Toronto, ON

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

Ambush predators of warm, weedy water. Bass reward anglers who fish cover precisely and slow down when the sun is high.

Smallmouth Bass

Micropterus dolomieu

Pound for pound the hardest-fighting freshwater fish in the Northwest. Smallmouth live on rock and eat crawfish imitations year-round.

Walleye

Sander vitreus

Light-shy predators that feed hardest at dawn, dusk and after dark. Walleye are a jig fisherman's game: bottom contact is everything.

Pink Salmon

Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

The smallest and most numerous Pacific salmon, famous for huge schooling runs every second year. Pinks bite small pink lures willingly and are the easiest salmon for beginners to catch from shore.

Steelhead

Oncorhynchus mykiss

The sea-run form of rainbow trout and one of the most prized river fish in North America. Steelhead hold in fast, broken water, take a wide range of drifted and swung offerings, and fight with long runs and jumps.

Brown Trout

Salmo trutta

A wary, largely nocturnal trout introduced from Europe, now established in Great Lakes tributaries and scattered western waters. Browns eat streamers, spinners and dry flies, with the biggest fish feeding after dark.

Brook Trout

Salvelinus fontinalis

A beautifully marked char native to eastern North America, at home in cold creeks, beaver ponds and backcountry lakes. Brook trout are willing biters on small spinners, worms and dry flies, and a favourite of beginners.

Lake Trout

Salvelinus namaycush

A big, long-lived char built for cold, deep lakes. Lakers cruise rocky humps hunting kokanee, whitefish and ciscoes, shallow in spring and fall and 60-120 ft down in summer.

Northern Pike

Esox lucius

A toothy ambush predator of northern weed beds, famous for explosive strikes and slime. Pike sit motionless in cover and lunge at spoons, spinnerbaits and large flies passing within range.

Muskellunge

Esox masquinongy

The muskie, the fish of ten thousand casts: the largest pike-family predator in the Great Lakes, rare, solitary and demanding of heavy tackle and patience. Most anglers practise catch and release.

Yellow Perch

Perca flavescens

A schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and one of the best-eating freshwater fish anywhere. Perch roam in schools — catch one and there are usually dozens more in the same spot.

Black Crappie

Pomoxis nigromaculatus

A speckled, paper-mouthed panfish that suspends over brush and timber in clear lakes and sloughs. Crappie bite small jigs and minnows delicately — the strike is often just a slight heaviness.

Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

The classic beginner's panfish: abundant, willing and surprisingly strong on light tackle. Bluegill nest in colonies on shallow flats in spring and guard the beds aggressively.

Channel Catfish

Ictalurus punctatus

The most widespread catfish in North America, at home in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Channel cats find bait by scent and taste, bite readily after dark, and are the backbone of pay-lake and river catfishing.

Common Carp

Cyprinus carpio

Widespread, wary and powerful, carp cruise shallow flats rooting up the bottom and are a growing target for sight fishing and European-style bait tactics. A hooked carp makes long, stubborn runs.

Lake Whitefish

Coregonus clupeaformis

A silvery, deep-water member of the salmon family and a mainstay of Great Lakes ice fishing. Whitefish feed on the bottom in deep water, bite very lightly, and come up best over spawning shoals in the fall.

White Bass

Morone chrysops

The 'sand bass' of spring river runs — a silvery, schooling striped cousin that boils under the gulls in summer and fills stringers from Texas to the Great Lakes.

Pumpkinseed

Lepomis gibbosus

A living jewel — the most colourful sunfish in North America, nesting in sunny shallows from Ontario to the Maritimes, and the perfect first fish for a child.

Longnose Gar

Lepisosteus osseus

A living fossil with a needle beak — longnose gar hang like sticks in warm weedy shallows from the Great Lakes to Texas, gulp air at the surface, and ambush anything that drifts past.

Freshwater Drum

Aplodinotus grunniens

North America's croaker gone inland — the freshwater drum 'sheepshead' drums over spring shoals, crushes zebra mussels by the thousand, and fights far above its reputation from Erie to Winnipeg.

Great Ontario Salmon Derby

Late June to late August

Chantry Chinook Classic Salmon Derby

Late July to early August

Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular

Late August to early September