Huge goldeye caught in Saskatchewan River!

Manitoba has a new record goldeye!

Jim Tarasiuk has been fishing with friend Terry Tooley on the Saskatchewan River for the last seven years. Terry held the Manitoba goldeye record for five years, from 2007 to 2012.  So, it was only fitting that the two were fishing together at the time when this fish was caught. Jim wasn’t sure what kind of fish he had on the line when he set the hook given the variety of species that exist in that stretch of river near The Pas. In fact, given the pull on the end of the line Jim figured it might be a big walleye. As he fought the fish in the current, it swung over to the back of the big Lund Alaskan near the motor. Tarasiuk was really worried he might lose the fish but when Terry saw the fish he yelled to his partner that it was “ a goldeye, a really big goldeye!” After getting the fish in the net, Terry carefully measured this monster and knew right away that is was the new Manitoba record, a quarter of an inch longer the previous record held by Robert Lake, caught on the same stretch of river.

Tooley says the key to catching those big fish is having your bait near the bottom. He likes to use a standup jig rigged with a small floater up the line. This floats the nightcrawler a short distance up off the bottom, allowing the fish a better chance to see the bait.

Terry Tooley is no stranger to catching master angler sized fish. In fact if you look him up on the website at  https://anglers.travelmanitoba.com/you will find that he has caught an awful lot of big fish. He still has the Manitoba record brook trout out of Barbe Lake at 30 inches.

Tooley also recently opened up a furniture store in The Pas plus he just started his own guide service called Mr. Tees.

He can be contacted at

Manitoba is home to the oldest master angler program in North America, 50 years and going strong. Last year alone, more than 10,000 trophy fish from 30 qualifying species were caught and recorded – and almost 90% of those were released!

Every qualifying Master Angler fish is honoured with a certificate recording the anglers success. A unique certificate is given to those anglers who catch-and-release a trophy fish.  

The Manitoba Master Angler Catch-and-Release release pin is given to those individuals who release their first qualifying fish.  Approximately 90% of the entries registered in the program are released by anglers, up from 65% in 1991, when the program first began tracking the percentage of fish released.  

From its modest beginning when the first badges and certificates were issued to 480 anglers catching trophy fish of seven different species, to today with 30 species and over 200,000 registered trophy fish, the Master Angler program provides an awards system that recognizes anglers’ abilities and achievements. From its inception the program was an instant success, and in 1986 the Master Angler program was computerized due to its continued popularity and growth.  Presently, over 10,000 entries are registered in the program each year, including entries to the Li’l Angler Program, introduced in 2002.