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Smallmouth Bass In New Brunswick | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
On this episode, Angelo Viola and Pete Bowman take a scenic east coast drive to New Brunswick’s ‘Mississippi of the east’, the St. John River. The province’s early bass opener and miles of river, allows Ang & Pete to have a head start at catching their first Smallmouth Bass of the season! 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/ 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, Pete Bowman, and the pair continue to travel across Canada educating anglers using the experience they’ve gained over the years #Season31 #FishingCanada #Fishing
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music]
0:07
this has been a well-kept secret the
0:10
secret oh you're gonna believe this you
0:16
kidding me
0:22
I think New Brunswick has smallmouth
0:26
bass bigger fish in Canada show brought
0:37
to you in part by Coleman the outdoor
0:41
company Cooper Tires Princecraft Beau's
0:48
dominate the waters and Garmin fight
0:52
your fish not your fish finder
0:56
today we find ourselves on the st. John
0:59
River in New Brunswick one of the most
1:01
famous salmon rivers in the world but
1:03
much like the last time we were in this
1:05
area we're not in pursuit of Atlantic
1:08
salmon last season we were on the
1:10
legendary Mira mashi a couple hundred
1:12
kilometers from here chasing down big
1:14
striped bass an extraordinary sport
1:17
fishery that we were introduced to by
1:19
good friend Jeff Wilson an East Coast
1:21
tournament promoter and avid angler he
1:23
also advised us to experience the
1:25
exceptional smallmouth bass fishing on
1:27
the st. John River so now you know why
1:29
we're here the question is why are all
1:31
these bass here in a Salmon River and
1:33
why didn't we know about it sooner what
1:36
we do know is that in the 50s after the
1:38
government dammed up the st. John River
1:40
for hydropower the lakes that
1:42
subsequently formed were perfect
1:43
ecosystems for our little bronzed friend
1:45
a flourish from there the small mole
1:47
population literally exploded up out and
1:50
down this entire watershed of course
1:53
wherever you have bass you eventually
1:56
have bass tournaments complete with
1:58
hardcore basa holics and New Brunswick
2:00
is no exception the New Brunswick sport
2:03
fishing Association is it's an angler
2:06
owned series the the directors are
2:10
volunteers we run it all the money goes
2:13
back to the anglers minus the expenses
2:15
of running it like insurance
2:16
we run seven qualifiers and with two day
2:19
championship and we paired some serious
2:21
money
2:22
although bass tournaments seem to have
2:24
been a local secret here for about 30
2:26
years or so with relatively small fields
2:28
of purses today the cats definitely out
2:31
of the bag with big events boasting 50
2:34
and 60 boats with up to $16,000 in cash
2:38
and prizes up for grabs for the next few
2:40
days and and I'll explore this river and
2:42
its little tributaries and see what all
2:44
the hubbub jabo
2:53
perfect yeah okay so we know there's a
2:55
male's here yeah I think that's my first
2:59
New Brunswick small mo not much to show
3:02
but it is dirt but wait I'll tell you
3:06
what this current if we catch a four
3:08
pounder in this current we're gonna be
3:09
hurt me it's gonna be fun
3:18
not tiny
3:23
where's your mama yep
3:26
Dancing with the Smalley's oh my god I
3:29
think that's a record you know the best
3:34
thing about catching 102 and a half
3:36
hours is there'd be a Palin bigger than
3:40
the ones we're getting oh my god boys I
3:49
got a granola bar on the end of this
3:51
bait they're very small weed wrapped up
3:58
sizing or do something different to get
4:01
the females a little sunshine might turn
4:04
them on
4:05
we need the females to make a move
4:08
this area is loaded with bass
4:10
unfortunately most of them are on the
4:12
small side not exactly what we drove all
4:14
the way down here for but with so many
4:18
fish in one area strange things are
4:20
bound to happen oh you're not gonna
4:22
believe this
4:23
two fish no way to fish two fish look at
4:26
this do you think these things are
4:28
aggressive you kidding me they're
4:32
obvious - small small mouths are the
4:35
same bait that you're never gonna beat
4:39
them you win you're never gonna beat
4:41
that you know if no like there was some
4:45
weight there but it felt straight yeah
4:47
double-header how was that buddy
4:50
now what oh boy
4:56
yep Oh oh my god they pull he's making a
5:01
nice little wake though yes that fish
5:05
taking you around the back that would be
5:08
so cool if the little guys stopped yeah
5:11
well the big guys give in yeah net hang
5:15
on yeah yeah that's the net fish that's
5:22
the one female that the 300 males are
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hanging around there's a New Brunswick's
5:36
Molly I love it
5:38
you know it's amazing how these fish
5:40
have caught on me I mean caught on in
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the sense that since the 1800s when they
5:44
were first putting these systems all
5:46
over Canada yep and it's not until I
5:49
would say the last 30 years that people
5:51
have even been noticing them and started
5:55
fishing for them but up until then they
5:58
were just roving around free nobody's
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after them there they and then water
6:01
like this they're probably one of the
6:03
most aggressive predators out here
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I would imagine they're feeding on just
6:06
about everything that's nice good job my
6:09
pretty fish too huh fantastic and right
6:14
under by the way right under Canada's
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longest covered bridge correct Hartland
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covered bridges Cartland covered for it
6:22
and that thing beauty all right in you
6:24
go babe good job I said three and a half
6:27
yep
6:30
okay they're here I'm a believer 20 of
6:37
those today
6:39
[Music]
6:52
it's getting hot shorts are gonna close
6:55
nice yeah
6:56
[Music]
7:04
our next spot is a beautiful little
7:06
offshoot of the main river the problem
7:08
is we're totally distracted by the
7:10
gorgeous scenery it's kind of hard to
7:12
believe that such a sweet little honey
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hole could harbor a whole whack of
7:16
Smalley's finally got a jumper maybe
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because the water is warming up I don't
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know fifty-seven 73 see that's jumping
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weather take 20 of those in a day no
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kidding for fun especially in a little
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place like this I mean that's that's the
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bonus that's a cool a spa I mean great
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to get don't get me wrong be great to
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get a 3 or 4 pounder out of here but a
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whack of those and this is a little
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cotton I mean there's so picturesque
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fantastic Oh what I don't know tell it
7:59
felt good at first but I don't know if
8:01
he is now or not that's a nice fish oh
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yeah better put an awesome little spot
8:08
look at that
8:09
got him I think it's a pretty typical
8:10
spot smallmouth on this in this area
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right here so yeah they're you know a
8:15
giant here as a 5 pound or versus you
8:17
know back in Ontario or you're gonna get
8:18
sixes and sevens but I think they're
8:21
gonna get here someday they're gonna go
8:23
get bigger they just got need some time
8:28
talk to me girl come on be a good I
8:31
think you got a good fish
8:39
one thing oh yeah I think it's good much
8:41
yeah you know what the net though the
8:58
size of that thing
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well if we're tucked away stream like
9:00
this wow that's cool the same thing is
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you didn't wake up in the middle of the
9:07
channel yeah nice little smiley for a
9:10
tiny little piece of water like that's a
9:12
creaking right here yeah how competitive
9:16
is it down there yeah yeah there's
9:19
probably a couple hundred fishing or at
9:20
least but the little guys involved to at
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least
9:28
that was on a drop shot I've got a
9:30
really lightweight to try and stay out
9:32
of the rocks still get snagged up but
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I'm not as late as I possibly can to
9:36
still get it down there and work it a
9:38
little shed sheep wearable
9:40
yep tiny little worm always works for us
9:43
go too right yeah absolutely go to in a
9:46
drop shot for us well that's a bigger
9:52
fish that sounds good yeah ohh fati yeah
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baby
9:57
so yeah coming up oh that's a nice small
10:02
boat yeah that's a nice fish okay let's
10:08
see I'll get you and in the basket oh
10:11
[Music]
10:13
yeah that's a great fish it dude
10:17
Brunswick now let's see we've caught
10:19
small mouths in BC we've caught bass in
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Saskatchewan of course Manitoba's a load
10:25
of Ontario go back go back and now here
10:30
in the East Coast New Brunswick's Paulie
10:32
look at that they're gonna enjoy this
10:34
victory band more people get what people
10:36
now the fish have been here for a
10:38
hundred years but nobody pushes them
10:40
nobody's really aware of them and
10:42
they're not really considered a sport
10:43
fish but it soon will be especially when
10:47
they get that size right there
10:49
buuuut a good job but we got mr. bull
10:54
man I got one pop by the boat on a crank
10:57
buddy I heard this the commotion I don't
11:00
want him going the trolling motor I
11:02
can't I see him yeah look at you yeah
11:07
with this bait we might want to know I'm
11:08
just in case or rebellion yeah he's
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decent fish well here we go
11:16
nice it's real bad not bad at all
11:21
he came out of the water at that Wow
11:23
look at that this is beautiful oh yeah I
11:27
think you Brunswick a smallmouth bass
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feeder you figure nice beautiful New
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Brunswick's Molly that's what we came
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here for and in this setting to
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spectacular part this is unbelievable
11:40
come on up he's on the creek down the
11:41
road on the
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st. John River you sneak up these little
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creeks you know early in the year I'm
11:45
sure the fish are here all year some of
11:47
these fish right the current coming down
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we see we've seen tons of pan fish and
11:50
bait fish in here beautiful small ball
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yes thanks buddy my little crank bait
11:55
without me even knowing it
11:57
and my unconfident casting that I was
11:59
doing there looking around casting my
12:01
matter that I'm talking to it what and
12:04
and you know the thing is it's it's
12:05
pretty easy to get distracted when
12:07
you're fishing this type of of River
12:10
because you're just I mean look at it
12:13
one beautiful mist after another
12:15
absolutely that is crazy
12:20
that's my think oh that's orange and
12:22
brown and look at the claws sticking out
12:24
of this poster that crazy that's as
12:27
close to matching the fort he's gonna
12:29
get
12:35
[Music]
12:44
nice little Smalley scoop wacky rig sank
12:54
oh no wait that can be deadly large most
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small more than probably other species
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two populations incredible here this is
13:07
just nuts how many small mo bass are in
13:10
this system
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I'll tell you if this has been a
13:19
well-kept secret the secret to this is
13:25
small most captain friggin we have an
13:37
insane fish but it's crazy
13:43
I love those things how can you not love
13:58
smallmouth bass fishing oh my god
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there's this the river is loaded with
14:16
fish everybody says there's thousands of
14:18
on thousand that's true
14:28
[Music]
14:30
I'm bad memory you seems to be a real
14:38
typical size in here sixty two point
14:42
three colder than yesterday though
14:45
shirts are you my memory only now as is
14:50
quite typical here in the Maritimes the
14:52
temperature changes come fast and
14:54
furious so you find yourself constantly
14:56
changing not only your clothing but your
14:59
presentation as well it's a never-ending
15:02
struggle trying to figure out what
15:03
they're feeding on but every once in a
15:06
while the fish gives up another piece of
15:08
the puzzle look at the crayfish he's got
15:11
in his gut
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that's my sank oh that's orange and
15:14
brown and look at the claws sticking out
15:16
of his mouth there that crayfish orange
15:19
and brown the same color that is crazy
15:22
there's my orange B look at this that's
15:26
as close to matching the four G's you're
15:28
gonna get look at this how cool is that
15:33
nice close double-header
15:35
look at this I can't get over that
15:38
that's amazing nice that's awesome
15:45
follow Dan just fish it's typically a
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smallmouth do and that's one of maybe
15:51
more towards three of them that might
15:53
have followed oh I can't believe how
15:56
well that match that crayfish perfect
15:58
absolutely perfect
16:02
he's orange early in the year to do
16:05
resin orange yeah good
16:15
today's great smallmouth hotspot is on
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the knack of extreme which is a branch
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off the st. John River in New Brunswick
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the wave one on your screen will get you
16:23
there early season small angling can
16:26
have the fish in a variety of boots so a
16:28
variety of baits and presentations are a
16:30
must we did really well on unweighted 4
16:33
inch Yamamoto Senko
16:34
with brighter colors being the best for
16:37
that day oddly enough black might be the
16:39
color of choice on the following day be
16:41
versatile use either light fluorocarbon
16:44
or braided line tied directly to the
16:46
reel or tie a fluorocarbon leader on to
16:49
light braid either one will work if
16:51
you're using unweighted plastics and
16:53
strong winds add just a touch of weight
16:55
as the fête being on or near the bottom
16:57
is the key for more hotspots like this
17:00
one check out fishing canada calm
17:05
[Music]
17:07
that came right out after you man that's
17:16
the one no no it's fine one of those
17:25
look at art again you know you know what
17:27
a picture this fish was caught lately
17:28
yeah you maybe that's why he's kind of
17:30
lazy that's a good area this is now he's
17:34
fighting just woke up yeah I thought he
17:42
was a monster when he came across there
17:45
that's the big fish of the day long and
17:49
face got everything he's got there for
17:57
sure barely burying the top right there
18:02
top perfect wow that's a beauty man he's
18:05
got a it looks to me like another hook
18:08
mark is it wouldn't surprise me
18:11
Yeah right there for sure like I'm right
18:13
there in the top of the mouth and
18:15
there's a little mark right there as
18:18
well I've been hooked before and again
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as we always say that the beauty of
18:22
catch and release right there gorgeous
18:25
fish exactly that's why I think he might
18:31
have been caught before yeah yeah my my
18:34
Shango there fishery these guys got here
18:42
this River the st. John and as
18:44
tributaries is a huge surprise for us
18:46
the quantity and quality of these fish
18:48
in this water is staggering that they're
18:51
so little fishing for these small ease
18:52
is even more remarkable New Brunswick
18:55
has once again proven itself worthy as a
18:57
prime destination for anglers of all
18:59
preferences blue water for tuna moving
19:02
water for stripers head now fresh water
19:05
for smallmouth bass
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Bravo New Brunswick forever
19:13
today's fast and furious Malmo fishing
19:16
took place on the st. John River in New
19:17
Brunswick to get there we pulled the big
19:20
Princecraft eastward on highway 401 to
19:22
highway 20 Quebec we next turned south
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east on highway 30 which eventually
19:27
joined back with highway 20 next we
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turned south on 185 which turns into 85
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and then to highway 2
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we finally exited the highway on 550 and
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arrived at our final destination the
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BEST WESTERN PLUS in Woodstock New
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Brunswick
19:44
[Music]
19:51
today's kolp is l4 location it's hard to
19:53
believe that small mo fast I made it all
19:55
the way to Canada's East Coast and when
19:57
you look at the numbers of small E's in
19:59
this particular location on the st. John
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River in New Brunswick it certainly
20:02
makes us wonder just how many fish are
20:04
in this part of the country with
20:05
numerous lakes rivers and even ponds
20:07
let's just say that Canada's East Coast
20:09
Malmo fishery is growing at an
20:11
exponential rate fish in canada show
20:15
brought to you in part by Ram trucks
20:18
guts glory Ram Stearns trusted on the
20:23
water since 1952 mercury outboards
20:26
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20:29
Canada Canada's only national fishing
20:32
and hunting magazine closed captioning
20:35
provided by
20:35
Olympian pros the one battery you need
20:39
[Music]
20:46
[Music]
20:53
you
20:54
[Music]
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