Ontario Fishing Tips - Ontario Walleye Fishing Tips

In many Ontario lakes Northern Pike will be shallow in the spring and summer and then start to go deep in mid-August.

Traditionally the best lures and probably the most popular lures are the Red-&-White Daredevil and the Yellow 5-of-Diamonds Daredevil. You use the red in clear water and the yellow in murky water. Spinnerbaits, Crankbaits, Bucktails and Williams Weedless Spoons also work well. When using a Daredevil, try casting up high and just before the lure hits the water, jerk it towards you so the lure slaps the surface. Pike are also well known for hitting surface lures. Jitterbugs and Spooks are excellent for Pike.

Muskie

Size:

The muskellunge, or muskie as it is commonly called, is one of the largest freshwater game fish in North America. A full-grown muskie can exceed 30 pounds.

Habitat:

Muskellunge and tiger muskie use a variety of habitats seasonally from deep open water to shallow cover such as weeds and fallen trees. In rivers, they usually occupy the deeper pools with reduced current.

Food:

Muskellunge are opportunistic ambush predators, feeding primarily on other fish. Unlike sharks, muskies’ teeth do not mesh to take bites, but are used to hold their prey, which they must swallow whole. Muskellunge prefer to prey on large, soft-finned species such as suckers, fallfish, minnows, and small carp. Due to their size and their ability to prey on fish up to forty-five percent of their own length, muskies occupy a unique environmental niche.

Spawning:

Muskellunge begin spawning in April or May when water temperatures exceed 50°F for several consecutive days. Tiger muskie are sterile hybrids and do not reproduce. Spawning takes place near aquatic vegetation, debris, and leaf litter over a period of a few days. The eggs are broadcast over a fairly large area and settle to the bottom, without any parental care. Surviving eggs hatch in about two weeks.

Muskies grow very rapidly reaching approximately twelve inches by the end of their first growing season, 24 inches by the end of the second, 30 inches by the end of their third, and 36 inches during their fifth or sixth season. Females grow faster and live longer than males; the maximum lifespan can be as much as 25 to 30years.

Fishing Tips:

Choose larger, flatter areas, such as sandy points or bars that drop off and create food shelves, or structured areas such as the saddle area between islands, sunken islands, or weed beds, that provide cover.

In open water, you can troll with bigger lures as the water is cleaner with less weeds. In water that is weedier or if you are trolling along side thick weeds, a smaller lure is best. The most popular big trolling lures for Muskie are Willy Lures, Ziggy Lures, Swim Wizzes, large spinner baits or long shallow-running Rapalas. Perch-color and Fire-Tiger are good during the day and red seems to be good in the evening.

When in weeds it's better to use smaller lures. 6 or 7-inch Original Floating Rapalas (the skinny ones) or Thundersticks work well. The jointed J-11 Rapalas are also an excellent lure and seem to catch Muskie of any size. Spinner baits can be very affective as well.

You must use steel leaders at all times. It's best to use black leaders as sometimes a Muskie will see a silver shine ahead of the lure and hit the top of the leader and bite through the line.

Largemouth Bass

Size:

Largemouth bass have been known to reach weights of over 20 pounds.

Habitat:

Largemouth bass are found in all waters from freshwater to brackish (a mix of fresh and saltwater) waters. They like large, slow moving rivers or streams with soft bottoms.

They especially like clear water. Immature largemouth bass may tend to congregate in schools, but adults are usually solitary. Sometimes several bass will gather in a very small area, but they do not interact. Largemouth bass seek protective cover such as logs, rock ledges, vegetation, and man-made structures. They prefer clear quiet water, but will survive quite well in a variety of habitats.

Food:

Greedy carnivores, largemouth bass feast on minnows, sunfish, gizzard shad, insects, frogs and occasionally snakes. Adult largemouth bass are the top predators in the aquatic ecosystem. Fry feed primarily on zooplankton and insect larvae. At about two inches in length they become active predators. Adults feed almost exclusively on other fish and large invertebrates such as crayfish. Larger fish prey upon smaller bass. Adult fish feed near water plants in shallow waters.

Spawning:

Largemouth bass spawn as early as March or as late as June. The males build saucer shaped nests 20 to 30 inches in diameter and guard the nest and eggs from all intruders. Largemouth bass grow 4 to 6 inches during their first year, 8 to 12 inches in two years, and up to 16 inches in three years. Largemouth bass may live for 13 years.

Fishing Tips:

For shallow-water fishing, floating/diving plugs and spinnerbaits get the call. In the plug category, minnow-imitating balsa or plastic lures that float at rest and dive only a foot or two on retrieve are proven baits. Spinnerbaits are excellent lures, particularly in the spring when fish are shallow and also when fishing vegetation. They can also be used quite effectively in deeper water, crawled slowly across the bottom, or jigged.

For medium-depth angling (4 to 12 feet) you'll generally want to fish with a straight-running, dive-to-the-bottom-on-retrieve lure. Bottom-hugging bass plugs such as these have come to be called crankbaits, and they are manufactured in shallow, medium, and deep-diving versions, all of which are determined by the size and shape of the lip protruding from each one. Medium and deep divers are usually the most useful to bass fishermen, and these come into play in spring, parts of summer, and fall, in many locales. Worms and jigs are also highly effective bass baits in this depth range.

For deep-water fishing (from 10 feet on, though often in shallower water as well), the bass angler without a plastic worm or who doesn't know how to use it, is in for a rough time. Bass seek the comfort of cooler, deep water in late spring, summer, and early fall, and plastic worms are probably more effective than all other lures combined, at these times. Another bottom scrounger, particularly effective on smallmouths, is the jig. This can be fished extremely effectively in very deep water (and at any depth) as well as along rocky, sharp-sloping bluffs and shorelines, and on underwater mounds

Smallmouth Bass

Size:

The usual smallmouth is 8 to 15 inches long, and weighs less than three pounds.

Habitat:

Smallmouth bass prefer large clear-water lakes (greater than 100 acres, more than 30 feet deep) and cool, clear streams with moderate current. Their preferred habit has a gravel or rubble substrate, boulders, some shade and cover, along with deep pools.

Food:

In general, adult smallmouth bass feed on aquatic and terrestrial insects, crayfish, and fish. Because they feed on the water surface, in the water mass, and off the bottom, and consume such a wide variety of foods, they are considered “angler friendly”.

Spawning:

Spawning occurs in the spring when water temperatures approach 60°F. Males move into spawning areas with the nests usually located near shore in lakes; downstream from boulders or some other obstruction that offers protection against strong current in streams. Mature females may contain 2,000 to 15,000 golden yellow eggs. Males may spawn with several females on a single nest. On average each nest contains about 2,500 eggs, but nests may contain as many as 10,000 eggs. Eggs hatch in about 10 days if water temperatures are in the mid-50s, but can hatch in 2 to 3 days if temperatures are in the mid-70s. Males guard the nest from the time eggs are laid until fry begin to disperse, a period of up to a month. Fry begin feeding on zooplankton, switching to insect larvae and finally fish and crayfish as they grow.

Fishing Tips:

Smallmouth bass prefer to hide out where the rock ledge drops off sharply.

Popular baits are crawfish, minnow, leeches and hellgrammites. Try using anything that resembles a minnow such as plastic worms and streamer flies.

Remember that smallmouth bass often group together by size. So, if you find a smaller-sized group, there will rarely be a bigger smallmouth among them.

Mid June through fall is the best time for catching a big smallmouth. In mid-June, the smallmouths are on the beds, by fall they are in 10 to 15 foot depths. The avid angler should pack rattletraps, cranks and jigs.

Crappie

Size:

Crappie range in size up to about two pounds or less.

Habitat:

Crappie tend to swim around sheltered areas in freshwater lakes, seeking protection from enemies and access to prevalent food source.

Food:

Crappie eat smaller fish such as shad. Black crappie adults feed on fewer fish, and more insects and crustaceans, than do white crappie.

Spawning:

Crappie spawn in areas with brush and stumps in the water, in the springtime when the water temperatures get warmer. Like other members of the sunfish family, black crappie are nest builders. They nest in the spring, generally when water temperatures reach 60 degrees F. The biology of black crappie is very similar to that of white crappie. Growth in terms of weight is very similar between the two species. White crappie tend to have higher growth rates in terms of length, but black crappie are more robust in body construction.

Fishing Tips:

Although crappie are warm water fish, they are unique in that they can be caught quite often in the cooler months, most frequently in November and March. Fish for crappie by using a float since crappie do not always stay near the bottom. Crappie are attracted to a wealth of bait and artificial lures including small jigs, hair jigs, minnows, shiners and worms. Fish for crappie collecting around thick vegetation and other structure such as stumps, brush and logs.