Up next in 10
French River Muskie Fishing | Fish'n Canada
167 views
Apr 15, 2025
Angelo's grandson Nik returns to the show in a bigger way than ever... he's Muskie fishing on the upper French River. This time however, there's no "grandpa" to aid Nik through the ups, downs, and everything in-between that's encountered on a Muskie adventure. Ang sends a very "green" Nik out with Pat Tryon, one of the best Muskie guides in all of Ontario. Will Nik succeed in his first term of learning Muskie 101... Will Pat be deemed Fish'n Canada's official Muskie professor... Or will they both drop to their knees in defeat by the fish of 10,000 casts? ► 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
0:00
[Music]
0:07
you are right now you are fishing for
0:09
the most difficult freshwater fish in
0:10
North America seriously that's
0:14
right no oh man okay let's keep rolling
0:19
musky is one of those games that a lot
0:21
of times your time on the water is more
0:23
valuable than anything this is getting
0:26
ridiculous oh you gone right behind you
0:28
see it that's a giant oh my
0:31
God the fishing Canada show brought to
0:34
you in part by Ram trucks guts glory ram
0:40
Sterns trusted on the water since
0:43
1952 Mercury outboards number one on the
0:46
water and Outdoor Canada Canada's only
0:50
National fishing and hunting
0:52
[Music]
0:55
magazine this week's episode brings us
0:58
back to Central Ontario's upper French
1:00
River it's a trip inspired by my
1:02
grandson Nick who earlier this season
1:05
had a chance encounter with his very
1:06
first musky he caught this monster
1:09
purely by accident while he and I were
1:11
bass fishing on one of our local lakes I
1:14
just felt the lure in the water the
1:16
spinner bait just going nuts so I set
1:18
the hook and we're in this constant
1:22
battle until my grandpa says Nick you
1:24
got a Musky so I'm freaking out he's
1:27
freaking out and it was like big my
1:30
grandpa said to me right off the bat
1:32
after we caught the musky he said that
1:34
is not normal and so to educate Nick who
1:38
now thinks he's a Musky Hot Shot we
1:40
brought him here to Shier Lodge on the
1:42
French River a world-renowned Musky
1:44
fishery and the perfect classroom to
1:47
learn what normal Musky fishing is
1:49
really like the musky fishery here on
1:51
the upper French river is a very very
1:55
complex fishery the thing that I really
1:58
really push for is for you to go out
2:00
with one of our trained musky guides
2:03
take take out the fact that you may
2:04
catch a a worldclass fish even if you
2:07
don't catch anything the things that you
2:10
will learn in one day you're going to
2:13
take that knowledge and it's going to
2:15
fast forward you through 10 years of
2:17
experience and put you in a position to
2:19
win we'll be sending Nick out onto the
2:22
French with fishing Canada boot camp
2:24
instructor and professional musky guide
2:26
extraordinaire Pat Tron who boast 17
2:29
years experience fishing musky on these
2:31
Waters the idea is such a beautiful
2:34
thing take a take someone who's never
2:36
targeted musky take them to one of the
2:38
top musky waters on the planet and teach
2:41
him from from Step One how to get a
2:44
Musky it's such a great story when I
2:46
found out that an was bringing the fish
2:48
in Canada show up here to shoot a Musky
2:50
show with a fairly novice anger in a
2:54
fairly tight time frame the first thing
2:57
that went through my mind I got to be be
3:00
honest was a little bit of fear we are
3:03
on a absolutely worldclass musky fishery
3:07
but it's a Musky fishery and musky
3:09
Fisheries at best can be
3:11
unpredictable it's good that he had it
3:14
success early on because he knows it can
3:16
be done there's going to be times he may
3:18
question whether it can be done and and
3:21
it's going to be a very very good
3:24
learning
3:25
experience and so for the first time in
3:27
fishing Canada history Pete will be
3:30
sitting this one out we'll be on the
3:31
sidelines away from all the action it'll
3:34
be teacher and pupil duking it
3:38
out can Nick heed the advice of his
3:41
instructor can Pat teach a totally green
3:43
14-year-old kid musky magic things could
3:47
get
3:48
interesting so I established two rules
3:51
with Nick do you remember the first rule
3:53
set the hook like you mean it do you
3:54
remember the second rule keep reeling
3:56
never stop reeling you got it follow
3:58
those two rules when the fish bites
4:00
we're going to get them all right okay
4:01
ready all right from the beginning we're
4:04
going to focus on the basics getting a
4:06
bait from the boat out to the end of the
4:08
cast and a lot of that is is very
4:11
mechanical it's it's muscle memory you
4:13
do it one way you learn it properly and
4:15
you'll never forget it but you've got to
4:16
learn the right way okay let's do
4:19
this so as that Eight's coming in what I
4:22
want you to do every time right when you
4:24
get to the blue and it ends stop there
4:27
and that's where you initiate the figure
4:28
eight you know some guys guys make
4:30
figure eight I actually just make one
4:31
big loop so we're physically looking for
4:33
the fish we're going to we're going to
4:34
see them behind the bait so as it's
4:36
coming
4:37
in you physically see the fish behind
4:40
yep yep now if you don't see the fish
4:42
right off the get-go and I'll be I'll be
4:44
standing right up here with you watching
4:45
if you don't see the fish right off the
4:46
get-go you only have to make one it's
4:48
called an L turn make the L turn and
4:50
then leave okay this is you're going to
4:51
make the L turn okay there's no fish
4:54
pull it up and you cast again okay now
4:56
if you're if you're reeling it in Rod
4:59
tip low here's your blue right right you
5:02
make your turn okay now you see a fish
5:03
now you just nice and gentle make a big
5:05
circle like this and why don't they get
5:07
thrown off by the uh Rod they are so
5:09
locked into that bait they simply don't
5:12
care oh right there fish fish bud you
5:15
didn't see it
5:17
no oh you gone right behind you see it
5:20
that's a giant oh my
5:24
[Music]
5:27
God right from the get-go when he was
5:29
making his cast he was very focused on
5:32
pushing the rod with his right
5:34
hand you're pushing you see that yeah I
5:37
saw that I pushed it out with my right
5:39
and we had gone through several times
5:42
using your right hand as a fulcrum
5:43
that's the that's just a a pivot point
5:46
and you're generating the power from
5:48
your left hand this is your power all
5:50
you're doing with this hand is guiding
5:52
the rod don't push you're just guiding
5:55
the rod with your right hand so when
5:56
you've got it back here you're going to
5:58
pull down on this on the but pivoting on
6:00
this hand and
6:02
watch when you let go she blows she just
6:05
flies you're supposed to lob it I wasn't
6:08
lobbing it I was more so trying to like
6:10
throw
6:11
it you're you're you're pushing you're
6:13
trying to throw it out there with your
6:14
right arm you're not throwing a baseball
6:16
and what happens is the bait simply
6:18
doesn't go very far and it goes straight
6:20
down into the water cast no cast no cast
6:25
no no it's okay I'll tell you another
6:30
you're don't think about it too he was a
6:32
little bit in his head and you could see
6:33
he was he was kind of overthinking it
6:37
just do it what are you thinking about I
6:39
don't know it's just like look at you
6:40
your tense how do you do this like how
6:44
at one point I actually started shaking
6:46
him and and slapping his back and just
6:48
trying to massage his shoulders R those
6:50
shoulders just loosen up stop thinking
6:54
don't think about it just just let it go
6:56
let it fly so I did we said I just
6:59
stopped thinking and it went way way up
7:02
look at that
7:03
D like that it was perfect it couldn't
7:07
have been any better it just flew okay
7:09
you ready for the real deal yeah that's
7:10
your tutorial now that's it now you're
7:12
catching fish
7:16
okay a 12-hour musky day is a long day
7:19
and and the first few hours you're
7:21
excited there's all this this energy and
7:23
and you're going going going nice cast
7:27
how do you like that one if there's a
7:29
long day and you know fishing may not be
7:31
perfect it's tough and you've got to
7:34
maintain that Focus it's making the
7:36
right cast it's retrieving it the right
7:38
way it's a solid figure eight because we
7:41
don't know when they're going to bite
7:42
and they have a way of waiting until
7:44
you're just a little bit out of it
7:46
mentally and that's when they make their
7:48
[Music]
7:50
move oh right there fish fish Bud go
7:53
figure eight figure eight figure eight I
7:55
didn't necessarily understand what
7:57
everyone was talking about when they
7:59
said it's going to follow your bait I
8:01
was really confused follow it fish know
8:04
goes bites it and you know Nick you got
8:08
to pay attention bud you saw a fish
8:10
there there 100% was a fish right behind
8:13
you first couple times I didn't see them
8:15
cuz I didn't wasn't looking right you're
8:17
start you're watching my bait you're
8:19
watching my casts you've really got to
8:21
focus on your bait and look about 4 feet
8:23
behind your bait as it's coming in okay
8:25
you should have seen that fish cuz it
8:26
was right on the bait remember the this
8:28
is the hardest fish in North America so
8:30
they're not going to come easy there
8:31
right there Nick go figure a Nick he got
8:35
him oh my God first you tian's Pat
8:37
yelling at me oh my God it's right
8:39
there what where she broke up she was
8:43
right on the nose right at the back of
8:45
hook you didn't see it no I really need
8:48
you to see that before I see it yeah cuz
8:51
by the time I saw it she was already up
8:53
on it and had backed off already oh you
8:56
going right behind you see it that's a
8:58
giant good figure it faster oh my God
9:02
that thing is a freaking giant that
9:04
thing is a giant hold on that that one's
9:07
50 in right there
9:09
boys
9:18
ginormous get it back in there figure
9:20
eight figure eight figure
9:22
eight she smoked it right at the boat
9:24
you pulled it right away Bud damn I
9:27
tried to set the she hit it right at the
9:29
boat I tried to set the
9:31
hook damn
9:33
it we done
9:35
recording yeah this is Major
9:39
League I can't believe
9:41
it nice fish butt no oh
9:48
no we got to get one of these
9:57
fish so we're we're out there we've got
10:00
about 4 hours left and that's it this is
10:03
game over in four hours and we're we're
10:05
revisiting some spots where we had seen
10:07
some fish and and we're really noticing
10:09
them starting to accelerate their
10:11
aggression keep it out keep it out nice
10:14
fish nick nice fish butt
10:17
no
10:19
oh bud that's
10:22
exciting no I'm dying sometimes that's
10:26
all you can do but you didn't do
10:29
anything anything wrong sometimes they
10:30
just jump and get off throughout the
10:32
trip we were actually watching these
10:34
fish get more aggressive there she still
10:37
on it still on it still on
10:40
it almost nipping at the bait so close
10:43
you could you could just it just one
10:46
inch and they'd eat she followed that
10:48
for freaking ever man every spot we're
10:52
going to there's fish
10:54
he oh man okay let's keep rolling real
10:58
real
10:59
what the heck was
11:01
that real what are you doing real I
11:04
don't know what that was D you just had
11:05
a fish it's wait there Nick never stop
11:08
reeling she you had that fish on right
11:10
there oh the bit is lying he half set
11:12
the hook but he just stopped Nick you
11:15
had that fish on you lift it up you set
11:17
the hook and everything and you stopped
11:19
you just completely stopped hey
11:23
yeah don't stop reeling ever You' said
11:26
it over a thousand times now I
11:29
comprehend what you're
11:33
saying we got to get one of these
11:37
fish right on you right on you figure
11:39
eight Nick God you got to look I was
11:42
looking Nick you were not you looked up
11:44
at my
11:45
bait I was looking at your bait yeah you
11:48
looked up let's roll it
11:51
back right on you right on you figure
11:53
eight Nick you figure Nick God you got
11:57
to look buddy you got it you got to
11:59
watch man it was like you got to watch
12:02
bottom line I don't know if this guy
12:03
knows who I am but he knows who my
12:05
grandpa is back off
12:10
butat we look up and we're hearing we're
12:13
hearing Thunder in the distance and we
12:14
hear a real good crack this isn't a a
12:17
one in the distance this is a good crack
12:19
so I said we really should think about
12:21
getting out of here and as I'm saying
12:23
that we all start to hear the buzz it's
12:26
the static electricity in the air and we
12:28
all look at each other and it suddenly
12:30
becomes we're going
12:41
now that buzzing yeah so we're running
12:45
through the rain it's at one point it's
12:47
starting to hail and it's hurting I mean
12:49
we're on the fnc1 we're flying and it
12:52
hurts but we keep coming down river we
12:54
keep trying to get away from the storm
12:56
and it was one of those moments when you
12:59
are starting to think you know are we
13:01
going to get this taken away from us and
13:04
we got out we got enough out of the
13:05
storm and I remember telling Nick I said
13:08
we've got about 10 or 15 minutes before
13:10
it sto the storm catches back up to us
13:12
we've got to make this happen right now
13:15
she still on it still on it so close
13:18
please please Mike oh my God
13:29
to get to Shier Lodge we first took
13:31
Highway 400 North from Toronto we then
13:34
took Highway 69 North to Highway
13:37
64 we headed east on 64 to do East Road
13:41
and then proceeded to do Marina from
13:44
there it's a short boat ride to the
13:49
lodge so I just cast it out and then we
13:53
realized both me and Pat at the same
13:55
time there's a fish here on you on you
13:58
on you on okay okay figure eight figure
14:00
eight why nice fish that is a nice fish
14:03
that fish comes out and it makes the
14:05
first turn on the figure eight she still
14:07
on it still on it so close please please
14:11
mik and it actually did disappear it
14:13
pulled off of the bait I saw I think it
14:16
just backed
14:19
off so Pat's like ow it's gone it's not
14:22
there anymore lost it's another one it
14:24
was just another follow that didn't
14:26
commit and he told me that he believed
14:28
it was there he believed that fish was
14:30
there my head I was like no it's here I
14:32
just I felt it so he just continues his
14:36
figure8 bite poor favore so I kept going
14:41
with the figure8 figure and then boom it
14:43
was right there right there I saw it and
14:48
then
14:50
wa get the net get the net get the
14:54
net
14:56
yes yes yes
14:59
with on oh my god when it gets in the
15:02
net hearing Nick that was it hearing his
15:05
reaction to that fish being in the net
15:06
it was beautiful oh my God yes hug me
15:09
hug me
15:11
yes yes it was someone who's given a lot
15:15
in the last several days to make this
15:17
happen
15:19
yes to not quit that emotion coming out
15:22
was
15:25
spectacular I feel Diddy like a
15:28
fantastic fig it jumped so high she was
15:32
all the way out of the water so high the
15:34
high of the entire trip without question
15:36
was watching this musky somersault 4T in
15:39
the air out of the water I have not ever
15:41
seen a Musky that far out of the water
15:44
it was spectacular and finally got one
15:49
so awesome I was freaking out you had to
15:52
work for it I thought it was going to be
15:55
a piece of cake clearly it was not
15:59
oh yeah Nick look at this fish buddy
16:02
hold that right there we are fishing on
16:04
the upper French River at of Shier Lodge
16:06
on the fishing Canada TV show Nick I
16:08
have one question for you okay what's
16:09
that question how do you feel right now
16:10
I feel really good like I am super like
16:13
heart pounding still like when it jumped
16:16
fully out of the water I was not
16:19
expecting it and I just like ripped it
16:21
the other way and it followed and this
16:24
is the excitement Musky fishing brings
16:26
you spend all the time you learn you get
16:28
better constantly
16:29
you came in here having never targeted
16:30
musky before and you're leaving after a
16:33
beautiful fish on a figure eight at the
16:35
boat that was it's as exciting as it
16:38
gets just go ahead and hold her this has
16:41
been one of the biggest learning
16:43
experiences I've had since I started
16:45
Musky fishing because I saw myself in
16:47
Nick and you forget what it's like to be
16:50
the beginner and not know all those
16:51
mechanics second nature I think that's
16:53
kind of my lesson just you got to listen
16:55
to people who know what they're doing
16:57
got to pay attention please please
16:58
please
16:59
if the person knows what they're talking
17:01
about and you know they know what
17:02
they're talking about just listen cuz
17:04
they probably know what they're talking
17:07
about you don't want There She Goes get
17:09
ready all right
17:11
God really good job very good you did
17:15
great it was an emotional roller coaster
17:18
we had highs we had lows there's there's
17:21
Outburst this is Major
17:25
League this is getting ridiculous it's
17:28
just emotion and we had every phase of
17:32
fishing we had fish follow oh you're
17:34
going right behind you see it that's a
17:36
giant oh my God we had strikes we had
17:39
fish that were on the rod they jump and
17:41
get off no he never gave up and he never
17:45
wanted to give up it was let me make
17:47
another cast I'll do it better I'm not
17:49
going to stop reeling and for a guide to
17:52
watch somebody go through that and and
17:54
mebe along for the ride was very special
17:57
it's just so much fun and I 100% would
18:00
do it again because I just enjoy it yeah
18:03
we got one yeah we got
18:06
one wow they did it I am so proud of
18:11
both Nick and Pat right now these guys
18:13
could have thrown the toal in but
18:14
instead looked Mother Nature straight in
18:16
the face and said no we will not be
18:20
beat their excitement and she joyous
18:22
flooding this dock like a late winter
18:24
thaw moments like this is why we fish
18:28
something tells me this won't be Nick's
18:30
last musky hunt but next time as a
18:32
graduate of Pat's musky Academy
18:36
muskies so
18:45
exciting today's hot spot is a great
18:48
musky area on the upper French River the
18:50
Waypoint on your screen will get you
18:51
there you can try hardcore casting the
18:54
entire structure both shallow and deep
18:56
like Nick did or you can take a break
18:57
and troll the area
18:59
hard work and perseverance are the keys
19:01
to Musky fishing success stick with it
19:03
and you will be rewarded for more
19:06
hotspots like this one visit fishing
19:14
canada.com the fishing Canada show
19:17
brought to you in part by Coleman The
19:20
Outdoor
19:22
Company Cooper
19:24
[Music]
19:26
tires Princecraft boats dominate The
19:30
Waters and
19:35
Garmin closed captioning for this
19:37
episode is brought to you by fishing
19:39
canada.com the gateway to your next
19:41
fishing Adventure
19:45
[Music]
#Fishing
#Outdoors