Ontario Shore Fishing Forum

I had this discussion with Ken (mooskybait) a week ago.

What's your favorite species of fish to catch and why?

It was refreshing to hear that after all the crazy shit he's caught over the years, his favorite is still a true Canadian fish -- the iconic brook trout.

I have not caught anywhere near as many species as Ken so it's a much simpler choice here. The arctic grayling is tops in my books.

Why? Because they are stunning fish that inhabit some pretty stunning places. The way we fish them is simplicity itself; fan cast a #2 aglia spinner over rocky reefs while walking the edges of an island. Combine that with light tackle, water that all but glows turquoise, and sail-finned fish that materialize from between the rocks and ambush the lure mere feet from shore, and you end up with something very special.

There are trout here that top 40lbs. Pike can be taken on muskrat size flies that look like floating beards. Play your cards right and you can catch inconnu until you get board. But it is grayling I want. The red tail that never stops beating. The speckled flanks that take on the colours of submerged Canadian Shield boulders. And most of all, the over-sized dorsal fin.












Whats your favorite species?

As you already mentioned, Eli...

Local

1) Brook Trout (fly fishing)
2) Bowfin (shallow water stalking)
3) Pike (icefishing)
4) Carp (sightfishing)
5) Steelhead (small stream)

Non-local

1) Grayling (fly fishing)
2) Barracuda (topwater)
3) Striped Bass (surf fishing)
4) Queenfish (topwater)
5) Bonefish (sightfishing)

I really do enjoy them all – and each has its place in my books dependant on how, where, and what I’m fishing, or if they are for the table.

For instance – for me – in freshwater – using top water plugs when spinning - or poppers on the fly rod – my favourite is Smallmouth.

But in smaller inland streams – older resident Brown Trout get my vote (it’s more like hunting than fishing)

Super light dry fly fishing = Mooneye. (Endless fun)

Saltwater shallows – for me - would be Barracuda using tubing jigs or top water baits. ( how ‘bout that - we agree MB!)

Surf or Jetty fishing is Snook.

For the table: Saltwater = Pompano……….. Freshwater = Yellow Perch…… Smoked = Sturgeon

But there are many close seconds and thirds…………………. And fourths……. Etc.

**
However – if I had to make the choice of having only one fish remain available to me for the rest of my time here – and considering all styles, hardware, facets, environs, spunkiness, and table qualities……….. I’d pick Smallmouth Bass.

Cheers,

OldTimer

For me it's a tie between Largemouth Bass or Rainbow Trout. I love me some of the finer things like Brooks, and those are ranked highly, but Bows and Bucket mouths take the cake for me.

bass...pike...walleye...musky..in that order....they seem to be the only species i target on the lakes i fish on....my dream fishing trip would be for peacock bass somewhere in the amazon one day.....

Bass, Musky, Walleye in that order only because that's what I have primarily fished for in my short time. I am getting a fly rod soon so I'm going to try out steelhead and carp very soon!

A have only fished actively for two seasons so my experience is much more limited than many here but i am found of the following in the this order:

- Catfish/Bullhead: Their ubiquitous is the Ottawa area has let me try a variety of approaches in a variety of locations
- Musky/Pike: I like the thrill of a bigger fish; they are common in enough in the Ottawa area to be caught but you still have to work at finding them (especially Musky)
- Crappie/Bluegill/Pumpkinseed: They provided a great step back into fishing last spring

This summer I am hoping for Gar, suckers, redhorse, and a sturgeon would be nice incidental catch (as would Ling)

Great topic...

I`ve fished for many species, marine and freshwater, but I always love fishing locally here in Ontario best.. We`re blesses with so many fishing opportunities from warmwater to cold water fish, and even pelagic marine type fishing with the introduction of Salmon..

That being said SMallmouth bass I`d have to say is tops... On the Fly, on spinning tackle, they`re very willing biters and pound for pound the best fighting fish in freshwater. On ultra-light and early spring I love slab crappies for getting the feel back after a long winter of sedentary behavior.

Last couple years though I`ve been getting more into `coarse`fish since landing my first big Carp and Channel Cat last year... I`ll definitely be pursuing such quarry this year even more since I`ve got plenty of experience already with gamefish, pike, bass, trout...

Arctic Graying is still on my wishlist! Especially after Eli`s entry here!

FIshin Envy

My fishing career and species life list are far too short as of yet to set a meaningful ranking, but it's a bit jarring that there's no mention of lake trout yet. To me there's nothing more quintessentially Central Canadian than portaging to some pine-shrouded, rocky-shored Shield lake in the early spring and coaxing these fabled and delicious beasts of the deep to a spoon. Given my experience this past May they'll always be front and centre in my heart.

Now I know, this is a forum about shore fishing (and secondarily ice fishing), and lakers are not normally a shore-targetted species... but on that May trip I caught 2 lakers from shore, so I guess I'm allowed to give them a place on this thread.

(03-19-2014 01:56 PM)tweedwolfscream Wrote: [ -> ]My fishing career and species life list are far too short as of yet to set a meaningful ranking, but it's a bit jarring that there's no mention of lake trout yet. To me there's nothing more quintessentially Central Canadian than portaging to some pine-shrouded, rocky-shored Shield lake in the early spring and coaxing these fabled and delicious beasts of the deep to a spoon. Given my experience this past May they'll always be front and centre in my heart.

Now I know, this is a forum about shore fishing (and secondarily ice fishing), and lakers are not normally a shore-targetted species... but on that May trip I caught 2 lakers from shore, so I guess I'm allowed to give them a place on this thread.

That most definitely fits the bill. I don't think we're focusing on shore species in this thread, anything goes.

What an awesome thread. Like tweedwolfescreem, I haven't experienced enough of it yet to choose a favourite.

It seems my "favourite" varies with whatever I'm fixated on at the moment. So you guys must all know what my current favourite is without me saying anything .

Overall in my experience so far in Ontario, I've had the most fun casting spoons for freshwater drum from my kayak. From shore, it's pier fishing for salmon. Both these experience share with them consistency, reliability, jarring hits, and catching multiple hard-fighting fish in one outing.

For sheer consistent rod-bending action, it's tough to beat the above two mentioned experiences.

edit: my heart is beating quicker just thinking about those drum. For the first time this winter I'm hoping for softwater soon!