Ontario Shore Fishing Forum

This is my first year out fishing and have little experience so I have decided to shore fish, but unfortunately I don't know of any spots. I'm able to go in a 3 hour radius out from Toronto and would like to fish for large/smallmouth bass or yellow perch, but all species of fish are welcome as long as it's a decent fishing spot. I'd also like somewhere northern where I'm able to relax away from the city.

Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Thank you all in advance.

(07-16-2015 04:06 PM)Blackbeard Wrote: [ -> ]This is my first year out fishing and have little experience so I have decided to shore fish, but unfortunately I don't know of any spots. I'm able to go in a 3 hour radius out from Toronto and would like to fish for large/smallmouth bass or yellow perch, but all species of fish are welcome as long as it's a decent fishing spot. I'd also like somewhere northern where I'm able to relax away from the city.

Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Thank you all in advance.

Half the fun is in the adventure of the search.

http://ontarioshorefishing.com/forum/Thr...ortunities

Lots of spots along the Toronto waterfront are fine for shore fishing for perch and largemouth, as well as pike, sunfish and other species. Look for spots with lots of underwater plant structure and use constructed vertical shorelines to your advantage... often easier to shore fish than gently sloping natural shorelines.

A 3 hour driving radius from Toronto includes much of cottage country and everything, so that's a pretty broad question; talking about "somewhere northern where I'm able to relax away from the city" is even more broad.

(07-22-2015 04:31 PM)tweedwolfscream Wrote: [ -> ]Lots of spots along the Toronto waterfront are fine for shore fishing for perch and largemouth, as well as pike, sunfish and other species. Look for spots with lots of underwater plant structure and use constructed vertical shorelines to your advantage... often easier to shore fish than gently sloping natural shorelines.

A 3 hour driving radius from Toronto includes much of cottage country and everything, so that's a pretty broad question; talking about "somewhere northern where I'm able to relax away from the city" is even more broad.

I basically want to be out somewhere that doesn't feel like I'm near a city. Cottage country sounds great. I was reading that the Nottawasauga river has some great fishing, have you heard anything about this?

A 3 hour radius is huge. That stretches from just on the outskirt of Windsor, over through the northern shore of Lake Erie north to Bruce Peninsula, through Simcoe, Muskoka, Parry Sound, Algonquin, Haliburton, Kawartha, Prince Edward County and into Kingston.

Sounds like a lot of areas? Yes, that certainly is.

There are too many fishing areas within 3 hour radius. There are literally hundreds of lakes and rivers with good fishing within that radius...and we haven't even gone into the US yet within the 3-hour radius.

But yes, I'd HEARD (but not personally fished) the Nottawasaga has good fishing. I've also heard about the hundreds of lakes and rivers within your area that has good fishing.

My suggest is just to pick a location that fits your family's need, read a lot of material on where and how to find fish, and just spend time learning and experimenting.

It is GENERALLY true that as you move away from busy cities, the fishing progressive gets better. HOWEVER, as you get into locations that are popular cottage destinations (which unfortunately these areas are spreading every year), increasing boat traffic and fishing pressure can make even these once great fishing destination quite mediocre.

Sometimes it is worthwhile to go off the beaten path and find your own low-traffic areas instead of going where everyone says it is good.

Yeah I've heard great things about the Notty too, everything from walleye to salmon. And as far as I'm concerned they're all fairy tales, because I've fished that river plenty, and on one occasion had a perch on my line for a couple of seconds before it slipped loose. That was my only clue that there are fish in the river and part of me thinks it was a hallucination. So yeah that's my best example of "going where everyone says it is good". In contrast probably my best hour of fishing ever was on a canoe trip a year ago on a lake that wasn't even supposed to have the species I was catching, and I'd checked a number of sources.

Anyway, aside from being extremely broad your question doesn't hint at what kind of trip you'd be looking for.. day trip or if not what kind of accommodations... and as you probably realize, people don't tend to give up their secret hotspots, especially on an open forum. But if you're headed somewhere more specific you can always ask for advice.

not sure if this is what you were looking for, but fishing the toronto islands can feel like you are far from a big city.

(07-23-2015 08:06 AM)tweedwolfscream Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah I've heard great things about the Notty too, everything from walleye to salmon. And as far as I'm concerned they're all fairy tales, because I've fished that river plenty, and on one occasion had a perch on my line for a couple of seconds before it slipped loose. That was my only clue that there are fish in the river and part of me thinks it was a hallucination. So yeah that's my best example of "going where everyone says it is good". In contrast probably my best hour of fishing ever was on a canoe trip a year ago on a lake that wasn't even supposed to have the species I was catching, and I'd checked a number of sources.

Anyway, aside from being extremely broad your question doesn't hint at what kind of trip you'd be looking for.. day trip or if not what kind of accommodations... and as you probably realize, people don't tend to give up their secret hotspots, especially on an open forum. But if you're headed somewhere more specific you can always ask for advice.

I am looking for a great spot for a family to get out of the city to go fishing. I don't want to "try out" a random spot and waste an entire day and catch nothing. Therefore having my kids turn to not like fishing because of a bad first trip. I am looking for a sure fire spot that a family will enjoy, I'm not asking you guys to give up your hidden holes. I also gave a 3 hour radius to make it easier to come up with a location.

Apparently this forum enjoys giving new people a hard time and not helping out. It explains why it is so empty and has posts from 2 years ago still up on the front page. Thanks for nothing, I hope the 5 of you here enjoy each other.

If you don't think this forum is helpful, go to any other forum and ask "where's a good place to catch perch and bass in southern Ontario" and see if you get anything more useful. We've made some general and specific suggestions and tried to get you to narrow down your question to make it easier to answer. The forum is very helpful in terms of discussing technique, and helping with locational research, but people aren't here to promote and expand the forum by offering up their spots randomly. Sorry, if you're depending on your kids catching fish on their first try so that they don't get a bad impression of fishing, there's really nowhere where that can be guaranteed. Especially if you yourself, as their "guide", aren't very experienced at fishing... and I'd say the same about myself. And the 3 hour radius doesn't tell us much about whether you're looking for a daytrip from Toronto, a cottage rental or camping trip in Shield country, a hotel stay in some town, or what. They all have fish.

(07-23-2015 11:37 AM)Blackbeard Wrote: [ -> ]I am looking for a great spot for a family to get out of the city to go fishing. I don't want to "try out" a random spot and waste an entire day and catch nothing. Therefore having my kids turn to not like fishing because of a bad first trip. I am looking for a sure fire spot that a family will enjoy, I'm not asking you guys to give up your hidden holes. I also gave a 3 hour radius to make it easier to come up with a location.

Apparently this forum enjoys giving new people a hard time and not helping out. It explains why it is so empty and has posts from 2 years ago still up on the front page. Thanks for nothing, I hope the 5 of you here enjoy each other.

Since you are new to this and fishing...

Asking for a sure fire hole IS asking for a hidden hole. What makes a spot "sure fire" is the fact that not many people know about it and fish it. As I've mentioned above, the more people fish a location, the greater the fishing pressure and the worse the fishing will become. Fish are more intelligent than most people give them credit. They will quickly learn to avoid baited hooks, fishing lines and fishing lures, either by refusing to bite, or by staying clear of the area. Add on top of this anglers who keep their catch (even if fish were kept within legal limits), which reduces the number of fish in the area, many of these fishing spots cannot sustain the pressure, thus the fishing turns from "sure fire" to "mediocre" to "not worth your time" very quickly.

Asking for "sure fire" spots publicly doesn't work. Anyone who has fished long enough knows that sharing a "sure fire" spot publicly will greatly accelerate the decline of said spot. How many member are on this forum? How many other people who do not register but can view General Discussion visit the forum each day? The number of people who will be exposed to this "sure fire" information snowballs very, very quickly.

Unless a "sure fire" spot is kept secret, many semi-productive fishing locations within 3 hour radius of Toronto are more of less public knowledge. As such, these area are frequently visited (hence semi-productive) and definitely busy during the summer months. You mentioned you wish you get out of the city and enjoy some fishing. But going to one of these popular fishing locations is really no better than fishing along the Harbourfront or Toronto Islands or even Grenadier Pond. You will certainly experience the same crowds, and I can honestly say the same fishing pressure in many of these places...which makes them no better.

These are reasons why members here are not being straightforward with their suggestions. There really isn't any to suggest. I can easily tell you to fish at Gamebridge on Talbot River, Gores Landing on Rice Lake, Port Perry on Lake Scugog, or Port Maitland on Grand River. They are all semi-productive, but as such extremely busy.

In addition, instead of starting kids of Largemouth/Smallmouth Bass, start them off on Sunfish species, Rockbass and, as you have asked, Yellow Perch. Fast and furious action is what interests kids. Short fishing session also ensures that kids do not get bored (either by no fish biting while trying to something "big", or catching too many panfish and losing interest). Since you didn't mention whether you idea is part of a larger family vacation (which we were trying to ask) or a day trip, driving 3 hours one way to fish a 2-hour session is a bit of a chore. Kids will spend more time in the car than actually fishing.

Instead, take them somewhere where fishing isn't the only focus. As people mentioned above, Toronto Islands is a great place to start kids fishing. It certainly feels like you are away from the city. There are many fish, big and small, to be caught, including many sunfish and rockbass easily available if you look in the right place. There are wading pools, beaches, frisbee golf, Centerville rides, bike rental...etc. Make it a fun day out instead of fishing. That's the number 1 mistake when trying to introduce kids into fishing. It's not always about catching a fish, but the entire experience surrounding the fishing trip.

If you are still looking for areas to fish, the ones I've mentioned above (Gamebridge, Gores Landing, Port Perry and Port Maitland) are areas you can try. But even so, if you don't learn the necessarily techniques to find fish, tie proper fishing rigs and present the bait properly, none of it would matter. I've fished next to entire family of 10 that had fished in the same spot all day and caught absolutely nothing while I pull up fish on my first cast at 2pm in the afternoon. It's not always about the spot...it's often more about how you fish the spot.

BTW, we do enjoy each others' company quite well, because members who remain on the forum are ones that realize discussion about fishing techniques and exploring fishing locations is more important and productive than giving away fishing spots. The old adage...

"Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime."

Unlike other forums, we're here to teach people how to fish, not merely give them fish.