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Fishing Ganaraska River for Steelhead | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
Local angler Kevin Ritza grants Pete Bowman permission to fish on his private property along the Ganaraska River in Southern Ontario. Kevin and Pete enjoy some early spring fishing, wading the “Ganny” searching for river run Steelhead (rainbow trout) while providing tips to catching this active and alluring fish. ► 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/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
View Video Transcript
0:01
[Music]
0:06
we've got a hundred fish in a 50 foot
0:10
area here and work much right I think I
0:14
just saw fishy burping gander ask a
0:21
river rainbow trout beautiful fish it's
0:32
a nice-looking fish that's gorgeous that
0:34
fish the fish in Canada show brought to
0:38
you in part by Ram trucks built to serve
0:43
Princecraft both dominate the waters
0:47
Garmin Panoptix all-seeing sonar mercury
0:52
outboards
0:53
go boldly and outdoor Canada Canada's
0:57
only national fishing and hunting
0:59
magazine
1:01
[Music]
1:07
today is going to be awesome
1:10
number one is the first fishing trip of
1:11
the year number two is the first fishing
1:14
Canada shoot of the year and number
1:16
three I get the fish for a fish species
1:18
I haven't gone for in about five or six
1:20
years a steelhead or rainbow trout that
1:22
are migrating up from Lake Ontario I
1:24
think I'm going to catch a bunch of fish
1:25
today
1:26
it's going to be cool this right here is
1:28
the most important part of today's show
1:30
no trespassing private property I'm
1:32
gonna fish on private property today but
1:34
I have permission Kevin Richie he's
1:35
coming over here right now how you doing
1:37
buddy it's going pretty good we've been
1:38
talking for a couple years he's had Pete
1:39
you got to come and fish this property I
1:41
said he says I got private land but we
1:43
have access to some great rainbow trout
1:44
fishing there's no way in this world
1:46
that I could fish this without having
1:47
permission and you got to remember that
1:49
respect property owners land if you get
1:51
permission go for it if not you're gonna
1:53
get busted let's go fishing buddy
1:55
figured up what do we got for forever
1:59
here to look at about two kilometers of
2:01
river to fish yep walking in the top end
2:04
here now right on we got lots of deep
2:07
pockets Rapids lots of fish no hay and
2:12
you're sitting a run like this what do
2:14
you look for when you're looking at here
2:15
you're looking at this little spot or
2:17
down right I'm looking for little deeper
2:19
holes certain rocks certain runs good
2:24
down there you might even see something
2:26
tucked in along the far bank too right
2:28
look for your dark spots yeah stealthy
2:32
yeah yeah bill see ya or hear ya yeah no
2:36
kidding
2:40
I think I just saw fishy man that that
2:49
spawn bag is ripping by so fast you
2:51
wonder how if I should get that a but
2:52
you know they're so used to feeding in
2:54
this kind of stuff I guess that's the
2:55
that's their life in case you're
2:59
wondering what we're using today again
3:00
beginners you might not know exactly
3:01
what's going on we're using rainbow
3:04
trout eggs they're called spawn or it's
3:06
called grilled Kevin bag these up you
3:09
get a netting material is bag them up
3:11
and probably a dime sized and ball
3:13
basically this time of year almost the
3:15
only food they have in here is trout
3:17
eggs and they will eat it but kind of
3:18
cannibalistic so you just basically take
3:20
a small that's it number 12 hook you
3:22
just put it through the this has been
3:24
used a bit so I put through a little bit
3:25
better you might pierce one egg for some
3:27
smell and then just let that dangle
3:29
across and drift down the current and
3:31
these fish will pick it up it's a little
3:32
more visible than a single egg that's we
3:34
use a bag of these in this and the
3:36
colors you've got some chartreuse here
3:37
too in there but that's we're using
3:38
today is role or spawn from rainbow
3:40
trouble
3:47
that's a good one right there
3:55
that's a it is a fish yep
4:00
good-sized fish good-sized one yep
4:03
[Music]
4:07
and it's a good-sized one - thanks
4:10
alright you want to walk down a little
4:12
people try to drag him up on the beach
4:15
over here yeah I always be careful when
4:21
you got these waders on you're walkin if
4:24
you have a reason to have chest waders
4:26
aside from once a year fishing get
4:28
yourself a pair of chest waders know the
4:29
best to do this kind of fishing that you
4:30
can access the whole river that said hip
4:33
waders like I have on today are no
4:34
problem especially you got a guy named
4:35
Kevin wick yeah you can work together to
4:37
access all the different areas rubber
4:39
boots you can get away with you're
4:41
probably gonna get wet feet but
4:42
definitely do not wear hiking boots or
4:44
running shoes because you will get wet
4:46
feet for that yeah I said a little ugly
4:48
that's good first one of the year I need
4:50
to be ugly
4:51
Wow is he ever scarred up a little
4:55
beat-up as he riding he's a little
4:57
beat-up male it looks like a day yeah oh
5:02
nice nice good guy no that's all from
5:06
spawning right like that
5:09
wore out that's our the rituals of
5:11
spying the fins the shallow rapid come
5:14
back bud go here and let him kick a few
5:18
times I'll tell you what they scrapbook
5:24
that's not a huge fish but they strap so
5:27
nice the smaller ones you get leaving
5:28
scrap oh yeah and get a little jumper
5:30
today beautiful one hanging out off the
5:35
bank on the other side there he can be
5:37
chased it that was awesome Thanks
5:40
that was cool
5:53
there's a there's a pair of spotting
5:55
here you see these pair right and
5:57
there's a there's one hanging off the
6:00
undercut Bank on the other side there
6:02
and there's a little guy hanging out
6:04
right here and they move in on his nest
6:07
every time and he pushes him Bob he's
6:08
like he's got he must have pushed him
6:10
off 20 times already just standing here
6:12
he's got his work cut out for him he's
6:15
going nuts goes out back in like that
6:19
he's a guardian must be a tough guy it's
6:24
just nature at its best right there yeah
6:28
that's another thing alone here is is
6:31
that early in the year like this this is
6:33
the first week of open season on a
6:36
really cool spring a lot of these fish
6:38
haven't even spawned yet probably a
6:40
majority them having this fun yeah so
6:42
you see these ones that are sitting in
6:43
these little areas waiting and staging
6:45
those are the ones you catch and then if
6:47
you see one that's making a bed or two
6:49
that are nesting stay away from those
6:51
because there's so many other fish
6:52
around
6:52
why bother the ones that are spawning
7:01
female right against the bank almost hey
7:06
Reed against the bank over there almost
7:08
oh yeah they're two dripping over here
7:11
and then it went over further
7:12
I worked my way right across the river
7:14
BAM oh if you can keep on this area we
7:16
got a good landing spot huh oh yeah
7:18
that's gorgeous
7:19
Oh get out of sticks
7:31
just in the skin perfect and a Niraj the
7:36
river steelhead rainbow trout close to
7:39
your average one right there that one's
7:44
written care that wouldn't care how much
7:47
ya release work on her waters rigid well
7:52
done buddy that's a good-looking fish
7:53
there she goes
7:54
never come to a river like this fishing
7:56
steelhead or rainbow without your
7:58
polarized glasses they are crucial
7:59
you'll see the fish and you'll see the
8:02
areas they hang in and more importantly
8:04
you can watch the fish's reaction if
8:05
you're running a bait beside that fish
8:07
were close to that fish and all of a
8:09
sudden he does this little turn like
8:10
that
8:10
he hasn't been moving at all he's got
8:12
your bait you can set the hook watch his
8:14
movements and you'll get that fish a
8:20
step that was awesome
8:22
that was awesome turn reader fish come
8:26
back and come back down for it
8:28
that was cool I tripped it past the fish
8:36
she turned around come down picked it
8:38
off and went back up that is so that's
8:41
what this fishing is all about right
8:43
here yeah that's nice when you see that
8:44
oh that's just an aggressive fish that
8:46
decided okay enough is enough
8:49
another beauty yeah good looking fish
8:52
man a long soft action rod is really
8:56
valuable here the reason being is you
8:58
can go down to a really light line if
9:00
you have to and then that rod is like a
9:02
shock absorber with that four or five
9:04
pound test line even though it's so
9:06
light on you have a ten pound fish on
9:07
with that big rod bending over and that
9:09
parabolic curve it really allows you to
9:11
get that fish in an open spot that's why
9:14
this rod can really one of the
9:16
advantages to this big rod like that
9:20
right there oh yeah she's a dandy oh
9:23
yeah
9:25
we could let her swim right out of you
9:28
wanna probably so there's very little
9:31
handling on that fish can just get her
9:34
over the top of the rim and back in
9:38
she'll be good you watch Oh beside us
9:40
hello see you later little girl right
9:44
back into her spot that was so cool miss
9:47
to embed drifted past that fish and what
9:49
he was doing she's sitting this way they
9:50
took the passer she said I know I don't
9:53
want to do that like that come back and
9:55
nailed the rolls and go by her
9:56
it's like you know it's almost like a
9:58
lure it's not a little right but she
10:00
knows it's food it's the same thing is
10:01
you a fishing a little attack a certain
10:03
kind a lot of times you especially just
10:04
drifted by them enough and they'll just
10:06
move sideways a little bit to eat it she
10:08
let it go past said okay wait a minute
10:09
turn around come back that I may be one
10:12
of the coolest wrote bikes I've ever had
10:14
but it's a lot so that's pretty neat to
10:16
see how aggressive they can be it's a
10:18
game of chess I don't know how to play
10:20
chess but I'm walking along to go if
10:34
there next pool the next hole and I'm
10:36
seeing this so either along the creek
10:38
bed or along the trails this is gonna
10:39
happen a lot this is so not cool it's
10:41
garbage on somebody else's property so
10:43
why do normally in a situation like this
10:45
like I carry a garbage bag with me and I
10:47
pick up all the garbage and I you know
10:49
you don't have to show the landowner
10:51
you're done just respect that so you
10:52
pick up your own garbage and if you have
10:54
anybody else's Gary's are you pick it up
10:55
to it but it's respect to the landowner
10:57
and Kevin in this case or it's just
10:58
respect to mother nature is this so
11:00
awful to see something like this so
11:01
clean up as best you can and the place
11:04
will be better for the next person that
11:06
not like to feel good about going
11:07
fishing yeah
11:09
[Music]
11:12
fix them all day long if they're just
11:15
gonna sit there and EDD John well you
11:17
know it's a game of chess I don't know
11:19
how to play chess but and to be honest I
11:23
never here's something I think is key
11:29
and it's why I lost a couple of fish
11:30
today I always have your drag set tight
11:32
when you're drifting and ready for the
11:34
bite that way you can set the hook and
11:35
get a good penetration a lot of times
11:37
what I do is I set the drag tight loosen
11:39
it off to fight the fish and then forget
11:41
to tighten it up on the next fish when
11:43
you set the hook
11:43
the line comes out you don't get a good
11:45
hook set so make sure you fish with a
11:46
tight drag and then loosen it off
11:48
accordingly there is I think what I saw
11:57
back in the back of the pool he was
12:01
setting one single one just sitting
12:02
alone by himself and that look at this
12:05
he's freaking stuck sitting in one fish
12:09
there's three or four of them right
12:10
there one back there and I let it drift
12:12
a little bit further back and look at
12:15
them it's like that big salmon holding
12:20
that's shows persist as our kevin said
12:23
stay where that don't leave us all of
12:24
you can open
12:28
yeah there's a nice fish he's in the mud
12:32
yeah
12:33
[Music]
12:37
Oh get up on the bank here buddy if the
12:42
water wasn't so funny you're gonna scoop
12:44
them good job bud funny that's a nice
12:54
yes that's a hen a beautiful fish it's
12:58
kind of goldish color to it hey that's
13:00
nice
13:01
look at that a nice looking fish
13:06
everywhere I gotta put her back
13:13
she's ready to go ready to go see you
13:17
later
13:18
perfect that fish there was two or three
13:20
and they're sitting here in this hole
13:21
and he said don't no need to go upriver
13:23
any further if he's got the fish that
13:25
are active here we had a couple bites he
13:26
got one across the river I had a couple
13:28
bites missed them and then there was
13:30
three of the two or three of them sit
13:31
right here and there was one dragon in
13:33
the back and went right past her and she
13:35
ate it the first time so that's cool
13:37
that is so neat
13:54
to get to today's outstanding rainbow
13:57
fishing I drove east on highway 401 and
13:59
exited on highway 28 at Port Hope from
14:02
there I drove north and met Kevin at his
14:04
private property on the gana Raska River
14:06
began II has lots of public water to
14:08
fish along its course it's up to you as
14:10
an angler to either fish these public
14:12
access areas or ask for permission from
14:14
local landowners and try for some less
14:16
pressure trout as always it's important
14:18
to respect the land no matter where you
14:20
pitch
14:28
I got him that's cool
14:32
it's got some spunk that one guys
14:35
now he's doing well noise I'm gonna just
14:38
sit right here
14:40
[Music]
14:46
you can certainly get away with spinning
14:49
reels in this situation guys that use a
14:51
center pin reels these guys are really
14:52
hardcore really good steel than anglers
14:54
you don't need to get pets you can use
14:56
your spinning if you want to get into a
14:57
heavy duty get a center pin reel and as
14:59
well you can use a really good bait
15:01
caster it works almost the same way in
15:02
the center pin funny when they get when
15:05
they see that shallow water they just go
15:07
right out I don't like the shallow they
15:09
don't like it do they they go to the
15:10
beach here we go what let's see the
15:14
scoop happening here there's the
15:16
advantage of having a guy with a nap
15:24
before he goes down river there he goes
15:29
oh well they're dropping back
15:37
that's a hard nut and job right there
15:39
good missing part of a tail yeah top
15:47
part which is where his Dan say he get
15:50
me see that lower jaw on him he's biting
15:52
her net but that type that look that up
15:56
shooting looks like that basically right
15:59
there you can see that he's been caught
16:02
before
16:03
okay that's catching the leash at its
16:04
best for sure there's not oh yeah maybe
16:08
yeah okay I seen it when I met him there
16:11
his mouth was open like that
16:13
yeah maybe you know what he think you're
16:16
right I think its jaws been broken look
16:19
at that it is his most properly that's
16:22
bizarre normally they'd close the remote
16:25
by now it'd be would be all closed up
16:27
that his bottom jaw is still wide open
16:30
but if it was if it was completely
16:32
closed that fish would die but it by
16:34
being open the water goes through his
16:36
gills all the time so I guess it was
16:38
easy to hook that
16:56
you got you going don't Lee this is when
17:00
the fun begins right here there he is
17:04
he's fighting you good eh playing that
17:08
current yeah there's so I sold you give
17:10
him a little slack they almost swim
17:12
right back up to you I can't that's got
17:15
a nice color to it doesn't that fish
17:16
pretty red got some nice red on it
17:23
I said I got a net in hand I'll try and
17:24
show you sort of what to do and what not
17:26
to do the whole idea of a netting any
17:29
fish is to net it headfirst that's the
17:31
proper way of doing it so we'll try and
17:33
do it here with current it makes it even
17:35
harder with two guys it's it's a little
17:38
easier they don't like the shell and
17:41
water no they don't they don't want hey
17:43
nice
17:44
you don't like that shallow ah this is
17:45
our fish right here see his tail we're
17:47
gonna show you an example how not to
17:48
another fish not another fish it might
17:51
look silly to you but you're gonna get a
17:52
good good view of this because now we're
17:54
using props so people that think they
17:56
can nail manifest tail first here's
17:58
what's gonna happen first off you got a
18:00
lot of resistance on this little weed
18:01
net if I already got resistance in the
18:03
current you're gonna try and pull it the
18:05
tail that fish I'm gonna do this and
18:06
then he's like you can't get just
18:08
sitting there you're thinking you got a
18:09
good snap a stab at it you touch his
18:11
tail he's God so what you got to try and
18:13
do is you get that fish like that you'll
18:15
hold it if Kevin's playing this fish
18:16
like that headfirst it goes in then that
18:18
just like that it's so simple
18:21
beauty
18:23
[Music]
18:25
nobody comes like this you'll turn round
18:28
like that he swims better than that see
18:30
that this BAM right into the net you do
18:31
that backwards oh this is not gorgeous
18:33
Thursday's pretty ready beautiful it's a
18:35
nice looking fish that's gorgeous that
18:37
fish
18:40
[Music]
18:43
look at that that coloring that guy that
18:47
right there that's rainbow Troodon his
18:50
best friends right there good him badly
18:58
nice
19:01
notable keep the glove on buddy good
19:03
yeah that was a good looking fish
19:05
everyone's like that and finally do not
19:09
fish on any property that you don't know
19:11
is not crown or public land if it's
19:14
private you need permission as a matter
19:16
of fact on Regent law as of 2010 if you
19:19
were found guilty in a court of law of
19:21
violating Ontario's trespass to property
19:23
act fines up up to two thousand dollars
19:26
can be assessed against you two grand
19:29
that's hefty
19:36
[Music]
19:38
today's Garmin hotspot is on a privately
19:41
owned piece of land along the upper Dan
19:43
Orosco River which feeds into Lake
19:44
Ontario oftentimes landowners will grant
19:47
anglers permission to access their
19:48
property if and when you are granted
19:50
permission please show respect and leave
19:52
the property as good or better than when
19:54
you arrived be smart and you may have a
19:57
private fishing area for years to come
19:59
for more hotspots
20:00
check out fishing Canada calm
20:05
[Music]
20:08
the fish in Canada show brought to you
20:11
in part by Ram trucks built to serve
20:16
Princecraft boats
20:18
dominate the waters Garmin Panoptix
20:22
all-seeing sonar mercury outboards gold
20:26
boldly and outdoor Canada Canada's only
20:30
national fishing & hunting magazine
20:33
closed captioning for this episode is
20:36
brought to you by fish in Canada calm
20:38
the Gateway to your next fishing
20:40
adventure
20:43
[Music]
21:16
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