Fishing with Piotr

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“SCROLL OVER THE IMAGES ON THE MAP FOR TIPS AND LOCATIONS TO FISH”

Weeds, weeds, and more weeds! This lake harbours some monster largemouth bass, walleye, and even musky. With it only being an hour drive outside of Toronto this is a favourite hot bed of activity with many shore anglers as well as many boaters. The island in the middle of the lake offers a ton of opportunity for shore fishing and you will always find a spot to cast out no matter how packed it can get. The great thing about shore fishing here is that you really can feel as if you were out in a boat as you can pull in some decent fish just of the banks or around the bridges.

As this lake is covered in weeds it is best to fish it in early spring or in late fall when the cover dies down a bit, but don’t be deterred by this, there is still ample opportunity during the dog days of summer. It may be very weedy but all anglers know that weeds are like the kitchen in your house. They offer cover for many bait fish, crawfish, and insects which the big boys chase after. If you plan on fishing this lake in the middle of summer be sure to find a pocket amongst the weeds and fish it slow with either a spinner bait of a Texas rigged worm. By doing this you put the bait right in the strike zone of the fish and you can expect to land a few monsters here.

Sure largemouth bass and walleye can be caught here but if you’re lucky, patient, and fish here often, you just may land the monster musky you’re looking for. Try following the trolling lines outlined in the map and be sure to fish in and around the two bridges. The deeper waters around these bridges offer a lot of room for big game fish.

For a lake that is so close to Toronto there is no excuse not to get out there and try your luck at catching some monsters.

Fast Facts:

Length: 12km

Width: At its widest 3.5km

Temperature: Can go as high as 25°C in the middle of summer

Depth: A very shallow lake with most areas only 1.5 metres deep

Close Towns: Bolsover and Kirkfield

Amenities: Around the locks you will find washrooms. Along highway 48 there are a few burger joints for a quick snack.

 
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Fishing is something you can do almost anywhere, as long as there is a body of water. As you can see by the map here I have listed 18 places that you can go out and fish at. They are all minutes away from any spot in Toronto and can offer you a great place to spend the day or just to get out for an evening after work. Many of the spots are located in parks where you can bring your family and friends, and have a picnic or just make a day out of it. These are some of the places that I have explored in the past, have seen on tv, or have researched through the Ministry of Natural Resources.

These places are perfect for the first time angler or for kids. They are so close by to almost anywhere in Toronto and you can take a quick drive, public transit, bike, or walk to most of them. I really suggest getting out to one of these areas after a stressful day at work, you will find that all your problems seem to go away and you can clear your head while fishing.

If you know of a good place to do some shore fishing around the Toronto area and would like to share it with me feel free to drop me a line at: fishingwithpiotr@gmail.com

 Take a quick glance at the places I have mapped here, you may recognize a fishing hole right in your own backyard that you never knew was there:

1. Rouge River Marsh

2. Frenchman’s Bay

3. Petticoat Creek

4. Bluffers Park

5. Ashbridge’s Bay

6. Tommy Thompson Park

7. Toronto Islands

8. Humber bay Park

9. Grenadier Pond

10. The Humber River

11. Colonel Samuel Smith Park

12. Norton Place Park

13. Professors lake

14. Milne Park

15. Stouffville Reservoir

16. Mountjoy Pond Park

17. G. Ross Lord Park

18. Wilcox Lake

Two Boat Launches:

1. Frenchman’s Bay

2. Bluffers Park

Perch

Characteristics: Perch can also go by the name Yellow Perch, and for good reason. They have a dark back, almost black, and their sides are a yellowish greenish colour. Along their body they also have vertical black bands. They are related to walleyes yet they are a quite different fish. In some perch their bottom fins have a very distinctive orange colour. If you see any hint of orange on the fins it is a dead give-away that you have landed a perch. They are usually considered pan fish so they do not grow too big. They can range from 6-12 inches and will usually weigh in at a pound or less, with anything over 2 pounds being considered a real trophy perch.

How to handle: Even though they may be a close cousin of the walleye they do not have sharp jagged teeth like them. Like the largemouth bass or smallmouth bass you can easily place your fingers in its mouth to release your hook. When you do catch one they are usually easily handled by grabbing them in the palm of your hand and gently squeezing them so that they don’t jump out while you are freeing your tackle. Make sure that before you grab them you retract their dorsal fin so as to not jab yourself on it. One big tip is to make sure you have pliers standing by in order to remove your hook. These guys are notorious hook swallowers and if you are fishing with a hook and bobber you can expect them to inhale your bait.

Where to find them: These guys are an abundant species and can be found in almost all bodies of water in Ontario. They prefer to hang out on the edges of weeds, but fairly close to an open clear spot where they can quickly swim out and grab a snack then hide back into the weeds. Since they are usually small fish they tend to hide in places where they can make a quick get away from large predators. They can hang around in anywhere from just 1 or 2 feet of water up to 20-25 feet of water once the ice freezes the lake over.

How to catch them: Perch are a relatively easy fish to catch. They are active all day long and can be caught right from morning into the late evening. They are a perfect fish to go after if all you want to do is have some action all day long or want to introduce a child to fishing. The best and easiest way to catch them in simply with a hook and bobber combo. You can simply cast out your line on the end of a dock or from a shore to locate these little fighters. Look for an open spot amongst weeds and just wait for them to come out and go after your bait. Like other pan fish they provide hours of fun and will almost never stop biting. Like rock bass they are not easily spooked by man-made structures such as docks or in and around docked boats. You can also get lucky and catch them using a small spinner or spoon. Once of the best ways to catch them is to go ice fishing. When the summer is gone I can’t wait until the water freezes over and I can land a few of these guys through the ice. With ice fishing they are best caught using a minnow. Usually during this time they have also fattened up so catching them is a lot of fun. On a good day it is not uncommon to catch upwards of 20 of them in once ice fishing trip. Like walleye these guys also make for excellent eating. Usually you can keep a lot of them for eating but again, make sure you check your local regulations as to what size and amount you can keep.

A Live Piotr Perch

Perch

Perch 2

Once you get a spinner-bait you will know exactly why it goes by this name. A spinner-bait has a metal blade shaped like a tear drop or an oval that quickly spins around the bait as you retrieve it through the water. This spinning of the blade created a vibration through the water that is irresistible to fish. The spinning and vibration creates flash and it imitates an injured minnow which tricks the fish into thinking it has an easy snack.

A spinner-bait has 5 basic parts to it. Number one is the head. The head is basically a painted lead weight which allows the bait to be cast and allows it to sink once it hits the water. The heads come in different weights from ½ oz. to 1 oz. They are usually all shaped very similarly and resemble the head of a minnow. The second part to a spinner-bait is the skirt. The skirts in spinner-baits come in all sorts of colours, from chartreuse to white, yellow, pink, purple, basically all the colours of the rainbow and even sometimes they come in mixed colours. However, one suggestion that has proven to give you more strikes with this bait is to get one that has a few of the strands from the skirt in a red colour. The red colour has been proven to catch more fish as it resembles blood, tricking the fishing into thinking that this fish is already quite injured. You will see these red strands on the pictures below. The third part to a spinner-bait is the hook. The hooks in spinner-baits can range in size from a 1/0 size to even as large as a 5/0 size. I will cover hook sizes in another article. Because of the skirt, the bait becomes almost entirely weed-less, making it ideal for casting it into weedy spots to find the big boys. Now for the fourth part, what is called the wire-arm or the safety-pin. This is a small piece of very stiff metal wire that comes out of the head and bends out over the body of the bait. This wire-arm or safety-pin is what attaches the blades to the bait and is also used to attach your line to the bait so that you can actually fish this thing. The fifth and last part of the bait is the blade to which this bait owes its name. A spinner-bait can come with one or two blades and they are usually available in two shapes. As mentioned before it can be either tear drop shaped or oval shaped.

Spinner-bait - diagram

The blades are what attract the fish to the bait but the skirt is really what the fish goes after, this is what the fish thinks is its food. The blades play a crucial role in making the fish aware that there is something in its neighbourhood that may be worth eating. Like the skirt the blades also come in different colours. However, the two most popular colours are gold and silver. Gold blades are excellent in murky water while silver blades are great in clear water. Some spinner-baits come with two blades and often times these can be purchased with one gold blade and one silver. Try getting one with both blade colours as it will prove to be more versatile.

Skirt colours are as varied as the rainbow. Depending on the type of water you are fishing, the colour of it, the depth, whether it is weedy or not etc. you will have to change colours. It is a good idea to have at least 2 to 3 different skirt colours so that you can interchange them if one colour is proving ineffective. But remember try to get spinner-baits that have a few strand of red on the skirt.

One tip to make your spinner-bait even more attractive to the fish is to add a tail on it. This gives the bait a larger profile and adds some more vibrations to it as it swims through the water. In the pictures below you will see that I have added some plastic tails on some of my spinner-baits to add scent to the bait and to play with the contrast in colours.

Spinner baits

Booyah Red Hook Series Spinnerbaits – Single Colorado – Bleeding White Shad Bass instinctively attack injured baitfish first. That fact makes these already hot lures even deadlier because each is equipped with Mustad® ultra-sharp red hooks, special paint accents, and flowing red strands within the silicone skirts. Adapt your retrieve to simulate crippled prey and watch your catch rate soar!Super-soft 50-strand silicone skirts deliver outstanding action on all retrieves.. Booyah® Red Hook Series Spinnerbaits – Single Colorado -

 Fishing a spinner-bait is quite easy once you get the hang of it. Having a medium action rod with a sensitive tip is the best for these baits. The medium action rod will allow you to cast into the weeds without worrying that you will break anything while the sensitive tip will allow you to sense whether or not you are going over weeds or if a fish is attacking your bait. To actually fish this bait it is as simple as casting it out and retrieving it. Well, that is the very simple way to fish it but now here are some tricks to entice the fish to bite.

When you cast it out, a spinner-bait will begin to sink so if you start reeling it as soon as it hits the water it will stay within a foot of the surface. However, you can cast it out, wait for a few seconds, and let it sink to the bottom to try your luck at any drop offs that you may come across. While retrieving it you can pause it, jerk it, or just retrieve it at a steady pace to entice the fish to bite. Play around with these methods to find out what the fish are going after.

A spinner-bait is fantastic for covering a lot of water in a short period of time. It is also a great bait for fishing any weeds that you may come across. Because the skirt covers the hook, it makes this bait almost entirely weed less. You can really cast it into some heavy cover and pull it out with ease.

Spinner-baits are used to catch a variety of fish from smallmouth bass, walleye, the occasional musky or pike, but what these baits are known for is their ability to catch largemouth bass. As you know by now from reading other articles, largemouth bass love to hide in thick weeds, and this bait was made just for that. A few words of caution however. If you are a beginner angler this bait may prove to be a bit frustrating for you as it takes a little while to get used to it. Also you may lose some fish on this bait because of failed hook sets. Usually a fish will hook itself on this bait and then you can set the hook more firmly but sometimes you will feel a pull on the bait and try to set the hook too early. Fish have been known to go after the blades of this bait and since there are no hooks on the blades you will miss your fish. The best bet is to either wait until you really feel the fish on there to set you hook or if you feel a tap on your spinner-bait stop your retrieve and let the lure sink a bit, the fish will think that it has injured the bait some more and will usually come back to gobble it up. If all else fails cast it right back into the spot where you had the bite and see if you can entice the fish to take it again.

Do yourself a favour and go out there and get a few spinner-baits in different colours and different set ups, you won’t be disappointed.

Rock Bass

Characteristics: Rock Bass are close cousins to largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. Like their cousins they are also a brownish green color but they have rows of dark coloured spots. One of their most definitive features is their red eye. They resemble smallmouth bass but are usually quite smaller. They can range in size but are usually anywhere from 6-8inches in size and will usually weigh in under one pound.  

How to handle: Just like the largemouth bass and smallmouth bass they too have no teeth so you can feel quite safe with putting your fingers in its mouth to pull your hook out. Since they are small fish you can usually put your whole hand around them, making sure to push their fins down as your grab them so as to not puncture yourself. Once they are caught they will not put up much a fight and if they are firmly grasped in your hand you need not worry that they will flop around.

Where to find them: Rock bass are some of the most abundant species of fish in North America. They can be found in almost all lakes and slow moving rivers. They prefer to hand out in rock piles, hence their name, and can be found in anywhere from 1’ to 10’ of water. These fish are very abundant and do not seem to be spooked by manmade structures. They can be often found just off shore, in and around docks, bridges, and in weeds. I have even seen them underwater while swimming in some of my local lakes. They are active during early summer to late fall, but will provide the most action in the middle of the summer.

How to catch them: Many anglers consider rocky bass to be a pest. Since they are so abundant and do not make for great eating, when anglers catch them they usually quickly get them off the hook and throw them back into the water. However, if you have never fished before or are looking to take some kids out for a day of fishing, rocky bass are an excellent fish to catch. They are active all day and you do not need to cast out far to catch them. They do not fight too hard so a child can easily reel one in. They eat insects, leeches, worms, and other small fish, but if you wish to simply target rocky bass for fun, a worm and bobber combo are the best option for a full day of catching these little guys.  

Rock Bass

Smallmouth Bass

Characteristics: A smallmouth bass is a close cousin of the largemouth bass. However, unlike the largemouth bass, smallmouth bass are usually a little more brownish greenish in color and they have vertical bands along their sides not a large long black band like the largemouth bass. Again, like the largemouth bass they can range from a pale brownish green to a darker brownish green based on their environment and their food source. One of the best ways to differentiate a smallmouth vs. largemouth is that in a smallmouth the upper jaw will not extend beyond its eye, when its mouth is closed. They can range in size, but a fully grown smallmouth can be anywhere from 10-20 inches long from head to tail and can be 1-6 pounds.

How to handle: Smallmouth bass are a great fighting fish. For their size they are one of the most exciting fish to catch. When they hammer your bait during their feeding season you will know that you have a fighter on your line. As you reel them in they will usually come up to the surface and jump out of the water, making for a very exciting fight. In terms of actually handling them once you get them in the boat or to shore, the can be handled the exact same way as a largemouth bass. They too do not have sharp teeth so you can easily pull your bait/hooks out of their mouth without the need for pliers. Again, be mindful of their fins as they can jab you in the finger. When you do have them in your hand make sure you hold them securely as they will continue their fight even when they are out of the water.

Where to find them: Smallmouth bass may be a close cousin of the largemouth bass, but they live in different waters. They prefer to hang out in deeper waters, streams, and rivers. Usually a rocky or sandy bottom of a lake will yield these little fighters and even sometimes they will seek shelter in amongst the structure of fallen trees. They prefer very clear and clean waters so if you catch one it is usually a good indication that the water you are fishing is very clean. Just like the largemouth bass their season is usually early summer to late fall. Check your local regulations to find out when smallmouth bass season is open in your neck of the woods.

How to catch them: Since they are similar to largemouth bass they will go after similar food sources. However, as they tend to live in deeper water top water lures are not very effective for these guys. The best method to catch them is by using a crank bait, spinner bait, or tubes and jigs that you bounce in and around the bottom of a lake. In recent years many fishermen are using tubes as their go to bait in the Great Lakes region to catch monster smallmouth bass. The reason behind this is due to the invasive species of the goby. Fishermen will usually match a tube that is similar in color and size to a goby and will just jig that off the side of their boat to target the smallmouth bass. This is one instance where the introduction of the goby has seen the native species of the smallmouth boom. Gobies help clean up the water but in doing so they also ingest a lot of pollution and in turn when the smallmouth bass eat them they too ingest this pollution. So it is not necessarily a win win situation for us anglers, but do yourself a favor and definitely get out there and try to land one of these monsters.

Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth Bass #2

Largemouth Bass

Characteristics: A largemouth bass will be a green colour with a horizontal black band stretching though the middle of its body. Depending on what they eat, how deep they live, the colour of the water, and the structure around them, their colour and range from a pale light green to a deep forest green. One of the best ways to differentiate a largemouth bass vs. a smallmouth bass is that in a largemouth the upper jaw will extend beyond its eye, when its mouth is closed. They can range in size, but a fully grown largemouth can be anywhere from 10-22 inches long from head to tail and can be 1-5 pounds. Anything larger then that will for sure be a trophy largemouth and will give you bragging rights for years to come. If you plan on keeping a few for a shore lunch make sure you check your local regulations on the size limit you can keep.

How to handle: I find that largemouth bass are usually pretty tame and for the most part will only put up a bit of a fight. They will attack a bait quite hard, but once hooked you can usually get them to shore or to your boat quite easily. When you land it make sure to watch out for its fins, as with any fish these can be sharp. Unlike many of the large predatory fish, largemouth bass do not have sharp teeth so you need not worry about sticking your fingers inside its mouth to unhook it. If you look at my pictures you will see that I am usually holding it by placing my thumb in its lip. This is by far the best way to handle these fish so as to not hurt them or yourself, but be sure to have a firm grip because if it is still lively it may try to break out of your hold.

Where to find them: Largemouth bass love to hang out in warm water usually where there is some cover or structure for them to hide out in. You will find them around tress, lily pads, and at the mouths of streams. Largemouth bass will live in anywhere from 1’ to 10’ of water for the most part. Quiet bays are a favourite hang- out for largemouth bass. The best time to fish them is starting in early summer to the middle of fall. As long as the water is warm these fish will bite all day long but mornings and evenings is when they are most active. Check when bass season opens up in your neck of the woods and get out there on day one, you won’t regret it.

How to catch them: If you fish around lily pads and other structure there is a variety of baits that the largemouth will go for, and I mean a huge variety. Anything from spinner baits, crank baits, top water lures, frogs, worms, minnows, and even mice. They really are the pigs of the fishing world as they will devour almost anything that moves. Since they are active for a short period of time it makes sense for them to eat anything they can and fatten up for the winter ahead, especially with the long winters we have here in Canada.  

Live Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass #2