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On this episode of The Fish'n Canada Show, Pete takes a solo mission into the north country and challenges his multi-species fishing knowledge by searching for Brook Trout, Walleye, and Smallmouth Bass all on the same trip!
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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
I'm on a solo mission in the Algoma region of Ontario
0:03
No Ange, no Steve, no Nick. I've only got a couple days to do it
0:07
Oh, he feels better now. What a gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous specimen of a fish
0:13
Got him, finally. I got a walleye. Oh, he pulled off, boys
0:20
Smalley, shaking his head. Got another one. Look at this area. Look at the area I'm in here
0:26
How amazing is this? Awesome fishing adventure. The Fish in Canada show brought to you in part by Yozuri fishing lures fish the best
0:38
Mercury Outboards go boldly. And Outdoor Canada, Canada's only national fishing and hunting magazine
0:46
On this week's Fish in Canada episode, I'm on a solo mission in the Algoma region of Ontario
1:04
and I've got my work cut out for me. I'm based at a hidden river lodge on Whitefish Lake
1:09
My task is to try and come up with an episode of the three different fish species that the lodge
1:14
is known for. One is the ever-popular walleye. The second is the feisty smallmouth bass
1:22
The third one is one of my favorite species in all of freshwater, the brook trout. The reason I say
1:28
I've got my work cut out for me is, one, the amount of water and area I'll be covering. Two, as I said
1:34
I'm on a solo mission. No Ange, no Steve, no Nick. And three, I've only got a couple days to do it
1:41
First off, I'll be driving the back roads and then walking into a small remote lake for the brookies
1:46
There are no brook trout that I know of in the main lake My second bit of work is searching for some stealthy whitefish lake walleye that are being quite finicky during this time frame
1:55
And finally, I have a 20 plus mile run I've got to make in order to get to a smallmouth bass oasis
2:02
Getting to all three of these adventures will cut into my actual fishing time Best thing I can do is have a quick fish chat with lodge owner Matt Risco
2:10
I'm sure he'll get my confidence up and running with some solid intel. I've been coming to this lake for 14 years, loved it
2:18
and one day just woke up and decided to see if any lodges were for sale
2:22
and seeing that this one was on the lake that I knew, so ended up purchasing it
2:29
Seasonal aspect, walleye are all year. Sometimes they slow down a little bit in August and then they fire back up in September
2:35
Lake trout, I like fishing when it's hotter because they're set up on their deeper holes and I like to jig for them
2:42
The trollers, though, run in downriggers and stuff like that, catch them all the time
2:47
Northern pike, just like any of the predator fish like that, they're aggressive year-round
2:53
Springtime was really good all through summer, those hot, sunny days. That's what I like to target when the walleye bites not that good
3:00
And our smallmouth, that's great all year. Come September, though, that's when the big girls are really starting to eat
3:07
and we tear them up in the 4-, 5-, 6-pound range. We have several outposts in the area
3:12
Sometimes we can get into them pretty easy. Other time, weather, we can't get into them
3:16
They're good brookie lakes, though. Some of them are stock lakes, some of them are naturals
3:20
and you have the opportunity for some 5-, 6-pound brookies. Ann and I are no strangers to brook trout and walleye in the Algoma region of Ontario
3:28
The walleye goes without saying. There's tons of them. As for the brookies, this place has blown our minds as far as numbers and size
3:36
It's a fishery that I always look forward to. So, for my first stop, I'm hitting a classic small brook trout lake
3:43
Since I've never been here before, trolling is my best option. Although I'd love to cast to specific areas, I'm better off trolling to cover as much water as possible
3:52
I've got quite the equipment contrast going on here. A brand new mercury outboard pushing this old camp boat that gets chained to a tree in the bush season after season
4:01
and that's what I love about these outback fishing adventures making the best of what's available
4:06
that one on here my boys are behind us trolling away trying to catch our scraps
4:12
little wee brookie look at that tiny little fish but it's a nice little fish
4:17
awesome first one of the day I'll take that that is an absolute perfect eating size stalker brook trout
4:23
in Algoma I'll get him in the net here if I can get him in the net
4:27
he's not big enough to give me a good scrap but like literally look at him literally we are 50 30 yards 50 yards from our boat launch
4:45
right where we put the boat in keep this guy in the water for a little bit
4:49
i'll show you give a little quick look at him and then i'm going to put him back in the water once he stops being squirrely
4:54
Got him on a spoon. The old Cleo, the usual. Look at that fish
5:01
What a gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous specimen of a fish. Easy, buddy. I'll let him go right out of the net
5:08
I don't even need to hang onto that fish. Come on, bud
5:14
There he goes. A lake like this, a small lake, you're just trolling
5:18
I'm just trolling the perimeter. I'm trolling the shoreline right now just to see if I can establish something
5:25
What a gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous specimen of a fish. Oh, I feel better now
5:31
Stunning brook trout. Absolutely stunning. Got him finally Ah I got a walleye Oh
5:48
If you're strapped for time, here's a tip. Troll to find the brookies
5:52
If you're onto something solid, then go ahead and cast. There's one. Feels like another little guy
6:00
that's okay right around the point that fish i got lucky on but i'll give you a little tip on this
6:07
it's come oh he feels better now he was coming around i was coming around the corner and i wasn't
6:14
sure if it was bottom or not because there's rocks that are sticking out so i fed some line out and
6:19
then i felt a bump and it felt like a fish like 80 percent fish and then i uh i just dropped back
6:25
to him just let my line go back back back back and that fish came back and and hit it these fish are
6:29
squirrelly. Brook trout are absolutely insane for making little rips, like bigger ones than this
6:36
You know, they just rip, line out. They come at you 100, it feels like 100 mile an hour
6:42
Yeah, it's pretty fun. They're a fun little fish. I won't even net this guy. I'll just kind of flip them off, but I'll hold them up by the lure just to show you. Again, what this Algoma region is full
6:54
of and they are full of these fish right here. Stunning brook trout, absolutely stunning. I'll wet
7:02
my hand. Look at that. That is just, I can never ever get over the color of these fish and how good
7:11
they look. There he goes. Perfect. Perfect. Okay. We're getting them. We're getting a couple of them
7:19
now. Change to a trolling pattern. Cast out a couple areas. Nothing happening. Change to a trolling
7:24
pattern. And I'll tell you what, trolling is so effective. Some people love it. Some people hate
7:28
it. I do it just because it needs to be done sometimes. I'd rather cast them up. But there's
7:32
no way I will ever deny myself of trolling a lake like this because it just covers water and it
7:37
catches fish. You know what? You've got your walleye. You've got your pike. You've got your lake trout. You've got your smallmouth in the main lake. And then if you want, usually you pay extra
7:45
for this and these places. But if you want to get your first brook trout of your life
7:50
maybe a five pound brook trout, whatever, come in for a few hours like we did today
7:54
or a full day if you want. But a half day is just good
7:58
Quarter day, whatever. Just come in here, have some fun, go back to the lodge, maybe do a walleye fish
8:02
at night afterwards. You have so many options at these places. So I wanted to get
8:07
a brook trout this trip. I wanted to get a walleye this trip and I want to get some smallmouth this trip
8:11
So, you know, that's the way I kind of planned it. And so far
8:15
and awesome. With a nice half day trip into a back lake for some scrappy little brook trout
8:20
complete, my next adventure is to work my way north of the lodge for some finicky walleye
8:25
Most of our walleye, we catch a lot on the bottom with jigs, but the past few years we've been
8:30
running slip bobbers, a lot of my customers, and the walleyes suspend great and they're very active
8:36
fish. So to have the opportunity to run slip bobbers like that is just, it's great, especially
8:41
for kids and wives. And you can catch as many as you can bottom fishing
8:47
The fish here at this time are well past the spawn and have set up into multiple different patterns
8:53
I'm looking for fish sitting in and among big boulders on somewhat windy shorelines
8:57
With the aid of my forward viewing sonar, I can see the little hiding spots these predators are hunkered down in
9:02
waiting for something to drift by. As you can see, from the positioning
9:06
of this group of walleye on my live scope, it would be almost impossible to get a lure
9:10
like a crankbait in front of these fish. Maybe a deep diver that I could instantly pull down
9:16
and into the group, but those fish would have to be super active for this to work
9:20
The slip bobber rig with live bait is pretty much the perfect presentation
9:25
I cast it out. The leech drops straight down from the float to the perfect depth
9:29
and slowly drifts directly in front of the walleye. Normally they can't resist this presentation
9:37
Got him, finally. Take a few drifts. Let's see what we got here. I got a walleye. Oh, he pulled off, boys
9:50
It was a half decent one, too. Oh, well, it's a good sign. Running a slip bobber rig with a leech
9:57
on the back of a jig. And I saw a couple on the scope right over along the shore. Threw in and
10:04
and bobber pulled down, so there's not a lot of fish here
10:07
but I might be able to pick off a few. It's a good way of getting fish that are suspended off the bottom
10:12
is to run a slip bobber rig. I'll show you how it works in a bit, but that float obviously moves up and down to a set depth
10:19
I saw those fish hanging around 10 feet down. You put that stopper somewhere around 10 feet
10:25
put it right in front of their nose when they're not on the bottom, and a lot of times they'll bite. Usually you've got to run live bait with it too
10:30
jig head and live bait, but I'll show you that. You always take your leech, you always hook them by the sucker
10:36
That sucker end always goes under your thumbnail, that's how you know, because he always tries to get you. Shove that hook through that end
10:44
That big, ugly thing. You try to sit your knot backwards like that so that it sits parallel
10:51
horizontal, I guess you'd call that, parallel to the bottom. Not that it really matters, but..
10:56
And the beauty of these systems is that float is right down by your jig
11:01
so you can cast it, you can reel it right up and cast it, and then this little stopper right here, that's a 7-foot rod
11:07
that's about 8 or 9 feet down. That stopper stops the bobber, the line goes through the hole
11:12
and stops at your desired depth. Get a lob cast it out there so you don lose your bait and then what happens is the will just go shhh Your jig head will be heavy enough to go to the stopper Boom it stops
11:26
And the bobber floats up. There it goes again. Perfect quality. Yeah, they're just moving around
11:35
And I'm literally having to search for them with a live scope
11:40
We harp a lot about live scope, but it can be critical
11:45
I mean, that's a better walleye. Perfect walleye. Perfect slip bobber walleye
11:51
Put them back. So what had happened is I'm watching these fish literally as they set up in this little area
11:58
I don't know why they're doing it. Maybe it's bait. I don't know why. But there's a rock here
12:02
There's an indent here. And there's a rock here. They were off that rock 10 minutes ago
12:08
I couldn't get bit. They started not getting bit. When I'm on lock here, my transducer is on the trolling motor
12:14
so I'm basically not really watching it a whole lot. So every now and then I take it off lock
12:18
off anchor mode, and I scan. What I just did there is I scanned, and went and boom, I saw them there 40 feet away
12:24
in a little pocket, there's about seven or eight walleye right there, like you could literally see
12:28
the amount of fish, or definitely know the fish anyways. So I just pulled back the patrolling motor a little bit
12:34
went in there first cast of that, and got that fish. Feels like a wall, either way to get that little..
12:45
Small it, shaking his head. Got another one. When you have a wind like this, you want your float to be floating in front of you from right to left, in my case, right
13:05
If it stops, it means that the jig is hitting the bottom and it's not moving, and that's not what you want
13:10
You want to lift that jig up off the bottom. This is for suspended fish or closer to the bottom fish, but you want the jig always moving
13:15
So you're going to have to move your stopper closer to the jig to make it higher off the bottom
13:23
There's one. Let's see what we got. All righty. Standing down, not bad
13:32
Standing down, it feels like a walleye. way they get that little head shake kind of a me old bobber me babber it's a walleye for sure
13:41
100 walleye this is a nice fish hey yeah we're getting a little better quality now this is
13:49
another school of fish i found look at the belly of that fish folks i'll keep it right there look
13:53
at the color of the belly of that fish i'll spin them over for you a lot of times in northern
13:58
northern ontario at least they get that color belly right there instead of white there's the
14:03
There's the white in it, there you can see, but look at that. That's just gold, that's a perfect looking
14:08
Northern Ontario walleye. That is perfect, look at that belly. What a great looking fish
14:15
I love this, it's so much fun. But to do it with the slip floats too, everything's so different
14:19
This has been a great trip actually. It's been so much fun seeing all the variants of fish patterns, fish species
14:25
Fishing a little brook trout lake and coming here and slip floating for walleye
14:29
It's a great trip. So I finally made my way to the north end of the lake, about a 20-mile run one way to the
14:42
furthest point from the lodge. Apparently, it's loaded with smallmouth bass. And as you can see
14:47
it's unique and spectacular. There are two incoming rivers in this area, and I fully intend to hit
14:53
both. I'm going to start out by casting fast-moving baits like crankbaits and minnowbaits
14:58
to not only cover water, but to see the attitude of the smallies. I'm sure as the sun gets higher
15:03
I'll need to switch to plastics. I am ready for anything these little scrappers can throw at me
15:10
Smalley, shaking his head. Fished the whole entire basin out in front of this thing and nothing
15:16
Throw right up close to the current. You get my first smallmouth of the lake. Not big, but he's, it shows me they're active
15:22
I got a crankbait tied on. A little Yuzuri cranker tied on
15:27
And it just shows to me that these fish are active because the water temperature is only 60 degrees
15:32
and I'm sure it just dropped to 60 degrees. There's no way in July it's only at 60 now
15:38
if that water is that cold. These fish will hit the crankbait
15:43
It means they'll probably hit a jerkbait, and then they'll hit, obviously, all the slow stuff
15:48
A little crank like that. I'll try and search fish out with that. I had to throw right up into the current to get them
15:54
but fat, fat little dude. Okay, let's see if we can establish something here
16:02
All this area through the crankbait and the jerkbait and the whole area, a sawfish on the life scope, nothing
16:07
Throw it into the current way up there. And I had two bites out of three casts
16:11
And that just tells you that they're using that current as a feeding area. It's blowing food down
16:15
There's all kinds of minnow and fry, minnows and fries in here right now. So I'm gonna work around here
16:20
I got two big waterfalls to work. This one, there's one around the corner
16:25
If I can't get them on cranks and fast moving stuff out here, then I'll dig down with a Ned Rig or a Sanko
16:30
or something like that. A word of caution if you intend to hit this area
16:34
During the early part of the season, this is deemed as a sanctuary. Make sure you know the regulations and fish here accordingly
16:45
Gotta be a smallie. Clubbed it. Swimming a little Nedrake. Typical Northern Ontario smallmouth
16:51
That's on a little Nedrake. I've got a really light line, so I'll probably net this fish
16:55
Just because I don want to break off everything Take those in bigger especially when you got that background
17:07
So there's two in a row, the same size about pretty much club my crankbait
17:11
And then this guy hit the little net. I just started swimming the net. See, in a place like this, a crankbait is really effective
17:19
because it floats, and the bill hits the bottom and floats it
17:23
up, hits the rocks and floats it up. You throw a jig, it instantly gets between the rocks
17:28
and you're gonna lose a ton of jigs. So a lot of times I'll take a bait, like a little Ned Rig like this
17:33
and I'll just swim it above the rocks. So that's what I was doing there. I just cast it out and then just sort of
17:40
along the top, but it's a lot slower than the crankbait retrieve, right
17:44
So they miss a crank, you lose one on a crank, go back with that, and oftentimes it hits
17:49
And he just, he popped it really nice. This episode's hot spot took Pete to the very north end of the Whitefish Manitouac Lake System
18:05
The waypoint on your screen gets you right there. The areas with current were loaded with smallmouth bass
18:12
As Pete drifted away from the fast water, he found walleye along with a couple of big northern pike
18:17
We refer to this as a fish potpourri. Pete picked off as many fish as he could with crankbaits
18:23
And after the initial bite slowed down, he also slowed down with soft plastics
18:28
This scenic area was packed with fish. For more hot spots like this one, check out FishingCanada.com
18:41
These are perfect little current fish. There we go. Look at this area
18:45
Look at the area I'm in here. How amazing is this? Awesome fishing adventure
18:53
Another one. Look at this area. Look at the area I'm in here
19:03
How amazing is this? Not a bad smallie again. Nothing giant, but I'll take it in an area like this
19:11
This is scenery at its best. They build so much muscle in the current
19:15
They fight that much harder. Smallmouth's already a turbocharged, hard to catch, hard to bring in fish
19:21
You get them living in current. They get real strong for the size of them. If you've got a four-pounder, five-pounder in this stuff
19:26
that would be insane. What a backdrop. It's fun. It is fun fishing a spot like this, even if they're tiny
19:35
You've got either banging up on the rocks or anybody got hit by a pike or something like that
19:38
There's a pike in this lake. See you, bud. Another one
19:50
Oh, actually a better fish in the current. These are perfect little current fish because they're not giants
19:57
but this is a good fish. It's a good smallmouth, but they're fun and they're feisty
20:04
Come on, buddy. Stay away from the boat. Look at these things
20:09
There we go. That's getting there. Chunky smallmouth. Nice. Came off real easy
20:23
Gorgeous fish. This is so much fun. You could sit here a couple hours
20:30
probably catch 100 of them, if you really put your mind to it. See you, little buddy
20:39
Well, I guess my concern of running solo on this trip and with so much water and area to cover
20:44
was just a simple miscalculation. All three of my destinations, that's the brook trout, slip bobber walleye, and river mouth smallies all panned out nicely
20:54
In typical northern Ontario fashion, Hidden River Lodge provided me with yet another
20:59
awesome fishing adventure. To get to today's great trifecta of fishing, Pete first drove north on highway 400 to highway 69
21:14
He next turned west on highway 17 near Sudbury. Next, he turned northeast onto Highway 101 at Wawa
21:21
He finally turned left onto Whitefish Lake Road, taking him to Hidden River Lodge
21:27
As you can see from today's episode, there are many fishing opportunities available at Hidden River Lodge
21:32
Owner-operator Matt Risco knows this area like the back of his hand
21:36
and always has his finger on the pulse of current fishing patterns. The lodge offers both American plan, which includes all meals
21:43
as well as housekeeping plan in which you prepare your own meals in a cottage
21:48
Either plan is a great way to spend a fishing vacation. The Fish in Canada Show, brought to you in part by
21:56
Ram Trucks, built to serve. Prince Craft Boats, dominate the waters. Garmin, plot your paradise, reel them in
22:08
And Ontario Canada, in partnership with Destination Ontario
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