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Fishing for DINOSAURS in New Brunswick! | The Fish'n Canada Show
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Mar 20, 2025
Although New Brunswick Canada may be reputed as the Atlantic Salmon capital of the world, a closer look reveals burgeoning populations of Striped Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, and SHORTNOSE STURGEON. In this episode we take the road less travelled and showcase the other wonderful fishing opportunities available in this part of Maritime Canada, proving once and for all that there’s more to this wonderful sport fishery than just the fabled Atlantic Salmon.
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0:00
got a good one here he slamed that
0:02
crankbait best small mouth numbers
0:05
province in all of Canada I think it's
0:06
coming right towards the bat this is a
0:09
really nice large mouth right in the
0:12
pads this is awesome there's so much fun
0:16
wly oh my god there he is bring him over
0:20
here woo oh my God that truck size of
0:24
that thing look at that truck look at
0:26
the size of that thing
0:32
the fishing Canada show brought to you
0:34
in part by New Brunswick always
0:38
inviting Princecraft boat the spirit of
0:43
boating The Outdoor Journal Radio
0:45
podcast Network every Pursuit every
0:48
platform every day and Garmin tell a new
0:52
fish
0:54
story yes we're in for fishing Canada
0:58
[Music]
1:08
hi everybody and welcome to another
1:10
exciting episode of the fishing Canada
1:11
show on this shoot we're going to be
1:14
doing something totally different and
1:16
really challenge ourselves we're going
1:18
to go after five different species each
1:20
one filmed at a different location by a
1:23
different host all within a 1-hour drive
1:25
of major urban center and we've only got
1:29
24 hours to get her done oh and one
1:32
other thing it all has to be done using
1:34
the same boat the team will launch the
1:37
Princecraft catch their target species
1:40
put the rig back in the trailer and hand
1:42
it off to the next host who will head to
1:45
another location however to make things
1:47
a little easier on the boys we've chosen
1:50
one of the few places on this planet
1:52
where all this could be possible the St
1:54
John River in New
1:56
Brunswick although I was originally on
1:58
location and scheduled to do a segment
2:01
on this shoot I unfortunately had to fly
2:03
back home and tend to an emergency so I
2:06
left our fearsome forsome to do all the
2:08
heavy lifting but not to worry through
2:11
the magic of post production I'll get my
2:13
intended species into the mix
2:15
later we're going to be based out of the
2:18
city of frederickton the capital of New
2:20
Brunswick it has a population of just
2:22
over 65,000 people and is situated
2:25
directly on the bank of the St
2:27
John the St John is 6 73 km or 418 M
2:33
long and flows from the state of Maine
2:36
through Western New Brunswick and
2:38
empties into the Northwest shore of the
2:40
Bay of fundi for this shoot our actual
2:43
fishing locations will be no more than
2:46
40 minutes away from the city of
2:47
frederickton now that's a great Urban
2:50
fishery in no particular order we have
2:53
Nick taking on sturgeon Pete going after
2:56
small mod bass Dean tackling night time
3:00
stripers and Steve trying his hand at
3:03
get this largemouth bass yes indeed
3:07
there are large moou in the province of
3:09
new bronswick and through some fishing
3:11
candidate creativity I'm going to show
3:13
you yet another interesting Predator
3:16
that I learned about some time ago that
3:17
lurks in these same Waters the mac daddy
3:20
of Canadian game
3:23
Fish Pet's going to go up to bat first
3:26
he's no stranger to fishing smallies in
3:28
this part of the country he and I fished
3:30
the Woodstock section of the river last
3:32
year and let's just say he should have
3:35
no problem catching
3:37
fish this time round Pete's fishing just
3:39
down river of frederickton and if it's
3:42
half as good as what we had last year
3:44
he'll come back with rave reviews Pete's
3:47
fishing A Series of Rock piles that rise
3:49
from deep water to just under the
3:51
surface and are surrounded with weeds
3:54
luckily for him they're all well marked
3:55
on his Garmin GPS maps so all he has to
3:58
do is get close start
4:03
casting got a good one here on these
4:06
little cribs I'm going to anchor anchor
4:08
lock with the trolling motor and this
4:09
guy cracked the one of my favorite baits
4:12
in the world is a Yuri Square Bell
4:14
little 1.5 Square Bell and there's so
4:17
much fun to that's this is a nice Bobble
4:19
the the crankbait is one of the easiest
4:21
baits to lose fish on too trust me on
4:24
this so it's going to be a when you're
4:26
fishing by yourself you're going to net
4:28
them
4:30
you can't see
4:31
them and but you do that good one this
4:36
is a classic New Brunswick Smallmouth
4:39
right here so look at that he actually
4:41
hit the front hook that shows they're
4:42
pretty aggressive when they started
4:43
smashing the head first he just barely
4:45
in there though he could have got off
4:47
yeah maybe not a good
4:49
jump that's a pretty typical New
4:52
Brunswick small M bass here that's a
4:54
nice fish I mean that's a that's a fun
4:56
fish you crack that crankbait like crazy
4:58
they fight hard there's literally
5:02
thousands upon thousands of these tens
5:05
of thousands maybe 100 thousands of
5:07
these things in this River in this one
5:09
river system alone that alone to all the
5:10
provin in Brunswick so it's such a
5:12
fantastic fishery uh great fish that's
5:15
fun that is a lot of fun first the first
5:17
rock pile we've hit we got about seven
5:19
eight of them we can get seven or eight
5:20
of these things in a day that's a fun
5:21
day of
5:22
fishing see you bud okay like I said
5:26
Yosi 1.5 Square Bell crankbait it's a
5:29
very basic crankbait but I'll tell you
5:30
what under the package they work great
5:32
they run through it's a floater that you
5:35
pull it down it Dives down Square Bill
5:36
meaning that's squared off kind of build
5:38
it's not a perfect square but it does
5:40
the job of a square building it's wide
5:41
wobble and that fish right there I it
5:44
hit the water two cranks and Bo and he
5:47
had it so and that happens a lot with
5:49
crank bait so yeah I I use a snap on
5:51
them only because uh I can change them
5:53
out real quick so yeah check your line
5:56
like that it's good good to go
6:01
[Music]
6:05
got him oh they not bad not bad well
6:09
that guy slammed it I thought he was
6:10
bigger than that he slammed that
6:12
crankbait oh my god did he ever crack it
6:14
hard I could pull this fish in but I'm
6:17
not going to I'm going to net him just
6:19
in case my Line's frayed now or
6:22
whatever come on little
6:25
buddy boy this guy is nuts this is the
6:28
most reved up no brunic Smallmouth I've
6:31
ever
6:33
caught
6:35
there another nice long he's got a bit
6:39
of a gut this one may been eating pretty
6:41
good what's happening is on these Little
6:43
Rock humps there's weeds in the Rock
6:45
humps and right off the edge of the
6:47
weeds these fish are sitting there and
6:48
they just they're hitting that crank as
6:49
soon as it hits the water pretty much
6:51
first couple cranks of the Reel
6:54
handle and it's and it's uh it's game on
6:57
so which is quite fun and very easy
6:59
fishing cuz it's Target related right
7:01
it's like large M fishing almost cting
7:03
the weed line just throwing cranks I'm
7:05
sure anything that work top water work
7:06
here for sure um but I'm not going to
7:09
get off this crank bite this is fun I
7:11
like it I'll tell you what New Brunswick
7:13
it is loaded we're doing a multi-species
7:15
show here and I'll tell you what it's a
7:17
small m i mean it's already been known
7:19
but this is probably this might be the
7:23
best small moou numbers province in all
7:26
of Canada so I seeing a lot it's pretty
7:29
awesome
7:41
later in the evening just down river
7:43
from Pete SMY location Dean gears up for
7:46
a lowlight late night striper bik with
7:49
local fishing guide Pierre Oliver bla
7:51
who knows this part of the river well
7:53
and is confident that he'll put Dean on
7:55
the fish they're trolling actual musky
7:58
crankbaits for these bass all while
8:00
keeping an eye on their Liv scope screen
8:03
which is set up to show behind the boat
8:05
it's a super effective way to see just
8:07
how deep your baits are trolling and
8:09
hopefully some following or striking
8:13
fish doesn't feel huge but I haven't
8:16
that's all right keep feel lot yeah it's
8:18
just a little guy for this for these
8:20
standards I think yep anywhere else in
8:24
yeah there go she's that good yep we're
8:26
good anywhere else that would probably
8:28
be a good one but
8:30
I was using the tough Shad it's a bigger
8:31
crank it's definitely like a bigger size
8:34
we're trying to get down deep to those
8:36
big ones um it's a smaller fish I mean
8:39
yeah we would like to have a big fish
8:41
but the good news about seeing a small
8:43
fish is at least we know that the
8:44
reproduction is getting done and it's
8:46
it's good you know if we want to keep
8:48
cashing these fish you know in a couple
8:50
years we got to get the small ones too
8:52
you know yeah you want to grab it from
8:54
the net I can get it all right I'll hold
8:55
the net sure she's a thick she's a thick
8:58
girl for her size yeah for sure they're
9:01
fun anyways I mean anywhere else that
9:03
would be a nice one I mean that's a nice
9:06
little that's a nice little strike bass
9:07
yeah like you can't complain about that
9:09
I mean that's not what we've been
9:10
marking but it's a good sign like you
9:12
said right it's a good sign seeing the
9:14
fishery is still really healthy and
9:16
stuff like that I mean we're using heavy
9:17
gear for the big stuff so I mean it's
9:18
not the craziest fight but I mean seeing
9:20
small fish like that in the river is
9:22
just good news yeah so all right let's
9:23
get it back in the water yeah let's get
9:25
a bigger one let's get a bigger one
9:28
[Music]
9:37
I think it's on I think it's swimming
9:39
right towards the boat yeah yeah it's
9:42
coming right at us it's already broken
9:44
the surface I think I don't think it's
9:47
very
9:49
big right the surface
9:52
here small one small one another small
9:54
one yeah he's unhooked AES yeah we love
9:58
it when they get unhooked like that
10:00
C him release having the fish in the
10:02
water like this really you're you're
10:04
able to work on these fish with no
10:06
problem this is acting like a live well
10:08
these fish can just breathe no problem
10:11
take the hook out here I'll let you grab
10:13
your own fish here I'll just move move
10:15
that a little closer there
10:18
seconder my friends like the other one
10:20
but yeah just nice healthy fish good
10:24
fight still yeah and it's it's nice that
10:26
there's lots of those around it's good
10:27
to see yeah so that's awesome you can't
10:29
complain about that Beauty look at those
10:31
colors awesome relas we're back yep
10:34
awesome nice and easy all right and
10:36
[Music]
10:47
easy the next day and moving north of
10:50
the city of frederickton Steve is on a
10:52
mission which may be the toughest one of
10:54
this show a needle and a ha stack New
10:57
Brunswick largemouth bass
11:00
[Music]
11:03
largies as they're often called have
11:05
been in New Brunswick for many years now
11:07
but it's only lately that they are
11:09
starting to create a buzz as a viable
11:12
sportfish however there are still some
11:14
mixed feelings among the locals here
11:16
about bass in general calling them trash
11:19
fish and wanting to see them all killed
11:22
such a
11:23
shame Steve's on What's called the
11:25
McQuack head Pond essentially it's a
11:28
lake that oo's largemouth bass with all
11:31
the right ingredients like different
11:32
types of weed growth Fallen Timber and
11:35
rock Rubble patches of Shoreline knowing
11:38
Steve he'll be throwing everything in
11:40
the bass book at
11:43
him this is a really nice large mouth
11:47
right out of the
11:48
weeds I saw it surface I threw the power
11:52
poles down right away because I didn't
11:55
want to get in on top of it pop him out
11:58
of there what what a great large mouth
12:01
that guy right there an East coaster
12:04
baby I'll tell you what I love
12:07
Largemouth and I saw him surface in the
12:11
weeds outside the pads and it was such a
12:13
subtle surface I uh threw the power
12:17
poles pitched right in and let it sink
12:20
to the bottom we've been fishing them
12:22
fast across the top but uh this time I
12:25
let it drop in the hole those hotels
12:28
right in between and he it was classic
12:31
large mouth I saw the line I watched my
12:34
line and waited and then off the
12:37
line went set the hook on a nice heavy
12:42
East Coast large mouth now we're fishing
12:45
in the head Pond above the McQuack Dam
12:48
and these guys are invasive doesn't mean
12:50
you can't fish them you need a
12:54
license let him go it does mean it is
12:58
highly to move them they're an invasive
13:01
species here and the economic
13:04
destruction that an invasive species can
13:06
do is well nobody knows so do not move
13:10
them enjoy them where they are but do
13:13
not move them highly illegal
13:16
[Music]
13:18
folks right in the pads this is awesome
13:22
reminds me of back home in Ontario on
13:24
the upper French River and I cast it out
13:29
and my line spooked this
13:31
fish and uh oh here we
13:36
go there he
13:39
is look at this beautiful East Coast
13:44
large mouth let's clean that
13:49
there same deal out here on the East
13:53
Coast these freshwater ponds head ponds
13:56
this one actually is above the macquire
13:59
Dam part of the St John river
14:01
system the structure
14:04
is gorgeous large mouth or large mouth
14:08
there's so much
14:09
[Music]
14:19
fun since this episode had so many
14:22
fishing locations it made a single
14:24
hotspot hard to choose so we decided on
14:27
probably the most unique New Brun wi
14:29
species the largemouth bass the way
14:31
point on your screen will get you right
14:33
there Largemouth have been documented in
14:36
UB Brunswick for decades but it's only
14:38
recently that there's been some extra
14:40
interest especially from those who
14:42
cherish the already wellestablished
14:44
smallmouth bass fishery the large moth
14:46
area that Steve fished is called McQuack
14:49
Lake aka the head Pond which is about a
14:52
half hour drive west of the city of
14:54
predicton this water body fishes very
14:57
similarly to pretty much any other
14:59
Largemouth lake in Canada find the weeds
15:01
rocks and wood and you pretty much find
15:04
the bass aside from the usual largy soft
15:07
plastic goodies try Square Bill
15:09
crankbaits spinner baits twitch baits
15:11
and top waters for more hot spots like
15:14
this one check out fishing
15:18
[Music]
15:27
canada.com and finally what undoubtedly
15:30
is the most unique fish on this trip the
15:32
prehistoric sturgeon according to Pierre
15:35
who's now joined up with Nick there are
15:38
both Atlantic and short nose sturgeon in
15:40
the St John River but the odds of
15:42
catching an Atlantic are much lower than
15:44
a short nose with that said I've got a
15:48
good feeling that Nick will have no
15:49
problem catching either or let's face it
15:53
any surgeon is a good sturgeon Nick and
15:56
Pierre set up on a river ledge and are
15:58
using the crack an electric motor in
16:00
Anchor mode to hold her position their
16:03
technique is to cast a bunch of worms
16:05
blobbed onto a circle hook along the
16:07
brake line This is where less is more
16:11
the rods are placed into a rod holder
16:13
and now Nick and Pier just
16:18
wait Wy that's a nice fish oh my God
16:22
yeah that drag it a little bit maybe
16:24
that's a nice fish tighten that a little
16:26
bit yeah okay the fight is on okay boys
16:31
and girls sturgeon
16:33
on whoa he tried to cut me loose there
16:37
just keep that keep playing it keep
16:39
playing it oh that's a nice fish buddy
16:41
there he is bring him over here
16:44
woo woo buddy that's a nice St John
16:48
River sturgeon right there it is look at
16:50
that skin you're talking about why is
16:52
like sandpaper right isn't it cool that
16:54
is neat all right we you need to grab
16:56
his you want to grab the hook his bar BL
16:58
come right out circle hook come here you
17:01
yep there you go just like that just
17:03
like that look at those whiskers aren't
17:05
they super cool how she's done that is
17:08
neat that's a short nose for sure you
17:11
can see their mouth right under the fist
17:13
there that's what they're doing comes
17:14
down just does one of those yeah that's
17:16
where we're bottom fishing and stuff
17:17
like that that is neat cool what a cool
17:19
looking fish dinosaur want give it a
17:21
kiss I give no kiss we give him a little
17:23
pat on the head all right you want to
17:24
release shot there
17:26
go let's dunk her in
17:29
bye-bye bye
17:32
girl good job man let's get another one
17:34
let's get another one let's do
17:35
[Music]
17:39
it here we go there a little guy
17:43
yeah doesn't pull as much the other one
17:45
does no not even close yeah hello look a
17:49
lot little fella BR over here you got
17:52
him yep all
17:54
right yeah teach me how to hold these
17:56
things now yeah I will so that's a lot a
17:59
little bit smaller than the last one
18:01
there little bit equally as cool looking
18:03
yeah you want to get the hook out real
18:04
quick yeah let me grab that out of him
18:06
get that out of this
18:08
mouth okay so see the tail right here so
18:11
actually this one is not too spiky for
18:12
the size actually okay so y right down
18:14
there right there and then your hand
18:16
right between the two fins there there
18:18
we go look at that is not cool looking
18:20
that is a cool looking fish that is that
18:23
is possibly the coolest fish I think we
18:25
got around yeah oh it is man they've
18:27
been around since pretty much of
18:29
dinosaurs they haven't changed 200
18:31
million years y what's really cool too
18:33
is like the head is a pattern on them
18:35
you can kind of see them from close up
18:37
but uh that's pretty cool yeah you all
18:39
got different pattern on them yeah they
18:40
pretty much do nice well ain't that cool
18:43
yeah well let's get rid of her yeah put
18:48
her back in the
18:49
water
18:51
byebye goodbye girl thank
18:55
you and hey I may not have been on
18:58
location this episode but I can
19:00
certainly vouch for the phenomenal
19:02
population of big strong healthy musky
19:05
that reside here as well on a previous
19:07
fishing Canada shoot Steve and I took a
19:09
shot at the relatively new musky
19:11
population on St John it's another one
19:14
of those controversial species which are
19:17
considered invasive yet many of the
19:19
locals are embracing them in a big way
19:22
and I could certainly see why oh my God
19:25
look at that truck size of that thing
19:27
look at that truck Rock okay coming at
19:30
you around coming at you look at
19:37
theck holy
19:39
shoot look at that fat fish wow got on
19:45
that e is that fantastic that's new rsck
19:48
musky believe it or not they are
19:51
here holy mackerel that's fantastic okay
19:56
baby you're going back in it's become a
19:59
a Musky meca here we go
20:02
bye-bye There She Goes
20:05
wow see you later see you buddy well
20:09
there you have it folks five different
20:11
species of fish in five unique locations
20:14
all situated on the St John River just a
20:17
Stones Throw from the vibrant Maritime
20:20
city of
20:21
frederickton I think we can all see why
20:23
New Brunswick's Mighty St John river is
20:26
becoming such a popular fishing
20:28
destination among Anglers
20:30
worldwide trust me when I say it will
20:34
not
20:35
[Music]
20:39
disappoint getting there brought to you
20:42
by The Outdoor Journal Radio podcast
20:46
Network to get to today's multispecies
20:48
trip the boys took Highway 401 East
20:51
crossing over the Quebec border next
20:53
they took Highway 20 to Highway 30 and
20:56
eventually got back on Highway 20 then
20:58
they turned turned Southeast on Highway
20:59
85 which eventually turned into Highway
21:02
2 finally taking them to frederickton
21:05
the capital city of New runswick this
21:07
beautiful city straddles the St John
21:09
River along with access to great fishing
21:12
frederickton also offers kaying rowing
21:15
canoeing and standup paddle boarding on
21:17
the river plus beaches golf courses
21:20
Gardens and trails combined to make
21:21
frederickton an ideal destination for
21:24
outdoors enthusiasts the green is a Long
21:27
Park hugging the BS of the river which
21:29
the locals value for the breath of fresh
21:31
air it provides in the Heart of the City
21:33
for those days away from the water you
21:35
can enjoy mums Heritage sites large
21:38
Victorian homes and the historic
21:40
Garrison District enjoy it as you
21:43
discover new restaurants City Markets
21:45
and the highest concentration of craft
21:47
breweries and tasting experiences in the
21:49
maritimes and finally if you want to
21:51
combine your fishing trip with something
21:53
really special check out the Harvest
21:55
Music Festival frederickton comes alive
21:58
for days each September as hundreds of
22:00
worldclass performers appear on dozens
22:03
of stages all conveniently located in
22:05
Frederick's beautiful Historic downtown
22:08
there's something to tempt every musical
22:10
taste with so much to see and do the
22:12
city of frederickton truly is the
22:14
ultimate East Coast
22:17
[Music]
22:19
experience the fishing Canada show
22:22
brought to you in part by Yuri fishing
22:25
lures fish the best mer Mercury out fors
22:30
go
22:31
boldly and Outdoor Canada Canada's only
22:34
National fishing and hunting
22:37
magazine closed captioning for this
22:39
episode is brought to you by fishing
22:41
canada.com the gateway to your next
22:43
fishing
22:45
Adventure come along to our cabin in the
22:48
wild cuz we're in for some good fish in
22:52
Canada yes we're in for good fishing
22:55
Canada
22:58
[Music]
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