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Humber River Dam Fishing


Jet

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I decided to head down to the Humber River today at the Old Mill to show my sister and brother the spectacle of Salmon jumping over the dam. When we get there, indeed the Salmon are jumping and at the top of the dam stands a photographer catching the moment. Just 10 feet from the bottom of the dam on the west side are two fishermen. They're in waders, decked out with fishing vests, a large net and are chucking Cleos with their spinning rods.

 

No sooner did we arrive, one of them snagged into the back of a large Salmon. They fought it to shore, scooped it with the net and celebrated with high 5s. They must of thought it was as successful angling moment.

 

The photographer walks by me and I ask him, "Did you get pictures of those guys illegally fishing?"

"I did but it doesn't matter. You call the MNR and they never come. I see it all the time," he replies.

Unfortunately he is right, I also see it all the time and even if a C.O. arrived after a call they'd be long gone.

 

And long gone is reality because within minutes of landing the fish, the getaway began. The two "fishermen" proceeded to make their exit after their proud high 5s and I decided at the very least to follow and get a picture of their vehicle. They reach their car and I watch from afar as they load their catch into a cooler. Then coming down the path is a Metro Toronto Police officer in his squad car. He is stopped by a witness and pointed in their direction. The cop rolls up on the "fishermen" and is immediately backed up by another officer. As they deny catching the fish at the dam, the photographer walks over and points them out showing the officers he has pictures. Both individuals were fined.

 

I spoke to the officer and he said he was there because they received numerous complaints about people fishing at the dam and because the C.Os only work Monday-Friday he was here to check it out. I went back to the dam to watch some more fish jumping only to see three more guys fishing within 10 meters of the dam. One of them was fighting a snagged fish.

 

Little did they know the cops were already on their way down the trail. Add three more to their tally.

 

I definitely want to give a shout out to the police for coming down there and catching these guys red-handed after people called in to complain. Even though fish may sit at the lower end of the priority list when it comes to crimes to respond to in the city, it just goes to show you that if people make enough noise things can happen.

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love it!

 

a couple weeks ago i was down there at the old mill and saw two guys fishing right at the dam.

both were wading in the water wearing jeans and work boots. naturally their jeans were soaked.

the one was using a spoon with a massive treble hook and what looked like a 4 1/2 foot ultra light rod.

as one salmon was approaching the pool before the dam in the shallow rocky area he went after it looking

as if he was about to lose his mind. the salmon got by as he tried to snag it and he fell in the water.

i then laughed really hard.

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:thumbsup_anim: to Toronto's Finest....

 

 

and what is with the CO's only working Mon-Fri?

 

Most of the Bull is going on during the weekend :angry: when they could be writing up enough tickets to add more officers to the brigade every month....

Edited by splashhopper
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I was at this same Dam yesterday morning, although nobody was fishing illegally. I got into a conversation with an older gentlemen about how the Humber has changed. I told him about how my dad used the fish the same waters 50 years ago as a kid, but now its polluted and such. Further downstream from the dam I saw a guy fishing legit with proper gear and legit method (i.e. not snagging). But I could tell illegal fishing was common there as several signs have been posted urging witnesses to report to MNR ect...

 

Anyway I decided to look into the regs for Humber and check out where is acceptable (how far down/upsteam from dams ect.) but I couldn't find specific details. Maybe Im just missing the proper box or failing miserably at reading but I the whole system confused me. So I bring my question here, as a long time reader but newbie poster, can anyone tell me the exact rules on fishing in this area? I grew up in the community of Weston and only got into salmon/trout fishing recently so having an opportunity to set a few hooks close to home would be awesome, but I certainly don't want to break rules or anything.

 

Any help or direction to where I can find easier to understand regs would be awsome.

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Any help or direction to where I can find easier to understand regs would be awsome.

 

You need to read the intro pages at the start of the regs that apply to all situations and water bodies as well as those for the specific area you're fishing. One of the general regs is that you are not allowed to fish within at least 75 feet downstream of any dam, fishway or any obstacle designed to assist with fish movement. Some dams have even larger sanctuary areas.

Edited by timmeh
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Do CO's call you guys back if you make a report?

 

Because I was at the damn about 2 weeks ago too and called to report some snaggers by the dam during the evening hours.

 

Today, i had a voicemail from a CO lady saying thank you for calling to make a report and if I ever seen illegal fishing that I try to get a license plate number and etc... and said that they are visiting humber river more often than before and such.

 

it's good to get a callback from them. now i feel that everyone should call whether or not authorities will come or not.

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Do CO's call you guys back if you make a report?

 

Because I was at the damn about 2 weeks ago too and called to report some snaggers by the dam during the evening hours.

 

Today, i had a voicemail from a CO lady saying thank you for calling to make a report and if I ever seen illegal fishing that I try to get a license plate number and etc... and said that they are visiting humber river more often than before and such.

 

it's good to get a callback from them. now i feel that everyone should call whether or not authorities will come or not.

 

 

As long as there are only a few C.O.s slower response time will always be a reality, but incidents like this where lots of people call and report regardless of guaranteed action can help them prioritize their time for the best effect. In this case they had got so many calls that Metro Police were forced to respond. That was impressive. Even more impressive was despite the crazy stuff he probably deals with every single day, the officer I spoke to was quite serious about catching these guys. He said people were calling and saying that the same six guys have been down there day after day fishing right under the dam. They won't catch ever culprit but watching two guys interrogated by the police in front of everyone and then sent packing with over $300 in tickets after celebrating their old black Salmon made my day.

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Ive seen cos working weekends plenty of times. Once a few years back the mnr made a mistake, open day for trout on the saugeen.He had his ticket book out and we had our regulations book out, to backing us up on the friday, he couldnt do anything.But in good jesture before he left,we let the fish go.He smilled and left us alone,the next day he waved and treated us as a friend.Keep up the good work cos, some of use fisherman are here to help if needed.cheers and good fishing. V

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  • 3 weeks later...

was at the humber with my girlfriend yesterday for the same reason, to watch the salmon jump the dam... the salmon were there, and of course, so were the snaggers. we were there half an hour maybe, and i think we saw four salmon snagged. it was so shameful to watch, i just had to leave. i would have called the mnr, but i did that this spring when i saw guys snagging steelhead and when i finally did connect to a c.o (after a lengthy wait), he told me "i'm the only guy on right now, and i'm up at simcoe." i asked if i should call the cops, he said they wouldn't do anything except maybe ask the snaggers to leave. good to hear that in this case the police are pitching in--you'd expect them to, wouldn't you, when people are flagrantly breaking the law?

maybe i'll go back today and film a bunch of these guys then make a phone call. someone should be on this.

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