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Niagara River Steelhead and Lake Trout | Fish'n Canada
Apr 15, 2025
Pete Bowman travels to the lower Niagara River in search of silver rocket Steelhead and powerful bulldozer Lake Trout.
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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 #Fishing
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0:00
[Music]
0:30
fish in Canada brought to you in part by
0:33
Sterns the life jacket experts Ram
0:37
trucks nothing works harder than a ram
0:40
castol more than just oil it's liquid
0:43
engineering and us real when performance
0:47
means
0:49
everything Niagara Falls is one of the
0:51
great natural wonders of the world and
0:53
represents many things to many different
0:55
people to most it's known as the
0:56
honeymoon Capital others come for the
0:58
NTI or the unique sight seeing
1:00
opportunities there is however a small
1:02
group of people who make their living
1:04
near the base of the falls taking people
1:06
on a fishing trip of a Lifetime on the
1:07
mighty Niagara River today that's what
1:10
I'm doing hitting the river just below
1:12
the falls with local guide Paul
1:13
Castellano of cast Adventures Paul makes
1:16
a living right here in Niagara Falls and
1:18
spends well over 200 days a year chasing
1:20
fish on the upper and lower Niagara
1:22
River there's one Peter what you got
1:27
look like a small steel head no there
1:29
com
1:31
oh beautiful nice work that's what it's
1:33
all about right there
1:40
bud there's the
1:42
Sinker stand in this oh you know what
1:44
look at that that fish has got a lot of
1:45
color this is you know early November
1:47
that thing's already looks like a darker
1:49
fish yeah typically they're cool bright
1:52
Chrome silver you know when they first
1:53
come in these rods really do those long
1:56
rods really work the fish properly you
1:58
know you can't use a rod that's too
1:59
stick it just it can't handle the small
2:01
hooks light leaders so those long rods
2:03
soft rods they really suck up a lot of
2:05
the shock how's the take aggressive just
2:09
kind of there just pulled it it wasn't
2:10
yeah it wasn't a typical bite like
2:12
sometimes I felt the that was just sort
2:14
of he just had it he was kind
2:16
of look at these guys man they suck up
2:19
some time of your life don't they they
2:20
got some power for their
2:21
[Laughter]
2:23
size it's a good way to break the ice B
2:25
right there and on the yarn too we were
2:27
just wondering if we should go to the
2:28
spawn or not we've been kind of playing
2:30
around with different baits and you seen
2:31
some of the other guys wait they use
2:32
that current they know how to use the
2:33
current too don't they oh yeah oh you're
2:35
doing perfect just take your time yeah I
2:38
think it's done I'm hoping it's done my
2:40
arm's getting tired kid look at the
2:42
Colors oh it's gorgeous it's a really
2:44
nice looking fish it's gorgeous looking
2:46
fish there we go beautiful job nice
2:51
job come on perfect perfect let me help
2:55
you out
2:56
Pete look at that little little Buck
2:59
gorgeous fish man look at that colors
3:01
though look at that beautiful yeah he's
3:03
gorgeous little guy that is nice you put
3:05
him back brother let's get some more
3:08
nice there he goes there he goes aw
3:10
awesome good job man that's wicked on
3:13
that little piece of yarn poly sort of
3:15
tied up together looks like it looks
3:17
like a little leg sack
3:19
right the Niagara River attracts a huge
3:21
variety of fish throughout the year it's
3:23
late fall today and we're after the
3:25
famous steel head they call this River
3:27
home it's no secret that this is one of
3:29
the top Rivers in the world for rainbow
3:30
trout that's obvious when you come here
3:33
on a weekday and see the river infested
3:35
with Anglers fishing from Shore and by
3:38
boat oh there's one there we go nice
3:42
right away good man sweet soon as we got
3:45
on this top of this drift good stuff
3:47
look at the big head shakes it might
3:48
might not be a steel head though kind of
3:50
kind of hanging down there hanging down
3:52
there lazy there's there's also there's
3:53
a lot of other fish in this River oh my
3:55
God there's everything in here yeah
3:56
pretty much everything it's the best the
3:57
beauty of this River man it's got such a
4:00
diverse species list and the numbers of
4:03
fish in here are scary yeah so this time
4:06
of year you know you got chinuk salmon
4:07
just kind of finishing off and we've got
4:10
brown trout in here obviously steel head
4:12
that's what we're looking for the Browns
4:13
and the steelies and there's also a lot
4:14
of lake trout right oh wow look at this
4:17
oh my God what is it big L W Big Lake
4:19
troat big Laker I'll get the n on him
4:21
look at that he's got the back on him is
4:23
so
4:27
wide that's a good size ler oh boy good
4:31
goodish you a fitness net so when you're
4:34
fishing for steelies you know sometimes
4:35
you you oh my god Crasher they got a ton
4:40
of Power Man look at the big hook nose
4:42
on him yeah he's got a neat looking
4:43
Stout Jimmy Durant
4:46
perfect it's okay's too big for the net
4:48
be he's
4:50
big you know what try try to scoop him
4:52
again and just get the weight of the net
4:54
yeah yeah like load it right up I just
4:55
didn't have them in Far Enough here we
4:58
go yeah sweet there I'm not going to
5:00
miss you twice buddy there I got the
5:02
fish oh my God that thing is Big grab
5:05
those pliers yeah you get the net you
5:07
get the fish that wow that's awesome
5:11
gorgeous look at the size of that
5:12
gorgeous fish he ate that though I saw
5:14
it disappear in his mouth oh it's right
5:16
there
5:17
yeah good job
5:20
paully easy easy Mama they're so strong
5:23
you got a lot of power too there you go
5:26
nice job little piece of yarn oh my God
5:29
big look at that Niger River Laker big
5:32
old Pig but The Season's closed on these
5:34
guys right yeah so we're just going to
5:36
quickly let them go try to get another
5:37
steel head here we go nice
5:43
perfect to capitalize on all the drifts
5:45
in the river you'll need a Canadian and
5:47
an American fishing license today the
5:49
fish were stacked up in the Art Park
5:50
grip on the US side just across from the
5:53
boat ramp at Queenston
5:59
there one Mikey that's
6:04
Ste so nice and easy right now things to
6:08
change a little we guy oh nice not bad
6:11
another one SC it's nice little guy
6:14
little
6:15
female pulling a bit
6:18
now there you go oh you know just just a
6:22
nice little fish just a a little weak
6:24
weakling there look at that color that's
6:27
a gorgeous looking fish Mance look
6:29
little fish
6:30
okay let put them back
6:34
quick there he
6:36
goes there's a variety of baits you can
6:38
use to catch steel head on the niaga
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river rope yarn uh different type of egg
6:43
imitation different types of minow
6:45
imitations uh I guess the key is really
6:47
is to match the hatch and at this time
6:49
of the year there's a lot of fish
6:50
spawning and depositing eggs in the
6:52
river so we're going to be starting off
6:54
with egg imitations uh both natural and
6:56
artificial
7:01
[Music]
7:08
still you know you're out here poking
7:11
away for steelies you get a few of these
7:12
oh my God accidentally I don't know they
7:14
put a bend in the rod pretty big fish
7:16
damn right they
7:19
do oh look at that he's got big hickeys
7:21
all over his body got big old lampay
7:23
hickey
7:26
whoa you want me to net him bud
7:30
um I think I can maybe I can one time
7:33
you go go for a double
7:57
header are you sure
8:02
look at the L price scars wow those are
8:04
nasty that looks fresh get him back in
8:08
there poor little guy he's having a bad
8:11
day having a bad day I love it for
8:16
Anglers accustomed to using fly gear or
8:18
noodle rods and centerpin reels you may
8:19
be in for surprise the nager is a little
8:21
different than smaller rivers and
8:23
requires some heavier gear and that's
8:24
just what we're using a mixture of
8:26
conventional troll presentations like
8:27
yarn and roll bags and some not so
8:29
traditional gear like bait cast reels
8:31
and braided
8:32
line one of the techniques we use to
8:34
catch steel hood on the niaga river is
8:36
drift fishing from the boat and bat
8:38
control is critical so we'll be using
8:40
heavy uh today 1 o weights to get us
8:43
down to the bottom and keep us there in
8:44
the heavy currents and using our both
8:47
electronics and our electric trolling
8:48
motor to position the boat accordingly
8:50
and properly to make sure that our
8:51
presentation and our drift is
8:55
natural all go I kind of drag that
8:58
behind the boat a little bit got lucky
9:00
on
9:01
it oh boy he's plunging down think oh
9:04
boy he's standing down he hasn't oh
9:06
unless he's going to come around the
9:07
boat on the other side
9:09
now hard to say what it is you want to
9:12
can you spin her maybe with the with the
9:14
troll go just give it around so we can
9:16
get I don't want him on the other side
9:17
of the boat if I can help unless he
9:18
comes down river with us if we go around
9:20
that way you see the arrow on the Troll
9:21
Motor so I can turn the boat no other
9:24
way oh yeah you can do that
9:26
yeah I'll stay down enough that I can do
9:29
a full SP a full
9:32
350 there's the Shocker boat oh boy he's
9:34
staying down big now put the boots to
9:36
him a little bit that's a Laker for sure
9:38
right fighting like that you know what
9:40
typically the steelies they they're out
9:42
of the water yeah you know for the most
9:43
part you know as soon as you hook up
9:45
they're uh they're
9:47
Airborne just in case there's the hook
9:50
and there's the Snake drout look at that
9:53
thing that a beautiful looking fish oh
9:56
we do Pete why don't we just pop the
9:59
hook pop him right in the water yeah and
10:01
just kind of let him go way
10:03
absolutely if we
10:05
can depends how he's hook day I guess
10:08
yeah I didn't didn't look like he
10:10
was yeah yeah big old Lakers man there
10:14
must be hundreds of thousands of them in
10:16
here all the river's full of them Lake
10:18
Ontario and this River definitely has a
10:20
lot of Lake oh yeah you look at at the
10:22
bar there it's nice you don't have to go
10:25
yeah you know too far to catch big lake
10:27
trout big steel head
10:31
what do you think should I even attempt
10:33
this or it's up to you buddy slide a net
10:34
under it it's it's up to you oops there
10:36
you go do your guide in bring your tip
10:38
straight up 12:00
10:42
1:00 just that Net's just big enough
10:45
to and those things are such a squirly
10:49
twisty
10:50
fish you just to pop that hook got fins
10:54
got those white he's got the red stripes
10:56
on those or white stripes on the edges
10:58
of the fins yeah awesome they get the
11:00
little reddish fins some of them are
11:02
different they're different strange of
11:03
Lakers too apparently we've seen that up
11:05
up north too so yeah I guess it's just
11:06
like bass or anything else right yeah
11:10
nice finally I got one on got one yeah
11:12
don't know what it is yet it's semi
11:14
coming up right on down the surf oh yeah
11:17
what a jump that was awes
11:21
[Laughter]
11:22
nice you got to love that when I go
11:24
squiring like
11:27
that oh good looking fish but
11:30
beautiful right
11:31
on that's great I don't think he's done
11:38
either the bead again sneaky when'd you
11:41
put that on the little bead but well I
11:43
asked a guy around here guy I know I've
11:45
known him for a few years yeah yeah he's
11:47
pretty
11:50
good what you think you know what he
11:53
might be we'll get him in and release
11:54
him quick if we can whoa didn't stag in
11:58
his tail there did I no no no the hook
12:00
just uh it just fell out didn't slap and
12:02
I know no we're good we're clean
12:03
sometimes don't even like handling the
12:05
poor guys you know yeah we can we can
12:06
put it back I'll grab
12:09
quick okay if I can get a hold of
12:12
them you know what I find really helps
12:14
if you push against this fin a bit oh
12:16
yeah you know it kind of holds them
12:17
that's a
12:19
nice
12:20
awesome going to go
12:26
back oh man he jetted down there buddy
12:30
fast yeah and a quick fight too that guy
12:33
no he didn't really nice jumps and then
12:35
quick fight that's fast and furious and
12:36
then he just kind of back it off I don't
12:37
mind that at all dude got the best of
12:39
them few jumps
12:41
absolutely jumps and pulls
12:44
yeah so let's see what you got there
12:46
little bead little bead you can you can
12:49
give your secret if you want to give
12:50
your secret no no no it's good just
12:52
we've been experimenting you know last
12:54
couple years this is just like just a
12:56
bead this is it looks like an egg it
12:58
looks like a R egg whatever literally
13:00
plastic bead pick it up at any craft
13:03
store that's hilarious put on a line a
13:05
little toothpick just kind of hold it in
13:07
place yep when the fish bites it you
13:09
know you feel the hit the hook slides
13:11
over hits them in the corner of the
13:12
mouth so you never have to worry about
13:14
gut hooking them or taking in deep and
13:17
what a great idea yeah so if you don't
13:18
have row or you know live bait you just
13:21
awesome man try it works obviously yeah
13:23
absolutely think it's as hard as a rock
13:25
a little bead to get the craft store
13:27
love
13:27
it for for Anglers looking to experience
13:30
the niaga river I recommend the use of a
13:32
guide this is no ordinary River and
13:34
these Waters can get pretty scary 12,000
13:37
years ago the Wisconsin Glacier
13:38
retreated and left a 173 M Gorge which
13:42
today has 110,000 cubic M of water
13:44
passing through it every minute between
13:47
whirlpools Hydro stations and sheer rock
13:49
walls the dangers are obvious and
13:51
navigating these Waters can be
13:54
tricky we try to make this as easy as
13:56
possible basically if you want to catch
13:58
big smallo bath or try to catch some of
14:00
these big steel head we've been catching
14:01
on the niaga river all you need is a
14:02
fishing license we've got all the
14:04
equipment um life jackets uh just dress
14:07
for the weather bring a positive
14:09
attitude and let's go get some big fish
14:10
you can visit me at W.C adventures.com
14:29
nice here we go that is unbelievable the
14:32
power that is awesome look at
14:37
that oh yeah he is fat eh she is fat you
14:42
know what I don't care how many times
14:43
you do this you do not you love it you
14:46
do not get sick of that jump that is
14:50
unbelievable that's why you do this I'm
14:51
sure right that's got to be why you do
14:54
this her I could have probably swiped
14:57
her that's a nice fish no I tell you fat
15:00
this is a fat fish wow get that little
15:03
Trope Beed you see that you're sing that
15:06
on me knu one on there're heading up for
15:08
that last trift put me on a great big
15:10
piece of
15:12
string little teeny yeah let's go that's
15:18
great extend that wow that is a bright
15:21
fish that's a gorgeous fish B
15:25
who look at her oh man
15:30
oh how thick she is that is oh good
15:34
fatties yeah that is a healthy one it's
15:37
like abnormally chunky I love that it's
15:39
not real long but I love that I'd rather
15:41
see that the short like Pike you see a
15:43
short thick Pike like that it just looks
15:44
so
15:46
cool going try and turn the bat a bit
15:48
Pete
15:51
yep I love this fish this is the best
15:54
looking steel head I've seen in a long
15:56
time
15:59
all right so I'm going to lift it up now
16:00
I think it's
16:01
done
16:04
maybe may see it Shimmer in in the water
16:06
there oh yeah what a sight just flashes
16:09
at
16:13
you nice good job Paulie that isk you
16:17
hold that there let me get my my pliers
16:19
I got her buddy going anywhere this is
16:21
such a that is awesome give me one
16:23
second Pete that is one Gorge going to
16:25
pop oh look at that popped out the hook
16:27
just came out unbelievable here give her
16:30
a little little drink that just this
16:32
fish freaks me out how thick it is wow
16:35
how much does that weigh I don't think
16:37
it's that heavy but it's just it's just
16:39
really really nice oh dude gorgeous fish
16:44
that is get one give me one more like
16:46
this I'm going to go really wide and
16:47
close to the
16:50
fish give me one more I got to just get
16:52
this flash going cuz your your face is
16:54
all did that flash or no sure did
16:56
perfect oh man what a stop tank that is
17:01
that is
17:02
outstanding just a perfect fish
17:06
yeah oh yeah I love it look at that this
17:08
is slap I love that thing look at this
17:10
thing it's neat too some of them have
17:12
different spots than others y oh that's
17:15
a strain thing like you talked about
17:17
earlier he's
17:20
tired it's actually a female little uh
17:22
oh yeah little pointy nose she probably
17:24
a prime spawner out bet I would imagine
17:26
eh well you know what is there
17:30
is that little hen definitely not
17:32
missing any meals oh God
17:36
no there she go nice awesome fish in
17:41
Canada hotpots brought to you by radio
17:49
world.car one the first is the Queenston
17:52
drift on the Canadian side of the niagar
17:54
river the Waypoint on your screen will
17:55
get you there this is a slow drift and a
17:58
great resting area for trout the second
18:00
is the Art Park grift directly across
18:02
from Queenston on the US Side by simply
18:04
calling the number on the screen a
18:06
Canadian angler can order a fishing
18:08
license over the phone and be legal
18:10
within minutes these are two of the best
18:12
grips on the lower niagar
18:14
River to get to the lower Niagara River
18:16
from Toronto I took Highway 401 West to
18:19
427 I next took the QEW all the way to
18:22
Road 81 and headed east then I turned
18:25
left on the Niagara Parkway and then
18:27
turn right on dumpy street from there
18:29
it's a short drive to the Queenston boat
18:33
ran fishing Canada brought to you in
18:36
part by Coleman The Outdoor Company
18:40
musol repulsive since
18:43
1951 Princecraft boats the more you know
18:47
the better we look and Mercury outboards
18:51
number one on the water
18:53
[Music]
18:59
oh
19:01
[Music]
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