Up next in 10
In part 1 of this trip, Ang and Pete need to shape up and form a tag team as they do battle with late fall, supercharged Striped Bass on New Brunswick's Miramichi River for what may be their best fall fishing ever!
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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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0:00
[Music]
0:01
ah the Miramichi River we're here in the
0:04
fall and we're pushing it to the very
0:06
end of the open striper season that's a
0:09
full 180 from our last trip
0:14
it's a good one
0:17
oh that's a pretty fish wow this is a
0:21
big fish look at this thing rip sits
0:23
severe but she's a straight bass
0:25
population is currently booming we're
0:27
gonna take advantage of these hard
0:29
fighting beautiful fish the fish in
0:31
Canada show brought to you in part by
0:34
the city of Mira machine Atlanta
0:36
Canada's Great Outdoors
0:39
Ram trucks built to serve Princecraft
0:43
boats dominate The Waters and Garmin
0:47
plot your Paradise reel them in
0:53
[Applause]
0:53
[Music]
1:03
ah the Miramichi River it was once known
1:07
as one of the best Atlantic salmon
1:09
Fisheries in not only the nation not
1:12
only North America but arguably on the
1:14
entire planet
1:16
this gorgeous stretch of water cuts
1:18
through some of the most beautiful
1:19
Eastern Canadian Landscapes and
1:22
ultimately ends up emptying into the
1:24
Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St Lawrence
1:26
and it's here that we find the
1:28
quintessential New Brunswick Community
1:30
the city of miramashi
1:34
if you noticed Ann said once known as
1:37
and that's because in this current ERA
1:39
the miramashi's Atlantic salmon
1:41
population is only a fraction of what it
1:43
used to be the river still has a
1:45
reasonably healthy self-sustaining run
1:47
of Atlantic Salmon but it's not like the
1:49
past such a sad story as they certainly
1:52
are an iconic fish
1:54
some say the decline in Salmon
1:55
population is due to the rising water
1:57
temperatures caused by global warming
2:00
others say it was due to the massive
2:02
aerial spraying in 1952 of DDT that was
2:06
sprayed over the entire Mirchi area
2:09
this was done to combat the spruce
2:11
budworm
2:12
but the real damage of this event
2:14
wouldn't be felt until the early 1960s
2:16
when it was discovered that aerial
2:19
spring had a catastrophic effect on the
2:21
Watershed including the Miramichi River
2:24
it's estimated that only one-sixth of
2:27
the salmon population in the mirror
2:29
machine actually survived the aerial
2:31
pesticide spray program
2:33
it's a catastrophe that the mirror
2:35
machine Atlantic salmon never fully
2:37
recovered from there's also another
2:39
theory to the salmon decline which is
2:40
due to the Predator fish species finding
2:42
their way to and migrating up the
2:44
Miramichi River one of the main suspect
2:47
species is the striped bass
2:49
now although this fish is indeed a
2:51
voracious feeder we're having a hard
2:53
time finding solid evidence stating that
2:55
stripers are actually decimating the
2:57
Atlantic salmon population
2:59
so with all that said we're gonna leave
3:02
the salmon population alone however
3:04
since the beer machine's straight bass
3:06
population is currently booming we're
3:08
going to take advantage of these hard
3:10
fighting beautiful fish
3:13
this isn't our first trip to the mirror
3:14
machine for stripers we were here a few
3:16
years ago in the spring of the year and
3:18
let me tell you the fishing was insane
3:21
that is crazy oh my God look at this
3:24
look at the size of that oh look at this
3:26
oh my God there's an estimated 250
3:30
000 I don't care what river you are
3:32
that's a lot of fish man look at them
3:34
all wow this is nuts that I've never
3:37
seen before in any fishery along with
3:39
catching numerous stripers and myself
3:41
and the production team captured the
3:43
inaugural 2015 miramashi Striper Cup a
3:46
tournament solely devoted to the
3:47
strongest bass on the East Coast
3:49
[Music]
4:07
fast forward to this trip and we're here
4:09
in the fall and we're pushing it to the
4:11
very end of the open striper season
4:13
that's a full 180 from our last trip
4:15
[Music]
4:28
this is a big fish
4:33
[Music]
4:39
we finally hit the water on this episode
4:42
I think we need a little good luck
4:44
incentive so we're going to start this
4:46
fishing trip with some pure East Coast
4:49
flavor by attending a good old beer
4:51
machine kitchen party
4:54
well listen thank you very much for for
4:57
coming here tonight we were absolutely
4:58
happy to have you here in our kitchen
5:02
the boat was called the Alexandria and
5:04
that's the name of the song So from what
5:06
engine I have figured out a kitchen
5:07
party takes place in the kitchen because
5:09
that single room is the heart of most
5:11
homes first off the kitchen has a
5:14
relaxing atmosphere next with logical
5:17
thinking the fridge is right there
5:20
um can you say lots of cold beer the
5:22
year was
5:24
1900 to the day
5:27
next because kitchens are often smaller
5:30
than the other rooms in the house the
5:32
party gets real cozy uh we're in the
5:34
kitchen so food is just a step or two
5:37
away finger foods and desserts are the
5:39
deal here and finally the music Celtic
5:43
is the traditional style but honestly if
5:46
you request it these talented magicians
5:49
will probably know it and play it in
5:52
footstop and style
5:55
now that we have our blessing of kitchen
5:57
party good luck it's finally time to hit
5:59
the water with late fall fishing comes
6:02
cool air as well as cool water
6:04
temperatures
6:05
through experience Pete and I know how
6:07
to bundle up for the cold late fall days
6:09
on a boat however we're not sure how
6:12
these mirror machine stripe bass will be
6:14
affected by the almost frigid water
6:15
temperatures below the surface
6:17
we both fish them in the late fall but
6:20
never this late we're going to try a
6:22
variety of baits and tactics and attempt
6:24
to figure out the mood and activity
6:26
level of the fish and hope that just
6:27
maybe maybe we can get into a little top
6:30
water bite
6:33
I don't think he's feeling too heavy but
6:35
he's coming
6:37
he's a swimmer maybe he's swimming
6:40
towards you who knows better get a
6:42
bucket
6:43
you better get the bucket if that's the
6:45
best thing we can get
6:47
I know this guy wants to do everything
6:48
else to me too they're such a cool
6:51
looking fish
7:00
egg
7:00
ah
7:02
that's what we were hoping to get these
7:04
fish going on the Glide baits but oh
7:05
yeah he's better yeah a little bit he
7:08
pulled
7:09
you got hooked nice on that back hook
7:11
though the way they're supposed to look
7:12
look at that perfect yeah
7:16
for it underneath look at that oh wow so
7:19
you missed it nice lashed at it again
7:21
yeah I've had so many look at that bait
7:23
today and do that and not take it it's a
7:25
quick look here at this bait we've uh
7:27
changed the the hooks on normally they
7:29
come with treble hooks out of the box
7:31
but the laws here in New Brunswick on
7:34
mirror machine state that you have to
7:35
use a single sidewash hook or a single
7:38
hook
7:39
you can use more than one on a bait up
7:42
to two or three actually but they have
7:44
to be single hooks not to Triple hooks
7:46
and the other thing too is that the
7:48
barbs have to be squeezed down so that's
7:51
why this bait looks a little bit weird
7:53
compared to the normal configuration
7:55
that we'd be using and I don't think it
7:57
affects the action of the bait all that
7:59
much AP have you noticed I think it's
8:02
just just about as good yeah
8:08
[Music]
8:12
anything can't tell buddy it's a little
8:15
bigger yeah maybe a little bigger nice
8:16
okay they're getting bigger
8:18
there you can go thank you laying right
8:22
down the floor and I'll deal with them
8:23
you'll deal with them nice nice so maybe
8:27
maybe they don't want to come right up
8:29
on the top I don't know yeah I'm
8:31
thinking
8:34
beautiful
8:37
okay they're here I'm just gonna catch
8:39
them now we get the bigger ones
8:46
oh oh come on now oh
8:50
everybody oh whole different angle here
8:53
now I know it's different now he's got a
8:55
lot of current to work with yeah exactly
8:59
that sounded great
9:02
sounded really good didn't it I gotta
9:04
just sit this oh yeah that's a good fish
9:05
good one yeah that's a good fish good
9:08
don't get off put them in the net make
9:10
it easier for you you're gone
9:14
okay you know what he's not bad no he's
9:17
not bad at all no he's not giant but
9:21
he's long
9:24
he's a long distance troll that way yeah
9:26
yeah
9:28
I'm like a little small mouth yeah
9:31
can you imagine a school of a couple
9:33
hundred of those chowing down on bait
9:35
down there they're voracious yeah they
9:38
really are they're like a pack of
9:39
beautiful fish
9:41
I love them
9:42
now theory has it by the way that when
9:45
you go to your favorite
9:46
fishmonger and Order up some Chilean sea
9:50
bass at 25 bucks a pound that's what
9:53
you're getting right there
9:57
well it's a good one
10:00
that's a nice fish buddy yeah I'll get
10:04
I'll get the net oh nice bring them home
10:07
buddy here we go nice good fish nice oh
10:12
yeah okay what did you do I swam it back
10:15
right from the word go I didn't let it
10:17
go over here at the bottom
10:18
School up on the top right applying the
10:21
life scope so we saw about eight fish on
10:23
the live scope way up and we're nine
10:25
feet of water so they just started
10:26
swimming it
10:28
there we go Beauty
10:31
gorgeous fish
10:33
[Music]
10:37
[Applause]
10:38
a level yeah wow I don't know think
10:41
about it this is giant this guy's a
10:44
giant it's bigger than anything we've
10:46
had on today
10:48
[Music]
10:51
[Applause]
10:55
not sure if you noticed but Anne's and I
10:57
are fishing both upwind and downwinds
10:59
the reason for this is all about anchor
11:01
positioning if the water is deeper than
11:03
eight feet once we find the fish we use
11:05
our forced trolling motor in Anchor mode
11:07
to hold us facing into the wind allowing
11:09
us to precisely work the school if the
11:11
water is under eight feet we drop our
11:13
power poles while facing downwind this
11:15
allows us to freely scan with our
11:17
trolling motor while viewing our
11:18
forward-facing sonar and again working a
11:21
specific group of fish boat control is
11:23
everything
11:25
typical level yeah wow though think
11:28
about it how how fun this is for double
11:30
headers you know what I mean trees like
11:33
there is a point where you're gonna get
11:34
them every cast
11:36
crazy Fishery that is the best part
11:38
about it all too is that we're
11:41
I would say as the crow flies we're no
11:44
more than 10 miles from the city itself
11:47
yeah city of mirror machine and these
11:49
and this is just 10 miles of the river
11:51
it goes on that way that away that away
11:55
and there every single arm is loaded
11:57
with these stripers got one
12:00
there are literally
12:03
literally thousands of them twice a year
12:05
they come into the river some of them
12:07
are in here all year round but in terms
12:09
of the big run you've got the Spring Run
12:11
which is the traditional spawning season
12:13
for these fish and then this fall run
12:15
this incredible Fall Run that we're on
12:16
and they're basically in here just
12:18
chowing down on other fish that are
12:21
starting to head out to sea
12:23
and right from the ocean all the way up
12:26
as far as Hayden told as far as 40 50
12:29
miles straight up you'll find striper
12:31
bass in this River
12:33
that are in here to feed in the fall and
12:35
then some of them will stay in here all
12:36
winter long
12:37
and then they'll head out in the spring
12:40
after the ice is out
12:42
but twice a year you get this type of
12:44
fishery and it and it is everybody as
12:47
good as it looks by the way we we've
12:49
literally with our Garmin units we have
12:51
seen thousands of fish today it's
12:54
thousands of fishing guaranteed yeah
12:57
you can probably catch 100 or 200. oh
12:59
you can get 150 200 fish a day without
13:02
any problem at all
13:05
foreign
13:15
on a fly rod yeah with streamers I bet
13:18
you would be crazy oh it'd be insane
13:21
[Music]
13:25
as well on this trip our good buddies
13:27
Steve nizwiki and Jeff Wilson are on a
13:30
mission we've employed them to supplies
13:32
with the ultimate miramashi dinner
13:34
professionally prepared striped bass
13:36
also known as Chilean sea bass no no no
13:40
they aren't cooking the fish they're
13:42
catching the stripers in an easy to
13:45
access and very popular area using a
13:47
totally different method than we're
13:49
using their job is to catch a few keeper
13:51
fish which we'll have prepared by a chef
13:53
and then of course consumed by the four
13:55
of us if that ain't icing on the cake
13:57
then I don't know what is
14:00
now getting back to Ange and I we're
14:02
still hoping for the ultimate in all of
14:04
bass fishing a top water bite
14:07
so far we've found deeper active fish
14:09
that are hitting soft Plastics which by
14:12
the way worked great on our last visit
14:13
here in the spring and as well they're
14:15
slamming our newly discovered slow
14:17
sinking twitch bait
14:19
we're certainly not complaining we're
14:21
just hoping
14:26
it's a big fish it's the beauty of what
14:29
we do this is calling live scope because
14:32
we literally went along this bank and I
14:34
said and they're right there and he
14:35
looked at the livescope saw the
14:37
direction he cast out and he hooked that
14:38
fish up that is the beauty of it you're
14:40
fishing where there's fish and not where
14:41
there's not fish that's the nice part
14:43
about life scope we brag about it and
14:45
talk about it and everything else but
14:46
I'm telling you this is giant this guy's
14:49
a giant as far as what it feels like
14:52
it's it's bigger than anything we've had
14:54
on today really she's ripping he's
14:56
ripping me right out there you want to
14:58
chase him
15:01
I can wait point it too if we have to
15:03
move but yeah if I get low on my spool
15:05
here well glass room I got lots of lines
15:08
still on them Pete's got on that nice
15:10
twitch bait that slide and glide we call
15:12
it from yosuri and I just put a chunk of
15:15
plastic on because these fish are also
15:18
feeding on eels up here in the mirror
15:20
yes I just saw a glimpse of them and
15:22
he's fighting like crazy he's fighting
15:24
like giant no he's not no he's not a big
15:26
thing fish
15:27
he kicked your butt look at this thing
15:30
boy he's tough
15:32
oh my god look look
15:36
I could have swore that I Oh I thought a
15:39
20 pounder you know what though I've
15:40
noticed Ang every one out of every 10 to
15:43
15 of these fish are stronger than the
15:45
other ones yeah yeah like it's just
15:47
there's something about the way they're
15:48
built or if it's a male to female thing
15:50
I don't know what it is but there are
15:52
there are definitely stronger fish here
15:54
as per length
15:56
this is the hardest part right here they
15:59
know your hand is coming
16:03
I thought he was twice that size 20
16:06
pounds I thought for sure
16:08
it's not bad I mean no we'll take him
16:10
but when you can get into a body of
16:13
water where the possibilities of getting
16:15
probably 30 40 maybe 50
16:18
a back quality of fish Pete's got what I
16:20
do
16:21
every day that you go out it's worth the
16:25
drive I'm telling you oh yeah wow
16:28
even these little guys it's so much fun
16:30
they're so much fun you bring your this
16:32
is a family fishery right here yeah you
16:34
bring your family out here and if you're
16:37
and you're if you're a guy your wife and
16:38
your kids telling you what all day long
16:40
they will love catching these things
16:43
[Music]
16:52
today's hot spot is quite typical of not
16:55
only good fall striper fishing but a
16:57
good River fishing area in general the
17:00
Waypoint on your screen puts you right
17:01
there this hot spot is at the mouth of
17:04
an incoming Creek locations like this
17:06
are one of the main fishing areas that
17:09
Pete and I are always on the lookout for
17:10
doesn't matter if it's on a lake or a
17:13
river incoming water is key
17:15
when it comes to straight bass at this
17:18
hot spot we love throwing hard base like
17:20
yosuri's 3db twitch bait and pencil
17:23
popper but we always include some kind
17:25
of soft plastic and jig as well for more
17:28
hot spots like this one check out
17:30
fishingcanada.com
17:34
[Music]
17:39
feels like a heavier fish
17:41
oh they're an ocean run fish they're so
17:44
strong dude you might have a big in here
17:49
foreign
17:59
top water attack didn't start out as we
18:01
hoped it seems like the fish aren't
18:03
properly set up for it now we know
18:06
they're here because we can see them on
18:07
the live scope they just won't come up
18:09
for our bait it may be that they're a
18:12
little too deep
18:15
it definitely feels like a heavier fit
18:17
right
18:18
but these fish are so deceiving hey
18:20
they've got the current they're they're
18:22
an ocean run fish they're so strong
18:27
I've always said saltwater fish are
18:29
ridiculously strong
18:31
like and these stripers are no well they
18:33
live on their clothes yeah
18:37
and staying away from sharks exactly
18:40
dude you might have a big in here I
18:43
don't know but he's definitely pulling
18:44
drag oh there he is not you can't hand
18:47
bomb them in that's the one thing about
18:49
it
18:52
okay you ready yeah coming at you no not
18:55
that far oh
18:58
that's so pretty fish that's a nice fish
19:00
Bud wow nice and you you look at this it
19:03
was just sitting there look at this
19:05
[Laughter]
19:08
well that's nice
19:10
that's what we're looking for that's
19:12
nice
19:13
unbelievable
19:15
it's unbelievable thousands of these
19:17
things in here thousands of them
19:19
what a tremendous can you imagine living
19:22
on a fishery like this every day oh dude
19:24
I'd be so spoiled I'd made my arms would
19:26
be sore every day she would never ever
19:28
join the gym that's for sure
19:31
that's almost
19:32
that's probably
19:34
just at the tip of the slot right have
19:36
you ever even keep a fish yeah I don't
19:38
even yeah I don't even know how to I
19:39
don't even know what is 24 centimeters
19:41
or is it 24 inches we don't even know
19:44
we're not keeping them we have somebody
19:45
else's doing that for us that's going to
19:47
be doing some live bait fishing and uh
19:50
we're actually going to get them to
19:52
catch a couple of those so we can have
19:55
them prepared at the rod hotel where
19:58
we're staying and have a Fresh Feed of
20:00
those things because they are
20:01
spectacular
20:02
[Music]
20:06
so we're definitely onto a solid striper
20:09
pattern now a consistent bite in 10 plus
20:12
feet of water
20:13
but we still haven't accomplished what
20:15
we came here to do and that is get them
20:17
on top water but don't stick a fork in
20:20
us yet
20:21
in next week's part two of this episode
20:23
we'll give you a little recap from today
20:25
we'll let you into Steve and Jeff's boat
20:27
we'll show you how a depth change in a
20:30
change of weather could make a world of
20:32
difference and best of all the ultimate
20:35
mirror machine Chow Down you don't want
20:38
to miss it
20:41
that was crazy that is huge what was
20:45
that that's him buddy I got him I got
20:47
him
20:48
oh there you go
20:51
oh
20:52
bigger chunk bigger fish
20:57
oh man it's massive I can't believe how
21:02
that happened and we saw it almost in
21:04
slow motion
21:08
to get to today's wild striped bass
21:11
action we first traveled East through
21:13
Ontario on Highway 401 we next hit
21:16
Quebec and took Highway 20 to Highway 30
21:18
and eventually got back to Highway 20.
21:20
next we turned Southeast on Highway 85.
21:23
once in New Brunswick we took Highway 2
21:26
East and then drove North on Highway 8
21:28
at Fredericton we finally took 117 into
21:31
the town of Mira machine a left on
21:34
Henderson Street and on to our final
21:36
destination at the rod mirror machine
21:37
Hotel
21:39
this modern day facility is the absolute
21:41
perfect home away from home for the
21:43
traveling angler the accommodations are
21:45
excellent the food outstanding there's a
21:48
boat launch a block away and you can
21:51
literally fish for stripers directly
21:53
adjacent to the property
21:56
Canada show brought to you in part by
21:59
yosuri
22:01
lures
22:01
[Music]
22:03
Mercury outboards go boldly and Outdoor
22:08
Canada Canada's only National fishing
22:11
and hunting magazine
22:13
closed captioning for this episode is
22:15
brought to you by fishingcander.com the
22:18
gateway to your next fishing Adventure
22:23
[Music]
22:30
[Music]
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