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DODGING ROCKS ON GEORGIAN BAY | The Fish'n Canada Show Episode 543: Early Esox On Georgian Bay
Mar 24, 2025
On this Fish’n Canada episode, Ang and Pete head to the Killarney region of Ontario in search of some early-season Northern Pike. The season just opened and the boys are chomping at the bit to get out.
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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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0:01
[Music]
0:01
[Applause]
0:02
[Music]
0:06
[Applause]
0:07
oh he's going who oh
0:10
[Music]
0:15
God holy it's go
0:19
crazy oh buddy oh yeah nice nice Pike
0:22
nice Pike
0:23
yes almost oh I think it's a nice Pike
0:26
oh it's a Musky oh it's a Musky good job
0:30
J the fishing Canada show brought to you
0:34
in part by Princecraft boats the spirit
0:38
of boating Garmin plot your Paradise
0:41
reel them in and Ontario Canada in
0:45
partnership with destination
0:48
[Music]
0:58
Ontario
1:01
[Music]
1:07
hi everyone welcome to the premere
1:09
episode of the new fishing Canada season
1:12
we thought it'd be kind of fitting if we
1:14
actually started this run of episodes
1:16
with literally our very first shoot of
1:18
the Year our destination is Karne
1:22
[Music]
1:24
Ontario well Sports Missin was built in
1:27
the
1:28
1800s um this is probably the third
1:31
rendition of the actual place we're a
1:33
full service Resort uh we offer
1:35
everything from premium fuel to our
1:38
Anchorage dining room to um our Sporto
1:41
Pub which is the central part of Karne
1:45
basically that's where people come
1:46
people come here to meet there's uh some
1:49
record siiz musky in the area a northern
1:52
pike smallmouth bass um and if you go
1:56
the other way there's lots of troat so
1:58
there's a little bit of everything thing
2:00
I think and and the fishing is still
2:02
really really good short drive to get
2:03
here lots of dockage here lots of power
2:06
um we have pump outs we have everything
2:08
here so this is a this is a good
2:11
spot as you'll see in this episode this
2:13
shoot is all about shaking the rust off
2:15
and in our opinion there is no better
2:17
species to do this with than the
2:19
northern
2:20
[Music]
2:21
pike now we're no strangers to this area
2:24
years ago Pete shot a fantastic triple
2:27
species episode with northern pike
2:29
smallmouth bass and musky he came back
2:33
with rave reviews for both the fishing
2:35
and the accommodations in the Karne
2:37
region so we thought it's time to
2:40
return Pike season is one of the first
2:43
to open in Southern Ontario but more
2:45
than that these early spawning hard-
2:47
fighting fish allow you to put your gear
2:49
to the test and get your year moving in
2:51
the right
2:53
direction our trip started out as they
2:55
often do meeting with locals to get a
2:57
lay of the land and a status update on
2:59
our Target
3:01
species on this shoot it's a guy called
3:04
not by his name but by his hair color
3:08
red red is a lifelong colar resident who
3:11
has made his living as a fishing guide
3:13
and knows the NorthShore of Georgian Bay
3:14
like the back of his hand he told us
3:17
that we were just 2 weeks removed from
3:18
ice out and that these recently spawned
3:20
fish were just about to re-enter feed
3:23
Mode best of all the places where these
3:25
fish were doing their replenishing were
3:26
shallow clear and all within 20 mi of
3:29
camp
3:32
at Sunrise we met red at the Docks eager
3:35
to get an early start and get the first
3:37
shoot first a Jitters out of the way
3:40
tkes are still necessary despite the
3:42
Calendar's recent turn to May and frost
3:45
still covered the seats of our
3:46
Princecraft spring is here but winter
3:49
has not fully given up its grip with
3:52
seats cleared and hoods tightened we
3:54
left the docks in the wake of Red's
3:55
aluminum tiller boat he ripped around
3:57
the boulders like his boat was on track
4:00
as for us we carefully stayed in his
4:03
wake red is a rare breed these days as
4:06
he still operates without a GPS or chart
4:09
plotter every route we ran was mapped
4:12
out nowhere but in his mind and he knew
4:16
every rock on a first name basis modern
4:19
technology has certainly enhanced the
4:21
way we fish but Red's seed of your pants
4:24
navigational skills sure are hard not to
4:28
envy
4:32
holy he's going whoa oh
4:35
God holy it's go
4:40
crazy our first location is one that I'm
4:42
familiar with a small rocky Bay just a
4:45
couple miles from the lodge it's one of
4:47
the areas we hit on my last shoot here
4:49
then it was about deep water late in the
4:51
year this time it's about the Bay's
4:53
Rocky shorelines new weed growth and
4:55
incoming Creeks perfect for early season
4:58
Northern Pike
5:00
got one inch oh it's a smallie no it's a
5:02
smallie oh
5:04
boy I'm the jerk ba you're going to have
5:06
that's going to happen you want those
5:07
leader on yeah another month month and a
5:11
bit so right now we're pike fishing Pike
5:15
and wall are the only two gamefish
5:17
species open here right now but what a
5:21
lot of times you're throwing baits like
5:22
and just throwing a twitch bait I'm
5:24
throwing a jerk bait and you hopefully I
5:28
can do this with no pliers
5:30
and you inadvertently catch these guys
5:33
and then whoa come
5:35
on all these hooks makes it hard to is
5:38
there's a big gray area that the
5:40
ministry of Natural Resources is working
5:42
on right now in Ontario I don't know
5:43
about the rest of the provinces but here
5:45
that fish it's not illegal to catch it's
5:48
illegal to fish for but it's not illegal
5:51
to catch it's inadvertent right it's
5:53
just an incidental catch what is what
5:55
would be illegal is if I had have taken
5:58
that fish right there and went look at
6:00
that Smallmouth everybody that's what a
6:02
beautiful fish okay let's put them back
6:05
it wouldn't be illegal taking the
6:06
pictures of the fish it's illegal in
6:08
delaying the release so that's the big
6:10
gray area right now with everybody take
6:11
wanting to take pictures and all that
6:13
it's not illegal to take a picture it's
6:14
just illegal to delay the re right
6:16
there's a a survey going on right now
6:18
yeah um online that anybody can
6:20
participate in to to because they're
6:23
asking us what do you think can we put
6:26
this this tiny little uh uh chain to the
6:29
legislation that would allow Pete for
6:32
example who just caught that fish would
6:34
allow him to actually pick it up and get
6:37
a photo or video shot of it and then put
6:40
it back in the water like he did as
6:41
opposed to having to release it
6:43
immediately can't avoid the small mod
6:45
and if there's large Mo in the air
6:46
you're not going to avoid the large Mo
6:47
either because the pike are shallow
6:48
going out as an says going out bass are
6:50
shallow coming in so you can't so all
6:52
you got to do is protect the fish and
6:54
that it's that extra 5 Seconds that you
6:56
say hey everybody look at that picture
6:58
that's what the gray a area is right now
7:00
so you got to remember that's the same
7:01
with all species muskies if there's a
7:03
Musky uh a 48 in size limit and you've
7:05
got a 35 in musky it's a beautiful fish
7:07
you take a picture of it it's not that's
7:09
illegal cuz you're delaying the release
7:11
so you got to remember that on all your
7:13
[Music]
7:22
species oh he's going but whoa God oh
7:26
yeah we got to get out this is like
7:28
loaded here around this
7:31
oh yeah look at this yeah so here's
7:33
something right now folks we got we just
7:35
caught three small m in a row so we will
7:37
leave the spot because
7:39
we're as hard as it is good and they're
7:43
big too look at this stupid thing yeah
7:45
they're nice so we'll get off this point
7:48
know maybe the next one they got to be
7:49
out there's got to be Pike in here Pete
7:52
yeah yeah there's got it looks great
7:55
I've lost a hook under of this deal what
7:57
got a I got a double instead of a
7:59
trouble oh
8:01
nice unfortunately what screams Pike in
8:04
Northern Ontario also screams smallmouth
8:07
bass and we quickly learned that this
8:09
little portion of the bay was soon to be
8:11
their spawning domain time to move on
8:14
See You in the Summer little
8:17
bassies our second spot looks similar to
8:19
the first but this time we immediately
8:21
knew Pike were the dominant species this
8:24
was easy to tell because right after ANS
8:26
killed the Merc and stood up on the
8:27
front deck a big Pike spooked out from
8:29
beneath the boat we followed her around
8:31
for a bit but we knew that no bait was
8:33
going to fool this Beast thankfully she
8:36
wasn't the only fish in the
8:39
area not much of a pike but I'll tell
8:42
you what it's a good sign Pike sand
8:44
maybe he's hooked quite quite well our
8:47
first Pike of the season first Pike of
8:49
the day first Pike of the Season look at
8:51
that hey little snaky for us not much of
8:55
a pike but we're actually happy about
8:57
that believe it or not believe it or or
8:59
not we're happy with this guy because we
9:00
know we weeded through we just came
9:03
through an area and an said there's a
9:04
big Sand Point along here so we said
9:06
okay well you know some mollies in the
9:08
sand too we got to watch ourselves we
9:10
stayed way off of it maybe we'll get
9:12
some Pikes now would be nice that's just
9:15
on a a perfect spring Pike bait any time
9:19
of year Pike bait that's Yuri 110 uh
9:21
suspending jerk bait you play around
9:23
with it and then you find something that
9:25
works sometimes it's really fast bang
9:26
bang bang and wait sometimes it's just a
9:29
believe it or not a slow reel and pause
9:31
there's all kinds of things you can do
9:32
with them but they're
9:34
[Music]
9:36
deadly let's play him he's kind come on
9:40
got to be a Bassel I took it right off
9:42
that rock doesn't that doesn't that feel
9:44
big no he's he's swimming like a pike
9:46
swimming like a pike is he a little Pike
9:49
oh nice yeah nice little Pike oh you
9:51
crazy dog with with
9:55
fluorocarbon with
9:57
fluorocarbon right there in that
9:59
beautiful glistening
10:00
sunlight I picked up this Rod I had it
10:03
rigged up earlier on without uh oh this
10:05
is easy yeah it'll be easy you don't
10:07
know what pound test you got I I can I
10:08
put a little pressure on them that's all
10:11
you have 15 15 oh my God 15 lb Yuri
10:15
hybrid oh stretchy stuff too
10:18
yeah and there's that there you go Bud
10:21
there nice little oh scar belly oh
10:23
another another one scarred up bud wow
10:26
solid little fish be a perfect Shor
10:28
lunch fish I'll tell you so we found out
10:30
something
10:32
interesting at dinner the other night at
10:35
uh at the uh Lodge that Pike spawn in uh
10:41
in balls and they bite and gash and
10:45
slash on each other so and I didn't know
10:48
that I had no idea never heard of that
10:51
[Music]
10:54
knew holy go
10:58
crazy oh buddy oh yeah nice nice pipe
11:01
nice pipe
11:05
[Music]
11:16
yes not big they're it's not the ones we
11:20
just saw oh wait a second look at this
11:23
wait you see the side side of this fish
11:24
look at this look at
11:27
that what would do that that be a Musky
11:29
or something that does that or another
11:31
bike or another Pike yeah he's been uh
11:33
damaged wow hopefully I can get him
11:37
in look at that oh my God that is insane
11:43
that's a big bite that's like three big
11:46
bites what the you got to wonder what in
11:50
the world lives down there that would do
11:52
that right like you say it's either
11:54
another Pike yeah look at that musk your
11:57
Pike one of yeah
12:00
wow poor guy you know what buddy you're
12:03
lucky day you got bit by them where's
12:05
thr your
12:09
backoo see wow he took off he's still
12:12
[Music]
12:17
healthy followed and he finally hit
12:21
yeah now I went with a smaller Twi
12:23
twitch bait on this guy that might be
12:25
the difference eh yeah problem is he's
12:27
going to go again he's going to get
12:29
I got to grab this fish because there's
12:31
no way we could do it without grabbing
12:32
it ah wonderful
12:36
SE handy little tool right there save
12:39
your day when you're pike fishing right
12:40
now do we keep this guy for shorel lunch
12:42
Angelo I think the boys hopefully will
12:44
have a couple and we got a couple
12:46
already say I'll put it in the Box for
12:48
now put it in the Box you got water in
12:49
there right Shor lunch fish to get some
12:51
filets off of that guy that is
12:53
absolutely perfect for Shor lunch so if
12:56
we don't need them we'll let them go
12:57
that's the beauty of a ey wall
13:00
[Music]
13:04
surprisingly the voraciousness of these
13:06
Pike proved to be the exception rather
13:09
than the rule and after a quick regroup
13:12
we decide to head for bigger
13:14
water George and Bay can be a mean body
13:17
of water but we were blessed with a rare
13:19
flat calm afternoon and our big water
13:22
Convoy rolled out about as smoothly as
13:25
the Great Lakes will allow tucked into a
13:27
small Channel off the main Lake we wound
13:30
through a maze of rocks and then began
13:33
our afternoon
13:36
fish the sun was high in the sky and
13:38
warming things up nicely the pike
13:40
activity started to pick
13:44
up holy it's going crazy I'm locked here
13:48
you tell me when you want it off he's
13:49
not that big but he's he's not that big
13:51
but he's definitely definitely a nice
13:53
bike
13:54
he that the way he hit me just in the
13:58
corner of his to get that that's perfect
14:00
for getting that hook out yeah I thought
14:01
the way he hit me I thought it was a 20
14:03
pounder well I thought you the way you
14:05
reacted I thought it was a 20 pounder
14:06
it's funny because this is the one spot
14:08
we thought we might pick one up it's the
14:10
deepest hole in this Bay and it's got
14:11
the most weeds in it that's a nice
14:13
eating size Pike right there oh you were
14:14
going to eat pike yeah this would be the
14:17
yeah the deal right there yep they're
14:19
such a pretty fish too eh they really
14:22
are they are such a and just designed as
14:26
a predator long missile shaped big huge
14:29
Jaws I mean he can literally open up
14:31
when he opens up his mouth he exposes
14:33
the whole inners of that fish yeah yeah
14:36
and fast they're uh they're one of the
14:39
faster fish in fresh water they're
14:41
lightning
14:42
fast we just got into this Back Bay and
14:46
first thing Pete and I both said was if
14:49
there's going to be Pike this is this is
14:51
definitely
14:52
[Music]
14:57
it he's on brother he's on doesn't feel
15:00
that big he's not
15:02
running not running but it is a pike
15:05
yeah yeah oh yeah oh buddy oh yeah nice
15:08
nice P for that gu nice Pike that's a
15:10
nice he just doesn't know he's hung up
15:11
yet no he's not he doesn't know he's
15:13
hooked oh my god oh yeah whoa now he
15:16
knows nice Pike bud that's a good now he
15:18
knows that's a good watch the trolling
15:20
motor yeah yeah yeah I got no leader on
15:22
here oh and I can't see the L he's
15:24
eating it okay hang on buddy oh God yes
15:29
almost almost almost okay here he comes
15:32
this time he's in head head in head in
15:35
nice get my Net's all screwed up come on
15:39
net why would you do that to me your old
15:41
twitch bait and you can't even see it no
15:43
we're going to have to spread those jaws
15:44
eh yeah there there it's out I've been
15:48
throwing the yzui twitch bait most of
15:52
the morning but not one with the prism
15:57
uh finish inside that really is
15:59
capturing the sun's glare now the sun
16:01
came out and I figured I'd try something
16:04
a little shinier and basically switched
16:07
over to this and first I think four
16:09
casts I had two fish on it and the fifth
16:12
cast well we got that so that tells me
16:16
that the rest of today while that sun is
16:18
still out we're going to throw something
16:19
with a reflective surface on it but
16:22
that's that twitch bait that new twitch
16:23
bait that we've been playing with now
16:25
for the last 2 years it is just insane
16:28
look he go he's ready to go let me just
16:30
turn him
16:32
around there you go buddy there you go
16:36
buddy say I'm free I'm
16:40
free good job that's a great Pike buddy
16:43
that's a great for the first trip of the
16:45
year that's you know exactly all of the
16:48
uh the guessing game that we've been
16:50
through today trying to figure out size
16:52
color where how when that's cool I think
16:55
there might be one more on that ledge
16:56
before we go yeah one more bud
16:59
finally we established the pattern the
17:02
translucent yuzui twitch bait was on
17:04
fire and the shallow water Pike activity
17:06
was on there was only one problem we
17:10
only had one of them and of course just
17:13
a few cast after I muttered those very
17:16
words a small Hammer handle took a run
17:18
at the gliding bait missed it completely
17:21
and sliced through my 30 lb braid
17:24
swimming off with our very last
17:26
perfectly working twitch bait
17:33
[Music]
17:37
this hot spot is an easy to access Pike
17:39
area in Karne Bay the wayo on your
17:41
screen will get you there we actually
17:43
saw way more Pike than we caught here
17:45
the calm winds and high sunny skies
17:47
favored the fish not us had it been
17:50
slightly overcast or cloudy and with a
17:52
slight breeze this Hotpot could have
17:54
been on fire we mostly use yui's 110 mm
17:58
suspending jerk baits and a 3db twitch
18:00
bait in the largest size we incorporated
18:03
a stop and go retrieve which really
18:04
seems to get Pike fired up although a
18:07
fluorocarbon wire or titanium leader
18:09
will impair the bait's action they're an
18:11
absolute must if you want to avoid break
18:13
offs for more hotspots like this one
18:15
check out fishing
18:19
[Music]
18:22
canada.com look at the one following me
18:24
come on come on come on that's a big
18:26
right next to the boat that's a big one
18:28
oh I think it's a nice pip oh it's a
18:30
Musky oh it's a
18:33
[Music]
18:36
Musky so even though Mr I don't need a
18:39
leader lost our one and only magic Pike
18:41
bait we had to carry on red took us to a
18:44
nice Long Point jutting into 8 to 10 ft
18:46
of water and extending from a big
18:48
shallow bay this looked like
18:53
money he's better it can't be a a little
18:55
smaller can't be got no it wouldn't be
18:57
better than that a heavy ride it's a
18:59
nice Pike oh it's a Musky oh it's a
19:01
Musky yeah I think it is okay you know
19:05
what let's not net him wow do them yeah
19:07
do them without yeah we'll do them just
19:08
at the side of the boat cuz the musky
19:10
are out of season for another I think
19:12
there's another week or something like
19:14
that yeah wow is he ever tough okay so
19:17
what we'll try and do here folks instead
19:18
of getting this fish in the net I mean
19:21
it may be better for the fish but if we
19:22
can get it off with just for the pliers
19:24
then that's the best thing for this fish
19:26
so we'll try that and if we have to get
19:27
them in the net cuz it it Tak it more
19:29
than you sound like uh you sounded like
19:31
Marlon Perkins there and Jim is going to
19:34
jump out of the helicopter on top of the
19:36
alligator who's chasing the elephant and
19:38
could jump mus but don't you try it
19:41
folks yeah Jim will do this it's easy
19:44
okay I got the bait away from him so you
19:47
got him good job good job buddy nice
19:51
fish that is one tough esox right there
19:54
man that fish will fought wow
20:02
incidental catches of out of season fish
20:04
are often unavoidable when fishing for
20:06
early season Pike as they share their
20:09
territory with so many of our late
20:10
spawning game fish that being said it's
20:13
crucial to take care when dealing with
20:15
these fish as their seasons are closed
20:17
for a
20:19
reason musky for example at this time of
20:21
year have finished spawning they need
20:24
all their energy in the coming weeks to
20:25
feed up and get back in shape
20:29
with not much time left in our pursuit
20:31
of a showstopper Northern we decided to
20:33
take a break and have one of Red's
20:35
famous northern pike Shore lunches that
20:38
was sweet music to our ears we were
20:41
famished and knew just how good Pike
20:44
tastes and if you want a lesson in the
20:46
art of fing a pight red is the perfect
20:50
[Music]
20:54
teacher lunch break's over boys time to
20:57
get back at at we returned to the
20:59
vicinity where we saw that giant Pike
21:01
earlier and continued to fancast around
21:03
a small island nearby in search of the
21:05
big one fishing can be a very humbling
21:08
and frustrating game not just when pike
21:11
fishing but pretty much any
21:13
species sometimes you know big fish are
21:16
all around you and not one of them will
21:18
play the game oh look at the one
21:20
following me come on come on come on
21:22
yeah it's better way better oh oh come
21:25
on that's a good one oh that's the one
21:28
we want right there that was our AR
21:31
right there you know that color is not
21:33
working either that's a big right next
21:35
to the boat that's a big one man that
21:37
was yes 20 lounder right or not I don't
21:40
20 lound 15 pounder 15 anyways yeah but
21:43
to be honest that's what keeps us coming
21:48
back getting there brought to you by The
21:51
Outdoor Journal Radio podcast
21:54
Network to get to today's gorgeous pike
21:57
fishing destination we first drove North
22:00
on Highway 400 which eventually turns
22:02
into Highway 69 next we turned West on
22:05
Highway 637 we followed 637 all the way
22:09
into the town of Karne next we turned
22:12
right on Channel Street and finally
22:14
ended up at the gorgeous Sportsman's in
22:17
Resort of Marina from there you have
22:19
access to some amazing multispecies
22:22
fishing Waters the Sportsman's in sits
22:24
perched to top the pebbled shores of the
22:26
north Channel surrounded by glistening
22:29
Waters and Windswept Pines that
22:31
characterize Georgian Bay it's a full
22:34
service Resort offering modern amenities
22:37
and affordable docking rates along with
22:39
a worldclass marina in the clar channel
22:42
dining here is an experience that
22:44
extends well beyond delicious food all
22:47
in all the Sportsman's Inn is as much a
22:50
family destination as it is a fishing
22:52
destination it's a must
22:56
visit the fishing Canada show brought to
23:00
you in part by Yuri fishing lures fish
23:04
the best Mercury out fors go
23:08
boldly and Outdoor Canada Canada's only
23:12
National fishing and hunting
23:14
magazine closed captioning for this
23:17
episode is brought to you by fishing
23:19
canada.com the gateway to your next
23:21
fishing
23:22
Adventure come alone to our cabin in a
23:26
wild cuz we're in some good fishing
23:30
Canada yes we're in for Sun Fishing
23:34
[Applause]
23:34
[Music]
23:43
Canada
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#Fishing