Amateur seeking advice on Northern Ontario camping trip

[wlemst88]

Hello all,

I am a father of four who's sum total of fishing knowledge is to put a worm on a hook and a bobber above it, then throw the worm in the water and drown it. We came back from Killbear park last week and I completely struck out while those around me were pulling in lake trout. They were using jigs, I think they're called.I do have some random jigs, spoons and spinners that came with a generic tackle box "kit"; I threw these into the water too, but no luck.

So later this month we're going on a 3 week camping trip of northern Ontario, staying at Chutes, Pancake Bay, Sleeping Giant, Aaron, Kakabeka, Wakimi, and Grundy Provincial parks. All these parks have access to water.

In the next couple weeks I was hoping to improve my tackle box and knowledge to hopefully try to catch some fish. My kids are getting turned off of fishing because we never catch anything.

I've been doing some reading this week, and it seems the expanse of knowledge required to fish is incredible! It seems the best advice I've read is to go to local bait/tackle shops and ask what works there. I don't want to spend much time at bait/tackle shops while on vacation either though.

I've walked through the fishing aisles at Cabelas and get overwhelmed. So with this in mind, are there 5-10 "staple" lures that I should have? Or any primers they can link to that I can read - something catered towards summertime shore fishing in northern Ontario? Should I stick with worms? I'm willing to put some work into research but I'd rather not make a career out of it too.

If you can't tell, I'm a bit discouraged and would appreciate any advice you all can share.

Wes

[OldTimer]

Hey Wes,

Yes, there is an abundant amount of advice and such out there on what to do, what to buy, and how to do it re fishing.

Here’s my free advice………….. worth every dime spent.

You mentioned children………….. Should they be going on this upcoming adventure – I’d say worms are definitely a great starting strategy……………….. Simple, relatively cheap, and they work. If the kids are quite young – bobbers will save you from so many re-ties after a snag (and $).

In this wow heat spell we’ve been having – fishing at low light times will produce more (morning / evening).

I would advise that (in my experience) “shore fishing” for trout this time of year in our near north may yield amazingly low catches, yet offer endless opportunity to catch up on your reading.

Tip 1 – Lures +Kids = lost lures most often, and profanity lessons. Unless you try top water bass action.

Tip 2 – Try researching the lakes you believe you might fish regarding probable populations of species. The Fish Ontario site………… or the eating guide may help you here. You may have better success in targeting waters where bass, pike or panfish are resident in these summer months.


https://www.lioapplications.lrc.gov.on.c...cale=en-CA

https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-e...tario-fish



My list of basic go-to lures:

Mepps Spinner - #2 Silver
Dardevle spoon ¼ oz classic red/white spoon
4” Floating Rapala (F11) in the blue back colour
Original Rebel Pop-R in bone or perch
4” Black mister twister soft plastic lure – in black or white. Use 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig heads

I’d also suggest your perusing some of the “articles” on this site – they offer sound advice usually.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[Dave Bailey]

If I recall correctly, no live bait of any kind is allowed in Provincial Parks.

[wlemst88]

(07-14-2020 08:11 PM)Dave Bailey Wrote:  If I recall correctly, no live bait of any kind is allowed in Provincial Parks.

I can't find anything that says worms are prohibited. Some parks like Algonquin do prohibit live baitfish, but not worms.

[Dave Bailey]

(07-14-2020 08:24 PM)wlemst88 Wrote:  

(07-14-2020 08:11 PM)Dave Bailey Wrote:  If I recall correctly, no live bait of any kind is allowed in Provincial Parks.

I can't find anything that says worms are prohibited. Some parks like Algonquin do prohibit live baitfish, but not worms.

You may be right.

[OldTimer]

(07-14-2020 10:44 PM)Dave Bailey Wrote:  

(07-14-2020 08:24 PM)wlemst88 Wrote:  

(07-14-2020 08:11 PM)Dave Bailey Wrote:  If I recall correctly, no live bait of any kind is allowed in Provincial Parks.

I can't find anything that says worms are prohibited. Some parks like Algonquin do prohibit live baitfish, but not worms.

You may be right.

Worms are allowed.

From the Algonquin website:

"Worms are permitted as bait in Algonquin Park, but anglers are encouraged to dispose of unused worms in garbage containers (not on the ground) as worms are not native to Algonquin Park and may negatively impact soil communities."

Cheers,

OldTimer

[zippyFX]

Take a look at this resource for fishing algonquin. I posted a couple of years ago.

http://ontarioshorefishing.com/forum/Thr...-Resources

I recently went jiggin for lakers. Generally the lakers will either be at the bottom, the thermocline (where the water temperature changes about 40 ft mid summer), or anywhere in between.

If you are going to the bottom you want some weight (1 - 3 OZ) that will get there fast and allow you to thump to get thier attention. Fishing the thermocline you needs something about 0.5 oz to 1 OZ (spoon, jig, or something else). I got to try this recently at Charleston but the lakers were not active and I got nada, so we fished for Bass instead. I like 4 inch white curly tail grubs.

Gord Pyzer is my favourite fishing professional (next to Old Timer of course) this is what he says:
https://www.outdoorcanada.ca/jigging-for-lakers/

To round out your tackle box it's simple and depends on preference..... You want something that:
(1) sit near the top (bobber for kids and adults, or a floating lure)
(2) Something that goes down about 5 feet. Lure with a lip to skim the top of submerged weedbeds.
(3) Something that can hit the bottom (jig, heavy spoon, deep running lure).
(4) Another general search bait I like is a lipless, crank with a rattle. This will get hung up and lost if you are not careful.

In the end it comes to preference. I am not a lure fan so I favour the jig. The finesse approach works in all conditions. Also favour hook and worm, using the least weight I need to accomplish my goal (anything from a split to shot to a 3 oz piece of lead depending). If they don;t hit the worm chances are they are not hitting anything (unless they are carnivours).

Hope this helps.

[Fossil Fish]

I camped at Chutes a few years ago. There is not much as far as fish in the park itself other than bluntnose minnows, but in the nearby Spanish River, I caught walleye, silver redhorse & channel catfish all with a worm on or near bottom. There are a few spots for shore access if you don't have a boat. If you do, there is a launch in Massey that was never busy when I was there. If your route takes you through nearby Espanola, there are decent spots there specifically for shore fishing.
https://www.espanola.ca/fishing-a-boating