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Catching Largemouth Bass on Ontario’s French River | Fish'n Canada
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Apr 15, 2025
(Episode 406) Pete Bowman and Angelo Viola fish the infamous French River in Ontario for Large and Smallmouth Bass. They use a very unique “furry” presentation. 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 #Fishing
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[Music]
0:31
fish in Canada brought to you in part by
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experts at radioworld
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[Music]
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doca as you a kid my worst memories of
1:01
roughing it are the late night trips to
1:03
the ouse having to follow that wind and
1:06
trail with a flickering old Landing you
1:08
could barely see what might be hiding in
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the underbrush critters like a skunk or
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an old po cat could be waiting to scare
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Solutions I like the natural the brown
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know I
1:47
love Today's Show is based on a previous
1:50
fishing Canada episode where a furry
1:52
little creature stirred quite a buzz now
1:54
if you're a bass fishing fanatic like my
1:56
buddy Pete and I are or better yet a top
1:58
water nut you're going to be happy to
1:59
know that the furry little rodent is
2:01
back in the game today we're fishing on
2:03
the French River and Lake nipas now this
2:05
area of Ontario is known for its huge
2:06
musky and outstanding walleye fishing
2:08
however the Largemouth and smallmouth
2:10
bass fishing here is some of the best in
2:12
the province the French River starts its
2:15
flow in Lake nipping and travels for 110
2:17
km finally emptying into Georgian Bay
2:21
many years ago it was used by the alanin
2:22
people as a transportation Corridor it
2:25
was named the French River because it
2:26
was frequently associated with the
2:28
French explorers in the 17 Century in
2:31
1986 it was designated as a Canadian
2:33
Heritage River going back in time the
2:35
ajibu first named the river we GOI thly
2:38
French explorers named the river La
2:39
Rivier de France but it's now known
2:42
mostly As the French River or simply the
2:46
French chier Lodge is located Just 4 and
2:49
1 half hours north of Toronto on an
2:50
island in Ontario's legendary upper
2:52
French River this five-star Resort truly
2:54
is one of those fantastic near North
2:56
experiences it's everything that a
2:58
Wilderness Retreat should be
3:01
gorgeous perfect looking large mil and
3:02
fat too wow
3:07
[Music]
3:11
man nice nice small M okay all right
3:17
that's good that's awesome that's good
3:21
large large M right where he should have
3:22
been yeah excellent
3:27
okay how's that funny no nice little fat
3:31
one look at that does he love that mous
3:34
or
3:35
what yeah baby that's a good sign that's
3:38
a good sign yep we're getting nice
3:41
towards the evening
3:43
too good sign good sign right beside
3:46
your plug good okay that's why we
3:50
believe in that little mouse man now
3:52
normally you would go to a tree like
3:54
that and jig around like you got one
3:57
like that yep kidding me it's a pike a
4:00
little snake little snake thank God he
4:02
got off now I wonder if there's another
4:04
bass in there H in there that was off
4:06
the rock I didn't cast the tree no I
4:07
just cast The Rock got
4:13
one on the black on the black mouse this
4:16
time buddy the mouse bik is H nice fish
4:19
nice
4:20
fish you got to love it another large
4:22
moue another large now wonder how many
4:24
you're out there well there he's off
4:25
that tree too so you know what you never
4:28
know easy
4:30
buddy look at that it's not just the
4:32
white mouse that works no it's
4:35
not no he ate that good too and he's got
4:38
two treles in there he ate that real
4:40
nice wow smaller fish if we can get on
4:43
some bigger ones now can we get some big
4:44
fish like that man that is the best
4:48
that's the deal right there there now
4:50
that's two quick fish off that tree out
4:52
food ant so he's obviously full and he's
4:54
still eating the most that's awesome
4:56
little guy but you know what we'll take
4:57
him and so color now color didn't make
5:00
color didn't make a whole lot of
5:01
difference those guys we got a white one
5:03
y got one on white and one on black good
5:06
back to back off the same tree how cool
5:08
is that I like that how cool is that
5:11
that's
5:13
fun and you're trying for a turd aren't
5:15
you well you know why not you
5:19
know oh how' that sound oh that's good
5:23
that's a good sign yeah I like it we
5:25
just barely sucked that into just barely
5:28
touched it didn't make any noise at
5:30
all easy buddy easy he wants to go so
5:39
bad as we sit at the top of the show
5:41
we're going to be putting our furry
5:43
little friend here in front of as many
5:44
French River bass as we possibly can I
5:47
sure hope he's biligual however as with
5:49
most top water fishing situations you
5:51
really need a backup bait as
5:53
well
5:56
we little we guy again a the tree yeah I
6:00
couldn't you couldn't throw top water in
6:01
there no too thick unless you threw a
6:03
frog or something in there come on buddy
6:06
that's a
6:08
boy they're fat even though the small
6:10
fish are real
6:12
fat boo just fell out of his
6:16
mouth bye-bye little guy whoa whoa that
6:21
sounded
6:23
awesome he's pulling my string pety yeah
6:26
you know what I'm staying on a sinkle
6:31
that's what we wanted all
6:33
day good job buddy all day
6:38
man he's jumping enough to be a small
6:40
exactly let's have a look at you
6:45
bubba get him in buddy come
6:48
on he is a small
6:51
a how's that for a little
6:54
bonus hey good fish wow man he took that
6:59
big Yamamoto
7:01
grub swim Seno swim
7:06
Seno to get to Sher Lodge we first took
7:09
Highway 400 North from Toronto we then
7:12
took Highway 69 North to Highway 64 we
7:15
headed east on 64 to dois reserve Road
7:18
and then proceeded onto dois Marina from
7:20
there it's a short boat ride to the
7:28
lodge
7:29
to survive the outdoors you first have
7:31
to prepare yourself for the onslaught of
7:32
biting insects that can cause itchy
7:34
bumps rashes and even deadly diseases
7:37
what separates good bugs from bad bugs
7:39
take the green labing for instance it's
7:41
a delicate insect with a bright green to
7:43
greenish Brown body and translucent
7:45
wings with iridescent green veins they
7:47
are beautiful but voracious Predators
7:49
attacking most Garden pests like aphids
7:51
caterpillars and other insect larvae in
7:54
many countries millions of lace wings
7:55
are reared for sale as biological
7:57
control agents for pests like insects
7:59
and mites that's a good bug mosquitoes
8:02
on the other hand have mouth Parts which
8:03
are adapted for piercing the skin of
8:05
plants and animals the female needs to
8:07
obtain nutrients for a blood meal before
8:09
she can produce eggs they often feed on
8:11
humans and are therefore vectors for a
8:13
number of infectious diseases affecting
8:15
over 700 million people per year and
8:17
killing at least 2 million luckily bites
8:20
can be prevented by wearing a repellent
8:21
that contains DEET like musall repulsive
8:24
since
8:26
[Music]
8:28
1951
8:32
one of our favorite top water backup
8:33
baits is a soft stick bait like a Seno
8:35
if a bass misses the top water a slow
8:37
dropping stick bait will often catch
8:39
that fish but it's also a great bait to
8:41
use when a top water simply is not
8:46
happening his own fish it's a good
8:48
looking fish buddy now that fish was
8:50
underneath you about three or four times
8:52
right over just now that one was not
8:54
going to come up for destined to not a
8:57
chance and that tells you something
8:59
right that guy he's negative and I'm
9:00
sure there some other fish in there oh
9:01
that's a chunky little guy that is a
9:03
real chunky little guy goodl looking
9:04
fish I don't wear now now I just can't
9:07
get over the fact that that you went
9:10
over top of him three times y well
9:13
there's a case where he would bite we
9:14
just had to give him the right that's
9:17
right well he bit good right through the
9:19
cheek eh God right through that
9:20
cheekbone yeah them are tough ones
9:23
players you got it there we
9:25
go nice would have been nice to see him
9:28
about your top one though let's be
9:29
honest about it yeah for
9:32
sure you know that's the way fish man
9:34
it's the way you top water fish right if
9:35
you don't get them up top you just goes
9:37
showy you like you were saying I mean if
9:39
if they you we would like to force feed
9:41
them all top water baits today let's be
9:43
perfectly honest not just to every day
9:46
you know it's the most fun basket you
9:47
know it's a reaction strike we see the
9:49
fish hitting your your heart stops the
9:52
adrenaline pops but in a case like that
9:55
that fish was obviously not good to bite
9:58
reality is not going to really you
10:00
wonder why I mean he's feeding he
10:03
obviously was was feeding enough to go
10:05
on the amamoto mhm swi and wear right
10:07
yeah but but just not enough to come up
10:10
off the bottom and hit that top who
10:12
knows that's why they're fish right we
10:14
will never fig fig them out exactly
10:20
exactly I love it I just dropped it I
10:23
just let it drop he missed you
10:24
completely the first time eh did he cuz
10:26
I just heard the swoosh let water after
10:29
it for some desre reason very
10:32
cool man they are a healthy looking fish
10:34
up here look at how fat that fish
10:37
is that is
10:40
[Applause]
10:42
pretty nice look at short little chunker
10:45
yeah that is
10:51
pretty you are a beautiful
10:54
fish
10:56
aggressive not too good at hitting I've
10:58
come back twice but that's
11:01
okay see a butt oh yeah go back into
11:05
your little weed bed now can you imagine
11:08
coming through this area back in the
11:10
good old days with the when the the
11:13
Explorers were coming through yeah
11:15
coming down that whole river system Y
11:18
and seeing this stuff for the first time
11:20
I mean how exciting would that wonder
11:21
what it looked like back then a couple
11:22
hundred years ago what would you know
11:25
what the difference would be would they
11:26
have large mul bass for instance a
11:29
question there's some documentation that
11:31
that I ran into leads me to believe that
11:34
that they did use the fish throughout
11:36
their Journeys you know across the top
11:38
of niping into Georgia Bay they used
11:40
fish for sustenance I mean they fish
11:42
freshwater fish and I got to believe I
11:44
mean of course there's huge musky out
11:47
here and they would make a great meal
11:49
back then the bass would for sure yeah
11:52
small if they had I got to think that
11:53
they probably did
11:55
uh encounter them I don't know how far
11:58
back we should look into that see how
11:59
far back they really you going to do
12:01
that mhm
12:04
yeah you got him you got him oh
12:09
[Laughter]
12:12
yeah what a great jump what a great jump
12:14
that one that might be the best alltime
12:16
jump I've ever seen wow it was like slow
12:18
motion oh that was spectacular here I'll
12:21
get the motor you go ahead with the
12:25
fish that was awesome what a great job
12:29
boy he wanted that Mouse bad he wanted
12:31
it real bad look at that again Pete
12:35
perfect right down oh
12:36
boy look at this ball of bait behind you
12:39
look at this he just come off with that
12:41
all that little bait that looks like
12:42
baby bass maybe it could be oh man did
12:45
he ever Smack That
12:46
dice good that jump was classic oh that
12:51
cleared the Water by 3 feet yeah and and
12:53
a little bit of a somersault flippy in
12:55
there back one and a half slow motion
12:58
back back flp oh man that's nice they
13:02
just love that
13:03
Mouse fantastic that's that's 4:00 we're
13:06
not even into the evening hour yet tribe
13:08
time man so the sun is still
13:13
high nice right in the v was he
13:19
yeah there right there same thing same
13:23
size my drags loose too those fish were
13:26
like belly to
13:27
belly there's a little we guy Co I
13:30
forgot to take my drag on that how cool
13:33
is
13:35
that must be a whole school of them in
13:38
there
13:44
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the water up here in the French is more
15:32
than ideal for bass fishing before we
15:34
arrived here I pictured High Bluff walls
15:36
deep trenches and channels and pretty
15:38
much anything that wasn't Bassy looking
15:40
man was I wrong those types of
15:42
structures do exist on the French but
15:44
the Back Bay and shallow channels gives
15:45
this area that classic Bassy look got
15:48
one
15:49
ant yeah baby yeah baby he in the
15:53
reads look how fat he is yeah that's a
15:55
fat fat large Bo oh onot
15:59
that is there he is on the outside edge
16:02
eh yeah okay he's a chunker yes he is
16:07
nice F wow they're all fat here aren't
16:09
they look at that tell me he's not
16:12
feeding well obviously we have found uh
16:15
the little part of the Reeds that has
16:17
some fish if you look down in the Reeds
16:19
you're going to see the Cabbage weed the
16:21
light cabbage in there type of weed in
16:23
there the other St it was Bare there was
16:25
nothing there except for the reads this
16:27
has now got a l weed in in between and I
16:30
think that's a huge key so however
16:33
having said that I don't know if a top
16:36
water bit's going to happen in here
16:37
buddy well the wind is up a little too
16:38
much too right if it calms down later
16:40
this evening we can probably get a nice
16:41
one going on here yeah nice good stuff
16:46
man
16:47
okay we probably establish something now
16:50
anyways for sure what we've got here is
16:54
about I'm going to say a mile worth of
16:57
Reed Bank all good-looking pencil read
16:59
from the outside and we worked probably
17:01
a quarter mile of it already without
17:03
even seeing any form of life at all and
17:07
uh and then all of a sudden this point
17:09
got some cabbage mixed in with it just
17:11
something a little different and boom
17:12
boom boom action action action as the
17:15
day progressed Dan and I decided to hit
17:17
nipping with our furry little rodents in
17:19
Hope of some shallow smalles cruising on
17:20
the rocks that shows the diversity of
17:23
this
17:24
fishery on that edge buddy I just got
17:27
hey you got real no I just I was just
17:30
going to say I just push on that edge
17:32
you got one off off the edge yeah off it
17:34
feels on the mouse eh yeah it feels all
17:38
right oh boy he's bet oh nice fish nice
17:41
fish
17:42
buddy nice
17:44
fish you got him hooked yeah he's
17:47
digging too I didn't even hear him what
17:49
you just slurp it slurp it yeah wow that
17:53
fish knew what he wanted holy
17:55
moly stay there stay down oh he's wel
17:58
come on
17:59
baby yes good job nice oh look at that
18:04
hey when they want when they want that
18:06
thing E look at that oh yeah not bad not
18:10
not as big as I thought he was the lake
18:13
wow your head up on
18:15
top look at that he he ate the heck of
18:19
that yeah oh there it goes so one nice
18:23
thing about these things though I mean I
18:25
know I know rat you still lose them
18:28
these but I'll tell you what your
18:30
chances are pretty darn good that
18:32
there's going to be at least one hook in
18:33
that fish yeah look at them byebye see
18:37
you little drowned rat brother yeah tail
18:40
kind of crooked but that's okay it's a
18:43
fun little
18:44
bait cool now that's a we moved out into
18:47
the lake too so I mean between the
18:50
French river which how many miles of
18:53
fish Mass the river itself I don't know
18:56
how many miles long it is but I think
18:58
probably 75% of it is good fishable from
19:01
Shier Lodge to Lake nipping is
19:03
unbelievably good fishing water for
19:05
large most small M musky and Walley if
19:07
you go the other way and or hook around
19:09
and then go the other way back in Marsh
19:10
Bay that large Mo and small moth Galore
19:13
and then you got to come out to the lake
19:15
and and then this whole lake when it
19:16
gets and this is flat this is nipping it
19:18
can get rough but look at today it's
19:19
perfect that's why we came out there is
19:20
so much water here it's scary now the
19:23
the the thought about this so that kind
19:24
of you know makes it really special
19:27
certainly my mind is that uh we're doing
19:30
it in a nice 20ft Prince craft but can
19:32
you imagine back in the uh 16 and 1700s
19:36
folks coming across here in in uh
19:38
basically 20ft freighter canoes with a
19:41
couple of thousand PBS with a Freight in
19:45
[Music]
19:48
it there's one
19:50
beat he just slurped it down I'm going
19:53
to read it small a may be big no he
19:56
doesn't feel like much no no he just
19:59
sucked it down he didn't really smack it
20:02
like like you would expect him to
20:05
slurped it in just a little
20:07
serpy thought it was hung on the edge of
20:09
the see that little patch of weeds is
20:11
coming off the off the rock wonder you
20:13
caught him hey you didn't tell me with
20:14
that spot didn't
20:15
you there he is Buddy oh yeah there he
20:18
is there he is man nice bring him over
20:22
here I'll let him for you than I don't
20:23
want to tou them troubles he's got the
20:26
mouse just on the outside of his cheek
20:28
didn't eat it this time nice there you
20:30
go good stuff thank
20:32
you look at that he just got it from so
20:35
you know what happened there right cuz I
20:37
I'm telling you I thought it was the
20:38
edge of that weed that that actually
20:39
caught the treble hook and pulled it
20:41
down right he must have just gone and
20:43
give it a little bit of a swipe to try
20:45
maybe to injure it and caught it look at
20:46
this just got it on the on the edge
20:48
there look at that yeah normally they've
20:50
they've been sucking the whole thing
20:52
down that was the weirdest hit I've ever
20:54
had I almost you know what I got a
20:56
feeling he didn't even really hit it
20:58
like to eat it I think you just swirl
21:00
that I think they do that a lot I think
21:02
you just swirl with that do that
21:05
cool gorgeous around here on the old
21:08
white I love it
21:10
yep black and white yeah
21:13
baby we're on the mouse pattern buddy
21:16
well as you can see my little mouse
21:18
obsession is as strong as ever and Pete
21:20
seems to be getting hooked as well by
21:22
using a naturall looking bait in the
21:24
proper situations top water fishing is a
21:26
viable presentation throughout most of
21:28
the bass season and can often produce
21:30
during all hours of the day top water
21:32
Basset it gets no better wa oh and by
21:36
the way keep an eye out for my furry
21:38
little Fred here coming soon to a store
21:40
dear
21:41
[Music]
21:44
you what impact does your boat have on
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the global environment did you know that
21:48
aluminum leaves a smaller Echo footprint
21:50
than fiberglass so what happens to that
21:52
fiberglass Beauty when it Bites the Dust
21:54
where's it go most fiberglass boats
21:57
eventually end up as landfill in one way
21:59
or another aluminum is more efficient
22:02
durable and it's 100% recyclable
22:05
creating a much Greener Planet the total
22:07
recycled content of domestically
22:09
produced flat rolled aluminum for the
22:11
building and construction Market is
22:13
approximately
22:14
85% next time you crush a can or make a
22:17
tunea sandwich know that you're helping
22:19
to build a better
22:20
boat the folks at Princecraft can help
22:23
you make the best of your day on the
22:24
water without sacrificing Comfort safety
22:26
and of course fish ability
22:30
[Music]
22:34
today's hot spot is a great little top
22:36
water Cove tucked into the far Backwater
22:39
bass reaches of the French River the way
22:41
point on your screen will get you right
22:42
there along with top water baits senos
22:45
spinner baits shallow running cranks and
22:48
floating mle baits will all catch both
22:49
large mouth and small mouth once you
22:52
finish hitting these areas start to work
22:53
similar spots throughout the channel and
22:55
for a non-fishing specific tip remember
22:58
to bring your musall it'll save your day
23:00
for more way points like this one go to
23:02
fishing
23:05
canada.com fish in Canada brought to you
23:07
in part by Coleman The Outdoor
23:11
Company musall repulsive since
23:15
1951 Princecraft boats the more you know
23:18
the better we look Mercury outboards
23:22
number one on the
23:24
water and sale the outdoor Superstore
23:29
[Music]
#Fishing
#Outdoors
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