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Nova Scotia father and son haul hooked bald eagle out of lake, safely
free it on shore

   Molly MacNaughton
   | CBC News | Posted: August 29, 2026 8:03 PM | Last Updated: 17
   hours ago

   'Canadian White-Headed Lake Raptor’ pokes fun at Trump’s recent
   renaming orders

   Image | bald eagle tangled in fishing lure

   Caption: The bald eagle accidently got caught on a father and
   son's fishing lure Friday morning. (Anne-Marie Charron-Esbaugh)
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   Bryan Esbaugh and his 15-year-old son, Wyatt, were fishing for
   smallmouth bass on Ponhook Lake in Queens County, N.S., on
   Friday morning when they accidentally caught a bald eagle.
   "We saw this bald eagle following us around the lake. So we
   thought, 'Oh, it must be waiting for us to catch a fish to see
   where they all are,'" said Wyatt, who used to feed bass to
   birds while fishing with friends.
   For about half an hour, the eagle followed them along the shore
   and skimmed the water for breakfast. When the eagle circled
   back around for one last sweep of the lake, it grabbed their
   fishing lines and lures out of the water and flew away.
   "It seemed to get all tangled up in the line and it crashed in
   the middle of the lake ... it was flopping around and waving
   all over the place," said Bryan.
   They steered their boat toward the eagle and noticed one of the
   hooks piercing in its beak while another caught its foot. Wyatt
   hauled the eagle out of the water and into the boat.
   "We were trying to stay away from it because of its big claws.…
   It's probably 25 pounds or so," Bryan said.
   They eventually made it back to the dock, but as they were
   getting out, the eagle flopped back into the lake and drifted
   away. Wyatt quickly manoeuvred the boat and guided the eagle to
   shore. He wrapped the bird in a towel, held it down, and
   together they removed the hooks.
   WATCH | Nova Scotia father and son reel in unexpected catch
   when eagle takes off with their fishing lure:

   Media Video | CBC News Nova Scotia :

   Caption: Bryan and Wyatt Esbaugh were hoping to hook smallmouth
   bass, but when they got a bite from an eagle instead, they
   jumped into action to save the tangled bird. The CBC's Molly
   MacNaughton has the story.
   Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require
   significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
   pages.
   Dr. Jessica Rock, a veterinarian with the Cobequid Wildlife
   Rehabilitation Centre, said while it’s not uncommon to treat
   birds tangled in fishing gear, lures and ropes, this case was
   unique.
   "They did sort of the best in their arsenal that they knew how
   to do, and certainly they did help this animal," said Rock. "We
   would recommend if they encounter a situation like this again
   in the future that the animal is seen just to make sure that
   they have the best chance of success."
   She recommends contacting the Department of Natural Resources
   to help with any future entanglements.
   "Even though bald eagles look really big and strong, they're
   actually quite delicate in a lot of interesting ways, and so
   having somebody who's really experienced handling them can be a
   big help."
   In the end, the eagle managed to fly free.
   "Our dog chased it a little bit to kind of get it to fly away,"
   said Bryan. Then off flew what they named the "Canadian
   White-Headed Lake Raptor."
   Bryan said calling the American symbol a "Canadian White-Headed
   Lake Raptor" is a tongue-in-cheek response to Donald Trump
   attempting to rename Lake Ontario.
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