Curious in NWO

[Blue Lk]

I get it guys,as was stated in a post.

"why leave fish to find fish?'

Was just something I was curious about.

[akaShag]

You need to fish backlakes like mainville, or a bunch of lakes Im not naming on here lol.

 

Go with locals knowledge and now lodges.

I was SUPPOSED to fish with a guy from Emo, but then he had to work so I booked time at a lodge...........

 

and then that guy's work schedule got changed AGAIN and I could have been fishing with him!!!!

 

"Work is the curse of the drinking class."

 

Doug

[manitoubass2]

I get it guys,as was stated in a post.

"why leave fish to find fish?'

Was just something I was curious about.

Its all just joking around at this point bud.

 

But the concensus seems to be the drive.

[Old Ironmaker]

Like brickeygetter said that drive is about the same as going to Florida. 7 hours shorter is Myrtle Beach and its "all you can eat" Calabash for less than 15 $ CDN, kids eat for free usually. Unless the entire family hunts and fishes one is more likely to drive south where everyone can enjoy it.

[wormdunker]

All good points guys! We have monster walleye, bass, muskie & rainbows right in Erie no matter which side of the lake you fish on. Oh did I mention we also have 15" perch! We are on the north shore of Erie near cities such as Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Port Maitland & Nanticoke. On the south shore Erieau, Leamington & Colchester are all great walleye factories also rainbows & jumbo perch. A bonus if you travel to Fort Frances you'll have a top notch guide with Manitoubass. Buy a round or 2 of beers at the Emo Inn & you'll have a knowledgeable guide for the day. 1 snag however, is when travelling through the small town of Emo & Rick says turn right at the Shell station to get to his house -forget it!! LOL! There is no Shell station! I'll leave it at that??

[Ron]

I have a question for my fellow angles from southern Ont.

Every fishing season we see hundreds of American anglers come into the area to enjoy the great fishing & beautiful scenery we have in the area.

We see people from as far away as California,Texas,Arizona,Florida and all states in between,but very few from southern Ont.

Is it the distance,cost or other factors?

 

With as many lakes as I have to fish in Southern ONT, I have trophy sized fish of each and every species in my back yard and plentiful at that. I don't have to drive more than 3 hours to fish them. It's not only NWO that has great populations of fish.

Within 3 hrs of driving, I can catch:

16" Crappie

15" Perch

34" Walleye

56" Muskie

48" Pike

50" Long nose Gar

6lb Small mouth bass

5lb Large mouth bass

30lb Chinook Salmon

20lb Rainbow trout

30lb Lake Trout

15lb Brown Trout

28lb Carp

 

The only species I can not catch big locally is Brook trout in the open water. For that, I have to drive 4 1/2 hours. I don't get charged American funds to do this either.

[akaShag]

back to Ron...............any hints as to where a person might find those first two?

Doug

[pics]

22 hours is a bit too much for me.. 14 to jellico and you are in a great area to fish and hunt.. Not so much for moose anymore but lots of grouse. The lakes have pressure but if you go off the beaten track you can find fly in quality fishing. Our last moose trip cost less than $350 each for 13 days because we stay in a trailer in the bush. We know of at least 4 groups from the Binbrook /Hamilton area who travel to the same places to hunt and fish. We head into town every 4-5 days to get more food from the freezer or have a shower at a house one of the groups own...

[scuro2]

Many southern lardarses won't go beyond the Sudbury Northbay line. Just too "far" a drive. I on the other hand won't look for a spot south of that line. I'm sure there are some great places but I'd rather be in the north proper. Americans on the other hand don't consider a drive too far until you hit the 24 hour mark. I once came upon an American with three small children sitting at the side of the road, I thought I'd offer assistance. His children needed to be fed...he'd only driven 18 hrs and was disappointed with his time. They are so hardcore that way.

I've got my eye set on the big lakes of the NW and that will happen with retirement where you have the time to drive and fish. It's a time thing...the NW really requires some time and that isn't always possible with work and family.

In the past when I looked at flying, BC wasn't much more then Winnipeg and it's a little more exotic...or if you are flying to Winnipeg it's hard not to get tempted going into northern Manitoba.

Edited January 28, 2017 by scuro2

[craigdritchie]

For me, northwest Ontario has good fishing for a lot of things, but it really doesn't have the best fishing for anything. By the time I look at travel costs to NW Ontario, the reality is that Saskatchewan or Manitoba isn't much more and both of those have far better fishing for pike, walleye and lakers.

 

For everything else, I find I catch bigger fish here in the south.

 

150 walleyed a day is fun, but when they're all the same cookie cutter 15 inch fish, it gets dull fast.

[manitoubass2]

LOTWs bro.

 

But thats totally fine. I now realize its much better the southerners stay south.

 

The rare few that do come, I look forward to meeting you and sharing some adventures!!!!

 

Hopefully Chris Brock will come one day. I know we'de have an epic adventure!

 

Wormdunker hurry up and make plans brotha!!! When ya visit this time, its time for some hardcore fishing!!!

[kickingfrog]

Northwestern Ontario really needs some of you to start writing their tourist adverts.

[manitoubass2]

Northwestern Ontario really needs some of you to start writing their tourist adverts.

Lol. Its not serious Rob. Just ribbing.

 

Ontario is full of great fishing and we all know that.

Edited January 29, 2017 by manitoubass2

[Old Ironmaker]

Doug aka Shag, I have caught a 18" crappie and more than a few 14.75" yellows here on Erie. I just can't get that 15" perch though. Others have. When you get a big perch like that you would swear it was a Walleye at first glance. My pal we call The "Crappy" hunter lost it when I caught that Crappie. 1st time ever targeting them. Just after ice out around dock piers, no boat. There were still piles of snow in the marina parking lot. No way to get into that marina now, even with a boat it's all locked up. The marina does not own the water. It is totally illegal to put cables across the opening. I don't know if they have since removed them. If you PM me I will tell you where the crappie were then, the perch can be anywhere. It's hide and seek.

Edited January 29, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[ch312]

I love heading north and being on lakes where it seems you're the only soul on the lake, but those trips are few and far between when you throw the time and money (cost of trip + lost wages) into the equation. In the end, it's just not worth heading far north very often.

 

Erie alone can keep a fisherman happy with it's amazing fishery. After dozens of trips I have not caught a single walleye under 16" with the average being 24-28" and charters reporting 4-5 man limits of these 24"+ fish before noon is a regular occurrence. Then there's the perch where bringing home limits of jumbo's form the main lake is almost expected. Pike? My best outing was 20+ fish by 11am with many missed and lost fish. You can easily go all day on the tribs without seeing a single angler while targeting steelhead.

 

You can hit Ontario where trolling the shallows in the spring results in brown after fat slob brown smashing the cranks. Then it's salmon and rainbow time where catching a dozen or two before noon is common practice. Sore arms are to be expected while trolling this great lake.

 

Then there's the Grand River for the smallie and channel cat fans. Catching dozens of smallies up to 3-4lbs each outing is easily doable if you know where to go and the huge cats with good numbers will keep you coming back for more.

 

 

 

All within 1 hour of my house. Why spend hundreds of dollars a day to fish when I can spend $10-40?

Edited January 29, 2017 by ch312

[MJIG]

Erie alone can keep a fisherman happy with it's amazing fishery. After dozens of trips I have not caught a single walleye under 16" with the average being 24-28"

 

Isn't that a bit worrisome from a "healthy, sustainable lake fishery" perspective? I would have thought that the presence of young, undersized fish would be needed for the future. Or, is it just that the younger fish hang out in different parts of the lake than the larger fish?

[OhioFisherman]

 

Isn't that a bit worrisome from a "healthy, sustainable lake fishery" perspective? I would have thought that the presence of young, undersized fish would be needed for the future. Or, is it just that the younger fish hang out in different parts of the lake than the larger fish?

 

It has been a long time since I have fished, and even longer for intentionally fishing for Walleye on Lake Erie, but catching very small Walleye usually didn't happen, even when Perch fishing. 2-4 pounds was an average size and it could double that at times easily.

 

I think the smaller ones stay away from the bigger ones, some areas are known for producing 8# plus fish depending on the season. On Lake Erie the success of the spawn seems to be the main factor in maintaining a " sustainable fishery ".

[dave524]

 

Isn't that a bit worrisome from a "healthy, sustainable lake fishery" perspective? I would have thought that the presence of young, undersized fish would be needed for the future. Or, is it just that the younger fish hang out in different parts of the lake than the larger fish?

 

I have got smaller pickeral in the evening trolling at a few near shore locations. The larger fish of the offshore fishery seem to be comprised of one maybe 2 age classes. Erie seems to have a really strong reproductive year every 3 years or so and those fish drive the fishery until the next strong age class comes along, not an ideal situation but seems to be working for the last 30 years.

[manitoubass2]

OI ya gonna put me up and guide me for a week on erie this summer?

[ch312]

 

Isn't that a bit worrisome from a "healthy, sustainable lake fishery" perspective? I would have thought that the presence of young, undersized fish would be needed for the future. Or, is it just that the younger fish hang out in different parts of the lake than the larger fish?

 

It seems many smaller fish are caught in the west end while here in the central basin they're mostly the big fish migrating west to east. I've caught maybe 5 fish under 20" while trolling in the 45-60' range with the biggest being 32". I prefer the smaller fish for eating and as odd as it may sound, it's sometimes disappointing bringing in big fish after big fish. Erie is a trophy walleye factory.

[ch312]

OI ya gonna put me up and guide me for a week on erie this summer?

 

I'll take you out on a weekend if you'd like. After your arms are sore we'll head back in to shallower water and have some fun with the perch, pike and smallies. Maybe even head over to Lake O for some trout and salmon. It makes for an awesome day hitting one lake for the morning and the other for the afternoon.

 

Then you'd realize why many people from the southern end of the province don't feel the need to head north to fish....

Edited January 31, 2017 by ch312

[scuro2]

Yeah...but I'm from the south and when you fish the big lakes and a lot of the other water on the south end of the province it only reminds you of what nature should be like. The water is never as it should be...these waters have become an environment that has adapted to mankind.

 

There still is a thrill to be on a lake where the influence of man is next to nil.

Edited February 3, 2017 by scuro2

[manitoubass2]

Yeah...but I'm from the south and when you fish the big lakes and a lot of the other water on the south end of the province it only reminds you of what nature should be like. The water is never as it should be...these waters have become an environment that has adapted to mankind.

 

There still is a thrill to be on a lake where the influence of man is next to nil.

Exactly!

 

There is some hypocrisy going on on this board.

 

I read about boat launch etiquette, complaints of waterfront owners, blown out spots etc.

 

Part of the appeal of NWO is these things literally don't exist.

 

Untapped nature and beautiful country all around.

 

I'd love to fish Erie etc but man it's sounds like a drag in most posts on here.

[ch312]

Exactly!

 

There is some hypocrisy going on on this board.

 

I read about boat launch etiquette, complaints of waterfront owners, blown out spots etc.

 

Part of the appeal of NWO is these things literally don't exist.

 

Untapped nature and beautiful country all around.

 

I'd love to fish Erie etc but man it's sounds like a drag in most posts on here.

 

 

Exactly!

 

There is some hypocrisy going on on this board.

 

I read about boat launch etiquette, complaints of waterfront owners, blown out spots etc.

 

Part of the appeal of NWO is these things literally don't exist.

 

Untapped nature and beautiful country all around.

 

I'd love to fish Erie etc but man it's sounds like a drag in most posts on here.

 

You're getting the wrong impression. I can't recall how many times I have launched or loaded up without a soul in sight. Heck, it's a bit unnerving heading out on Erie some days as you're the only boat on the water for miles. As for problems with waterfront owners and blown out spots, 9 times out of 10 that's a direct result of the person complaining about it bringing it upon themselves.

 

 

Obviously the landscape is much nicer in Northern Ontario, there is no disputing that. However, don't bet the farm that fishing is better up there

[manitoubass2]

 

 

 

You're getting the wrong impression. I can't recall how many times I have launched or loaded up without a soul in sight. Heck, it's a bit unnerving heading out on Erie some days as you're the only boat on the water for miles. As for problems with waterfront owners and blown out spots, 9 times out of 10 that's a direct result of the person complaining about it bringing it upon themselves.

 

 

Obviously the landscape is much nicer in Northern Ontario, there is no disputing that. However, don't bet the farm that fishing is better up there

Fishing is good everywhere lol