So Inviting
I will begin this by saying that there are many places to fish in and around the city. Few are as inviting as Grenadier Pond in High Park though. Easily accessible by car or TTC. There is plenty of free parking available. Restaurants on site in case you are hungry, or in desperate need of a bathroom. Most of all Grenadier Pond has an abundance of fish. With all that to offer you would probably assume that I fish here often, but I don’t. Grenadier Pond does have one thing I’m not very fond of, an abundance of fishermen.
Sharing Space
Something I’ve never quite understood, and I’ve come across it many times in many places, is the attraction to fishing off of a dock or pier. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why you would select that spot. It usually has deeper water, a comfortable place to sit, creates a shaded safe haven of sorts for fish, and is easy to get to. The issue I have isn’t with the actual location. It’s with the number of people that try and share it. What makes anyone think that their bait will be the one selected when a fish happens to swim by. I’ve seen relatively small docks with 20 people fishing from it. The are practically sandwiched together shoulder to shoulder hoping to book the big one of the day. It just seems ludicrous to me! Keep in mind that I don’t use live bait either, and a lot of the people fishing from docks do. I could have the newest lure on the market from Rapala, and it’s still less likely to be as enticing as a live bait. No offence to Rapala, but they are called artificials for a reason. Now as ponds go, Grenadier Pond isn’t a little one. There is a lot of area available to be fished. Due to it’s location in High Park there are some areas that are off limits to fish. Those areas are clearly marked though so they are easy to avoid. Still whenever I go there’s always a large collection of people casting their lines from the one pier of sorts available.
So where to fish?
Like I said Grenadier Pond is quite large. IvI’ found a number of spots that aren’t to difficult to reach by foot that have yielded me some excellent catches. The two best in my opinion are at the southernmost end alongside the Queensway Blvd, and the north end casting from the west bank. Time of day plays a role as well. If you plan on giving the northern tip a try, I would suggest early morning just before sun up. Later in the day the predator fish tend to move south, although you can catch a variety of sunfish all day long. In the evening the southern section of Grenadier Pond yields the best catches. I’ve pulled very nice sized Bass and Crappie in the evening from a spot just off of Ellis Ave. There are a number of easily accessible places to cast all around Grenadier Pond, but it’s always best to pick a location less frequented by tourists. Unless you enjoy constant questions about what you have caught that day, what you are using for bait, and don’t mind being photographed. Now I’m quite photogenic (at least my Mom tells me so) but part of the reason I enjoy fishing so much is the solitude. Fishing is a brief respite from the chaos of the city. It takes a little bit of effort but you can even get a sense of being away from it all if you pick the right spot on Grenadier Pond.
