Which small lake at Bruce Peninsula NP should I fish?

[rhymobot]

Hi.

 

I am going up to Tobermory for less than a day on a Friday. I'm arriving probably around 11am. I just quickly want to see the Grotto and maybe take the boat to check out Flower Pot Island and come back to do a little more walking around.

 

I will have maybe 3 hours to fish in my inflatable with trolling motor before I go spend the night in a hotel in Owen Sound. Next day I drive east to the other side of G-Bay to a cottage.

 

I like fishing for largies and pike. But from a little bit of reading it sounds like Cameron or Cyprus (can't remember which one) is not a good place for this. It has smallies, but in my limited time it might not be worth it trying to locate them on this lake.

 

I see there are some smaller lakes in the park, but are they accessible? Is the parking next to the launch? Got a lot of gear for my rig.

 

Any advice on which lake to try for only three hours of fishing would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Edited July 10, 2017 by rhymobot

[Governator]

I've never fished them but have family in Owen Sound.

 

If you're driving from Oakville to Tobermory, boating to Flowerpot, sight seeing, afternoon fishing, driving back to Owen Sound you will sleep well my friend! I think I'm starting to get old lol. Eat your wheaties!

[Old Ironmaker]

If you have a boat why mess with a Toon? Put the boat in Colpoy Bay. I have never, ever said I have only 3 hours to fish unless we were on afternoon shift and then 4 hours absolute minimum. You must be eating something better than Wheaties.

[Rockbasschamp]

I was just there this weekend and spent my time fishing the Crane River. Water is very clear and the lakes are very high water right now. Closer to Owen Sound may be a bit better.

[Acountdeleted]

I've never had success up there. I'm told there are walleye and bass in Cyprus but they only hit sunrise and sunset. Whenever I go up there I avoid the fishing. So many other ways to enjoy.

[rhymobot]

Turns out I'm not going. Maybe Sept. after the busy season. The two main attractions are the boat trip to Flowerpot Island and visiting the Grotto at the park.

 

But they only allow 3 time slots during the day of 4 hours each for 150 cars per slot. And in the summer you can show up at 6am on a first come first serve basis and still get shutout for the day. Even on weekdays.

 

So I'm cancelling for now as I don't want to drive 3.5 hours only to be disappointed.

 

Regarding the lakes, I guess I will pass on Cyprus. There's tonnes of small inland lakes as seen on google maps. I will have to do some more research to decide on which to fish.

 

 

Definitely a lot of nice sights to see up there on that peninsula. The problem is that I don't camp and I don't have the money to stay multiple nights in $140 hotels. If I did I could easily spend a week checking out the Huron and Gbay sides and a short trip to Manitoulin.

 

No doubt it would be tiring cramming so much into one day. But I got my training 1.5 years ago exploring Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico in two weeks. Stayed in decent hotels the whole time. Hence the lack of funds for this trip!

[Acountdeleted]

Yeah. Not camping up there can make it tricky. All the best. Hope you get to go in sept.

[rhymobot]

So I ended up going in mid Sept. I wanted to see the Huron side of Ontario so Thursday I drove to Kincardine, Southhampton, then Sauble. Then I launched on the Sauble river and trolled for a couple hours all the way up to the falls, where I got off and walked around in.

 

Very weedy at this of the year. Didn't get anything but saw tonnes of trout minnows. But that's okay, I do like exploring rivers. When I was at the mouths of rivers in Kincardine and Southampton I so wanted to take a boat up them. I have an attraction to rivers for some reason. They are all different from one another while lakes can pretty much look the same.

 

I decided on a river because when I go to a lake, I want to spend 6 hours. Well my gf wouldn't have any of that.

 

Spent the night in Wiarton and went to Flowerpot and the Grotto the next day. Was nice out and being on a weekday after summer made it way more enjoyable without all the people. Some beautiful sights for sure.

 

After that drove on the Gbay route from Owen Sound to Tiny, which is where the cottage is. Spent the next two nights there. And since I had a rental I decided to drive up the 400 into Muskoka and find somewhere off the beaten path to launch.

 

Gibson river launch just off the 400 was gated off. So went to Go Home Lake instead. Landed three pike. Two on the small side and one decent. Actually hit my wacky rig.