Beach fishing

[RayH]

New to the forum. Hello!

I'm planning on taking my kids to a beach but would like a spot where we can also catch some fish. Looking for bass, perch, anything that wants to bite.

Any tips on beaches in around Huron areas? I'm in KW would drive about 2hrs.

Thanks!

[OldTimer]

(06-21-2016 03:28 PM)RayH Wrote:  New to the forum. Hello!

I'm planning on taking my kids to a beach but would like a spot where we can also catch some fish. Looking for bass, perch, anything that wants to bite.

Any tips on beaches in around Huron areas? I'm in KW would drive about 2hrs.

Thanks!

Hi Ray,

Unlike saltwater - all nicer Ontario swimming/sand beaches that youngsters might enjoy are not highly rated for their catches of any species.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[tweedwolfscream]

I can think of a couple of beaches on southern Georgian Bay where folks do some surf fishing for staging steelhead in the early spring. But that's not super compatible with a family day at the beach, given the season it's done in, the long-shot patience it involves and the way it's done. As OT says there isn't much good surf fishing on the Great Lakes besides that.

But there are certainly Great Lakes beaches that have good fishing spots nearby. Look for beaches that are next to river mouths and research the river. Well-known beaches like Wasaga and Sandbanks would fit that criterion. Maybe Sauble too though I don't know much about the fish there.

Alternately, does this have to be a big drive to a Great Lakes beach? Because local conservation areas like Conestogo Lake, Guelph Lake and Belwood Lake all have beaches as well as warmwater fisheries.

[MuskieBait]

Beaches in Ontario, in general, do not provide the the habitat and food source that would attract larger fish species. Unlike oceanic beaches, where the beach is rich in shellfish, crustaceans and other invertebrates, the freshwater beach has little to offer predators.

The beaches that Tweed mentioned above are found near spawning streams where the Steelhead stage. They do not associate with these areas at any other time of the year aside from the spawning run.

[tweedwolfscream]

Well, the Nottawasaga has something of a resident warm-water fishery, and I know of a good spot or two for bass and panfish at Sandbanks (a bit out of the OP's driving range though). Sauble might just be migratory salmonids.