Teenage Noob wants to catch fish but can't catch anything!!

[YUMMYAPPLE]

First of all, hi everybody!

 

I'm a 16-year-old living in Hamilton, ON right now and I want to fish. I have never fished seriously in my life but I have been fishing for several years. I mostly catch easy fish like perch, carp, catfish and panfish.

 

I have the following questions:

 

1) It's very hard catch anything except round gobies in Hamilton Harbour! What do I do?

 

2) I have a $10 spincast fishing set from Wal-Mart which includes a hooks, fake baits, pre-threaded line, a 4.5' rod, and some small weights. Thoughts of this?

 

3) Any good fishing spots near Hamilton Mountain?

 

4) Should I eat the panfish I catch. I know that technically, fish from hamilton harbour is safe in limited amounts, but if you were me, Would you eat small fish from Hamilton Harbour??

 

Any help is much appreciated!

 

Thanks all!

[Musky or Specks]

You need to get better equipment for a start. But the best suggestion I can make to you is join a local angling group(not sure whats in Hamilton) . They might be able to get you started in the right direction.

[Tarzan's Jane]

Welcome to the board YummyApple...I'm sure you not only will find loads of help and suggestions here, but new fishing buddies too.

[Clampet]

I got a feeling you may have to make a day trip into Toronto, and meet up with one of the several dudes who take the ferry to the Toronto Islands to fish fer Pike.

[Victor]

As "Musky or Specks" said, you might want to invest in some better equipment, not that your $10 combo won't catch fish but it's just much easier to start and easier to handle when you hook in a bigger fish. I'd say a combo in the $30-50 range wouldn't be too bad.

 

Hamilton is a pretty good area for carp fishing, almost anywhere you can drop a line into Lake Ontario probably has them. I have also seen reports of others catching pike, bass, panfish, catfish and more. Do up a search here on OFC.

 

Personally I wouldn't eat anything coming out of the Hammy.

 

Good luck!

[YUMMYAPPLE]

I know that this $10 wont get the job done.

 

Just that I HATE line tangles and think of this as my "disposable rod"

 

I have several other rods/reels but I broke them

[Garry2Rs]

Perch up to 14 inches from Hamilton Harbour are safe to eat up to four times a month. So are Bass up to 18 inches, Pike, small Carp and Suckers, if you like. As far a s fishing spots go, you can fish almost anywhere around the Bay and catch something...

There are trout in several ponds out at the Christie Conservation area. Valen's has Bass when the season opens...

There's not much water on the mountain, that's close to the city, but Binbrook Conservation Area is fairly close.

The Grand River is a little farther. At Caledonia there's lots of different species. Ask at the bait store what's running and what bait to use. Passed Caledonia there are the ponds at Waterford.

To the south, there is Dunnville...fishing at the dam is good for Channel Cats, Walleye, and Sheepshead (Fresh Water Drum). There's also Steelhead there at some times of year.

 

You will want better equipment. WalMart and CTC have low priced stuff that will give you good service until you can afford the really good-stuff.

 

For baits you will want to seek out people who know what their talking about...If you can get to Fishing World down on Barton Street the guys there are very knowledgeable. With most baits it's not just what you use, but how you use it. For instance, Senko, Zoom, and Yum type plastic worms catch thousands of Bass, but you need the right hooks, and you need to know how to hook them correctly. Jigs also catch lots of fish...but again, you need to know the how, when, where, and why.

Don't be afraid to ask questions!

 

There are several Hammytown people on this board who I'm sure will help you.

Good Luck

Garry2R's

[Rich]

Go into Bill's Bait & Tackle on Upper James Street. Greg is a great guy, talk it over with him and simply ask for some advice on equipment and fishing spots. He'll send ya in the right direction and set you up with something better. The kind of help you can't get from a big box store like Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire.

 

(No I'm not affiliated with Bill's Bait & Tackle but he has helped me out on many occasions)