Lookin' for a new Provincial Park

[Mykester]

Good fishing mandatory! I've been to the following:

 

Mikisew

Halfway Lake

Killbear

Grundy Lake

Bon Echo

Long Point

Oastler Lake

Algonquin Park

 

And visited the close ones. I'd prefer not to have one by a great lake because of our small boat, and it should be around 2-4 hours from Toronto. IMO best fishing had was at Halfway Lake, but it was close to a 5.5 hour drive. Heard of Bonnechere, but from reading previous posts the fishing seems tough. Also the ontarioparks website is updated (much easier to use and looks nice) with a bunch of new parks I've never seen before. Advice please!

[irishfield]

Well if you're scared of tough fishing.. then Martin River PP and Finlayson Point (Temagami) are out...

[redneck666]

ohhhhh, obatanga provincial park is another one! great fishing even that the lakes are around the highway. easy to get in and outta the lakes. nice quiet camp ground. decent sized pike and if you have luck or skill then you can catch a walleye or two (burnfield lake). but there are other good walleye lakes around too! its about a 3 1/2 hour drive from sault ste. marie. i love it there.

 

 

 

JP

[Mykester]

ohhhhh, obatanga provincial park is another one! great fishing even that the lakes are around the highway. easy to get in and outta the lakes. nice quiet camp ground. decent sized pike and if you have luck or skill then you can catch a walleye or two (burnfield lake). but there are other good walleye lakes around too! its about a 3 1/2 hour drive from sault ste. marie. i love it there.

 

 

 

JP

 

I'd suppose any PP 1,000 km north of Toronto has great fishing, but I'm more concerned with the 2-4 hour range. Halfway Lake PP was just like the way Obatanga sounded, lake beside lake right beside the highway!

[redneck666]

but does it offer a natural bush silencer from the highway noise?

[MuskyGreenHorn]

Do you have a family or are you going just to fish?

[fish_fishburn]

Driftwood PP in Rolphton Ontario is a nice little park with great facilities on the Ottawa River the fishing is really good for nice smallmouth,pike and good numbers of walleye.

[jjcanoe]

Rondeau has some big bass and pike in the bay and I can manage with my 14'er

[trevy727]

French river all the way. Big bass, pike, musky and walleye

[Musky or Specks]

Massassauga Boat to camping. Fishing is great

[torco]

Whats your set up? How remote can you go? I like the French River and Algonquin is a big park so you could always go to a different area. A non-operating park like Nagonosh has excellent fishing.

[asdve23rveavwa]

Good fishing mandatory! I've been to the following:

 

Mikisew

Halfway Lake

Killbear

Grundy Lake

Bon Echo

Long Point

Oastler Lake

Algonquin Park

 

IMO best fishing had was at Halfway Lake, but it was close to a 5.5 hour drive. Heard of Bonnechere, but from reading previous posts the fishing seems tough. Also the ontarioparks website is updated (much easier to use and looks nice) with a bunch of new parks I've never seen before. Advice please!

Interesting that your best fishing was at Halfway, went there about ten years ago, and only caught little grass pike...but, have caught some beauty bass at Grundy. I've heard that Silent Lake is good, but that could have changed recently as well.

[jediangler]

Try Emily PP near Omemee. It's on Pigeon river just south of Pigeon lake with good fishing for largemouth, walleye and musky.

 

http://www.ontarioparks.com/ENGLISH/emil.html

Edited February 3, 2010 by jediangler

[brifishrgy]

have caught some beauty bass at Grundy.

 

 

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[dheitzner]

Restoule is a really nice park: When I went it was less of a fishing trip than it was a camping trip with the wife, but we rented a canoe, didn't fish hard at all and still got a few in the boat. Caught some decent shmallies in there and have heard of some large esox coming out of there as well.

Concrete boat launch, 3.5hours from the city, some good hiking trails around that park as well.

Darcy

Edited February 3, 2010 by darcyheitzner

[asdve23rveavwa]

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

LOL...by beauty I meant they had nice colours!

[bow slayer]

I will second Restoule about 3 hours for you. Quiet park. great fishing(walleye,bass,musky,lakers,whitefish,pike) the camp ground is one of the best for large private sites on the water although they are hard to book.I have been going there for 23 years now.There are several back lakes in the area as well.Good hiking trails,lots of water to boat on only 45 minutes to North Bay.The village has a beer store,general store,Legion,marina,and a restaurant.

[CLofchik]

A non-operating park like Nagonosh has excellent fishing.

 

A little tough to get a boat & motor into most non-operating parks. Hell just finding access to Queen Elizabeth PP for a canoe is a PITA now that there's no overnight parking on Head Lk.

 

...but, have caught some beauty bass at Grundy.

 

I always wondered why people concentrate on PP's and not use the extensive tracts of Crown Land around (or atleast for something other than to tear up with ATV's). Grundy is probably the best example, go five minutes down the road and you've got a Gov't launch & dock and 20 miles of the Pickeral River to camp & fish, most is Crown Land and tons better smallie & pickeral fishing.

 

For a S.Ont PP Massauga is probably the best for mostly sheltered camping with good fishing. But it's busy in summer and I don't like sticking to a reserved campsite itinerary.

[Mykester]

Thanks for the info guys. Restoule sounds pretty good, probably book a site there. Still many sites are available for the end of june and early july.

 

@Musky: Yeah, going with my family, so a nice beach and some hiking trails would be nice.

 

@fish: Sounds like a great spot, although a little farther than I was looking for. Definitely looks like a great spot for fishing though, I've seen guys pull out huge pike on that river.

 

@jj: Rondeau, I checked it out on google maps, is the inner bay fishable with a smallboat/from shore?

 

@trevy: Yeah French is awesome, but is there a beach to swim at?

 

@frankie: Here's a tip, the Lake that's connected to Halfway is LOADED with bass.

 

@musky or specs: That a PP?

 

@torco: The driving distance mentioned is preferable. We have a 12 ft inflatable with a 6HP engine, and the regular 6 ft 6 inch fishing rods for bass/pike.

 

And given that I've never hooked into a walleye or whitefish or laker, Restoule seems like a given!

[smitter]

I'll also vote for Restoule. It is a great campground and really not that far from Toronto, good variety of sportfish, nice campground and fairly private sites.

[Mykester]

I always wondered why people concentrate on PP's and not use the extensive tracts of Crown Land around (or atleast for something other than to tear up with ATV's).

 

Well, in my case I just got my G2 last month so I couldn't really do any exploring of my own. But yeah, the week before we go to Restoule will be spent scouring google maps for some nearby fishing opportunities.

[nofish4me]

Check out Balsam Lake PP, been there a couple of times camping and in their cottage.

The cottage is off by itself and get a campsite close to the water.

Oh ya, fishing was great from what I saw and from talking to, more hard core than me, fishermen. I caught fish, but no keepers, unlike everyone else that was there.

Edited February 3, 2010 by nofish4me

[jjcanoe]

@jj: Rondeau, I checked it out on google maps, is the inner bay fishable with a smallboat/from shore?

 

 

about 6km of beach, and the inner bay has a boat launch, and a fishing pier. The inner bay can get quite weedy later in the summer.

 

jjcanoe

[yakpiker]

I fished Restoule over a dozen days last year and caught one pike, one musky, and some smallmouth bass. It has been a very tough lake for me to fish...even using minnows and worms at times. Friends have a cottage there which is what takes me back time after time. It's a beautiful lake and a nice campground, but I don't think I'd go there for the fishing.

[Musky or Specks]

Thanks for the info guys. Restoule sounds pretty good, probably book a site there. Still many sites are available for the end of june and early july.

 

@Musky: Yeah, going with my family, so a nice beach and some hiking trails would be nice.

 

@fish: Sounds like a great spot, although a little farther than I was looking for. Definitely looks like a great spot for fishing though, I've seen guys pull out huge pike on that river.

 

@jj: Rondeau, I checked it out on google maps, is the inner bay fishable with a smallboat/from shore?

 

@trevy: Yeah French is awesome, but is there a beach to swim at?

 

@frankie: Here's a tip, the Lake that's connected to Halfway is LOADED with bass.

 

@musky or specs: That a PP?

 

@torco: The driving distance mentioned is preferable. We have a 12 ft inflatable with a 6HP engine, and the regular 6 ft 6 inch fishing rods for bass/pike.

 

And given that I've never hooked into a walleye or whitefish or laker, Restoule seems like a given!

Sure is more water than you could ever hope to fish Most of the campsites have great private beaches. Ony about 2 hrs from TO straight up 400. My favourite area is Port Rawson Bay although on a long weekend it can get crowded as its a overnighting area for big cruisers.