Hook up with fishing in Toronto

By WIL WEGMAN
Special to The Sun

		Interested in finding out some more great urban fishing locations in and around Toronto? Call the Aurora District office of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and they will gladly send you a new updated leaflet outlining these public fishing spots. Call 905-713-7400. What may very well be the largest Urban Fishing Event to ever hit Canadian waters will occur this Sept. 24 to 26 right along the Toronto waterfront out of our very own Ontario Place. The Canadian Fishing Tour will host Canada's largest-ever pro-am bass fishing tournament with a top prize of $100,000 for the winner. As a bonus for kids, they can obtain a free coupon to get admission to Ontario Place grounds and to participate in a fun-filled fishing day just for them. For more details visit www.candianfishingtour.com.

Did you know that within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) there are dozens of public fishing areas where residents of Canada's most populous region can wet a line? And, if we don't mind driving an hour or two from our front doors, we have even more options available. Let's have a look at what we can catch and where we can catch them, in and around Canada's largest city:

Walleye: Ontario's most popular fish may not be readily available directly within city limits, but only an hour or two away the easily accessible Kawartha Lakes near Peterborough are prime walleye territory. This chain of lakes connected to the Trent Canal system includes Lake Scugog, Rice Lake and the tri-lakes of Pigeon, Buckhorn and Chemung. All are great walleye spots. A jig and minnow combo is tough to beat for walleye.

Northern Pike: No need to even leave the Toronto waterfront to catch some of the nicest northern pike found anywhere in Ontario. The area around the Toronto Islands in particular play host to pike of all sizes - including some true giants. Other areas an hour or less away include Island Lake in Orangeville, Lake Wilcox in Richmond Hill, Bellwood Conservation Area near Grand Valley, Canal Lake near Kirkfield, Lake Couchiching in Orillia, or my personal favorite, Lake Simcoe out of the town of Georgina. A couple of hours drive will get you to the pike-filled waters of Georgian Bay near Midland or to some of Ontario's real giant northern pike in the Muskoka area lakes of Vernon, Peninsula or Lake Muskoka. Bring flashy spinnerbaits, a handful of Rapala Husky Jerks and a healthy assortment of jigs tipped with oversized, brightly coloured plastic trailers.

Trout and Salmon: A remarkable off-shore salmon fishery exists right in the GTA's portion of Lake Ontario and many charter boat captains offer fully equipped boats (some call them small yachts) that are perfect for those who just want to get out for a day or two. A little further north in Lake Simcoe, the Ministry of Natural Resources stocks 100,000 lake trout every year. Rainbow and brown trout can be found along the Toronto area waterfront and can offer excellent fishing opportunities. At times, these fish also inhabit many of the rivers that feed into Lake Ontario, so shorebound anglers can enjoy great action. Top picks for rainbows include The Ganaraska in Port Hope, the Wilmot and Duffins near Oshawa, the Rouge near Scarborough and the Credit in Mississauga. Parts of the Humber can be great for browns. Further north a bit, near Alliston, you've got the Pine, Pretty and the Nottawasaga Rivers. For brook trout seek out some of the smaller tributaries of these rivers.

Panfish: We're gonna lump a whole bunch of tasty fish into this category because they all have one thing in common - they're the perfect size for your frying pan. Yellow perch are tops and the top spot in the GTA has to be Lake Simcoe. In fact, the perch fishery on Simcoe and adjoining Lake Couchiching out of Orillia has been described the finest in all of North America. Sunfish and black crappie fishing is great in all of the Kawartha Lakes as well as many of our smaller urban fisheries and conservation areas right in the GTA. All these panfish love small jigs, especially Berkley's pink and white micro power tubes. Brown bullhead catfish can be caught with worms in most of the waters you find the rest of our panfish, but add the Holland River just north of Newmarket as a sleeper catfishin' spot.

Carp: Only recently have GTA residents begun to realize that we have some of the very best carp waters in the world right in our own backyard. GTA carp action begins - where else - but along the Lake Ontario waterfront. Frenchman's Bay in Pickering and the mouth of the Rouge River Marshes can be hot, but don't forget that a short ferry ride from downtown Toronto will get you to the Toronto Islands, where you can fish from shore along several kilometers of lagoons and channels that can be virtually teaming with overgrown carp that pull like freight trains. Other spots to try include the Holland River, Fairy Lake in Newmarket, Lake Simcoe and all of the Kawartha Lakes and its rivers. If there's a small urban fishery in your GTA neighborhood, chances are you've got carp there and one of the best baits to catch them can be found right in your kitchen cupboard - canned corn!

Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass: In GTA and most of south-central Ontario both "largies" and "smallies" abound, thanks in no small part to a strong catch-and-release ethic by anglers. The Kawartha Lakes are tops for largemouths and therefore attract more catch-and-release bass tournaments than any other region in Canada. There are several smaller lakes and GTA rivers where largies roam too. Both bass can be found around the Toronto Islands and other protected areas of the Lake Ontario waterfront. Smallmouth fishing doesn't get any better than right in Lake Simcoe where five pounders are common. Both bass love topwater lures and one of the best is the Rapala Skitter Pop.

Muskie: Known as the fish of a thousand casts … except for us here in GTA where within an hour's drive to the Kawartha Lakes we may well have more muskie per acre than any other waters in the country. With a little bit of practice and know-how you can almost be assured of getting bit here by arguably the meanest, fiercest fighting fish Ontario has to offer. Kawartha muskie like deep weedlines and can be fooled with perch-coloured (one of their favorite foods) Super Shad Raps, big spinnerbaits or large jerkbaits.

Wil Wegman is an award-winning outdoor writer who has taught bass fishing courses at Seneca College since 1986. He is an avid tournament competitor who qualified for the 12-person Team Ontario that will compete in the BASS Northern Divisional Championships in South Dakota in September 2004