timmeh

It probably depends on the size of the river you fish in. I spend a fair bit of time fishing the Grand and so a 7ft rod really helps keep line out of the current as singingdog mentioned. It also allows for further casting, which is neccessary in larger rivers. But in a smaller river these 2 issues might not be problems for you. Personally I use a 7ft medium light rod and it works great for wading for bass or trout.

Hello, Sometime in August I will be taking off for a weekend and I'm looking to stay at one of the many provincial parks in the Parry Sound - Huntsville area. I'm considering the following parks: Arrowhead, Mikisew, Restoule, or Grundy Lake. I will not have a boat so any fishing I do will be from shore. Also I some of these parks rent canoes, however I'm not very experienced in fishing from canoes and neither are the people going with me so that is probably out, although I may try. So does anyone know how the shore fishing opportunities are in these parks? Any info is appreciated. Thanks. Tim

Not looking for a specific location but where was the fish caught? Was it in Ontario?

Not only is water clarity important I use a leader depending on the presentation I'm using. If I'm using soft plastics or a finese presentation like this I use a leader. However for faster presentations such as spinnerbaits and trolling I sometimes don't use a leader if the water is murky. In clear water I almost always use a leader. It's not that hard to quickly tie on leaders once you learn.

I really don't know for sure if the 5" have that much more action. I'm relatively new to senko fishing myself and this is just my thinking, and I may be wrong. I have some 4" too and have caught fish on them so I'm sure you'll be fine.

I personally usually use 5" for bass. I think they have more action when rigged wacky compared a smaller 3-4".

Personally I think a part of the reasoning is for the reason Rich mentioned. Even if you plan to catch and release everything that's really no good if half the fish are hooked badly and die an hour later. Also I think it does prevent people from being really stupid. For example if you can use multiple rods I could fish a pool in the Grand River with 10 rods set up with live bait and prevent anyone else from fishing "my spot". And this may sound stupid to some people but I'm sure if you were allowed to do this some people certainly would take advantage of it. Many times I've seen guys bring their entire families with all their kids and put a rod out for everyone of them while the kids run around 100 feet away. I've seen this before and there's not a lot you can do since the kids don't need a fishing license. Limiting you to one rod allows more people to fish an area and keeps people from taking up a huge area of space. This may not seem relevant to those who fish in boats, but for shore fisherman they know what I mean.

I would agree that starting a petition would at the very least start to get others informed of the issue and that's always the first step. The more people you can get on your side the louder you voice will be. However don't expect much to change quickly. But sending a letter to the MNR would not hurt anything. They've already released the issue with walleye in L Erie and have changed regs throughout Ontario so it's not impossible that in the future a change could come about.

I also believe this is illegal, though I'm not totally sure what actions I would have taken. Judging his personality simply by what you've said I would suspect if you tried to say anything to him he would have at least blown you off if not gotten confrontational. So in most circumstances I would let the lodge owner know what's going on and let him deal with it. If he wants to protect his fishery he'll make a call. However given the issues at the camp you may have made the right call by not bringing the owners in. So really I don't know, it sounds like it was a difficult situation. Unfortunately some people seem to feel it's their job to keep as many fish as possible, and that makes them better that the rest. I would have been ticked off too. But if something like that were to happen around the local spots that I consistently fish I would not hesitate to take action.

I'm just finishing up a masters degree in aquatic biology so I've spent a few years in school. A lot of people talk about what you will and won't learn in the classroom at university, college or wherever. But you also learn a lot of other very important skills while in school especially if you're just leaving high school. First off living away from home is a great experience if you learn to manage your time and money properly and generally learn to be a little more responsible if you're smart. You probably didn't need to think about that at all in high school. Wherever you go to school they'll , likely have programs that help you learn to write resumes, how to handle yourself in job interviews etc. You'll get a lot more out of school that simply what you do in the classroom. Not to mention all the good times. Going to school also gives you a lot of freedom to spend time doing things you enjoy. You're only young once, so enjoy it. This can be very useful in helping figure out what you want to do. I know everyone tells you do something you like but if you're like me and a lot of young people you're not exactly sure what you'd like to do right out of high school. But finally don't let other people tell you what you'd like to do because they can't answer that question for you. Don't sign up for something just because you think you can make good money doing it. And don't worry if you're not completely sure about you're future right now, you have plenty of time to figure it out.

The koi virus idea is certainly a good possibility. My personal opinion would not be that someone intentionally tried to kill carp but if anyone released any pet fish into a local river that had the virus it could spread easily. So if anyone had a koi pond they wanted they wanted to get rid of and had nothing else to do with the fish, there you go. I don't know much about the virus but certain water conditions likely make it more dangerous to fish. It could slow down in cold water in winter and re-emerge when the water warms. As far as the spread to inland lakes I would agree with it being transported around by anglers, boats, etc. The same way zebra mussels spread. What interests me is why some lakes seem more susceptible than others. I was up at sparrow lake last week and there were very few dead fish despite the fact it's connected and very close to simcoe and couch. It must have something to do with water temperature or something like that.

Seems very unlikely the government would have anything to do with this. Introducing a virus or poison or whatever into lakes and rivers is way too risking to remove carp. Too many things could go wrong, other species start to die, and such. It's a nice conspiracy theory but nothing else. Not all fish are affected by the same toxins and pathogens as others, many are simply just carriers. For example west nile virus can kills blue jays and crows but most other birds are not effected. The same thing is occuring here as whatever is killing carp is not apparently hurting other fish. It may have something to due with their diet. Also keep in mind they are not native to Ontario and so are certainly more susceptible to local viruses and such that native fish have developed immunity to.

Personally i do not believe they become conditioned to certain lures. The reason you match the hatch is that they instinctively search out certain foods, and if you can match that your odds are better. Fish instinctively know what food looks like and behaves like. So for example if you use a tube to imitate a crayfish but present it wrong (in a way a crayfish would not act) that fish will instinctively know that somethings not right. But if the next person presents the bait in a more natural way that fish will hit. I suspect the reason that fish appear more finicky on pressured lakes are due to a combination of factors. 1. there may be fewer fish in high pressure lakes, so of course you'll get fewer fish there. 2. heavy fishing pressure also creates negative stimuli that makes fish wary, like high boat traffic. So no matter what lure you use if boats and jetskis are tearing up the water fishing will be tough. As mentioned before when a trout senses your presence, it's very tough to catch. In high pressure areas fish certainly sense something unnatural is occuring It may not be your lure that looks unnatural to them, it may simply be your presence or that of the other hundred boats on the lake. I've caught fish with hooks in their mouths, i've had fish that have got off only to turn around and re-hit the lure a second time. If they don't remember that quickly I would think it's unlikely they remember over being caught over time. Like Dan said fish can't really select what they want to eat, they make instant decisions. Tim

This past winter I caught 2 pike while bottom bouncing worms for trout, which I thought was quite unusual. The really strange part was that I landed both of them even though I had a 4lb fluro leader on.

Are you completely stuck on renting a cottage? If not consider camping instead. There are plenty of provincial parks and private parks around that are on lakes with decent fishing. There are plenty of options and most will have openings during the week. A quick search of the internet will get you started.

it's about 7km

I believe there are several different populations of walleye that can be found in the Lower Grand. Some of them reside in the river permanently. However there are other populations that move into the river, and make it as far up as caledonia. I know there are several different genetic strains in the Lake and I believe the river fish are different as well. As far as eating them, I don't know if you can tell just by looking at it whether the fish is from the river or been in the lake. I would follow the guildlines for the lower grand for any fish you catch in there.

Bass are not in season yet so you shouldn't go looking for smallmouth for another week. If you're looking for browns the upper Grand is a decent spot. However most of it is a no kill zone, barbless hooks, no organic bait, etc. so you'll need to consider that.

I've always heard that hooks will fall out on their own, but obviously that's not always the case. Good job on saving the fish (hopefully) But one point I'd like to make about fish not eating when they have a hook in their mouth. Clearly since you caught this fish, it certainly was trying to feed and likely had been doing so since it was hooked. Whether or not it was actually able to eat anything because of the lure stuck in it's mouth is another question that we'll never really know. I've caught fish before with hooks in them, so clearly it doesn't always stop a fish from feeding. However I do agree that taking precautions such as using leaders and strong knots are beneficial for both fish and fisherman. I guess I'll continue to release fish with hooks deep in them. I don't really like doing this, but if I'm not going to keep the fish, I'd rather give it a chance to survive. Just my 2 cents. Interesting topic. Tim

It was a great game. The Oranje look pretty unstoppable right now. 7 goals vs italy and france!

I don't even fish the Grand river on weekends this time of year anymore because the crap that you'll see is disgusting. If you fish anywhere near a dam you'll see far too many people catching bass, and many targeting them. Of course they release them, but only after they're bleeding from being hooked deep and out of the water for 5 minutes to take pictures. Now I've certainly caught out of season bass before when targeting pike or steelhead. But when this happens I'll move to another spot or switch presentations. I've even left spots entirely because I thought I was catching out of season fish. But sometimes it makes me wonder why because as soon as I leave some lurker jumps in and takes my spot even though they've seen what's happening. Now I know that many other people are in the same boat as I am and that they're not intentionally doing this so I'm not slamming everyone who's caught oos fish. But the sad part is that I honestly believe most people are just ignorant. They don't even realize they're doing anything wrong. It's nice to see that other people are upset about this too.

I agree, small fish are around but I haven't had much luck catching anything of decent size. I've tried a variety of techniques but still all little guys. But that doesn't mean the big guys aren't around.

Basically the advice you've been given is solid the only thing I have to add is to be patient especially if this is your first time with this type of fishing. Sometimes trout can be finicky. Also were pants and long sleeves or the bugs will devour you in the bush. The other thing you should be prepared for is lots of private property, so be careful where you go, as some land owners really don't like fisherman. Finding spots requires a little searching.

I fish the area often with spinning gear. There are a lot of restrictions on the river but don't let that discourage you, you can still get some fish. Small spinners work quite well. I'm not 100% sure about gulp bait but I do not believe it's considered organic. I'm pretty sure that organic bait mean live bait and although Berkley claims it's better that live bait I don't think that counts. Tim

Sometimes it's nice to get out alone, kind of peaceful if no one else is around, but it really depends on the fishing i'm doing. And some of my regular fishing buddies are relatively inexperienced so they really like to keep things simple which is okay sometimes. It's nice to help out friends sometimes but at other times it can be easier to work alone. I also do most of my fishing in rivers near home so I don't have high costs that others do, so fishing alone is not cost prohibitive. BUT it's always nice to have witnesses when you pull in those trophies! Tim