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Fishing for Big Channel Catfish | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
Pete Bowman travels to the world-renowned Grand River just above Lake Erie in search of what could be the biggest Channel Catfish in all of Ontario. Dead bait and Minnows are the ticket along with some pretty heavy-duty fishing gear. The Catfish fishing is so good it takes them into the dead of night! If you're looking for some good Catfish fishing, check out this video! 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/fishncanada... 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, 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
Come along to our cabin in the wild, cause we're in for some good fishing
0:06
Feeling easy, feeling free. Yes, we're in for some good fishing, Canada
0:12
Rocking mountains to the maritimes. Step your reel and cast your line
0:19
Come on, let's go fish in Canada. River Creek, Lake Oak Street
0:28
and everywhere in between. Come on, let's go Fish in Canada. Fish in Canada is brought to you in part by Coleman
0:40
the outdoor company. Muskell, serious bug protection. Fogo Sports, makers of the rocket fishing rod
0:50
MyOutdoorTV.com, outdoor television on the internet. Princecraft, the more you know, the better we look
0:57
And Mercury, number one on the water. Together we'll go fishing! Let's go
1:10
In all of our travels, every now and then, we come across these little towns that just ooze the outdoors
1:18
Dunville, the place we're in today, is one of them. It seems like everybody there hunts, fishes, or does something outside, and that's been going on for hundreds of years
1:24
I really love the thought of spring fishing. After all, I've been waiting for months to get in the boat and go
1:31
It's late April and we're on the Grand River just north of Lake Erie. I'm fishing with the Fishmaster, Steve Hardcastle of Fishmaster's Ultimate Charters
1:38
This guy is all about fishing. The great part about today's adventure is we're after Channel Cat
1:43
Big Channel Cat that I really didn't know existed in Ontario. The south portion of the Grand River is a pretty unique body of water
1:52
When I first got there and looked at the watercolour, I thought, what a foot of this. But as we know, catfish rely more on smell than they do on sight, so that shouldn't be an issue
2:00
Add to that, Steve's been banging fish for about two or three weeks, so my confidence is way back up again
2:05
What I'm doing now is I've got a bait holder hook on here. Steve normally runs a circle hook for your catfish, right
2:11
Yep, wide gap cat hook. Yeah, exactly. And the idea behind a circle hook is that the fish grabs the bait, and as soon as he takes it out with it, you don't really need to set it
2:20
You don't set the hook actually, because you pull it out of his mouth. No, if you set the hook, you'll pull it right out of him
2:23
Exactly, because it's such a curve on it. But if you pull it, just pull it, steady pull, it sort of turns in and torques in and grabs some meat on the way out
2:30
Versus this kind of hook, it's open gap, he grabs it, you set it, and you'll catch somewhere in his mouth almost every time
2:37
Exactly. As long as they're sharp. Use the fluorocarbon leader. Yeah, 25-pound fluorocarbon leader, a two-way swivel and a three-ounce sinker
2:44
The idea of the slip weight is when the fish are biting, sometimes they want to pick the bait up and drop it
2:49
That's right. So what you're going to do is just give them some slack line. They'll pull that line through, start swimming away
2:54
They're sucking the bait in deeper and deeper as they're swimming away. And then you tighten up on it and set the hook
2:59
Exactly. And even if it's taking it deeper and deeper, you still usually mouth hook the fish. Oh, yeah
3:04
It's like a Carolina rig or like a live bait rig. The same idea. Give a slack line, let them take it, and then pop it
3:10
And then the bait we're using, I just throw it in a piece of sucker. Steve, right now I think it has a piece of shad
3:14
Do you have a shad on there now? I actually got some emerald shiners on there. Emerald shiners, okay
3:18
Now this is a big chunk of meat. Basically I'll cut it down because I'd rather use a bit smaller chunk
3:25
I've added some extra scents to it and it seems to work a lot better than just your
3:31
fresh normal cut sucker. And he won't give you that secret either. You're going to pay for that
3:34
In through the skin, go around through the meat and then back out through the skin
3:39
It's as simple as that. That's it. Steve's using emerald shanners. Worms work, shanners work, shad
3:46
Some guys like smelt, but I'm not totally sure if smelts are legal to use as bait. Really? Okay
3:54
Yeah, so you got to check your regs out. Yes, definitely check your regs. But now as far as season two, there's no close season on these guys, are they not cats
3:59
No, there's no close season on the catfish now, but they have put a limit on them
4:03
Oh really? That is nice, yes. Now you're only allowed to keep 15 cats per day
4:08
Which is still a lot. Which is a little more than a need
4:12
And we can fish in, this is a walleye spawning area, this is a rainbow spawning area
4:16
You can't fish for any other species there, but you can still legally fish for cats here. You can still fish
4:20
That's a nice thing to get the spring going because everything else is closed and you've still got something else to fish for
4:28
That's a chunk of meat. Mongo-like. Does it matter how far out, Steve
4:34
There's a hole over on that far side, so if you can get it over to that far side away
4:40
Channel cat fishing is actually a gentleman's sport, at least until you hook one. You simply find a spot to either beach or anchor the boat, throw in a big chunk of meat and wait for the bite
4:48
The beauty of this type of fishing for a species like the catfish is that they use their sense of smell and taste
4:53
So with the scent trail drifting down current, it's only a matter of time before a cat intercepts your offering
5:00
There's some bulls. I like when they pull the drag. Yes. That little guy
5:08
Not well, not little, but bad, eh? Whoa! You're not gonna strengthen these guys, eh
5:16
They one powerful fish He got a gut on him Watch that bucket Have you smelled that over here man We are in trouble Oh that would stink
5:27
When the line wraps around their fins, it's stuck, isn't it? Yes. Those spikers
5:31
Even around their whiskers. I don't know how it does it, but it gets wrapped around their whiskers somehow
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Yeah. There we go. That's a start. Get some decent one. Good looking fish
5:43
They are really cool looking fish, man. Yeah, that's how far he wants to go now
5:47
Yeah, sure. Put him back and we'll try and catch his grandfather
5:51
Yeah. That fish, being out that short of time, has dried right out in that skin
5:55
There you go. There's nothing you can do to hang on to these fish. No. He's buried his head in the mud, the sand
6:03
Yeah, in that short of time, his skin dried right out. I mean, without the scales. Look at him. He's cruising the shore
6:08
Go hide under the shade there. Hit him. Yes, guys. Oh, maybe we got ourselves the giant we've been looking for
6:22
Pulled some over 20s out of this spot. Look at that. That's a good one. Long and lean
6:31
Yep, piece of fish. Here, I'll get him up to the corner over here. Scoop
6:39
He is long. They're losing their bellies. Yeah, exactly. Oh yeah, that's a good fish
6:47
Look at that, Blake, you hooked him real well. That's a circle hook or is that a..
6:51
No, that's just a white cap. Okay. Whoa, easy! Long cap. Yeah, he's long and lean, eh
7:01
A little scar on his tail there. A bump there, is it? Do they all have that bump there too
7:04
No, I've never seen that before. Yeah, a big hump there, it's just sort of like chopped off. Yeah
7:09
but it's healed over to the top, it's just starting to heal over here. Looks like maybe
7:13
He's lost a piece of meat, but it's around here too. Hit by a boat maybe
7:17
That's definitely a cut or an injury. Put him back, bud. Okay
7:26
That's the way they're supposed to bite and bite, right there. Yes
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Take off. And off he goes. There's one. That's a good fish
7:41
That's a good fish. I'm getting a bite here, I'm gonna leave it out. I just think
7:44
Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's what I've been waiting to feel. Oh yeah
7:51
Oh, it's like a sturgeon head in shape. I would love to catch a sturgeon here
7:55
because I know they are the odd ones come floating up this river. Is that right, eh
8:00
This is definitely a good fish. Torque on him. Oh yeah. Bouncing that sinker off the bottom all the way in
8:10
I don't need to get the net free. Can I get a doubleheader here? I'm hoping for it, bud. Oh, wow
8:20
Scary, look at that. It's just pure muscle. Aside from that gut. Big old leather lips
8:24
Well, look at him. We'll see if we can lip this guy. You're nuts, man. You hit him
8:31
I got a lump on that head. Good for you. Better you lipping him than me, bud
8:36
Oh yeah! They closed that jaw. You want the pliers? What do you think he's over 10 for sure
8:44
Oh yeah he's probably 13 pound range. Sweet! Double whisker on that fish eh? It's either been damaged or just grew like that
8:53
Probably grew like that. Like on a deer. Well we get this big girl back in the water here
9:00
Beautiful. There she goes. One thing about these fish, they're super tough
9:07
You really don't have to worry about having them out of the water too long
9:10
It's better to get them back in as quick as you can, but these fish are tough. They've got leather heads
9:15
It's like a carp. You're carp fishing the same thing. You're not a fragile fish like a trout
9:20
Not even the loaves. They've got so much slime on them. As you can see, my hands and my arms are covered in it
9:27
They're a tough fish. You really don't have to. Awesome. I wonder what happened here after that whole melee
9:33
I wonder if he's... Maybe he's got what's sitting on here. I hate when that happens. Killer
9:42
The Grand River watershed has a history that stretches back thousands of years. In fact, the Paleo-Indian people used to hunt mastodon and bison here 11,000 years ago
9:49
No wonder the catfish are so big. More recently, the last 200 years or so have seen industrious people build mills, distilleries, dams, bridges, and towns in the area
10:00
A great deal of Canadian heritage lies on the banks of the Grand. Wayne Gretzky used to skate as a boy on the Nith River in the Grand watershed
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and Alexander Graham Bell came up with the idea of the telephone while sitting on the banks of the Grand River
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There's a great deal of wildlife on the banks of the Grand. Most species are thriving, but the Grand also protects 80 species at risk
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like the bald eagle, grey fox, and trumpeter swans. Aside from the massive catfish, there are at least 82 other species of fish
10:25
including rainbow trout, walleye, largemouth, and smallmouth bass. On any given day, you'll find people out enjoying the grand, but some really great fishing can
10:36
be had once the sun goes down Catfish tend to stay deep during the day They seem to like that cool water to feed in However when night comes they move shallow Our tactics stay the same and the fish kept coming There nothing like fighting a big fat cat in the dark
10:53
It really gets the blood pumping, not knowing what could happen next
10:57
Where are you? Here kitty, kitty. Here kitty. Where are you at now
11:02
I'm going to get you. There you go. That's a better fish. Doubleheader
11:07
That's a better fish. Could we land him? And this one's not bad either
11:12
Yeah, this one's feeling it had some shoulders when I set the hook there. I like the way he just whoop, whoop, whoop, back and forth in one spot
11:21
That makes it feel like it. Ooh, wild one! Double whammy. We're gonna double up on the net
11:28
Nice tail slapping. Hey, you wanna hang on two rods? Sure. You're the man
11:33
You're the catfish man. Get his wand in. Oh, get in there
11:38
Get in there. Get it in there. That one's wild. This is hilarious
11:45
Look at these two things. Oh, they've got power. Oh, he hit me in the face of that one
11:51
Look at the belly on her. Oh, my God. And you know, the best part is they probably live
11:55
you could live 10 minutes out of the water. Oh, yeah. They swim right away. Whoa, easy, mama
12:03
Got it. Steve has a ton of spots that he has early in the day
12:09
But as the sun gets up, he's got a great hot spot for catfish. It's a 30-foot deep pole that the fish go to in the daylight
12:14
Now again, we used the same tactics as yesterday, and again, we pounded. That's, that's the one
12:24
There we go. That one, that's got some weight to it. Look at, look at, look at my rod tip
12:31
Oh yeah, there you go, there you go. My rod's bent over
12:37
Look at the pull he's got on. Oh, he's got some. Nice. They seem to pull big at first
12:44
You got it? Yeah, yeah. Get a tenner again, at least. He feels heavy
12:49
They're just so bulky, eh? They're not long, but they're so bulky. You put that size into a walleye world, and you say, yeah, that's a big walleye
13:00
Nice fish, buddy. Nice fish. Yeah. Get him out of the net so we can grab yours
13:06
I had a long line on there. this guy does feel pretty good spun around oh yeah yeah baby look at that dude oh yeah
13:16
week ago he would have had a belly on him yeah look at the the white underbelly on that fish show the camera that separation of belly there
13:28
see that that you know that reminds me of the amazon catfish we caught yeah just about the same
13:33
except for a drastic color change. Look at the scars on him too
13:37
It looks like lamp bright marks too. That's a beauty, man. I think I got your meat on this one
13:42
Battle wounds. Well, it seems like these big fish have moved into the deeper water now
13:47
The water's warmed up. Want to eat a little bit. Yeah. Is it getting close, Pete
13:57
Yeah, it's semi. Feels like a big dude. I mean, it feels like a real good one, but you
14:03
Wow yeah, this guy feels good now. You gonna look at him? It's like a sturgeon
14:07
I just had his tail, a quick shot of his tail. The gray one, I think
14:11
He's got a pretty good head on him. Oh yeah, there's a decent cat
14:15
The longy. Put that head on that thing. Oh, that's a long fish
14:24
My arm is euchered. That's getting better. That's a nice cat. That's a long silver gun
14:32
Almost got the blue color. Yep. Look at the muscles on that fish
14:43
Got him, Pete? Yeah, I'm going to try and get him. There he goes
14:50
Look at the bluish great color to that. Look at how long he is. Imagine if that had a gut on him
14:55
That would be way over 20 if he had a gut on him for sure
15:00
Wow. Yeah, probably last week he probably had a belly on him hanging down into here
15:04
Wow. Oh, come on. Come on, mama. No, it was more like a steady
15:10
I hope he dropped it. He or she dropped it. There's some resistance there
15:15
I'm going to take him. I'm going to take him, but... I hope I stuck him
15:22
Yeah, he's giving me some nice resistance anyway. Nothing else. A lot of times I find the 8 to 12 pound fish fight better than sometimes the 25s and 30s
15:30
Really? Oh yeah. Probably a lot younger too. How would you guess at the weight
15:35
Oh that's a big one. That was a good hook set. Double header. That a big one? The hook set was nice
15:42
Feels like he's got some shoulders to him. Let's see if I can get mine in quick. If he's not very big I can just sort of..
15:52
Roller. There's my guy. He's not very huge at all. Well, mine's going where he wants to
15:59
Oh, you got a good one there then. Let see if I can pull this guy Do you need the net Pete I going to get the net I don need it for this this guy You got a good one Stevie Zach can like one
16:13
I'll hurry up and get this guy loose. One side of the boat to the other side of the boat
16:23
There. He's off. OK. Nice little kitty cat. Got to throw her back
17:01
Nice. You still got the spots on him too. Yeah. Get rid of his baby spots
17:08
Watch the boys, he's going to hit you with them. Look at that
17:12
Now that's that golden color you're talking about compared to a gray or ugly muted-looking
17:25
That's beauty. Look at that in the sunshine. That's almost like a walleye color
17:29
Yeah, yeah. Like a walleye up north. That is beautiful, man. He hasn't got his big mouth yet
17:35
Nope. He's got that, though. Oh, he's got the big belly. He's got a barrel. Fish on
17:45
We got him. Oh, yeah. You like that look, don't you? Yeah. Stevie likes that
17:50
I've seen the pole bent over. You know the problem I got is I took a little bit of a long cast
17:54
It's going to be a while in this current. He's like, yes, guy
18:00
Want to get off? Nope. You got him. Sweet. I got him
18:06
Oh, this one's got shoulders. You got a good one? It felt good there
18:12
It felt really heavy there for a second. Mine's holding good in the current now. There's no fish in this river
18:16
No. Everybody stay away. There's nothing here. Look at this guy. Barf, barf, barf, barf
18:22
Let me go home. Oh yeah, I like that he's pulling some drag on me
18:28
This might be a nice doubleheader here, bud. Oh, you got a big one there. That's a big one
18:36
There's a big lipsof that we're talking about. Oh yeah. This guy will stay on
18:43
Try and get him out of there quick. There's a hog. Oh man, it's a long line, especially when you've got a real long line-up
18:50
I had a ton of line-up. That's a pretty good one too. Good one? Yeah
18:54
Okay, I'm going to try and get this out of there. I don't think but. Ay yi yi yi
18:59
Yeah that's a good one. Not bad. Oh yeah. He's got a head on
19:05
There he comes. Oh hang on. Try. We'll dip in a drag
19:11
I'll step back here a bit. Look at him. He shakes his head. He pulls a drag out
19:15
Yeah. Man. It's a different shape. Different shape than yours. It's a thinner fish. Yeah
19:51
but it's known to produce more than its share of walleye. The waypoint on your screen will take you there
19:56
It's located on the Grand River, right in front of Fishmaster Ultimate Charters Bait and Tackle and Marina
20:01
For this hotspot, you can either fish from shore or from a boat. Simply cast out a piece of sucker or dead bait and wait
20:07
This is a great spot for the whole family. If you need to get some cat gear, the store is well stocked
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For more hotspots like this one, check out our website. Today's phenomenal catfishing took place on the Grand River near Dunville, Ontario
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To get there, I took Highway 401 west through Toronto to Highway 403
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From there, I took Highway 6 south. Then I took 622 east to 56 south, which eventually turns into 32
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Next, I turned left onto number 17 through the town of Dunville and then caught number 3 to our accommodations at Mohawk Marina and Cottage Rentals on the shores of Lake Erie
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From there, we drove to Fishmaster's Ultimate Charters Bait Tackle and Marina. Visit FishingCanada.com for more details
20:47
Fishing Canada is brought to you in part by Coleman, the outdoor company
20:55
Muskell, serious bug protection. Fogo Sports, makers of the rocket fishing rod
21:02
MyOutdoorTV.com, outdoor television on the internet. Prince Craft, the more you know, the better we look
21:10
And Mercury, number one on the water. Closed captioning provided by the province of Ontario
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