London Shore Fishing Noobie

[Parkournerd]

Hello everyone,

After doing a lot of panfishing with a family friend this summer, I decided that I might want to get my own rod. After a bunch of research, I found that I'll probably want a 7' rod with fast response and a medium-light power. From what I've read that'll be decent for pan fish, but also be suitable for steelhead and trout as well as some Pike once I'm more experienced.

The panfish are close and plentiful, but I don't think they would be enough of a motivation to get my own equipment, seeing that I'm very budget limited at the moment in terms of having money for hobbies. I can spend around $300 this summer and I'm fine with that, but I don't know where to fish these other fish.

I live in London, but don't really want to fish there because I'd rather catch fish to eat as that's a bit more justifiable in my mind than hurting fish then putting them back. Could you wonderful people suggest places within 2h of London where I could shore fish?

Thank you very much .

[tweedwolfscream]

(07-19-2015 06:19 PM)Parkournerd Wrote:  I live in London, but don't really want to fish there because I'd rather catch fish to eat

Why can't you eat fish in London?

Have you looked at the Ministry of the Environment's fish consumption guidelines? http://www.ontario.ca/fishguide
Looks like pike, smallmouth bass and walleye out of your stretch of the Thames are pretty edible.
http://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-en...d=42598114
http://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-en...d=42568118
Less so pike on the main branch upstream of the mouth of the north branch, but smallies are still fine:
http://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-en...d=42598111

[MuskieBait]

Fish are perfectly find to eat in London. My friend lives in London and fish the Thames all the time. He has eaten Walleye, Smallmouth Bass and White Bass from the Thames. No issue at all as long as you stay within the consumption guidelines.

I also just want to say...

I live in Toronto and intentionally drive to London to fish the Thames River. My fishing spots are right within the busiest part of London and they are relatively productive. My friends and I have always done well with Smallmouth Bass, Redhorse species (Golden, Shorthead, Silver), Rockbass, White Bass, Walleye, Freshwater Drum and Channel Catfish. In fact, we had never been skunked while fishing on the Thames. Fanshawe is known to produce Steelhead at certain time of year and there are certainly Common Carp, Walleye, Pike, Yellow Perch and Smallmouth Bass all year round. I don't fish Fanshawe simply because it can get busy and fishing pressure can be significant. But if you put in your time, you will learn to fish it effectively and be able to catch some edible fish.

[Eli]

Some of us drive from very far away to fish the Thames...Such a beautiful stream.
Please note the Thames has some very rare and endangered/special concern species, so always release anything you haven't identified with 100% certainty.

[Parkournerd]

Thank you everyone,

I've just heard about the river's uncleanliness. It's probably also a lot better where I am. Apparently everything is very edible. I didn't know you could get fish consumption guidelines for specific location; will be using that from now on.

I have no idea if the average fisherman cares about giving up locations, but would you mind letting me know where you (MuskieBait) fish in the city? It could be in private if you don't mind a noobie knowing. I always see a van parked up on Highbury and Fanshawe, near a bridge, but I've never went to see them fish.

I never knew people actually came here for the sole purpose of fishing. I saw a news article about London being nominated the urban fishing city, but I didn't believe it lol.

Well, it seems that London does fit my needs, but I'd also like to know about more spots near here. From my research, I've only found the Thames in Woodstock, Pittock Lake, Long Point, and Quince Dam.

[MuskieBait]

I can't speak to my best spot since it was shared with me by my friend who lives in London. There was an agreement that I do not share his spot with others.

I also do generally care about giving away my spots, but what I'm sharing here you can generally find out if you talk to the staff at Angling Sports...so it's not really a big secret. The real secret spot was the one my friend shared with me (which I will keep to myself).

But I have explored other areas in London while I lived there for 4 months over 10 years ago. As I mentioned, you can fish immediately below the dam at Fanshawe. I've caught Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Yellow Perch and Sunfish there, as well as seen BIG Common Carp, heard from credible sources the presence of Walleye and Steelhead and the possibility of Northern Pike. When I fished the area, it was spring and I was looking for Common Carp and fishing for Panfish. The season for Bass, Walleye and Pike was closed so I did not try for those species. The Smallmouth Bass I caught were incidental while fishing worms for Perch and Panfish.

There are several ponds in the Wesminister Ponds and Pond Mills complex that has fish in it. When I was living in London, it was mostly winter so I only had limited experience fishing it through the ice a couple of times. I didn't catch anything, but I was told (by the employees at Angling Sports) that there are Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Sunfish, Black Crappie and Yellow Perch in those ponds. How many and how big I'm not sure...but I've heard stories. I wasn't able to explore those ponds too much because ice was generally thin in that area and I was fishing alone, so I didn't risk fishing too far from shore on thinner ice.

I've checked out part of the Thames south of UWO and closer to downtown. I have caught Common Carp, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, White Bass and Sunfish, and I've seen Redhorse species, Quillback, White Sucker, and even Longnose Gar. My friend also caught Channel Catfish, Freshwater Drum and Walleye.

[Parkournerd]

Thanks a lot MuskieBait. I now have three large areas on my to-fish list: London, Sarnia, and Woodstock.

What were you carp fishing for? I have no idea what it is like to fish anything but white bass, perches, crappies, and bluegills. I always thought carp were slow and unexciting lol. Surprisingly I've never even hooked a sheepshead.

What do you think of this rod? I'm planning to get it to use down in Sarnia as a versatility rod for Steelhead, Walleye, Trout, Pike, and maybe a Musky if I accidentally hook one of those.

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/26274/pflu...gerechelon

This is a link I found for anyone interested in the species listed above:

http://www.lakestclairoutdoors.com/conte...IA!!!!!!!!

[MuskieBait]

Carp fishing can be slow and unexciting at times, but if you hit them on the right day, that is furthest from the truth. I've had days where sightfishing for them results in more than 10 fish hooked. They are extremely intelligent and cautious, making the hunt for them all the more challenging. Perhaps the fishing for slow and unexciting was due the unrefined presentation that Carp can easily spot and avoid, leading to zero bites and no action.

The average size carp I catch are around 10lbs. I don't fish in big fish locations, nor do I put in time to hunt for a big Carp. But every year I would catch a few that are over 20lbs. Even hooking into a smaller 5-8lb Carp on medium gear and 8lb mono, the fish would put on an exciting struggle. Once you catch one, you'll get what all the fuss is about.

The Echelon combo should be good for the species you are after, except you probably wouldn't want to use it for big Pike or Muskie consistently as the rod will not allow you to land a big fish quick enough for a good release. However, saying that, I've used 7' medium action rods for years to catch Chinook Salmon in the creeks up to 25lbs. But it is a very different game when we talk about Pike and Muskie on an open lakeshore vs. Chinook Salmon in a small tributary no more than a couple car lanes in width.

[Parkournerd]

. Then I'll go do that. First I'm probably just going to go Trout/Salmon fishing with my dad and get him hooked first though. I'll post pictures. I see you're very experienced with fishing. Your Life List ... you could easily put all of them into a book. Anyway thanks a lot for the help!