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Lake Lauzon Prespawn Smallmouth Bass | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
Angelo Viola and Pete Bowman take advantage of the early "all-year" northern Ontario Bass season with a day of pre-spawn Smallmouth Bass fishing on Lake Lauzon in Ontario's Algoma region. ► 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]
0:06
there's open season all year it's gonna
0:08
be ethical about it right ants you gotta
0:10
you have to be your own fisheries
0:11
manager exactly
0:14
got him
0:16
this is what catch-and-release fishing's
0:17
all about oh
0:21
oh my god lean and mean
0:23
good one bud
0:24
and timing was right perfect time
0:26
perfect place and there she be how cool
0:28
is that i've never seen that that is so
0:30
cool
0:32
that is so cool
0:35
the fish in canada show brought to you
0:38
in part by
0:39
ram trucks built to serve
0:43
princecraft boats dominate the waters
0:47
garmin panoptix all seeing sonar
0:51
mercury outboards go boldly
0:55
and outdoor canada canada's only
0:57
national fishing and hunting magazine
1:01
[Music]
1:08
on today's fishing canada show pete and
1:10
i are going bass fishing
1:12
it's something we love to do but don't
1:14
get many chances throughout the course
1:16
of a season since our goal is to cover a
1:18
number of different species
1:20
that said we did get to sneak in a trip
1:23
or two this year and as per usual we had
1:26
a blast he loaded up on it today's
1:28
unique bass trip has and i up on lake
1:31
lausanne at zone 10 of ontario i say
1:33
unique because we're fishing smallmouth
1:35
bass in the spring yep you heard it
1:37
right
1:38
these fish are just warming up from the
1:39
long winter and moving shallow to feed
1:41
and eventually spawn oh i know right
1:43
about now you're saying wait just a
1:45
minute is that legal
1:48
if you've been an ontario bass angler
1:50
for the last 10 years or so then you're
1:52
probably used to the end of june to mid
1:54
or end of november for your open bass
1:56
season
1:58
here's the lowdown on the zone 10 bass
2:00
regulations where pete and i are today
2:03
all waters in zone 10 that are north of
2:05
highway 17 and all waters west of where
2:08
the east bank of the serpent river
2:10
crosses highway 17 will now have an open
2:14
all-year bass season
2:16
so now people from southern ontario can
2:18
make a five or six hour drive in let's
2:20
say may and encounter some of the most
2:23
amazing bass fishing they'll get all
2:25
year
2:27
this is a great opportunity for southern
2:29
ontario bass lovers like anz and i
2:31
we used to have to travel to northwest
2:33
ontario for this bonus season that's a
2:35
two day drive
2:36
now let's get in the truck early in the
2:38
morning put a half days drive in and be
2:40
fishing by noon
2:41
as awesome as this seems the question
2:44
arises
2:45
is this a good or bad zone 10 alteration
2:48
decisions like this one come from
2:49
scientific research done by professional
2:51
fisheries biologists there are many
2:54
reasons for changes like this one some
2:55
we might agree with and some we might
2:57
not
2:58
it's up to us as responsible bass
3:00
anglers to put procedures like catch and
3:02
release into play
3:05
our presentations for smallmouth bass in
3:07
the cold water pre-spawn stages are
3:10
essentially tweaked versions of our
3:12
summer tactics
3:14
take drop shotting for instance instead
3:16
of using a four to five inch bait
3:18
try downsizing to three inch or even
3:21
smaller baits
3:22
experiment with your drop length as well
3:25
sometimes a short six to eight inch lead
3:27
is good while other times a 14 inch plus
3:30
is a ticket this is also a time when i
3:33
feel more natural colors are necessary
3:35
smoke
3:38
smoke
3:39
if you're throwing a jerkbait a four to
3:41
five inch model is all you'll need
3:43
remember though as ants just stated
3:45
refine your technique instead of a fast
3:48
erratic retrieve slow everything down
3:50
the colder the water the longer the
3:52
pauses between jerks
3:54
i'll guarantee you you'll get 99 of your
3:57
smallmouth jerkbait bites on that long
3:59
pause during the cold water period
4:07
oh yeah
4:09
little good little guy
4:12
little male 1 yeah moving in
4:16
wrong one
4:19
come on buddy
4:21
they're not bad fish no he's
4:24
a little male at almost three pounds
4:26
right yeah exactly
4:34
[Music]
4:38
chubby little guy
4:40
[Music]
4:46
all right
4:49
we'll try that again
4:52
second the verse the same as the first
4:54
yeah baby
4:59
oh oh oh better i don't think much
5:02
better he's bigger than the last one but
5:04
i don't think he's much better
5:07
wow
5:08
nobody following they're coming under
5:10
that gut there yeah
5:13
come on little girl
5:15
little boy probably
5:20
that's not that small eh not bad
5:24
we'll take them no gut on them at all
5:25
huh nope zero
5:28
this fish has been caught before
5:30
this is what catch and release fishing
5:32
is all about so you see that's well i'll
5:33
show you the good side there's the good
5:35
side right there right in the corner
5:36
where my thumb is
5:38
and this side
5:40
it's all indented in there it's all cut
5:42
open
5:44
obviously they still have to catch and
5:45
release people say why you know catch
5:47
and release this and that and negative
5:50
yeah that doesn't hurt that fish at all
5:51
he's got a little bit of a
5:53
cut in the lip and that's it
5:56
see buds
5:58
i've never seen that that is so cool
6:03
turned away from me it might have been
6:04
two
6:19
uh i see a muskie or an animal or
6:22
something an animal look at right right
6:24
at the shore now what is that in the
6:26
water giant muskie you got to be a
6:27
muskie
6:29
so right up there watch my rod tip look
6:30
it's moving to the right now watch
6:32
that's a big long thing look at it
6:33
that's moving it's moving look at it
6:34
behind the rock big monster big musky
6:38
thousand muskie had to be had to be
6:40
better come out if it was a beave
6:44
that was big man it's black eh
6:48
there he is there he is coming off shore
6:50
yeah that's a muskie that's a big one
6:52
big musky
6:54
that's cool
6:56
right there there's two of them they're
6:58
two together oh
7:01
how cool is that
7:02
they are hugging like they're gonna
7:04
spawn
7:06
that is so friggin cool
7:09
right there two of them side by side
7:13
oh my god that one is a nice one
7:20
ah
7:22
mama mia
7:23
pair of muskies
7:27
they're so they haven't spawned yet
7:29
they're doing that together they
7:31
wouldn't be feeding like that together
7:32
they haven't spawned
7:35
that was the male the smaller one the
7:36
female is a big one
7:39
that female was
7:40
45 to 48 inches long at least
7:45
i've never seen that that is so cool
7:48
in the spring many different fish
7:49
species make their way to the shallows
7:51
and begin their mating rituals it's one
7:53
of those rare times when anglers can set
7:54
down the rods for a moment and take in
7:56
the wonders of nature
7:58
in ontario the male smallmouth bass
8:01
starts nest building at 12 and a half
8:02
degrees celsius or 54.5 degrees
8:04
fahrenheit and mating commences when the
8:06
water warms to 16 degrees celsius or
8:09
just over 60 degrees fahrenheit
8:11
water temp
8:13
is it balmy
8:15
60 and a half already
8:19
if that's moving up then i'm moving out
8:22
come on
8:26
the male smallmouth bass excavates a
8:28
small saucer-shaped nest in a firm
8:30
bottom like sand mud or gravel
8:33
mating takes place when female bass
8:35
enter the male's territory
8:37
total spawning may last anywhere from
8:40
six to sixty days
8:42
the female leaves after spawning the
8:44
male stays and guards the eggs for four
8:46
to six days then the fry for
8:48
approximately two weeks before they
8:49
disperse
8:51
the guarding period until dispersal may
8:53
last from 19 to 28 days in ontario lake
8:57
here he goes here he goes here he goes
8:59
he's coming to you
9:01
oh
9:03
i got a lot
9:05
i'm all excited here
9:09
turned away
9:10
it might have been two fish there
9:11
i think it was two fish one was the
9:13
second one
9:14
yeah
9:15
see that's the beauty of fishing a fast
9:17
bait and a slow bait if the slow bait
9:19
worked right
9:20
show them something
9:26
didn't want to take it probably too
9:27
bright too gaudy in a day like this is
9:29
in the morning so we'll
9:31
don't play it a bit
9:34
there's a log right there too right yeah
9:36
come out of nowhere yeah you think you
9:37
can see them and just
9:39
they so they're getting ready they're
9:41
there they're they're they're they know
9:43
it's time
9:44
they might be so close to ready that's
9:46
why they're not hitting right yeah
9:47
another week ago they might have smashed
9:49
something well for sure
9:52
but
9:53
they're still showing interest and
9:55
they're not on beds
9:56
no
9:57
[Music]
10:09
fishy
10:10
maybe a little better a little better
10:12
than what
10:14
maybe not
10:15
okay
10:17
take care of business
10:20
take care business
10:23
come here little fella
10:31
in this cold water they don't jump near
10:33
near as high or as much
10:35
very lethargic in their bodies
10:39
still fun though
10:42
still fun to catch
10:44
early in the year
10:48
see ya
10:50
even slow going down i just
10:52
recede
10:53
slowly they jump slow everything is just
10:55
in slow motion
10:57
lean and neat that would be a male for
10:59
sure sometimes you've got to throw it
11:02
even if your head's saying what are you
11:04
throwing in there for sometimes you got
11:05
to do it
11:13
[Music]
11:21
off that looks like better maybe yeah it
11:23
could be better
11:27
yes
11:28
yes he's better he's a little better
11:31
nice buddy that's a good one yeah
11:33
now you're getting it
11:35
[Music]
11:38
a little cruiser
11:40
that's much bigger than you think that
11:41
fish yeah i think it is
11:44
better to get down to the first floor
11:47
we got a net you know if you want to
11:48
know i know you don't want to net these
11:49
things
11:50
do you no well
11:53
is he over three pounds yes yeah
11:57
you got a net kid
11:59
nice don't need a net there you go
12:01
lean eh
12:04
very lean big male or post bond female
12:06
what do you think i'd say a big nail
12:08
yeah i would do that definitely looks
12:10
like a male
12:12
lean and mean good one bud yes
12:16
drop shotting yeah yeah
12:19
so yeah that would be uh that would be a
12:20
male for sure
12:22
long lean
12:24
a little uh
12:25
a little round forehead on him
12:28
very cool
12:34
bye bye
12:36
was that my bait
12:40
males do not eat for up to four five or
12:43
even six weeks while they spawn and
12:44
protect the nest but get this they
12:47
absorb water so they look big and thus
12:50
can ward off predators because male
12:52
smallmouth are so important for nest
12:54
protection they're one of the very few
12:56
fish where the male grows as big as the
12:57
female and often bigger
12:59
so when anglers catch a large small
13:01
mouth and say look at how big she is
13:03
there's a great chance it's a male 1
13:08
he did come out for it i told you
13:11
he's not a bad father not a bad fish
13:13
not bad at all that was cool watching
13:15
requirements awesome that's funny
13:18
this fish was in a crevice both of us
13:20
were laughing right through that we were
13:22
both laughing i was laughing at myself
13:25
that was now there's something to learn
13:27
he came up he was ready for it right i
13:29
mean it looks like a relatively small
13:30
little crevice in that rock but
13:33
look
13:35
oh that's a good fish that's a good fish
13:37
man i like him
13:40
her it
13:46
nice one buddy
13:48
that and that fish was aggressive to
13:50
move up that far yeah
13:54
i won't laugh at you next time
13:56
throw something in there
14:00
oh that is so funny awesome
14:03
you know that's the the power of a nice
14:05
slow dropping bait too yeah no i mean it
14:07
just bright color it just he came up out
14:10
of there met up this crevice
14:12
you just watched it come over swim it
14:14
five feet grab it
14:20
oh my god buddy that fish is big
14:25
there we go
14:26
nice
14:28
that was so neat the best part of i'm
14:30
just not a huge fish by any means but
14:32
but
14:33
the way that fish came out of that
14:35
crevice it was just so cool and just
14:37
shows you
14:38
that when you're fishing shallow water
14:40
fish
14:41
you you sometimes you got to throw it
14:43
even if your head's saying what are you
14:45
throwing in there for sometimes you got
14:46
to do it because they are an ambush
14:48
predator obviously this thing was
14:50
sitting in ambush waiting for something
14:52
to go by
14:53
and timing was right perfect time
14:54
perfect place and there she be
14:57
we were about to leave the bank
14:59
we turned back we saw these we saw the
15:00
big dark crevice and said okay let's get
15:03
in there that is so cool i said i'll
15:05
take you in and you hit it
15:09
here you go
15:13
and you know the best part of that fish
15:14
was watching her come out just go
15:16
straight for your bait
15:19
now what's he doing in there there's no
15:20
nest there so no no no no that fish was
15:23
not was not nesting no just hanging out
15:26
eating maybe maybe he's in there
15:28
foraging you know what he was on the
15:29
prowl for that thing he get that like
15:31
boom he was waiting so he must have been
15:33
in there foraging maybe crayfish
15:35
something i don't know the perfect
15:36
little spot to hide dude well it is it
15:38
is
15:41
i won't be passing up any more crib
15:42
asses i'll tell you that you like them
15:44
don't ya
15:48
got him
15:50
look at how white he is
16:00
to get to today's early season
16:02
smallmouth bass fishing we first drove
16:04
north on highway 400 to highway 69 we
16:07
then turn northwest on highway 17.
16:09
we've finally arrived at our destination
16:11
lake lozon resort which sits on the
16:13
north side of highway 17 at the east end
16:15
of the lake early season smalley fishing
16:18
is still relatively new around this area
16:20
so why not take advantage of it lake
16:22
lauzon is said to have some giant fish
16:23
in it
16:25
as stated in this episode a large
16:28
portion of zone 10 in the algoma region
16:30
has introduced this open season into the
16:32
regulations moving further north zone
16:35
two through nine also have all year no
16:38
close bass seasons when looking at the
16:40
zone map you can clearly see that over
16:43
half and maybe two thirds of ontario has
16:46
no close season on bass fishing however
16:49
we don't think this should be a license
16:50
to catch fish on beds
16:53
those are definitely
16:55
predators
16:56
working that ball and there's some big
16:58
hooks down here too wow that's uh the
17:01
gold mine right there mr bowman let's
17:03
see if we can catch one of them suckers
17:09
got him
17:13
i can't tell how big he is
17:16
i think he's not bad is he
17:19
[Music]
17:20
he's all right yeah yeah he's pretty
17:22
good
17:23
look at how white he is i know wow like
17:25
actually he's a good fish
17:27
pale as can be yeah
17:29
just spit my shad shape out and hardly
17:31
fighting like unbelievably
17:34
lethargic in this cold water well yeah i
17:36
mean now the water just turned would you
17:38
say 61 61 61 apparently on this lake it
17:41
gets to that 61 degree mark they start
17:42
moving in again they've been in once
17:44
already this year
17:46
and now we're looking like he's going to
17:48
move in again
17:50
oh yeah this is a good fish is he a
17:52
three
17:53
he's definitely a three there's no doubt
17:54
about that
17:56
oh he's more than three i think can't
17:58
believe how white he is hey can't
18:00
believe how pale i know
18:04
he's over three by far
18:06
yeah oh yeah nice come here mama
18:10
you want the dat
18:12
there you go nice fish buddy that's over
18:14
three buddy yeah
18:16
leaned right out too look at that lean
18:18
right out would that be the male edge
18:20
could be
18:21
if that's the male could you imagine
18:22
when the female comes in for this fish
18:25
wow
18:28
yeah that could be i'm pretty sure that
18:29
would be the male as skinny as that is
18:31
right there
18:32
that's cool just moving again at that 61
18:35
degree mark watermark look at that fish
18:38
gorgeous
18:40
now if you get those fish you know what
18:42
ants and i do we try to go along here
18:44
fast as we can look for followers look
18:46
for fish you can see them roaming and
18:47
all that kind of stuff
18:49
and then uh you cast him or you know
18:51
cast a jerk bait or something to get a
18:53
follow then you could throw follow up
18:54
with a drop shot like i just used
18:56
gorgeous fish
18:58
but that water temperature is everything
18:59
this time of year water temperature and
19:00
then the moon phase for the
19:03
for the spawn so that's the beauty of
19:05
this uh
19:06
this open season all year we get to fish
19:08
these things here
19:09
now in northern ontario and you can't do
19:11
it in southern not here it's perfectly
19:12
legal just gotta be ethical about it
19:14
right ants you gotta you have to be your
19:15
own fisheries manager exactly but it's
19:19
it's fun it's an opportunity you can do
19:20
it's not far away really
19:23
i like that was fun
19:25
nice good one
19:27
[Music]
19:34
today's hot spot is a staging point on
19:36
lake lauzon that smallmouth bass set up
19:38
on early in the spring the waypoint on
19:40
your screen will get you there timing is
19:42
everything on spots like this for early
19:44
season smallies try casting a suspending
19:46
jerkbait towards the bank and retrieve
19:48
it in a medium speed pop and stop
19:50
fashion since most of the fish at this
19:52
time are still lethargic due to the cold
19:54
water almost all of your hits will come
19:56
on the paws
19:57
if the jerkbait fails to produce or the
19:59
bass stop hitting it then work the
20:01
bottom with a three to three and a half
20:02
inch tube jig or just off the bottom
20:04
with a small drop shot rig these baits
20:06
will work throughout the lake on other
20:07
potential early spring staging areas for
20:10
more hot spots like this one check out
20:11
fishingcanada.com
20:16
[Music]
20:19
the fish in canada show brought to you
20:22
in part by
20:23
ram trucks built to serve
20:27
princecraft boats dominate the waters
20:31
garmin
20:32
panoptix all singing sonar
20:35
mercury outboards go boldly and outdoor
20:40
canada canada's only national fishing
20:42
and hunting magazine
20:45
closed captioning for this episode was
20:47
brought to you by fishingcanada.com
20:49
the gateway to your next fishing
20:51
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20:54
[Music]
21:27
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