'Magnet fishing' growing in popularity, Quebec fisher says you never know what you'll pull up

Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach him to magnet fish, and a new hobby is born. That was the case for Frederick Hardy, who casts his magnetic "lure" in the Lachine Canal at least once a week.

"It’s fun. You're near the water, it's fresh, and you do some physical work," he said, "and you can find some treasures.”

Hardy, who has a YouTube channel devoted to his passion, discovered magnet fishing during the pandemic and took a deep dive. 

“I really like it, it's a passion. I can't do this without me not being insane because it's my moment of peace.”

He says he's never quite sure what he'll pick up on his line. So far, he's reeled in scrap metal, bikes, car parts and even weaponry -- including a piece of history.

“I found an old explosive shell in the canal right here," he said. "The military came to get it.”

What's the strangest item he’s caught? He says he found a "bull statue," adding he kept it, and is now trying to restore it. 

Hardy says his hobby isn’t just fun. He's also cleaning the canal of forgotten scraps. “It’s a way to clear the waterways and canals so they can have a better world,” he said.

He’ll be hosting the country’s first ever global magnet fishing event next week in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. He says he's found an international community of magnet fishers, and that he has connected with "people from the U.K., France, Germany, and even Finland.”

For its part, Parks Canada says it does not condone magnet fishing, warning that fishers could stir up aquatic life and injure themselves on sharp objects.