. First started by brothers Angelo and Reno Viola in 1986, The Fish’n Canada Show has been on the air for over 30 years. Today, Angelo is joined by lifelong fishing buddy, Pete Bowman, and the pair continue to travel across Canada educating anglers using the experience they’ve gained over the years #Fishing
View Video Transcript
0:00
oh yeah I'm on the fridge fish in Canada
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so brought to you in part by sales the
0:29
outdoor superstore Coleman the Outdoor
0:34
company muscle proudly Canadian since
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1951 Cooper Tires life the road trip
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come on let's go and print barcodes
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dominate the waters
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about a year ago during one of our
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preseason planning sessions we got to
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talking about what a successful day on
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the water meant to different fishermen
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we wanted to show the two sets of
0:59
anglers targeting the same fishery with
1:01
different attitudes and techniques would
1:04
have completely different outcomes and
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still consider themselves to have a very
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successful day on the water that is
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awesome we also have to keep in mind
1:11
that the concept of success varied with
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experience the longer you do it the
1:16
better you got at it your perception of
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success would change for example as a
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novice angler a stringer of five or six
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Pike after hours of casting is a big
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deal after some experience go you're
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looking for that monster pike that could
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eat that original stringer in one bite
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maybe the toughest Pike I have ever
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conformed we decided to showcase this
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topic and make an episode out of it we
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needed to talk to non-professional
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anglers who understood success and love
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to fish
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and of the Beasley brothers Paul Keith
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and Kevin very successful guys in their
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own right
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being the stars of the extremely popular
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hunting series Canada in the rock these
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young men are great outdoorsman expert
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hunters and very good fishermen who over
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the years have always wanted to shoot a
2:00
fish in Canada segment on their own well
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this was the perfect opportunity to test
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our philosophy on fishing success but
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with a twist
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they would fish and we would hunt for
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muskie oh babe and having grown up in
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Peterborough Ontario hunting and fishing
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all their lives
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the Beasley brothers are very familiar
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with the beautiful Kawartha Lakes put a
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beautiful day to be fishing Paul and
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Keith are taking the reins on their
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portion of this show and they'll be
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fishing the Otonabee River as well as
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some on the Buckhorn Lakes Academy
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muscular luminous
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we're fishing the French river at a
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Saudi air lodge where we fished many
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times before but never for muskie to
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make sure we have similar successful
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experiences and to give the brothers a
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little incentive we told them they could
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use FMC one our new custom built 20 foot
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prints craft which we consider to be the
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ultimate fishing machine now say though
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I think engine if you have it a little
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too easy
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it's pretty quick to go with fishing I'm
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all day in a boat like this and I don't
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think they're going to be able to
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convince anybody in the country or at
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their homes that it's too hard of a day
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out here definitely not fishing in their
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office either sure they need to
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experience the mountains with your life
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when you're back I say we invite them on
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a backpack trip would be fun put a
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quarter pound moose on Bowman's back and
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things six the exam is on Biola's it's
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not there hiking
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haha really funny boys now there's
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working smart or there's working hard
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you see Pete I would have made that
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moose walk out for the truck before we
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shot it now get back to work before we
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yank the keys of that boat and make a
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fish out of the FNC canoe
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[Music]
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you see and blow that off holy cow he
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come outta nowhere a or just figure that
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ball ski and two feet of water not
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spectacular beauty look at that [ __ ] you
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very well I think we need players on
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that look at that beautiful man great it
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a lot that's what it's all about right
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out searching for them looking finding
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the right stuff in the right fit then
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you get into a big boys like that we're
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looking for bigger but that makes a day
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a lot of fun right there in terms of
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success the Beasley stated the catching
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a lot of nice fish would do it for them
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we on the other hand have another point
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of view success for us means nothing
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less than a record fish making contact
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with just one monster muskie is enough
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any more than that would be a bonus they
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do not want to go in that net since this
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episode is about success and how
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different angles interpreted our
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interpretation involves an immersion
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into the culture of muskie fishing
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everyone knows who fishes are a breed
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apart
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diehard muskie fishermen success means
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only one thing a world-class trophy and
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these guys are absolutely relentless in
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their quest for the mother of all
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mussels Oh
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tiger
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completely dedicated they've GPS their
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spots check their saloon er tables moon
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rises moon sets and go regardless of the
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weather we're just going down and take
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the photos because odds are the river
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here freeze tonight with telephone poles
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for rods and humongous lures creating
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havoc on the water
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vicious days even weeks they mean
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nothing to them and anything they do
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catch if it's not a muskie it doesn't
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count this is the attitude that we need
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to adopt in order for us to be
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successful today oh there's one
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ladies muskie sorry forgive him we
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consider the Beasley's muskie technique
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to be pretty much to go - in most areas
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especially in the corpus they're fishing
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in ten to 12 feet of weeded water with
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high skies and no wind using seven foot
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heavy bass rods with number five feather
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bucktail inline spinners on 12-inch
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titanium 30 pound leaders they're
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casting through the milfoil and cabins
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and are getting most of their bikes as
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the lure clears the weeds
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ha ha ha buddy yeah he's a beauty look
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at that we're gonna cut off tail
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probably running a spawn bed this spring
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just a beautiful fish boat fish oh my
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god
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oh he tell me what is that where you
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bring him in - oh really jobs a lot more
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fight in him than those other ones day
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yeah a little bit different I know you
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ready Paul that is a beautiful beautiful
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fish hook in the hand oh my god popped
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out you know that's awesome we don't
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have a big thank you for giving us
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chance to get in their boat to be in the
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boat of - Hall of Fame fishing guys and
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couldn't do something we love what a
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moment
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absolutely ah I was just like shooting a
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big moose or very nice for a fishing is
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you can just see them - going on I
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release a tray oh my gosh awesome
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awesome awesome
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[Music]
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[Music]
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now we know the quarters are good musky
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grounds but not a lot of thick 50 plus
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fish have been taken there
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the French River on the other hand is a
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different story
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headquarters for this exciting fishing
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Canada truth is Shaw Deer Lodge situated
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at the north part of the French River
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just before dumps the Lake Nipissing not
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only does it have all the creature
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comforts you can ask for after a long
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day in the water and they do tend to be
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very long days when you're targeting
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muskie like we are today but our good
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friend and owner of this legendary
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fishing Haven Steve Nez wiki and his
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staff have their finger firmly planted
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on the pulse of muskie migration in this
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area like no one else
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this information is priceless when
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you're limited for time like we are
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according to pete Stephan AK a premier
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muskie guide on this river there be
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monsters there even though a cold front
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is moving in well that's good enough for
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us we're just one day ahead of peak
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activity according to the saloon er
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tables perfect our technique at first
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glance seems very similar to the
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Beasley's repetitively casting and
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reeling by fishing open water we on the
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other hand can literally count down our
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big blades as well as vary our retrieves
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trying to find an optimum running depth
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and speed in order to trigger strike
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this can be critical
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Arthur cashews - got something to keep
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in mind when casting for muskie is not
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always try and finish your cast with
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some kind of extra offering at the end
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of your retrieve a half of a figure 8 is
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all it takes to give that falling fish a
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reason to smash a baker and crust us
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muskies fault we're fishing the French
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river at a saudi air lodge in anywhere
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from 10 to 50 feet of relatively wheat
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free water with overcast skies and a
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slight wind we're using eight to nine
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foot muskie rods 10 inch dad's and
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inline spinners with huge number 10
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blades 12 inch Magnum Bulldogs and even
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16 inch long de long giant which eels
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all secured onto 80 pound fluorocarbon
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and not able 50 pound metal leaders
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everything is tied to 80 and 100 pound
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test braid various boys
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ok buddy - nice [ __ ] there we go yeah
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I'm gonna bring the site yeah the small
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boy activist yeah
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here yes here here she is here she is
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walk yeah nice locket yeah
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sorry buddy she does not want to go in
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that net
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yeah it's another boy baby
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nice I got to step onto that hang onto
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your life jacket yeah I got the light I
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get that one big fatty yeah I know when
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you can see these marks or not look like
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lesions on the back of this fish
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probably from previous bumps and bruises
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that is reporter likes me perfect
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welcome oh yeah yes and hit hit that
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beat sure forceps unbelievable I can
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pour over that probably answer to open
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that down
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yep okay here's this you grab her I've
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done by part I go that's not anybody and
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you hang on to meth got it Wow as a dude
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it's a long way down there that open
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those short little arms there we go
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how's that walking dear
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Oh baby that is beautiful or jizz Wow
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and that is what I love about these
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fellows here they're so thick through
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there yeah I'm going to drop her back
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room yeah put her in an urn in wolf or
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Jana just really all right bye-bye
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that's what I'm talking about letting go
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Sweden bye-bye dear my my
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how exciting was that oh to have a blast
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of you're running a spinner and the fish
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literally comes here's this better come
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on anise over like this over that sign
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of it like in this letter and I doesn't
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have a three normally but really
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associates of water yeah I give it a
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three or four count down and I let it go
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down a little deeper so even deeper than
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the norm unless I just reeled them up up
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in the top
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what's amazing is that they can actually
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hit that and miss it hit that MS it
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hardly a dude right over top of it and
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then the second cast I didn't think was
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going to get it I thought I'll I waited
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for the follow on that first I thought
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maybe be there and I figure eight it
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wasn't there but any of the rest
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today's hot spot is a very cool-looking
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stair-step drop-off right smack dab in
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the middle of the French River in
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Ontario the waypoint on your screen will
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take you right there this is the kind of
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spot that can be either cast or trolled
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the key here is to cover lots of water
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and don't hesitate to throw a
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high-riding lure over 40 or even 50 feet
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of water as we said in the show always
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finish every retrieve with some kind of
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circular motion like a figure 8 just in
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case you've missed seeing a follower
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have a big net as well as pliers and
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cutters on hand and remember treat these
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Giants with the reverence they deserve
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for more hot spots like this one check
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out fishing Canada calm
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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if you're planning on taking on the
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mighty musky then keep the following in
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mind
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be prepared to feel like you've just did
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three rounds in the Octagon with a
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heavyweight champion this game is a
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killer
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[Music]
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yep he's on I meant I get the net yeah
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greg:so oh that's a nice fish
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oh yeah yeah baby oh yeah so dirty
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spinning they're so strong totally
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different than a northern pike a sobbing
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sighs yeah yeah you can feel the
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difference in them yes yeah you really
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can I will get out of your way here get
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him close if you want to turn his head
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toward me I got out of yep good gaming
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Ginga yeah now the fun starts this Irish
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beat yep there you look how she lookin
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bunny get some surgery going on thank
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you got a new picture 19 that was very
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good that it got oh yeah Apple sinkhole
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and that is absolutely outstanding nice
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job there so girthier moving ahead yeah
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put her man yeah
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it seems like both of our groups
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succeeded in our muskie fishing
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adventures Pawlenty hit the fish field
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lake to the Kawarthas and voted a bunch
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of very respectable southern Ontario
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muskie and had a blast in the process oh
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yeah we on the other hand actually
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exceeded our expectations
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they thought the giant we were looking
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for and then proceeded to catch its claw
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in a very short window of time almost
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unheard of in the world of muskie muskie
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fishing normally isn't as easy as we
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made a book on today's episode fishless
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days and even weeks are very much the
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norm that said however by choosing prime
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locations and fishing them and peak
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activity periods both parties were able
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to achieve fishing success place we
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spend the offseason 2008 fall I like it
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is doing a lot more than us well done
15:41
money to get to show Deer Lodge we first
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took highway 400 north from Toronto we
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then took highway 69 north to highway 64
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we headed east on 64 to doki's Road and
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then proceeded to doki's marina from
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there it's a short boat ride to the
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lodge
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you
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[Music]
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all the fish caught in this episode were
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caught on spinners so the KL peeper
16:17
Today Show is presentation to showcase a
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lure invented almost 80 years ago with
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the basic design unchanged for decades
16:24
the classic inline spinner is still
16:25
delighting anglers with huge successes
16:27
on the water it's an excellent example
16:29
of heritage and effectiveness the
16:31
wonderful thing about this brilliant
16:33
design is that it inspires innovation
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simply changing the blade shape size
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texture or color creates entirely
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different lures which are equally as
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successful that can only happen when the
16:43
basic design is perfect fish in Canada
16:47
show brought to you in part by Ram
16:50
trucks nothing worked harder than around
16:53
during trusted on the water since 1952
16:57
mercury and forest number one on the
17:00
water and outdoor Canada Canada's only
17:04
national fishing and hunting magazine
17:06
[Music]
17:23
you
17:24
[Music]
#Fishing
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