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CATCHING CANNIBAL PIKE! | Episode 546: Brace Lake Makokibatan Outpost
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Mar 24, 2025
On this Fish’n Canada episode, Pete Bowman and Steve Niedzwiecki head north to the Albany River system in search of Brook Trout, Walleye, and maybe even Northern Pike. Unfortunately, only 33% of that list want to partake in a television show… but man did they come out in full force! Listen to our Podcast, Outdoor Journal Radio: The Podcast ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3J0klPY ► Apple Music: https://apple.co/3CtzZkp ► Subscribe http://bit.ly/youtube-fishncanada 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/fishncanadaofficial/?hl=en ► 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
View Video Transcript
0:00
look at that fish folks another nice
0:02
long
0:03
lean we found the right spot the right
0:06
conditions it's starting to happen
0:08
that's a Walley is it Stevie yeah yeah
0:11
baby got there we go look at that the
0:15
old double header beautiful walleye up
0:17
here wow Peter
0:20
that that is a monster walleye that's
0:24
the starter that's the smallest one
0:25
we're going to catch here that's
0:28
it yeah
0:30
the fishing Canada show brought to you
0:33
in part by Yuri fishing lures fish the
0:37
best Mercury out fors go
0:41
boldly and Outdoor Canada Canada's only
0:45
National fishing and hunting
0:48
[Music]
0:49
[Applause]
0:52
magazine hey everybody and welcome to
0:55
this week's fishing Canada show I'd like
0:57
to start out by saying that every once
0:58
in a while when search in for shooting
1:00
locations we stumble upon a real diamond
1:03
in the rough so to speak sometimes it's
1:05
luxurious accommodations out in the
1:07
middle of nowhere at other times it's
1:09
unbelievable worldclass fishing on this
1:12
trip to makab batan Lake it's all about
1:14
the
1:17
ladder when first trying to set up this
1:19
shoot I was talking to Kyle peski the
1:21
owner of brace Lake
1:22
Outfitters he told me about an amazing
1:25
brook trout walleye and Pike destination
1:27
that he thought would be a great idea
1:28
for us to film since Brook tro always
1:31
sparked our attention we were all ears
1:34
when you're up here if the water and the
1:35
conditions are allowed you're able to
1:37
get down the river and have a shot at
1:38
that trophy of a lifetime now you have
1:41
to realize that this location is not
1:43
just a lake in the middle of the Ontario
1:44
Forest this is a lake formed by one of
1:47
the most famous brook trout rivers in
1:49
the world the 982 km long Albany River
1:53
this was music to our ears part of the
1:55
joy of being on the Albany River in the
1:57
springtime when the water's still a
1:59
little cooler the river itself is not a
2:02
creek not a stream not a brook it's a
2:04
river it is definitely um beautiful and
2:07
Majestic but also holds some of the
2:09
world's best kept secrets of of Brook
2:12
Brook tro
2:14
fishing the Albany river flows Northeast
2:17
from Lake St Joseph in Northwestern
2:19
Ontario and empties into James Bay it is
2:22
982 km or 610 Mi long it's tied with the
2:27
Severn River for being the longest river
2:29
entirely in in Ontario you can navigate
2:31
the Albany River for the first 400 km
2:34
you know while visiting our Albany River
2:36
Outpost you have the opportunity to
2:38
catch that trophy of a lifetime Brook
2:40
Trope and at the same time personal best
2:43
or personal record best of Northern pip
2:46
once we dialed in on a date we were all
2:49
in as they say as to flying in and
2:51
making contact with arguably Ona's most
2:53
beautiful game Fish now unfortunately
2:56
for an he couldn't make this trip
2:58
fortunately for Steve his wikii he could
3:01
and Trust Me Stevie loves brookies along
3:03
with Walley and
3:05
Northerns as Steve and I hit the Nina
3:07
Air Service base we were talking to a
3:09
few people that just came from makoka
3:11
Baton and unfortunately they stated that
3:13
the brook trout fishing was extremely
3:15
tough and this came from a local guide
3:17
to boot not a good start to the trip
3:20
they did say however that the Walley
3:22
fishing was absolutely outstanding and
3:24
that's a great
3:26
alternative the Walley fishing anywhere
3:28
in the Albany Basin is second in a none
3:30
anywhere that it looks like walleye
3:31
usually holds a endless amount of Walley
3:33
that you can get on a spot and just fish
3:35
them all day
3:40
long as we arrived at The Outpost Camp
3:42
there certainly was a sense of
3:44
anticipation this is very much the same
3:46
feeling we get each and every time we
3:48
set up in a new
3:53
destination makoka baten Lake is a large
3:55
body of water being almost 30 km long by
3:58
2 and 1/2 km wide the Albany river flows
4:01
through the makoka Baton entering at the
4:03
West End and exiting out of the
4:05
East our arrival put us on the water
4:07
late in the day so we decided that our
4:09
first stop would be to the nearest end
4:11
of the lake in a narrow down high
4:12
current
4:13
area this spot was loaded with Walley
4:16
however between the tough job that Steve
4:18
was given with boat control and the size
4:20
of the fish it was small we'd simply
4:23
have some fun here and move on to bigger
4:24
and better things
4:28
tomorrow that's the starter that's the
4:30
smallest one we're going to catch here
4:32
okay no more of these that's
4:40
it oh nice one Peter you just take hold
4:43
the boat there buddy I'm good he's not
4:45
bad he's not great but he's not bad good
4:47
starter
4:49
fish good starter
4:52
fish come on
4:54
buddy there we
4:56
go whoa easy mama
5:00
God they're gold they're beautiful
5:02
Northern Ontario Walle man they just
5:04
they're so perfect looking look at that
5:06
he ate that giant jig he I mean he just
5:09
literally ate it he tapped it it's not
5:11
even a big
5:13
fish there we go look at the belly on
5:15
that
5:16
fish that's the starter that's the
5:19
smallest one we're going to catch here
5:21
okay no more of these that's
5:23
it those are good eating though Peter oh
5:25
buddy that's and you can keep that one
5:27
you keep one over 18 here in this
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Northern Ontario areas so um he hit a
5:31
lot more aggressive I thought it was a
5:32
bigger fish Stevie he went Bo but but he
5:36
still didn't uh and he I mean he thumped
5:39
it because he ate it
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right oh there's one I'm just yeah I'm
5:43
just letting that Crystal minnow run in
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the
5:46
current how is he there he is that's not
5:48
a bad fish I don't think bring him
5:51
forward and then I'll and then I'll and
5:52
then drop back to it okay drop them back
5:54
now oh not now now I'll tell you what
5:58
Peter boat control in this spot's key oh
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my God is it ever budy look at I'll get
6:04
him off for you cuz you're going to be
6:05
that's a good fish bro
6:08
yeah on the old Crystal minnow his his
6:11
cheek is shaking his cheek is pulsing
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it's vibrating he likes you he likes you
6:18
he does like
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me there you go you release him oh look
6:24
at that nice fella right there beautiful
6:26
wal we'll just let him go right over the
6:28
side go home tell
6:31
Grandpa it's dinner time there you go
6:34
yeah baby I love those Crystal minnows
6:36
man they're they're money buddy I don't
6:38
even have to do anything I just put it
6:39
in the water and they catch fish it hold
6:41
it in the current right yeah
6:44
uh I have no idea Stevie but he was
6:46
shallow that a boy how's he looking to
6:49
you no same size that's not bad he's not
6:52
bad he's in a decent size range here I
6:54
can I I got him buddy I got him keep
6:57
casting okay yeah he's he not bad but
7:00
that's a good one okay there we go we're
7:02
rocking and rolling now I'm going to
7:04
Mark a waypoint right here
7:07
mock it's good enough for that so not
7:10
huge but much better than the littley
7:12
tiny ones yeah that's still a good fish
7:15
he's got to be
7:17
22b 22 lb I said 22 22
7:22
in that's a for up here I think those
7:24
fish are getting nice there are big fish
7:27
out here 25 in plot
7:30
but you know
7:31
what you get on to these wind blown
7:34
points yeah that's exactly what this is
7:36
a wind blown point and they're just for
7:37
some reason they're I'm seeing fish
7:39
right now under on the Garen right there
7:40
look at that yeah that's not weeds
7:42
that's fish I bet you if I drop straight
7:44
down I bet I can get one that's where
7:46
I've been catching them straight down on
7:48
that uh Crystal
7:54
minnow with a new start and a full day
7:56
of fishing we're heading to the far end
7:58
of the lake some from 30 km away from
8:01
there we can work our way back towards
8:03
Camp hitting all of Kyle's suggested
8:05
hotspots and anything else that looks
8:07
good to us although this morning is
8:09
starting out Sunny the forecast is for
8:11
high winds a lot of clouds and a
8:14
possible storm we're going with Kyle
8:16
suggestion a 5-in swim base as this is
8:18
his go-to Walley presentation on makoka
8:20
baton that said we soon discovered that
8:23
any 5-in bright colored plastic was
8:25
money even on the smaller
8:28
fish there's one I was just working on a
8:31
professional overrun it's a big it's a
8:33
walleye isn't it yes yeah a nice walleye
8:36
buddy working on a professional overrun
8:38
here other words AKA a backlash a
8:41
backlash dragging about 8 ft behind the
8:44
boat it's a decent wall and this is what
8:47
happens you see that
8:51
beautiful that's
8:53
amazing oh and look at that bait fell
8:56
right out nice little walleye yeah
8:58
that's a good little walleye absolutely
9:01
right off the Jack Pine and like 12 or
9:04
14 ft of water that's 17 ft Bud
9:08
17 trolling in the prop wash fixing a
9:11
backlash there you go that's how you do
9:13
her out here I told Steve that we should
9:16
stick with Kyle's big jig and Plastics
9:18
program since it's working however if we
9:21
get a chance we need to troll or drift
9:23
some of our big yosui Mino baits
9:26
hopefully we'll have time to
9:27
experiment this is is probably the best
9:31
Northern Area to come and catch big
9:36
[Music]
9:44
walleye I got something stev and I think
9:46
it's not bad nice right beside the boat
9:49
that's dude that was right beside the
9:50
boat oh what is it here we go easy buddy
9:54
oh big guy
9:57
oh good job
9:59
just barely in the net man I know he's
10:03
heavy too he's a good he's a good size
10:05
yeah that's a nice one look look at his
10:06
mou Steve he's got another Pike or wall
10:09
he's got a Pike in his mou oh that is
10:11
cool okay look at in here folks in his
10:15
mou I don't know if you can see that if
10:17
it's open
10:21
enough that's a pike tail that's not a
10:23
Walley tail that's a pike tail in there
10:27
and look at how fat he is look at the
10:28
look at that look at the gut that's that
10:30
fish in there that's the Pike in there
10:33
that's cool that's crazy not even a big
10:36
Pike but man that's why he didn't fight
10:38
still yeah he's still eating your bait
10:40
that's why he didn't fight very much
10:41
though right because he's so
10:43
full
10:46
gun Pike eating Pike oh my God what a
10:49
dog eat dog world
10:51
there with that awesome Pike sequence
10:53
but only mediocre Walley success so far
10:56
we decided to work our way back to our
10:58
intended shorel lunch area area catching
11:00
eaters wasn't an issue but Steve and I
11:02
wanted to set hooks into something much
11:04
meteor a quick Shor lunch break and then
11:06
it would be back at her so good as you
11:10
can probably tell by the history of
11:12
walleye shows we've shot a Shor lunch is
11:14
an absolute must maybe not every day but
11:17
I guarantee you we'll have at least
11:21
one with the unbelievable satisfaction
11:24
of an authentic Northern Canadian Shor
11:26
lunch firmly implanted it was time to
11:28
get back at it
11:29
Kyle suggested directly in front of Shor
11:31
lunch Island as it's a known makab batan
11:33
Hotpot sounds good to us and man what a
11:37
hot spot it turned into that's a good
11:40
that's a walleye yeah that's feeling
11:42
like a walleye for sure that feels like
11:43
a ban looks like a big does come on
11:48
Steven come on baby no more oh it's
11:50
a walleye and it's a bigan such a nice
11:53
fish bro yes it
11:55
is yeah yeah baby got him look at the
11:59
opaque eyes on that guy oh he's an old
12:01
he's blind I think he is he ate that jig
12:05
pretty good well I guess they don't need
12:07
ice to eat that
12:09
jig oh yeah yeah this guy's got
12:14
cataracts yeah there we go jig look at
12:20
this look at that eye look at the eye on
12:22
that thing I think this must be both
12:24
eyes or just the one just the one he's
12:26
he's good on that side yeah look at that
12:29
eye folks wow it's been damaged there's
12:31
a little blood spot on it or something
12:34
yeah these fish are beat up there's big
12:37
Northerns out here chowing down on these
12:39
fellas even though that is a big long
12:41
beautiful
12:43
walleye right on good one you get the
12:46
oneeyed oneeyed Jack there buddy yes sir
12:49
Jack let get back in the water there you
12:51
go buddy see you
12:53
later that one St oh nice another one
12:56
right on walleye pass out here right on
12:59
walleye pass buddy there he is oh
13:02
another nice walleye oh yeah he ate it
13:05
that one ate it man oh man is he ever a
13:08
nice beautiful looking walleye look at
13:11
this he gone The Jig Is Gone oh
13:14
yeah there we go look at how deep that
13:17
is in there I know I can't believe the
13:19
color too eh well let's see if I can oh
13:22
he's long he's a lean one that's all
13:23
yeah folks you know the walleye fishing
13:25
is turning on when they take it like
13:26
that right
13:27
there that fish folks another nice long
13:30
lean Northern Ontario Walley he's going
13:33
to try and flip on me so I'm going to
13:34
get him
13:36
back there you go
13:40
buddy got one Stevie that a boy Peter on
13:47
fire might be on fire the lightning hits
13:49
us oh yeah this is that pref front
13:54
thunderstorm shifting by and in the
13:57
distance and on top of us
14:00
still haven't got a glimpse of them yet
14:02
bud me neither buddy I love the feel of
14:04
this one though oh it's I it's walleye
14:07
for sure he's like under the boat like
14:11
that from my experience northerner side
14:14
de side oh for it's a nice W beautiful
14:18
eye this is a good
14:21
one nice job Peter that's the one right
14:26
there okay buddy now we're talking that
14:29
now we're rocking it now we're rocking
14:31
and rolling here Ah that's awesome
14:34
that's awesome did you see what I did St
14:35
the last two fish I cast out deep I did
14:38
cast out deeper and
14:40
let There we go folks look at the teeth
14:42
in his mouth he's got eye teeth that
14:44
fell around for that guy even that's a
14:46
nice walleye right there that's a nice
14:48
Northern Ontario walleye right there get
14:50
him back get him back that's it oh I got
14:55
one bud yeah me too buddy nice the old
14:59
double header dri mine feels good man
15:01
yeah mine doesn't so I'll get mine in oh
15:03
mine's a pike is it perfect
15:06
yeah okay that's good oh I've got a good
15:09
feeling that this is a nice big walleye
15:12
I have a feeling you're right I'm hoping
15:15
you're right and it wasn't a little
15:15
school of
15:17
Pikes come
15:20
on get out of there there that's
15:24
done oh there he is nice wall oh yeah
15:26
it's a good
15:27
one oh get in get in there
15:32
I that's a great that's a great walleye
15:35
right there look at that I love it when
15:37
that pops out there like
15:40
that there we go another beautiful
15:43
walleye up here we've been catching
15:44
these consistently this is probably the
15:48
best Northern Area to come and catch big
15:52
walleye like I mean big walleye small
15:55
walleye eaters trophy it's a amazing
16:00
unbelievable and Kyle does a wonderful
16:02
job up here at brace Lake
16:04
Outfitters there you go buddy thanks for
16:06
the
16:07
fight down he goes good job buddy yeah
16:11
good job here's your stick thank
16:16
[Music]
16:19
you this hot spot is an area on mooka
16:23
bat Lake where Pete and Steve had a
16:25
fantastic day walleye fishing the way
16:27
point on your screen will get you right
16:29
there ironically enough this hot spot is
16:32
adjacent to what's referred to as Shor
16:35
lunch Island s about perfect to me
16:38
remember though there are size limits on
16:40
this lake so make sure you abide by them
16:42
our guys primarily jig with 5-in fluke
16:44
style Plastics with white being the best
16:47
color but every now and then the boys
16:49
would cast out a yui crystal minnow deep
16:51
diving hard bait to search for roaming
16:53
fish and that worked as well Pete
16:56
mentioned that the walleye here were so
16:58
tight to the bottom he was having a hard
17:00
time locating fish on the lives scope
17:02
since a bunch of fish were there it
17:04
proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that
17:07
your traditional screen on your fish
17:08
finder is still a valuable tool for more
17:11
hot spots like this one check out
17:12
fishing
17:19
canada.com man I'll tell you what part
17:22
of the Albany river system getting these
17:24
things you're thinking brook trout
17:26
you're thinking big Fike there loaded
17:27
with these things
17:32
[Music]
17:36
wow Stevie my drag was set loose oh nice
17:41
well oh it's a big fish whatever it is
17:45
Northern if he's fighting like this I
17:47
didn't see any white tip on his
17:49
tail it's hard to tell on this tanic
17:51
water all look gold
17:55
yeah if it's a wal it's one it's the one
17:57
we want if it's a the Pike's the one we
17:59
don't
18:00
want the walleye nice walleye buddy woo
18:05
yeah dude baby oh hook popped out of his
18:08
mouth hook popped out of his mouth
18:10
that's the way you do it oh my God look
18:13
at that Walley
18:15
[Music]
18:17
Bo look at that that is this Lake and
18:21
it's got a lot of them it has got a lot
18:23
of fish this size that is just a perfect
18:26
oh my God what a great wall I girth on
18:28
it it's got everything going on big old
18:30
ugly head woo not mine not Stevie the
18:35
fish oh I love that I love that
18:38
man that is just a prime that's a prime
18:41
spawning fish that is the perfect
18:43
Northern onario walleye right there just
18:45
absolutely perfect jeez that's a better
18:48
fish right there boy you got her Bud yes
18:51
sir reeling as fast as I can yes sir you
18:55
see him yet no good that means I got on
18:58
time could be a northern it's p it's
19:00
pulling some drag but it is right under
19:03
the boat which I love which is totally
19:07
characteristic of walleye oh yes it is
19:10
that's a walleye that is a walleye right
19:13
there got him yeah baby that's the tank
19:18
that's the tick tank right there that is
19:21
the ticket right there folks oh yeah
19:25
this is why we come up here
19:29
through brace like
19:30
Outfitters you good to catch walleye oh
19:33
yeah to catch fellas like this right
19:36
there that is a monster walleye that is
19:41
a monster walleye right there Stevie oh
19:44
I'm pumped and this is some of the most
19:47
amazing fishing to do it out here we've
19:50
got some storms rolling through you get
19:52
a walleye chop here and there and then
19:54
it settles down we found a beautiful
19:56
Ridge let's get him back in the water
19:59
here there we go oh wa big guy yeah
20:04
thanks brother woo good fish bro oh yeah
20:07
that's that's the way to take a northern
20:10
Ontario's walleye trip right there
20:12
that's right let's go get another one
20:14
yeah what the heck got one Stevie you
20:18
been a
20:19
turn whoa whoa buddy wow standing down
20:23
dude there he is oh yeah it's nice wal
20:26
Ste nice Walley
20:29
oh Peter that's a
20:34
beauty yeah that's a good nice job
20:36
that's a good one brother teeth get
20:39
tangled in the
20:42
net look at that for beautiful Walley
20:45
folks man I'll tell you what part of the
20:48
Albany river system and getting these
20:50
things you're thinking Brook Trail
20:52
you're think big bike there loaded with
20:53
these things wow I mean that's your main
20:57
species when you come up on a trip like
20:58
this and then the other ones are
21:01
bonus you can catch a lot of them
21:04
beautiful job buddy
21:06
woo yeah that was fun man that thing
21:10
fought hard what a great fish wow
21:13
fishery is insane it is insane
21:16
honestly well there you have it my
21:18
friends a spectacular Walley shoot and
21:21
with no live bait and as a bonus Steve
21:23
and I decided to troll our way back to
21:25
the cabin and you guessed it they
21:28
crushed our mle BAS as well a future
21:30
show on our YouTube channel that's
21:33
iter oh look at
21:36
that that's heavy fish man can you tell
21:40
we love fishing for big
21:44
Walley getting there brought to you by
21:47
The Outdoor Journal Radio podcast
21:51
Network to get to today's Crazy Fish
21:54
after fish walleye destination Pete and
21:56
Steve first drove North on Highway 400
21:59
to Highway 11 at North Bay they turned
22:02
right to continue on Highway 11 they
22:04
drove West for a while until they
22:06
reached 584 they headed north and then
22:09
turned left on cordingley Lake Road from
22:12
there it's a short drive down a gravel
22:14
road to the Nika Air Service base since
22:17
this was a long haul for the boys they
22:19
overnighted at a local Motel before
22:21
their scheduled flight day once at the
22:23
sea plane base the next morning it was a
22:26
quick tally on total weight and then
22:28
they took off for a 45-minute flight to
22:30
makoki Baton Lake on the Albany river
22:32
system for those looking for more of the
22:35
lodge experience brace Lake Outfitters
22:37
have everything you need at their main
22:39
Lodge with access to brace meta and our
22:43
Lakes you have a vast amount of water to
22:45
enjoy Lodge owners Kyle and Terry run a
22:48
top-notch operation here and we highly
22:50
recommend any of their
22:56
packages fishing Canada show brought to
22:59
you in part by Princecraft boats the
23:03
spirit of voting Garin flot your
23:07
Paradise re them in and Ontario Canada
23:11
in partnership with destination
23:14
Ontario close captioning for this
23:16
episode is brought to you by fishing
23:18
canada.com the gateway to your next
23:20
fishing
23:21
Adventure come along to our cabin in the
23:25
wild cuz we're in for some good fishes
23:29
Canada yes we're in for fishing
23:33
[Applause]
23:33
[Music]
23:43
Canada
#Fishing
#Outdoors