Tag: anglers

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The Right Angle RA-10 Old Mill at night

While the city sleeps

Something that I have always liked about Toronto is how quiet it can be at night.  Sure it stays busy downtown at night on the weekends.  Head a little West, or North of the downtown core.  It can get as quiet as being on a river up North at dusk.  This particular evening I thought I’d give the Humber River a little South of the Old Mill a shot.

I have fished this area quite a few times.  Unless the Salmon are running it isn’t the greatest spot.  I have had some success catching the odd trout there.  That’s what I was fishing for that night.  This was gonna be a new experience for me.  I usually fish in the early morning.  I have never fished this particular spot at night before.  So I really didn’t know what to expect.

I decided to travel light.  I brought my 8ft light flex two piece rod, and spincast Reel with 8lb monofilament.  I only bought 3 lures with me.  A number 3 Blue Fox silver spinner.  A number 2 Panther Martin in the bumble bee colouring.  Lastly a Silver & Blue spoon.

Anyone that’s fished downstream of the Old Mill knows that there are a fair number of potential snags.  I figured that one of three things would happen to signal the end of my night.  There wouldn’t be any action, and I wouldn’t even get a single bite for a few hours.  I would lose all three lures to snags.  I would actually catch a nice sized fish, and satisfyingly call it a night.

I took the TTC subway to Old Mill station and made my way along the path downstream.  There are very few spots with access to the River that are suitable for shore fishing.  Just north of the Toronto Humber Yacht club is one such spot.  It also happens to be my favourite.

You can easily cast to both sides of the River.  I’ve also had some success here before.  Albeit the previously successful visits were in the morning.   I decided to begin my evening of Fishing with the Blue and Silver Spoon.  It ended up being a fantastic choice.  I decided to make my first cast along the near shoreline.  Practically the moment I closed the bail to begin working the lure back in I got a strike!   I didn’t even have to set the hook.  Fish on!  I reeled it in with ease because it was a small 5 inch Trout.  Still if was an indication of the right presentation, at the right time of night.  Then things were looking good.  Well it was a very good example.  Too good in fact.  I spent the next few hours casting, and reeling in fish.  Unfortunately they were all similar to the first one I caught.  Too small to put up a fight.  One thing is for sure.  The Humber River will have a healthy run of Trout for years to come.  I’ve never pulled more than 2 or 3 fish out of this section of the Humber before.  I caught over 6 small Trout in less than 3 hours.

What would have made the night complete was just one fish worth photographing.  Still I’ve had those days where you catch absolutely squat.  So I’m not going to complain.  What I will take away from this is that Fishing the Humber at night is a great idea.  If you live in Toronto, and find yourself with a sleepless night.  Grab a Pole, and head out to the Humber.  You won’t be disappointed.

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The Right Angle RA-9 Wonderful water hazards

Unlikely fishing spots

First of all I stumbled across these locations by total fluke.  If I hadn’t taken up Golf a few years ago. I would never have realized the relatively untapped potential of Fishing the small ponds on Golf courses.  The first time I realized the potential to catch some really decent Bass was during an early Round of Golf with a good friend of mine at Mayfield Golf course.  We were on the 7th Hole of the White course.  While I was preparing to Putt, a greenskeeper rode by with Fishing equipment in his cart.  At first I thought I must be seeing things.  I figured it had to be some strange piece of equipment for course maintenance that I mistook for Fishing gear.  I went back to concentrating on my next Putt, but the image of the Fishing gear was too distracting to hole it.  I ended up two putting for Bogey.  The eighth Hole requires you to hit your Tee shot over a Pond.  After making a really nice Tee shot with my 3 Wood.  I took the long walk around the Pond to find my ball on the Fairway.  From there I could see the same Greenskeeper clearing some debris from the far end of the Pond.  I could see his cart parked off to the side, but it was too far away to get a good look at it’s contents.  I hurried up and took my next shot, which wasn’t a very good one by the way.  I decided to just go pick up my ball, and make my way over to the Greenskeeper.  As I approached I could see that my original suspicions were correct.  He definitely had Fishing gear in his cart.

When I reached him he was almost finished clearing out some plastic from the Ponds edge.  I said good morning as I approached, and he responded in kind.  Immediately he asked if there was something he could help me with.  I told there wasn’t, but that I was interested in why he had Fishing gear in the back of his cart.  He looked a little uncertain of how to answer at first.  Then he just smiled and said watch this.  He proceeded to walk over to his cart.  He opened a tackle box, and pulled out a small jar filled with worms.  He removed one from the jar, and walked back over to the Pond.  He told me to watch closely.  He then threw the worm into the Pond about 6 feet from shore.  I watched it slowly sink to the bottom.  Almost as soon as it touched bottom a Bass swam in and swallowed it completely.  It wasn’t just a little Bass either.  It was easily a two to three pounder.  “Holy shit”! I was shocked.  I never expected to come across any real Game fish in any of these Ponds.  He then told me that in the early morning before the first Tee times.  Him and a couple of the other Greenskeepers fish the Pond for Bass.  They just catch and release them.  They even have a deal that whoever catches the smallest one has to clean the garbage pails at each Hole at the end of the day.  My next question was obvious.  Would it be Ok if I fished the Pond at some point.  He told me if I were willing to show up there at 4:45am I’d be welcome to join them.  I just had to bring my own equipment, and only use barbless hooks.  Done and done!

Turns out that the Pond at Mayfield Golf course isn’t the only one to offer some great Fishing opportunities.  I recently attended a Charity Golf tournament at Granite Ridge Golf course in Milton.  As we were preparing to Tee off on the first Hole.  I noticed that a few of the Tournament organizers had their Fishing equipment with them.  While the rest of us played our 18 holes.  They were going from Pond to Pond catching Bass.  Thankfully I had a pretty good Round that day or I would have been really upset.  I haven’t fished there yet, but it’s definitely on my list of places to try.  Especially after I heard them talking about their afternoon Fishing.  Between the three of them they caught 5 Bass that day.  The majority of their Fishing was in the late morning.  Imagine how well they might have done if they started earlier!

One other place I’ve recently learned about that has quite the Bass population is Glen Eagle in Bolton.  A Friend of mine found out I had taken up Golf.  First opportunity he had he joined me for a Round at Centennial Golf course in Etobicoke.  While we were on the Tee box of one of the Holes with a water hazard.  I mentioned to him that I had come across a couple of courses that had decently sized Bass in the Ponds.  He was surprised I didn’t know about that already.  You see he used to work at Glen Eagle Golf course in Bolton in the summers.  He told me that the Ponds there were full of Bass.  For pure amusement he used to catch leopard frogs, and toss them out to a middle of a Pond.  He was interested in seeing if they could make it back to the shoreline before a Bass ate them.  According to him, more often than not the Frog lost.  I asked him if he knew who to ask if we could fish the Ponds there.  At his next opportunity he’s going to swing by and see if there’s someone there he knows that can get us in.  I really hope it’s a yes.  I’d hate to have to risk getting charged for trespassing.

So if you live near a Golf course, or have one conveniently located for you.  It might be worth stopping in, and asking if they would mind if you tried Fishing their Ponds after hours.  You might stumble across an untapped gem.

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The Right Angle RA-8 Toronto island

Finally the Island is open!

If this was last year.  I would have been over to Toronto island a few times by now.  Unfortunately this year the Spring melt was met with heavy rains.  The islands were completely flooded. It’s taken a lot of money, and a lot of work to make the Islands safe for visitors. Well enough work has been done to finally allow people to visit the Islands.  So my wife and I packed up our gear, and caught the first Ferry over to Wards island.

I was excited for a number of reasons.  First of all if you follow my blog, you will already know that it’s one of my favourite places to fish in Toronto.  Secondly with the Islands having been closed to visitors.  There’s been little to no fishing pressure at some of our favourite spots.  I had a feeling that today was going to be a great day.  I was also very interested in seeing the condition of the Islands after all the flooding.  The evidence of the flooding was everywhere.  Some of the Holes on the Disc Golf course are still underwater.  There are sand bags lining the roadways.  Large areas are still closed off to visitors.  Unfortunately some of my favourite spots were inaccessible.   That really wasn’t a problem though because new locations have been created by the flooding.  I actually saw a small Bass in a shallow pool right beside the roadway.  Our first stop was at a spot we have fished many times before.

St. Andrew’s by the Lake Church on Centre island has a small dock behind it.  There’s enough room for a few people to fish.  My wife and I have always had it all to ourselves whenever we go.  I’ve only seen one other person fish there.  It’s easy to cast Spinners or Spoons along the shoreline from the dock.  You can also have some success jigging off the end of the dock.  I began my day with a #4 Mepps Black Fury from their Pike kit.

We spent about 90 minutes working the shoreline.  I tried a number of different presentations.  Unfortunately though we came up empty.  We continued west along the path to the next spot.

Before you reach the Bridge by the large fountain there’s a mooring point.  You can work the shoreline to the east, cast across the channel, or jig along the mooring side.  I switched to a Shallow Rattler to see if that would get them biting.

After casting for a little under an hour I got my first strike, and it was a monster hit!  I had worked the Rattler under some overhanging trees along the shoreline when the strike happened.  It folded my rod over instantly.  As soon as the moment came it was gone just as fast.  Whatever it was it shook loose after about 10 seconds of fighting.  I didn’t even get to catch a glimpse.  It was enough to raise our spirits, and keep us motivated though.  Took about another 30 minutes before I got my next strike.  This one wasn’t getting away.

This was not the Bass I was looking for.  Still I’ll take something over nothing any day.  Considering that my wife and I had three strikes over the last 30 minutes.  We knew that it was feeding time.  If we we’re hoping to land a trophy fish for the day.  It was going to happen now, or not at all.

I switched back to a Spoon, and passed the Rattler off to my wife.  We took turns working different portions of the channel.  The seconds turned into minutes, and before we knew it.  Another hour had passed, and the sun was high in the sky.  The early morning mosquito layers came off.  Might as well kill two birds with one stone, and tan as well right.  The reality that out Fishing window was closing quickly set in.  Both of us were getting ready to call it a day when finally the beast we we’re hoping to find appeared.  My wife made about a 30 foot cast along the shoreline.  While reeling in she  got caught up in some underwater vegetation.  She was able to jerk the lure free.  She continued reeling it in to clear the hooks, and make another cast.  Just before the lure broke the surface the Largemouth appeared.  Easily an eight pounder, he followed that lure within an arms length from the dock.  That’s as close as we’d get to catching him though.  His nose brushed up against the trailing vegetation, and he turned away, and disappeared.  We continued to cast for a while longer, but to no avail.

Our first trip over to the Toronto islands wasn’t a success, but it wasn’t a complete failure either.  Most importantly we got a glimpse of what’s waiting for us the next time we go.  Every fish you catch makes for a great memory, but it’s the next fish you catch that gets your heart racing.  I can’t wait to go back, and hopefully next time is my time.

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The Right Angle RA-7 Casting

It’s all about the cast

Like the majority of you I began fishing with with a short Rod and $2 Reel.  Somehow my line never got Tangled in that tin cup, and plastic buttoned piece of crap.  There’s something to be said about simplicity there.  I’d cast that thing about 10 feet max.  That’s fine when you are Fishing small ponds, or off a dock.  My only bait those days were the worms I found flipping over rocks in the backyard.  That was the deal I had with my Dad.  Find at least 20 worms, and he would take my brother, and I Fishing.

Most of our little Fishing trips were successful.  It was a truly rare occasion that we didn’t catch anything.  Which only increased our desire to go Fishing more often.  It wasn’t long before I was asking for better equipment for Christmas.  A new Rod, and Reel that would allow me to cast way out to where I was sure the Fish must be.  I would soon learn that my predictions weren’t necessarily correct about that.  I decided on a Spinning Rod & Reel because that’s what I saw the majority of serious Fishermen using locally.  Took me a little practice to get used to it.  Once I had it figured out you couldn’t keep me from Fishing every decent day.

I was still using worms for bait, and having a lot of success with them.  Whenever I fished a popular spot though.  I’d see other people Fishing with lures.  Watching them expertly work a lure across a lilypad, or through some thick reeds to entice a fish to strike.  The urge to try this form of Fishing was just too strong to resist.  So the first chance I got.  I tagged along with my Dad to Canadian Tire, and bought a miniature tackle box plus lures kit.  It included some small Spinners, a couple Spoons, a few Jerkbaits, and of course a selection of rubber worms.

I grew up a short walk from the Credit River so I had the most luck with the Spinners, and Spoons catching Trout.  It was mostly dumb luck.  I’d cast my line to the opposite side of the River, and simply Reel it back in.  My ability to cast to a specific point had become quite impressive.  Most of my friends that fished, and even the local kids that were much older were impressed with my casting ability.  Even though I had this considerable weapon at the ready.  The number of fish I would catch was slowly decreasing.  So what was I to do?  Switch back to worms, and start landing more fish of course.

Fast forward to today, and I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually used live bait.  It’s lures only for me.  Every kind of lure you could think of.  My days of simply casting as far as I could, and reeling it straight back are long gone.  I can create all kinds of action with each lure.  My passion is Shore Fishing, but any Freshwater Fishing is fine by me.  I’ve been to so many places, and cast many a line.  I’ve had some very memorable days where it felt like every other cast got a monster strike.   That moment during a day of Fishing when you figure out which lure is irresistible to your target species.  If you haven’t experienced it yet, it’s crazy.   It feels like the Fish are practically racing each other to strike your lure.

One of the most successful days of fishing I’ve ever had was on Lake Simcoe.  Three of us went really early to a spot we new of.  We had fished there many times before, and always landed a few fish.  I knew it was going to be a great day when I hooked a twelve inch Perch with my third cast.  We were there for almost three hours.  In that time we caught 38 Perch including a couple really large ones.  I personally caught 25 of the 38.  Think about that for a moment.  I was landing an average of 8 fish per hour.  After I caught the first fish I knew I wasn’t going to change my set up for the rest of the day.  I bet you are wondering what the miracle combination was?  It was a 7ft two piece rod, with a Spincast Reel, a hook, and a worm.

So why won’t I fish with worms anymore?  Honestly it feels like cheating.  There’s very little effort involved.  If you cast out a worm, and a fish is close by.  There’s a very good chance that you’ll get a bite.  I treat Fishing like exercise.  If my arms aren’t difficult to lift after a day of Fishing then I didn’t try hard enough.  Enticing a trophy Bass to strike by deftly working a Hula Popper is far more satisfying then waiting for a Fish to swallow a worm.

Everyone enjoys Fishing their own way, for their own reasons.  For me it’s Casting every kind of lure until my arms fall off.  For others it’s Casting out a worm, and sitting on the riverbank while reading a book.  Whichever way you like to do it one thing remains the same for everyone.  It’s always exciting to land that first fish.  I caught 25 that day, but the first one was the most satisfying.

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The Right Angle RA-6 Harbourfront

Fishing Toronto’s Harbourfront

Last Tuesday the weather forecast was calling for clear skies.  My wife and I figured that it was a great opportunity to try our luck down on the Harbourfront.  We packed up our gear Monday night, and got up early Tuesday morning ready to go.  Got on the Blue Night TTC bus heading South, and made our way downtown.

There are a few decent spots to fish along the Harbourfront.  I personally have a couple of favourites though.  We began our day fishing the first of those.  Just West of the Jack Layton ferry terminal is a short little boardwalk that’s normally a docking point for private Water taxis.

It sits just above the water line.  Well it usually does.  With the Lake level so high from Spring rains.  Lake Ontario was making itself felt by spilling over the edge.

This has always been a great spot for jigging just over the edge of the boardwalk.  I’ve caught a nice sized Pike here in the past.  After about an hour of jigging with s few different lures, it was obvious that there weren’t any fish to be had here today.  That’s something you should know about this particular spot.  If you don’t get a bite, or see any fish early.  Pack up your gear and move on.  Predatory fish patrol the Harbourfront, but rarely keep to one area.  So don’t stay anywhere too long if there isn’t any activity.

My next spot is the welcome exception.  Just West of Stadium road near Stadium road Park is a small harbour with a few boat slips.

Sweet spot

The combination of the boats, boat slips, a dock, and underwater vegetation make for a perfect fish habitat.  It’s kind of an out of the way spot as well, so you won’t have to deal with too many distractions.  I absolutely love this spot!  I’ve caught Pike, Bass, and Drum here.   A quick note before I continue.  If you enjoy Carp Fishing, then anywhere along the Harbourfront is fine.  Just find a spot with calm water, and put out a line.  There are Carp all over the place.  I’m not interested in Fishing for Carp.  Still I see so many I’m tempted to begin.  Honestly I could just bring a long net along, and catch one with that.

I wasn’t out that morning looking to land a Carp though.  It didn’t take long before my favourite spot teased me.  A good sized Bass broke the surface by the boat Slips across from the Dock.  I switched to a heavier Spinner to make casting beyond that point easier.  I went with a number 4 Mepps Gold Spinner.

After about thirty minutes of casting I got a strike.  It was a hard strike, and I set the Hook well.  Really well in fact.  I know this because immediately after the Hook set the fish got Tangled around a Slip support post.  What should have been a minute at most to bring it in turned into twenty.  I was tempted to just cut the line a couple of times.  This was the first fish of the day though so I was determined to land it.  Fortunately my perseverance paid off and I was able to bring it in.  Looks like our luck had changed, or had it?

What I had assumed was a good sized Bass turned out to be a small Catfish.  Shit!  You think I’d be happy with at least catching something only a couple hours into our day.  Well I wasn’t, and neither was my wife.  What you don’t know about our previous Fishing trips is that my wife and I have a Catfish jinx.  Sounds like bullshit right?  Well it isn’t.  Whenever one of us catches a Catfish as our first catch of the day.  You can pretty much guarantee that it will be our last catch of the day as well.

Might as well just pack up our gear, and call it a day.  My wife did just that.  Packed up her rod, found a Park bench to relax on, and wait for the morning sun.  We had been out for such a short length of time that I wasn’t ready to give up just yet.  In the end I probably should have.  Not another bite for the rest of the morning.  There is a silver lining to this catfish cloud though.

Fishing downtown definitely has it’s advantages.  You are never too far from bathroom facilities.  Getting there, and back is really easy.  If you are craving a snack, or something to drink you don’t have to walk far.  Today’s advantage though, if you get Catfish jinxed you can just pack up, and find a decent place for breakfast.  We chose the restaurant at St. Lawrence Market, and got a spot on the patio.

All in all it wasn’t the best morning Fishing, but still managed to be a pretty good day.

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The Right Angle RA-4 Toronto Fishing

Fishing in the city of Toronto

Living in the center of the city has its advantages.  I’m a five minute walk from St. Clair station.  I can walk to the Eaton Centre in under an hour.  If you are familiar with Toronto, you’ll know that walking south on Yonge street is practically all downhill.  It makes for a very easy walk.  I have access to fantastic restaurants, galleries, theatres, festivals, and other amazing forms of entertainment.  This is supposed to be a fishing Post though.

Unfortunately the amount of conveniently located fishing spots in Toronto is sorely lacking.  Of course if you go out at just the right time of year.  You can get some pretty decent Salmon fishing in on the Don, or Humber Rivers.  If you like fishing for Carp?  I sure as hell don’t.  But if you do, then take a ferry over to Centre island.  Guaranteed you will catch some great sized Carp.

I’ve fished Grenadier Pond, and landed the odd sunfish.  Sorry I didn’t take a picture.  I recently fished Topham Pond.  All I got to show for it was a small catfish.  I actually have a picture of it.  If you would like to see it just send me a request.  I tried Centennial Park Pond in the west end, and came up empty.  I’ve fished all along the Lakeshore.  Sure I’ve landed the occasional fish.  Nothing worth bragging about mind you.  Sounds pretty hopeless doesn’t it?  I should just pack my gear in a car, and head North like everyone else right.

Well not so fast.

There is a spot accessible by TTC that never seems to disappoint.  The Rouge River mouth is a fantastic spot to fish for a number of species.  You can have a fair amount of success fishing from shore.  I’ve landed a number of very nice trout casting from shore.  I generally access the Rouge River by entering through Rouge Park.  There’s an entrance to the park at the Easternmost end of Lawrence Ave.  I’ve caught everything from Trout, Pike, Crappie, Catfish, and Suckers on the Rouge River.

There are a number of shallows, and weed beds to fish along the river mouth that are accessible by canoe, or inflatable.  If you have access to one.  I would suggest trying it for sure.  You will also be able to access some of the deeper water where trophy Salmon, and Trout can be found in late summer to early fall.

Even though I haven’t had much luck fishing many of the Rivers, and Ponds in Toronto.  I still try fishing each one a couple of times each year.  I don’t have to land a trophy fish every time out.  If I felt that way I’d absolutely hate fishing.  A nice calm day on the river making a few casts is enough for me.  Feeling the first rays of the sun warm my face in the morning is almost as satisfying as that first catch.

The days I’m determined to land something that’s picture worthy.  Those are the days I head out to the Rouge.  She’s never let me down.  So if you feel like fishing, but don’t feel like taking a trip out of the city.  Catch the TTC Blue Night, and head on out to the Rouge.

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The Right Angle RA-3 Fishing Tackle

What every tackle box should have.

Quite a few of the items on this list are overlooked by rookie Anglers.  When filling your tackle box things like additional line, hooks, floats, weights, and lures, are obviously included.  There are quite a few other items that are often forgotten.  In this Post I’ll provide a list of items I don’t go without.

First of all if you intend to use lures, and fish for a variety of species.  I would add a package of quick change leaders to your tackle box.  Being able to quickly switch between different types of lures can be key to landing a trophy fish.  When fishing with friends it allows each of you to try a different presentation.  Then you can quickly switch to whichever lure the fish are striking.

The next item I won’t leave home without having it in my tackle box is Needle nose Pliers.   If you don’t currently have one in your tackle box.  Stop reading for a moment, and go add it in now!  You can thank me later.  If you’ve ever experienced how difficult it can be to unhook a Bass after it’s swallowed your treble hook.  Then you’ll understand the importance of the Needle nose Pliers.

Another important item to include in every tackle box is a textured rubber glove.  Some fish species are particularly difficult to hold.  Having a glove handy that you can slip on is so much easier.  Being able to get a better grip without having to squeeze the fish with additional force is extremely important.  Especially if you intend to catch and release like I do.  Too strong a grip will seriously harm a fish, and in most cases make a successful release unlikely.

Something I currently have in my tackle box that I didn’t include before is barbless hooks.  I won’t fish anywhere new without having a few with me.  I’ve also filed down a few of my favourite lures to make them barbless as well.   Experience has taught me that certain areas only allow barbless hook fishing.  Whether it’s local regulations, or because certain species are spawning.  If you didn’t include barbless hooks in your tackle box, your day is over before it even began.  You don’t want to miss out on a great fishing opportunity because you didn’t have a few hooks.  Trust me, it happened to me once.  I watched a kid land a 2lb Salmon on a section of the Credit River I had planned to fish.  If I had even 1 barbless hook that could have been me.  I’m never going to let that happen again.

The previous items were my absolute must haves.  There are a few other items I’ve added to my tackle box that aren’t absolutely necessary but worthwhile.  I have a small Flashlight because most of my fishing trips begin well before daybreak.  I keep a pair of Scissors in case I lose a leader to a snag or need to add a drop weight.  Cutting the extra bit of line after you tie the knot is much easier with Scissors than my teeth.  The last item I always have is a small package of tissues.  That’s right, if you fish in Canada you will deal with rapidly changing temperatures, and weather conditions.  Tissues come in handy for any number of reasons.  I almost always use at least one.

Add some or all of these items to your tackle box.  It will definitely make your next Fishing trip much easier, and more enjoyable.

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The Right Angle RA-2 Guelph Lake fishing

Would I consider myself a professional Angler?

 HELL NO!

 I don’t enter tournaments, own a boat, or have ever purchased high end equipment.  I would consider myself an enthusiast.  My wife loves fishing almost as much as I do.  She never fished as a kid growing up so she’s still learning.  Every catch she makes is full of excitement for her.  We live in midtown Toronto so we are always looking for decent shore fishing spots in, and around the city.  We have found a few.  I’ll share them with you, along with what we caught in this blog.  Over the summer we take a few day trips out of the city to fish as well.  This year we are adding  Peterborough, Sandbanks provincial Park, the Bay of Quinte, and Minden to our list of places to fish.

Our first drive out of the city this year was up to Guelph Lake.  The Guelph Lake Park and Recreation area doesn’t open until 8:00am so we began our day at a great little spot I know of.  It’s only about 5 minutes from the Guelph Conservation area entrance.

The road 29 marker at the center of the picture is the spot.  The East side of the bridge is the better location but both sides will yield results.  Having a small dingy to get further away from the road is a real advantage for landing some really good sized Bass.  My wife and I just casted spinners and spoons for a couple hours from shore.  There are a lot of snags so precise casting is necessary from the East side.  If you can’t control your casts yet, then there are far more open areas on the West side of the bridge.   We spotted a few decent sized Bass breaking the surface about 30 feet further in from where we were fishing.  I hooked a Bass that immediately got under a downed tree and shook loose.  The time we spent there wasn’t for naught though because my wife landed a Smallmouth Bass.  Just a little guy,  but it was her first Smallmouth so she was thrilled.  We packed up, and headed over to the Guelph Lake Conservation area shortly after that.  It did not disappoint.  There’s a small dock a little ways in toward the island access in the Guelph Lake Conservation area.  We parked there, walked over to the dock and began casting spinners.  My third cast in I hooked a decent sized Largemouth Bass to start my day.  It’s the one pictured at the top of the Post.  My wife had a solid strike just a few minutes later but wasn’t able to set the hook quickly enough, and it got away.  It was about another hour before I landed another similarly sized Largemouth.  Already a good day by our standards.  The real celebration would happen another couple hours later.  Around 1:00pm I had worked my way a little further along the shoreline and found an access point where I could comfortably cast alongside​ the shoreline.  Maybe 25 casts later I got a heavy strike and set the hook well. Fish On!  I’m using an Ugly Stik spinning rod with 8lb test monofilament, and a size 3 Mepps spinner.  By the time I brought the fish within eyesight after working it out of some branches and reeds I realized that it wasn’t another Largemouth Bass. It was a Pike.  Not the largest Pike, or anything worth bragging about, but thrilling all the same.  My whole reason for coming out to Guelph Lake was to hopefully land a Pike.  I didn’t land a single Pike last year.  Not even a strike actually.  I’ve caught Pike in this area before, and there was a lot of talk of decent sized Pike being landed in Guelph Lake recently.  My day was a total success.  The wife was thrilled because she had never seen one caught before.  There’s something about the sleek lines of a Pike that just makes you think it’s a fast capable fighter.  Needless to say that my wife is now hell-bent on landing one herself.  We fished for another couple hours but the Pike was our final catch at Guelph Lake.

We took the 124 to Erin where our favourite little Pizza place is.  Whenever we are anywhere near Erin we will go a little out of our way to buy a Venezia Pizza.  Their signature pizzas are excellent.  There are a lot of great pizza places in Toronto.  What makes Venezia Pizza that much better is the crust.  Thin but not too thin.  Crisp without being brittle.  The taste actually adds that little extra zip whereas most pizza crust is just dull.  We took it to go, and made our way to Belfountain to try our luck at my absolute favourite fishing spot as a kid.

Favourite childhood fishing spot

At the corner of Shaws Creek and River roads there is an access that takes you down to the credit River.  I have never left this spot without landing a fish.  Usually a great spot for Brook Trout, we spotted a school making it’s way upstream.  We were casting Yellow spotted  Panther Martins upstream into the current, and slow retrieving them.  Basically we were allowing the current to carry the lures past the school, and just reeling them fast enough to keep them off the bottom.  Took about 30 minutes of casting but we both landed what I originally assumed was a couple good sized Brook Trout.  It wasn’t until after I posted a picture to the Fishbrain app that I was informed that they were actually Atlantic Salmon.  I was happy when I thought they were Trout.  Realizing that they were actually Atlantic Salmon made it that much better.  I’ve never fished for Salmon.  I was planning on fishing for Salmon later this year. There’s an area on the Don River that very few people fish that they’ve been spotted the last few years.

If you are serious about fishing, and are looking for places to fish.  I would strongly suggest that you download the Fishbrain app.  The community is very active, and like me aren’t afraid to share great fishing spots.