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Big Northern Pike In Southern Ontario | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
(Episode 473) On this episode, Pete Bowman is fishing Whitby Harbour, one of the many harbours along the north shore of Lake Ontario, where a variety of game fish populate. Instead of targeting one species, Pete decides to set his hook on anything that is hungry. As he is tormented by a pack of jacked up & crazy Chinook Salmon, a new-found population of Northern Pike keep him sane! 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
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music]
0:07
I got to get something going on here I
0:08
got to get this working somehow I have
0:10
to figure it out a lot of people can
0:12
access this stuff I literally drove 8
0:15
minutes in tra to get here
0:20
[Music]
0:23
boom oh oh man you see that thing Lord
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help me
0:30
I'm going to jump on the boat I'm having
0:32
a fun day fun day and a real surprise
0:34
day
0:35
wow the fishing Canada show brought to
0:39
you in part by Coleman The Outdoor
0:43
Company Cooper
0:47
tires Princecraft boats dominate The
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Waters and Garmin fight your fish not
0:55
your fish finder
0:57
[Music]
1:00
today's fishing Canada show is about
1:02
going fishing with an open mind and
1:03
being ready for the unexpected let me
1:06
set the stage it's early fall a time
1:09
when fish species are about to make some
1:11
life changes and sometimes
1:13
drastically Lake and speckled troat as
1:15
well as shinook salmon commence their
1:17
spawning rituals large Mo and small Mo
1:19
start their end of season
1:21
migrations big muskies seem to appear at
1:23
of nowhere and throw on the Feed Bag
1:26
it's a great time of year to be on the
1:28
water
1:30
I'm fishing close to home in one of the
1:32
many Lake Ontario Harbors along the
1:33
greater Toronto area there's a bit of
1:35
incoming water here which should draw
1:37
some fish activity I'm here with the
1:39
assumption that the species list
1:40
consists of large M and small Mo bass
1:42
pike and since it's late in the season
1:45
there's the possibility of brown throat
1:46
rainbow throat and Chinook salmon
1:50
[Music]
2:00
although I could troll the area covering
2:02
it in no time at all I'm choosing to
2:03
cast it that way I can hit little spots
2:06
that would be impossible to access via
2:09
trolling I'll run through my typical
2:11
hard bait choices but ultimately want to
2:13
use spoons Spinners and maybe minnow
2:15
baits as my base presentations as these
2:16
are great choices for a variety of fish
2:19
as for gear I'll run a long spinning rod
2:22
as my main rig in case I hook into a
2:24
beast and I'm going to go with a
2:25
relatively light fluorocarbon leader
2:27
since I'm after numbers of fish and not
2:29
a specific speci SE like Pike it's a
2:31
chance I'm willing to take got oh I
2:34
think I had one it got off what happened
2:36
there I'm sure that was a
2:39
fish
2:41
yep
2:43
wow missed them chokes are sharp razor
2:50
sharp drag set a little too loose I
2:52
think lost my spoon there what happened
2:55
there it broke my line I didn't realize
2:59
it that salmon
3:01
opened my snap up my cross locking snap
3:05
up next cast I threw out not checking it
3:08
like an idiot not checking it and the
3:11
spoon is
3:16
gone there's a bunch of overcast Skies
3:18
coming in it looks like it's sunny and
3:20
beautiful morning here right now but
3:22
that cloud cover is supposed to come in
3:24
and that might change things up too
3:26
maybe the golds gold patterns always
3:28
remember that silver with the Sun and
3:30
gold with clouds and and overcast he
3:32
seems to work pretty good as a rule of
3:34
thumb when fishing in Harbors or creek
3:37
and River Ms where salmon pike and bass
3:39
reside always try to go on the heavy
3:41
side of your gear rather than light even
3:43
though the water will probably be clear
3:45
it's worthwhile spooking a couple of
3:46
fish in a day knowing that the insurance
3:48
of heavy equipment will ultimately pay
3:50
off in more landed fish these areas are
3:53
notorious for having wood steel skegs
3:55
and so on perfect opportunities for a
3:58
big fish to wrap your line
4:00
I'd recommend starting with 20 to 30 lb
4:02
braid as a minimum and use only heavy
4:05
duty cross lock snap swivel combos if
4:07
you're chucking Spinners and
4:09
spoons that said if you're not getting
4:11
any strikes and you're pretty sure it's
4:13
due to your heavy line and terminal
4:14
tackle then and only then should you
4:16
consider to go
4:18
lighter there's
4:21
one now what am I going to do here
4:24
that's a big fish in amongst boats is he
4:27
going to come out towards us or is he
4:29
going to stay in there oh he's coming
4:32
out what is he what is it oh it's a pike
4:35
I thought I had a giant it's a little
4:38
Pike I thought I had a good one there's
4:41
a fool a surprise of the
4:43
day well now we know there's Pike here
4:45
in Whit me not a bad Pike yeah you know
4:49
that's a bonus fish I guess you'd call
4:51
it oh look at his tail half a tail
4:54
that's why you fought only half a fight
4:56
that's a fat little Pike man look at
4:58
that thing now and I know in here
5:01
there's probably probably a lot bigger
5:03
than that in here I'll bet you Lake
5:05
Ontario Bays they have they have some
5:07
monster Pike sometimes well you know
5:10
what I lost a salmon which I'm sure was
5:11
a
5:13
salmon you know what that keeps you
5:15
warmed up fun
5:18
bonus come on buddy hit this thing I'm
5:20
having a fun day fun day and a real
5:22
surprise day too I got him he crushed
5:26
that thing whoa
5:31
the beauty of Harbor areas like the one
5:32
I'm in today is the number of gamefish
5:34
species that reside here year round a
5:36
trip like this is ultimately not about
5:38
just salmon or just Pike or just bass
5:41
it's about setting the hook on anything
5:42
that's hungry or feeling aggressive to
5:45
me that's the true definition of fishing
5:48
I can't tell what it
5:52
is it is a pike not a bad one though
5:58
he's not a bad Pike
6:01
he's not bad but he's not huge I tell
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you what if a guy wanted to go pike
6:05
fishing might have found a new Pike spot
6:07
anyways he's a pretty good fish look at
6:10
that guy he's got a nice back on him
6:12
they don't fight like the summer Pike
6:13
right now they're um definitely
6:16
lethargic when the water is less than 60
6:18
see if I can get this guy I may I may
6:20
net this guy folks just to he's a little
6:22
out of my range for whoa for putting my
6:25
hand around
6:26
him so I think I'm going to drop him in
6:28
a net
6:33
nice no no there we go you know what
6:36
this is the time of the day when these
6:37
Pike are probably going to rev up if
6:38
there's any bass in here at Largemouth
6:40
they' do the same thing it's pretty good
6:44
fish yeah this is a pretty good bonus
6:46
fish here if you're going to catch
6:49
Pike that's a pretty good Pike for a
6:51
bonus fish a city Pike basically the
6:53
city of Whitby Lake Ontario fish these
6:56
fish this guy will stay probably in this
6:58
whole Harbor his whole life in this
7:00
little Harbor uh not his whole life but
7:02
it's for for half three4 of his life
7:03
then if he gets to be a big 20 pounder
7:05
maybe they have a reason to go out and
7:06
and taste Bait fish out in the middle of
7:07
the lake but cool
7:12
fish that's a nice
7:14
Pike the the difference between here and
7:16
out there is the wind is so strong today
7:19
that um that that's turning up Lake
7:21
Ontario that's flowing into here there's
7:24
not enough current there's a little B
7:25
Creek out of here that's blowing out
7:26
there's not enough current to go out
7:28
towards the lake today so all that wind
7:29
is blowing everything in so the dirty
7:31
water from Lake Ontario has turned up
7:32
it's all coming in it's all coming in
7:34
but it's staying in that sort of front
7:35
section this is the back end of the of
7:37
the Bay of the harbor and the water is a
7:39
lot cleaner right here couple cast and I
7:41
already popped a couple Pikes so maybe I
7:43
could stay here for a while I was going
7:45
to go home but boat launch is like 130
7:47
yard away right
7:51
there did you know that the greater
7:53
Toronto area has untapped Harbor and
7:55
creekmouth fishing that almost no one
7:57
takes advantage of take Frenchman's Bay
8:00
and Pickering for example it has bass
8:02
carp and salmon in the fall and in early
8:05
spring the Bay's deep weedy water
8:07
produces some of the greatest pike
8:09
fishing around the Whitby Harbor where
8:11
Pete is slinging his spoons today is
8:13
another example of a multispecies honey
8:16
hole with pike bass and carp during the
8:18
warmest months and Browns and Rainbows
8:21
in both the spring and fall it has a
8:23
sammon run in the fall as well here you
8:25
can even fish from Shore if you don't
8:27
have a boat continuing a little further
8:30
east there's the ashwa harbor with a
8:32
rainbow run in the spring carp bass and
8:35
pipe in the summer and the added bonus
8:37
of Chinooks and Browns in the fall this
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place is Heaven for fly fish the harbor
8:42
and mouth of Bowmanville Creek just
8:44
beyond Eastern reach of the greater
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Toronto area also presents Anglers with
8:48
a multispecies smorgasborg so if you
8:51
live in or around the great City of
8:53
Toronto you might be less than an hour
8:55
away from some marvelous fishing and
8:57
these are just four examples the there
8:59
are many more harbors and tributaries in
9:01
or close to the
9:02
GTA just another reason to go fish in
9:05
Ontario
9:07
today there's a salmon right there look
9:10
at that salmon
9:11
wa what a 15 lb salmon just went through
9:15
there wonder if I can get
9:18
him he's all beat
9:21
up where'd he
9:27
go come on buddy hit this thing
9:29
that would be
9:31
awesome I got
9:34
him I don't think it's him I think it's
9:36
a
9:37
pike it's a pike I missed the salmon I
9:40
got a pike no you kidding
9:43
me it wasn't it wasn't a huge s it was
9:46
awesome it was a nice one and this Dirty
9:48
Old Pike hit me he crushed that freaking
9:54
thing he's not even a big one he's not
9:57
bad but he's not very big that fish is
9:59
like a summer pikee that
10:03
guy
10:07
wow keep him out of the he's not bad
10:10
though he's got thick body to him that's
10:13
crazy man that fish has come up I
10:15
thought I mean summertime I have thought
10:17
that was a bass the way he hit um and
10:20
I'm surprised at this water temp that he
10:21
come up and smashed it like that but but
10:23
he engulfed it I am getting so lucky
10:26
knock on wood with this spoon without a
10:28
leader he's still ready to go look
10:31
at he still got lots of vinegar left in
10:36
him wow he's got like every hook in him
10:39
too every hook in
10:42
him oh that's how you get a hook in the
10:44
hand if you don't have a good grip on
10:45
them that's for
10:49
sure it's not
10:54
bad no leader taking a chance pey
10:59
look at how fat that fish is there's
11:01
lots of bait I'm seeing lots of I don't
11:02
know if it's bait or not but there's
11:03
lots of little baby bass swimming around
11:05
in here um I'm sure he's feeding on
11:07
those a little large mouth but his belly
11:09
is really full that fish is definitely
11:11
feeding there's no doubt about it it's
11:13
not like he's a he's resting in the fall
11:16
here see it bud man it was aggressive
11:20
that's a really aggressive Pike right
11:21
there you know what it's a one thing
11:24
about a place like this is is it's so
11:27
close to the city to you know if if all
11:30
these Harbors probably have the same
11:31
thing going on you know if they allow
11:33
you to fish in them which usually you
11:35
can get away with if you're not getting
11:36
too close to the boats you're not
11:37
bugging anybody and smashing baits off
11:38
the boats and they don't really really
11:40
mind use your common sense but it's so
11:42
close to the city that you know what I
11:44
mean a lot of people can access this
11:45
stuff I literally drove from the office
11:48
this morning 8 minutes in traffic to get
11:54
here oh oh man you see that thing Lord
11:58
help me
12:02
he going to jump on the
12:07
[Music]
12:21
boat still 6 ft of water here that's
12:24
crazy
12:33
oh that's a Sal I saw
12:37
him behind
12:41
us they're back here come on girls let's
12:45
have some
12:47
fun I got to get something going on here
12:49
I got to get this working somehow I have
12:51
to figure it out
12:56
[Music]
13:01
fish jumping everywhere and I'm catching
13:05
snakes Lord help
13:07
me wow this is nuts I'm getting my butt
13:11
handed to me in my newfound salmon
13:13
Asylum it's
13:16
crazy you tried to jump over my fishing
13:19
line I I just I need to get one of them
13:21
that's all just one of
13:27
them and
13:32
he's going to jump on the boat
13:37
he's yeah oh oh man you see that
13:45
thing my line
13:48
stopped and about a 25 pounder just tuck
13:52
off there now that I might have ran over
13:55
his back or something like that I don't
13:57
know whatever the case if that if I hit
13:59
him in the mouth that was that would
14:00
have been the fight of a Lifetime right
14:02
there
14:03
mano a man come
14:12
[Music]
14:17
on today's hot spot is the back end of
14:19
Whitby Harbor the Waypoint on your
14:21
screen will get you there as you can see
14:23
from today's show there's a nice bunch
14:25
of salmon along with Pike that gather
14:27
there an alternate area for both both
14:29
species with much easier foot access
14:31
would be along the east Pier closer to
14:32
Lake Ontario there's a beautiful walkway
14:35
and Waterfront area right there try
14:37
casting and retrieving bright colored
14:39
spoons in different sizes vary your
14:41
retrieve speed until you find something
14:43
that's working flashy inline Spinners as
14:45
well as jointed minle baits work well
14:47
here too if you're a spawn or row angler
14:49
you should do well here remember to
14:51
bring a net that's strong enough to
14:52
handle a 15 to 20 lb Pike or a 30 lb
14:55
plus chano it's surprising just how big
14:58
some of the fish here are
14:59
for more hotpots like this one check out
15:01
fishing
15:02
[Music]
15:08
canada.com so far my day has been pretty
15:11
busy and enlightening the good news is
15:13
the sky has opened up with Gorgeous
15:15
Autumn sunlight and I've got a nice
15:18
bunch of feisty
15:19
Pike the bad news is I've had an insane
15:22
amount of jacked up shinook salmon
15:24
Jumping All Around My Boat I've hooked
15:27
into a couple but lost
15:29
both I've decided to finish the evening
15:32
back at the spot where I dropped my
15:33
first big bite early in the day I need
15:38
[Music]
15:40
Redemption oh boy oh my gosh holy
15:46
moly these are Big
15:49
Fish oh man oh it's a pike you kidding
15:55
me it's a big Northern oh my God I'm
15:59
waiting for a salmon waiting for a
16:00
salmon and it's this Beauty look at the
16:02
size of this bikee like it's a nice fish
16:05
it's it's the best disappointment ever
16:07
my problem is I don't have a leader on
16:09
so I'm going to be hard pressed to get
16:12
this fish in the boat but I can see the
16:13
lure which is a good thing it's a good
16:17
fish going on on look at
16:20
[Laughter]
16:23
it that's a nice
16:26
Pike I got my drag set quite
16:30
tight I'm going to loosen that off just
16:32
a bit now let's see if I can I mean that
16:35
lure is in perfect position I'm using
16:37
this gigantic spinning rod it's a 9-t
16:40
carrot stick excuse me for getting crazy
16:43
with this net a big long Rod can make a
16:45
huge
16:46
difference so we'll see what we can do
16:48
with this guy now man I thought I had a
16:50
salmon there
17:00
that's a pretty good Pike you know you
17:02
can travel to the far reaches of
17:03
Northern Ontario for that one folks and
17:05
I I got that one uh pretty close to home
17:09
look at that
17:12
Northern man and he fought good I
17:14
thought for sure I out of salmon because
17:16
that thing just and it B solid the whole
17:18
way through wow that's Southern Ontario
17:22
Folks Southern
17:24
Ontario Wicked
17:29
[Music]
17:36
wow you know what if I don't get a
17:39
salmon
17:41
today I'm okay with this
17:43
now There He
17:46
Go it's incredible the amount of fish
17:48
species that come into all these Harbors
17:50
not just L and Whit you know they P hope
17:53
they got cobber they got all the way
17:54
down Pickering and all the way down to
17:56
the to the west and it's incredible you
17:58
can almost catch any species of fish if
18:00
it's out there it could be in here very
18:03
very cool fishing very close to home too
18:06
easy to get
18:07
to boat or no boat this may well be my
18:11
most productive trip of the Year by
18:13
throwing baits like a spoon I know that
18:15
a huge percentage of Predator fish no
18:17
matter the species will at least show
18:19
interest and in many cases smash it oh
18:22
oh man you see that thing and that's
18:24
exactly what happened today
18:28
[Music]
18:36
to get to today's surprising Pike action
18:38
I jumped into the Ram at our Production
18:40
Studio in ashaa and booted a few minutes
18:42
West on Highway 401 to the Brock Street
18:44
exit at Whitby I headed south on Brock
18:46
Street and then turned West on Victoria
18:48
Street next I turned South on Gordon
18:50
Street the public quot launch is a
18:52
couple hundred yards down Gordon on the
18:53
left there's a $10 parking fee at the
18:55
launch which can be paid in cash using
18:57
the automated machine or paid online by
18:59
using a phone app don't skimp here as
19:02
the city will find you if you don't buy
19:04
a
19:07
[Music]
19:14
pass today's klp is P for presentation
19:18
when fishing areas with different game
19:20
Fish present and you just feel like
19:21
going fishing with no particular
19:23
intended species an angler should
19:25
consider an all round presentation like
19:26
the spoon I was throwing today had I
19:29
decided to fish for salmon only and use
19:31
roll or spawn I certainly would have
19:32
increased my chances at a shinook but it
19:35
would have pretty much obliterated my
19:36
chances at any other species knowing you
19:39
have a chance of sticking a large Mo
19:41
small Mo or a big Pike as well as an
19:43
aggressive salmon with that spoon you
19:45
just quadrupled your target species list
19:47
to me that's a
19:50
no-brainer the fish in Canada show
19:53
brought to you in part by Ram trucks
19:56
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19:59
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20:02
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[Music]
20:43
[Applause]
20:47
[Music]
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