markiemark70

Spent just over an hour tonight at a little storm pond 5 minutes from my house, and caught about 10 LM bass. Had a great time. Even though they are very small (8-12") it is alot of fun and nice to have a small pond near my house where I can go if I only have a bit of time to fish. I tried it first 2 weekends ago and caught a few, including one decent sized one.. Tonight I was either catching fish, or getting a bite everytime I through out my black jig with a yellow twister. Just goes to show me that it's not all about the trophies. That is the best fishing I have had in a while, even though I know there are no lunkers in there. Also noticed lots of swirling near the surface, so pretty sure there is a reasonably healthy Carp population as well. Thinking of targetting those next time. All in all a good night.

I fished that lake as a child, and that is where I caught my first Pike at 12 years old. I would love to fish it again. Dont hear much about that lake. Thanks for the report.

Spent the last 4.5 hours in Bloomingdale at the old quarries, and got totally skunked. Tried every colour Senko in my kit, Gulp minnows, X-Rap, & Jitterbug all to no avail. Im was wacky rigging, texas rigging (with skinhook of course!!), flippin off lilypads & rocks, and not a bite. Got my hopes up around 8 when a local told me about the "secret, off limits" pond that had all the bass in it, but I got skunked there as well. But you know what, I am not complaining, because I got to spend 4 hours fishing, and I know that I tried my best, but sometimes the fish just aint cooperatin'. Peace

Actually no I have not. Is is worth it? What can be caught there? DO you need to rent a boat?

Wow youre good!!. I am not that familiar with GB, but we did launch out of Wiarton, so I assume you are right.

Hi all, I have been posting on this board since at least last season (although not over the winter) and I just realized that I am not sure if I introduced myself. My name is Mark Adams. and I live with my wife and our daughter in Milton. I have come on here and asked many questions and gotten some great advice. Lately I have realized that a lot of people on this board have become real life friends, and I think that is great. I also realize that a community like this is better if everyone participates, so I am going to try to remember to pass along any info that I may have where appropriate. I was introduced to fishing as a child. My stepfather owned a cottage on Lake Muskoka (Packers Bay, near Torrance) and I would fish from the dock from morning to night most weekends from the age of 5. I was happy to catch rock bass (sorry, WGSF!) and the odd smallmouth, as well as tons of perch. After I lost access to that cottage (around age 9 or so) that was pretty much the end of my fishing career, although fishing remained something that I loved to do, I did not have the means to pursue it during my teens and early adulthood. Back then I thought you needed to go 4 hours north to catch fish. I wasn't until I started going on these type of boards that I realized the awesome fishing oppurtunities right in my backyard. Since 2006, I have gotten back into fishing with a vengeance!! (I would not want to add up my BPS receipts!!). I have done some fishing on Sturgeon Lake, Speed River, Grand River, Nith River, 16 Mile Creek, and just about any other place that I had the oppurtunity. I evewn discovered a small local (5 min walk from my house) storm pond that has LM Bass in it last week! Anyway, thanks everyone for sharing your experience(s) with me. THis is a great community. I am going to post a few of my favorite fishing pics below, as well as a p:recent picture of me and my daughter (future fishergirl extrordinaire!!) so you will know what I look like. If anyone sees me out fishing, by all means come say hi!! Here is one of my only time downrigging on GB Here is my favorite pic of all, my wife snapped this one at sundown on Lake Kioshkowki (?) in Algonquin And here is me and my daughter Kayla at Springridge Farm in Milton (my hometown) Happy fishin!!

Nice pics & fish! Thanks

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...nkEnabled=false I am thinking about getting one of these and a trolling motor to fish some small ponds. But my question is, how likely is it that I will puncture it with a hook? Has anyone ever used one? I would love to get a real fishing boat, and my wife & I plan to, but right now we would have nowhere to store it, so this looks like a convenient short term solution. Any thoughts?

Went back to my old favorite spot on the Speed river in Guelph tonight. This spot was where I caught lots of fish in 2006, then got skunked last year, and this year have been trying to branch out and find more spots. So far I have been there twice this year, and caught 1 small bass each time (I usually only go for an hour or so after we put my daughter to bed). Seems to me that the fishing is not as good as it was. I used to be able to catch 2-3 lbers every time in the pond above the dam, but this year have got both my fish below the dam. I really want to get some hip waders now so that I can get in the river and get to those hard to reach spots. Can anyone that knows the place I am talking about tell me if there is still decent fishing in there? I have seen some really good looking spots between the lawn bowling club all the way down to the hwy 6 bridge, but still not stellar fishing so far. The smaller waterfall halfway between the dam and the hwy 6 bridge looks like it would really produce some fish. BTW, sorry for no pics, but I am just getting my old digi setup as a fishing camera. Plus I need to catch something worth taking a pic of!!!

THanks everyone for your replies. Now that I have had a few days to cool off, I must admit that as a property owner myself, I can understand that they may not want people around their boats, and one look around at all the litter on the shoreline and IN the water tells me that not all fisherman and I are like minded, but thats a rant for another day. My beef is really with the city and/or parks dept for not reservice some space on the waterfront for general public use. From what i saw, the ENTIRE waterfront is either private property or no fishing allowed. That just seems unfair to me.

Hey welcome to the board. Hope I can offer some help. I like your story because I can relate to it. Here's what I can offer: 1) I myself am not that discerning when it comes to rods or reels, other than that I like spinning rods. Baitcasters are definitely a skill to master. Not there yet. For line I use braid, and always tie on a mono leader. If i can offer one thing it would be to learn some good knots and use them. Don't use leaders unless you have to (for Pike, Musky, etc) not just because you are too lazy to tie. 2) I really love Senkos for bassin, and an assortment of topwater lures like poppers, jitterbugs, etc. I am getting into Rapalas alot lately, and gravitate towards the more realistic looking colours in order to "Match the Hatch" 3) There are many good to great fishing oppurtunities within less than an hours depending on where exactly you are. Probably the Grand River watershed would be tops in the west side of the GTA. In the East, I would think the Kawarthas would be the best. Lots of places you can rent boats for the day or half day, or even shore fishing oppurtunities. I would really recommend using the search feature on this forum to look for any areas you have scoped out that you are interested in. Generally I try not to overtly ask people for spots to fish, but if you search old posts, you can find some good spots by what people say. Anyway, good luck and welcome again.

Just got back from trying to fish at the mouth of 16 mile creek on the recommendation of a few people on this board. I'm sure I must have gone to the wrong spot because where I was there was nothing but boats and canoe clubs that cut off access to the water, and signs saying "No fishing May 1-November 1". That really sucks! I hate to say it, but it's typical of a place like Oakville. Why the hell would they choose to make the entire waterfront area off limits to the general public! Really annoying. I thought there was an inaliable right to access the water. Guess not. All the snooty yacht people dont want the riff raff near there precious boats. I ended up trying under the second bridge anyway, as there was noone around, and did not get anything. But I walked all up and down the shore on the East side and there is no access that I could find. On the way home I tried to access the river from 2 other spots that I sighted on Google Earth, but they were way down in the valley, and would be very difficult if not impossible to access from the road. Guess I will keep looking, but that scene down there really kinda ticked me off.

Are you sure about that? I am a Cogeco customer in Milton and I have it.

A friend and I are planning to do one of these canoe trips down the Grand the weekend after this one. Of these routes listed here: http://www.heritageriver.com/routes/ which one do you think is the best for Bass and maybe some Pike? Thanks.

Allright, thanks all for the suggestions. I guess part of the issue for me is not knowing where to access the rivers from. I guess for the Credit I could go to Erindale park, no? I tried last year to access it from Streetsville and ended up going through a cemetary I think! But good to know there are 2 votes for Credit. Actually I am much more familiar with it than Bronte, having grown up in 'sauga. As for the leeches, I have kinda sworn off live bait. Just too much hassle needing to source it, and I would put Senkos up against live bait any day. I may give Kelso a try, thanks for the tip. And if anyone wants to PM me access points to the Credit and or 16 Mile creek, I would be eternally grateful. For me I look for places with nearby parking and a <15 min walk to the water.

I was at Bronte on Sunday and 2 young guys came up to me with a fish they caught asking if I knew what it was. I was stumped at the time, but the best I could come up with was White Bass. Now I know!

Just wondering if anyone can save me some time. I enjoy going fishing locally when I can, which is far less often now that I have a 14 month old daughter! So can anyone tell me if Bronte at the mouth near the piers holds any fish worth catching, especially Bass that can be caught from shore? The last couple of years I have been going to the Speed river in Guelph, but that seems to have dried up last summer(?), so I am looking to branch out, and thought I would give Bronte a try. So far I have gone twice, once caught a small Rainbow trout on the Lake side of the breakwalls (west river side), and once got skunked. Any info would be appreciated, especially whether I would be better off finding new spots on the Grand waterway, or going to Bronte (Bronte is 20 minutes from home, Grand is 45 minutes +) Thanks.

You hold rod funny....I must crush you!! I find this picture distrubing on many levels.

Hey fatherof3, nice job. love your reports, one suggestion though, if i may. Just use thier names. oldest boy/youngest boy seems so impersonal!

Well my dilemma is that even though I would like to catch a Muskie, I do not specifically target them, thus I am not prepared to deal with them. I know my friend on Sturgeon has caught a few skies while trolling or jigging for walleye, so I know it is always a possibility on kawartha lakes. At the same time, I am trying to simplify my fishing gear, as I am mostly a shore fisherman. When I say simplify, I mean that I am now at 3 rods and 2 tackle boxes. So adding a whole lot of gear "in case" i happen upon a muskie kinda bums me out. What s the Icouldget away with having. I noticed that someone said hook cutters. Is that so that you can cut the hook and leave it in the fish if neccesary? Is it true that that is sometimes the best thing to do? I have heard that the fish will live with a hook in thier mouth, but not too sure I believe it. A few weeks ago I was fishing some pretty pristine win the Sudbury area. I was trying my new baitcasting combo, and when I cast, my line got tangled around the spool, so my Senko was on the bottom for about 10 seconds. When I went to reel in, there was a 1 lb smallie on there, and i guess because I was not paying attention to the line, he was hooked too deep to remove the hook. Remembering what I had been told by an oldtimer (the hook will just "fall out" one day) I cut the line and let the fish go. Was this right or wrong?

Thanks for that. I just thought of another question I have: Since I will be with a pretty novice fisherman, and I myself have never caught a Muskie, any special gear I will need to handle it? I would rather not need to bring all kinds of extra stuff, but any tips would be great. I always have my pliers, so what would you recommend in terms of getting the fish off with just pliers (without losing a few fingers!)

I am going to a lodge on the north end of Pigeon on Sept, 7 8 9 weekend. oing with the wife and baby as well as another couple, so not strictly fishing, but wifey knows that morning and evening happy hour is fishing time, so I will get some good fishing in for sure. I have fished Sturgeon for the last 2 summers, and have recently been hearing that Pigeon is better esp for Musky. Well I have yet to tangle with one of those, and would love to give it a try. My question for you guys is, if you could have one Musky bait that you would not go out without, what would it be? I have a bucktail, but thats all i know. Also any tips on specific to the lake would be appreciated. Hope to have a good report when I get back.

Thanks!! Hope to have something to report soon!

Can anyone suggest a good shore fishing spot on the Grand? I only know a few spots around Guelph. Not really familiar with Paris or Brantford area and hesitant to venture there without knowing if I can park and walk to a decent spot. If you could tell me where to go and park in Paris, I can find the fishing spots. Any help appreciated.

I thought for sure someone would have suggested the Grand. This place evn provides shuttle services. I think I am going to try it later in the fall. http://www.canoeingthegrand.com/