Ontario Stay-at-Home Order - can we go fishing, or not?

[Terry]

The fact is there are no travel restrictions and someone in Toronto is not going to be able to snowmobile in Toronto so to do a legal and stayed activity they must drive out of the city . Of course my region is southern Ontario so I can find a place in my region to snowmobile 

[John]

My view on do's and don'ts is a little different. Everyone is looking for loopholes to carry on with their regular lives. We have a Federal government that tells us to stay home yet allows plane load after plane load to arrive at our airports simply telling those on board that they must self isolate? If those who choose to fly are that self entitled what makes us think that they will voluntarily quarantine? Since Jan 1 thirty (30) planes arrived in Canada with passengers that had Covid-19.  We have a Provincial government that rather than doing what they should have done many months ago played the political two step and look where that has got us, a proverbial poop show! They now have declared a state of emergency with regulations that are unenforceable.

It's a fact that Covid-19 does not get on a plane or in a car or on a snow machine. It needs a carrier, WE are the carrier. It did not enter nursing homes to infect our loved ones by osmosis, WE took it in getting infected elsewhere in the community. Let's be honest with ourselves, unless you get tested constantly, most of us have no idea if we are an asymptomatic carrier spreading Covid-19 wherever we go.

It appears as though based on the current level of vaccination it will be a year before everyone is vaccinated. 

I guess STAY HOME is the one thing that WE can all do to help the cause. If WE don't move around it can't!

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by John

[Terry]

I as of last March I have been in contact with two other people other then the people In my household 

I have not been to any gatherings, weddings or anything  we get our food and other things delivered or curbside pick up

i have not been to a job  or a tackle store and all this even when there was no lock down   I have been to a gas station I wipe things down pay at the pump buy in bulk for my toys and wipe must down when done     I am one of the most careful people

in Ontario  but I go fishing when I want and that is not a loophole it’s legal  if you don’t feel comfortable doing it don’t  

But don’t try to make me feel bad doing it

hell it’s been almost a year without fishing with a friend in my boat atv or skidoo 

[jonasdry]

I think the intent of all of this is isolation. If people can participate in activities that are not "group" activities, it's reasonable to do so.

For me to hop in my vehicle and go solo ice fishing, or even have a buddy get in their vehicle and the two of us walk out (obviously reasonably separated) we are isolating as much as we are in our homes while being able to get out.

I don't think a lot of this stuff has to do with self entitlement more as it has to do with whether we can safely participate in these activities to minimize the risk of transmission.

[DanD]

16 hours ago, passthepitonspete said:

So you may get stopped or a ticket on a whim. 

 

16 hours ago, passthepitonspete said:

They are saying that they have to have some type of probable cause to stop you. And that they can't and won't stop you to ask you where you were going and why.

It only takes a cop 30 seconds or less to run a license plate, to find out who the vehicle is registered to and the address of the owner. So I'm on my way to Nipissing. I'm on Hwy 11 and a cop decides to run my plate. OK know he knows I'm from London and I have a passenger in the truck. He now also has probable cause to ask covid questions. The first would likely be; do you two live at the same address.

Yup I'm getting ticketed.

Dan. 

[AKRISONER]

i think people are reading way too far into this...and the hilarity of that, is the ones the most concerned about the rules are typically people that follow the rules anyways. Just like a padlock....it keeps an honest man out. 

If you havent realized by now that you shouldnt be getting together with a group of buddies and all driving up north in a truck to go ice fishing together, then YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM

 

This is the thing about covid...you are always at the mercy of your weakest link. In Ontario currently (luckily!) It hasnt got as bad as it is in the united states (yet) and the reason for that is the general concensous is that yes...this thing is dangerous...yes we should be wearing masks sanitizing our hands and washing them frequently...yes we should by hyper aware of who we come in contact with and the reason for all of this is because the large concensous is that we as a country have agreed that we should be doing everything reasonable to combat this thing.

What gets scary is that in the United States, the disease is so rampant that its literally impossible to avoid. I have been hearing stories about people that much like Terry have been compromised by a simple a trip to the pharmacy even after taking every precaution they could. Thats a level that I really hope we never get to. 

The point in this stay at home measure is to maybe get some of us to clue in to the fact that even though a guy like me, gets to work from home, and I take every single precaution I can, that if Im going to go ice fishing, I most definitely need to be doing it on my own...or at absolute worst if a friend is on they lake...im still fishing alone but that friend may be nearby cutting his own holes, landing his own fish in his own tent.

If you havent figured that out yet then you probably never will. You will be at the mercy of the law and being harassed by law enforcement/MNR.

Drive to your fishing hole, obey the road rules, travel alone, fish alone, catch a lot of fish, keep some for dinner..drive home alone, pay at the pump, santize your hands immediately without touching anything in your truck, dont go to the tackle store, stay sober...enjoy your day fishing. You arent going to have a single problem in your day except maybe getting bit of a time or two by a pikes teeth. Tight lines!

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by AKRISONER

[passthepitonspete]

3 hours ago, DanD said:

It only takes a cop 30 seconds or less to run a license plate, to find out who the vehicle is registered to and the address of the owner. So I'm on my way to Nipissing. I'm on Hwy 11 and a cop decides to run my plate. OK know he knows I'm from London and I have a passenger in the truck. He now also has probable cause to ask covid questions. The first would likely be; do you two live at the same address.

Dan, absolutely this cannot happen. Read the directive to the Toronto police that I have linked and copied above.  They are not allowed to stop you to enforce the stay-at-home order, nor do they want to. And if you were stopped, you don't have to answer those questions. Only the driver has to provide a license and registration. They have plenty of other things to do than try to enforce a stay-at-home order. They can and will stop you for any other traffic infraction, or for having a taillight out, and you can bet your ass they will.  So ... drive carefully, and don't get stopped. 

As an observation yesterday, I was out going to my dad's place - caring for a vulnerable senior - and the roads were busy. I did not see any appreciable reduction in traffic after the stay-at-home order had begun! I didn't see any people being stopped by cops, either. 

If I get covid, it's going to be at a grocery store. That seems like the high risk place. It ain't gonna be out ice fishing or ice climbing in the middle of Bumf*ck, Ontario.  

By the way, I'm as clean as clean can be. I just got back from a climbing and caving trip to Yosemite and Mexico, served my 14-day quarantine, and got my negative covid test. 

[akaShag]

20 hours ago, passthepitonspete said:

I just got back from a climbing and caving trip to Yosemite and Mexico

This caught me by surprise (after reading all of the posts above....🙄)  I had understood that a Canadian could not travel to the USA except for work reasons, like long-haul truckers bringing back fresh produce from the sunny south. I take it, one could still hop on a plane to the USA for whatever reason, and self-isolate upon one's return?  Not that I have any desire whatsoever to go down there while this s***storm is going on, just curious.....

Doug

[grimsbylander]

So if I rent a motorHOME I can go wherever I like. Nice! 😁

Its my belief that law enforcement is looking for some basic common sense and they are leaving this fairly ambiguous on purpose. So when in doubt, don’t.
I would not hesitate to drive North, alone, with a truck loaded with ice fishing gear. It’s impossible to legislate every possible scenario involving travel purposes so they throw out the scare and hope most people just err on the side of caution and stay home. Imho of course. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by grimsbylander

[passthepitonspete]

Quote

"I take it, one could still hop on a plane to the USA for whatever reason, and self-isolate upon one's return?  Not that I have any desire whatsoever to go down there while this s***storm is going on, just curious.....

Correct. This has always been the case.  There are no quarantine requirements upon entering the states, at least when I went in September through November. But now they are requiring a negative covid test within 72 hours of getting on the plane, same as Hosers coming home, eh? 

 

47 minutes ago, grimsbylander said:

It’s impossible to legislate every possible scenario involving travel purposes so they throw out the scare and hope most people just err on the side of caution and stay home.

It's very strange. There are no legal travel restrictions in Ontario. They can't stop you to check stay-at-home compliance, so don't get stopped for any other reason. Go fishing, out on the ice or on the water away from everyone else, wear a mask, etc etc.  

I was out on the road the last two days - Thursday and Friday - and I observed no appreciable reduction in traffic compared to before the stay-at-home order! Plenty of folks out and about, picking up stuff in parking lots, buying groceries and beer, and driving to get exercise. Fishing is great exercise. 

[RickOnt]

 

 

 

 

UPDATE: After 2 days of liaising with many levels of government, and our local business owners, I am confident to share the following: -Ice hut operators are permitted to rent huts if, and when there is ice. The restrictions from the Province, and Durham Region Health, are as follows: -Ice fishing huts can be rented for day use only

-The ice fishing hut must only be used by members of the same household.

-Transportation to an ice fishing hut must be limited to members of the same household.

-There should be no congregating of groups from different households outside the ice fishing hut.

-Masks/face coverings must be worn while being transported to the ice fishing hut and while outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained. Questions can be directed to the Durham Region Health Department.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by RickOnt
Delete

[passthepitonspete]

19 minutes ago, RickOnt said:

UPDATE

Thanks for the update, Rick.  Since you copied and pasted from a webpage, all the HTML coding got stuck in there, making you post above hard to read. Here is a tip so you can edit your post: 

1. Highlight just the text you want to copy, which is the stuff at the top
2. Either right click and select copy, or hit ctrl + c to copy the text. 
3. Delete everything in the post. 

Now, here's the trick: 

4. When you have an empty reply box, right click on it, and instead of hitting "paste" or ctrl + V to paste, instead hit "paste as plain text" or ctrl + shift + V.
5. Voila! Plain text only, without all the other stuff.
6.  There is no sixth thing. 
7. Shut up and fish. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by passthepitonspete

[Crimsongulf]

On 1/16/2021 at 9:01 AM, akaShag said:

This caught me by surprise (after reading all of the posts above....🙄)  I had understood that a Canadian could not travel to the USA except for work reasons, like long-haul truckers bringing back fresh produce from the sunny south. I take it, one could still hop on a plane to the USA for whatever reason, and self-isolate upon one's return?  Not that I have any desire whatsoever to go down there while this s***storm is going on, just curious.....

Doug

We have friends from Belleville that are at their snowbird nest in Clearwater, Florida now and have been since 12/28.  The border crossings are not a real issue if you have your ducks in a row.

The wife and I crossed into Canada twice in 2020 and stayed a total of 5 weeks.  We simply quarantined both times.  It honestly wasn't a big deal.

For food and supplies we used instacart a few times. 

[SirCranksalot]

Ya, OK, but the ice fishing in Florida stinks!!

[akaShag]

11 minutes ago, SirCranksalot said:

Ya, OK, but the ice fishing in Florida stinks!!

+1................I have no desire to go someplace HOT in the winter, I get enough heat here in the summer time!

But I was adding to my knowledge about what can and can't happen these days.  Two of my closest buddies usually go to Florida for the winter, but both have stayed home this winter.  I had thought it was about travel restrictions, but clearly it must be about personal decisions.

Thanks for the clarifications.

Doug

[Crimsongulf]

10 minutes ago, SirCranksalot said:

Ya, OK, but the ice fishing in Florida stinks!!

Well according to them the weather is nice not to mention the rum and bourbon are cheap. 😎

[passthepitonspete]

Crimsongulf,

What motivated you to come to the Great White North not once but twice this year? Where did you quarantine?

Some Canadian snowbirds in Florida are now getting their covid vaccinations, long before they are available up here. 

[Whitespinnerbait]

On 1/15/2021 at 10:47 AM, AKRISONER said:

i think people are reading way too far into this...and the hilarity of that, is the ones the most concerned about the rules are typically people that follow the rules anyways. . 

Ding ding ding, We have a Winner !!!!!

[Crimsongulf]

1 hour ago, passthepitonspete said:

Crimsongulf,

What motivated you to come to the Great White North not once but twice this year? Where did you quarantine?

Some Canadian snowbirds in Florida are now getting their covid vaccinations, long before they are available up here. 

I have been married to a Belleville girl for 35 years and we own a cottage in Napanee.  The first trip over the summer was to visit with my 90 yr old father in law.  Unfortunately, the second visit was due to the father in law being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and subsequently passing away in early October.  The wife is also the executor of the estate and that is getting sticky.

Crossing the border is not an issue due to the wife still being a Canadian citizen with a Canadian passport.

We will be returning in mid may or early June.  Hopefully by then things will be back to some form of normalcy.  We still have to go through probate and sell two homes the father in law owned.

[passthepitonspete]

Sorry about good ol' dad-in-law...  It just so happens ah am a Merrican, ah is as red, what and blue as Uncle dang' Sam his-self. Mah daddy is a Merrican, and so am ah.  So even if the Merricans put restrictions on border crossings like the Canadians have done, I am still lucky enough to continue crossing over at will. 

So since you are married to a Hoser girl, are YOU allowed to cross over with her to assist in the estate stuff and so on? I guess this is how you are allowed since it isn't a non-essential trip?  Otherwise, you couldn't just come up with her, right? 

Anyway, bring your fishing stuff next spring, and stick around and do some fishing.  "Hopefully by then things will be back to some form of normalcy."  Ya think so, eh?  I'm here to bet you a beer that ain't the case.  In fact, I'll even give you odds - a tallboy can of Canadian vs. a regular size can.  

[Crimsongulf]

2 minutes ago, passthepitonspete said:

Sorry about good ol' dad-in-law...  It just so happens ah am a Merrican, ah is as red, what and blue as Uncle dang' Sam his-self. Mah daddy is a Merrican, and so am ah.  So even if the Merricans put restrictions on border crossings like the Canadians have done, I am still lucky enough to continue crossing over at will. 

So since you are married to a Hoser girl, are YOU allowed to cross over with her to assist in the estate stuff and so on? I guess this is how you are allowed since it isn't a non-essential trip?  Otherwise, you couldn't just come up with her, right? 

Anyway, bring your fishing stuff next spring, and stick around and do some fishing.  "Hopefully by then things will be back to some form of normalcy."  Ya think so, eh?  I'm here to bet you a beer that ain't the case.  In fact, I'll even give you odds - a tallboy can of Canadian vs. a regular size can.  

Well, a little more to me crossing that I didn't include.  TW (the wife) has primary progressive MS and is in a power chair.  I am classified as her "caregiver".  In real life I sold my business and retired in 2017 but only in November did I finally convince her to retire at the end of this school year. Our plans are now to use the cottage from May through October and will be doing major renovations to the it.

I have been going to Napanee since 1985 and we have a wide circle of Maple Leaf friends.

I know things will not be back to normal by this summer but hopefully moving in the right direction, but we both took our first rounds of the Pfizer vaccine last Tuesday. 

 Your wager is accepted.

[passthepitonspete]

Holy geez, I'm getting thirsty already.  So how do we define "some sort of normalcy" by June?  14-day quarantine requirement finished?  Border open to Merricans for non-essential travel? 

That reminds me, someone here owes me a beer for failing to produce a photo of a ticket that the OPP supposedly gave to people going north on Hwy 35 this spring to cottage country in Haliburton. There were lots of rumours and hearsay, but I never did see a single ticket handed out for that. 

I also owe a few Merricans a beer - those very very few who accepted my bet that Donald Trump would get re-elected. I stopped making that bet a year ago, however.  I'm glad he didn't win, but three years ago I thought he would.  

What lake is your cottage on? I go climbing at Bon Echo, and often camp out for free on crown land on a nearby lake.  

[Sinker]

1 hour ago, passthepitonspete said:

Holy geez, I'm getting thirsty already.  So how do we define "some sort of normalcy" by June?  14-day quarantine requirement finished?  Border open to Merricans for non-essential travel? 

That reminds me, someone here owes me a beer for failing to produce a photo of a ticket that the OPP supposedly gave to people going north on Hwy 35 this spring to cottage country in Haliburton. There were lots of rumours and hearsay, but I never did see a single ticket handed out for that. 

I also owe a few Merricans a beer - those very very few who accepted my bet that Donald Trump would get re-elected. I stopped making that bet a year ago, however.  I'm glad he didn't win, but three years ago I thought he would.  

What lake is your cottage on? I go climbing at Bon Echo, and often camp out for free on crown land on a nearby lake.  

Do you Ice climb as well? 

[Terry]

This is the second time on lake simcoe this month

[Crimsongulf]

2 hours ago, passthepitonspete said:

Holy geez, I'm getting thirsty already.  So how do we define "some sort of normalcy" by June?  14-day quarantine requirement finished?  Border open to Merricans for non-essential travel? 

That reminds me, someone here owes me a beer for failing to produce a photo of a ticket that the OPP supposedly gave to people going north on Hwy 35 this spring to cottage country in Haliburton. There were lots of rumours and hearsay, but I never did see a single ticket handed out for that. 

I also owe a few Merricans a beer - those very very few who accepted my bet that Donald Trump would get re-elected. I stopped making that bet a year ago, however.  I'm glad he didn't win, but three years ago I thought he would.  

What lake is your cottage on? I go climbing at Bon Echo, and often camp out for free on crown land on a nearby lake.  

Normalcy would be a very reduced quarantine time, especially with the new rapid tests.

 

The cottage is on the east end of the Bay of Quinte.