Fishing in Ottawa

Next week for our Beavers meeting, we'll be taking the boys fishing on the Ottawa River right here in the neighbourhood. The following is a slightly revised version of the email that is going out to parents about it.

We'll be going fishing at Remic Rapids, on the Ottawa River across from Tunney's Pasture. It is an NCC property directly across from Tunney's, and very easy to find. Take the Parkway west bound from Parkdale, and it is the first set of lights. On the left you'll see the exit for Tunney's, and on the right you'll see the road to Remic Rapids.

If you are a parent and think that fishing is something you'd like to do with your kids, Remic Rapids is a really good fishing spot that is close by, so you may want to pick up a rod and reel, and a bit of tackle. Both Canadian Tire and Le Baron are great places to buy fishing supplies. You can often find inexpensive kids' rod-and-reel combos in the $20 range. These work fine for the most part though can be more prone to line tangles - you'll probably end up with 1 or 2 "birds nests" on your reel per season. It is not a big deal to sort out though - definitely worth the money. That's what my boys started with. If you want something better than that for yourself, there are often sale racks at Le Baron and you can often get a really nice setup in the $50 to $60 range. Last summer I got a really nice reel on sale for about $25, and there were some nice rods on the sale rack in the same price range. Then there is also yard sales - last summer I picked up a huge bundle of rods and reels for $1 for the whole bundle, and managed to get 3 or 4 good rods and reels out of it all (these are the extras we have on hand for the kids). In fact 2 of them were so good that I retired the cheap rod/reel combo I'd bought for the boys to share, and was able to give them each their own rod and reel - in their favorite colour even!

The kids do not need fishing licenses - that only starts at age 18 in Ontario. But if you want to fish you'll need one - you can get it at Canadian Tire or Le Baron. Just ask at the service desk in either place. There are two different types of licenses in Ontario - the Conservation License, and the Sportsman's License. The Conservation is more reasonably priced, and has lower catch limits than the Sportsman's License. I personally do a lot of fishing and find the less expensive Conservation License is just fine for my needs. You can find out more about licenses on the Government of Ontario's website.

In addition to licensing, there are 2 other important aspects of fishing in Ontario (or elsewhere) if this is something you plan to undertake with your kids. They are (1) knowing what is in season where, and (2) knowing what you can safely eat from where. As far as what is in season, you have to know that the province is divided up into a couple of dozen different zones, and different fish are in season at different times of year in each zone. So what is in season in one place right now may not be in season elsewhere. This can even vary between two bodies of water which are relatively close to each other, so make sure you know what you are doing. Both Canadian Tire and Le Baron should have free copies of the Ontario Fishing Guide which goes into detail on this, and you can also find it on line. The Ottawa River is Zone 12, and right now mostly everything is in season in Zone 12 except Bass, Musky, Pike and Walleye. The obvious question might be - what if I catch one of those? Will I get in trouble? The answer is : that depends. Even if you are diligently doing catch-and-release, you can still get into trouble. The reason season is closed right now for these fish is because they are spawning. And bass, for example, spawn in weed beds close to shore - there are some great bass beds are Remic Rapids, in fact. If we got caught fishing those beds when bass are out of season, we'd probably get into trouble. So we obviously won't be doing that :-) You could also get into trouble if you were caught fishing with a bait (lure / hook) that is known to attract mainly bass, for example. We'll stick with simple baits, will stay out of the weed beds, and so will not have to worry about this. Though chances are slim we'll actually catch something, it should still be fun :-)

The second aspect of fishing in Ontario is knowing what is safe to eat. The government has an extensive guide with this information in it. It is pretty simple to follow. Once again it is divided up into zones - as some bodies of water are more polluted that others, sadly. The guide also breaks it down into the size of the fish, and the size/age of the person who wants to eat it. The downside of fishing at Remic Rapids with your kids is that if you do manage to catch something (which you should, just not this time of year unless you break the law and go into the weed beds after the bass) is that no fish is safe for children to eat, if caught there. In small amounts, it is considered safe for adults.

If you decide to go fishing more with your kids, you may want to get a tackle box and start stocking up on lures and different baits. They tend to be a bit expensive - cheap but effective spinners start at about $2 each, and some of the better lures tend to be in the $4 to $7 range for most fish that you'd catch from the shore. With this in mind, am am fairly judicious what I put on the kids' lines depending on the mood they are in and how they are behaving. If they seem to be serious about fishing at the moment, and are minding their rods effectively and casting well in an area not likely to get caught up on bottom, I don't mind letting them use one of the more expensive lures (my personal favorite for Bass and Trout is the Mepps Aglia - as you can see there is quite a variety of them). If they are not really in the mood, or not minding their rods properly, I'll bait them with a spinner which is still fairly effective, but cheaper. There are also the dirt-cheap combo packs that give you a half dozen "lures" for as many dollars. I keep these on hand for when the boys are really insistent they want a "fancy" lure, but I don't think they are really into fishing at the moment. The pack I am thinking of is usually at Canadian Tire, and the lures are all painted as knock-offs of the more expensive lures. But on the back / unpainted side which is normally really shiny to attract the fish, it is a dull lustre, and you can usually read "Korea" on them. There is not much of a chance of catching anything with these lures, but they are good for times when the kids are really insistent, but you think they are most likely to just lose it.

Also, in general I always use a bobber for the boys, and with a short lead down to the lure. This helps keep from getting snagged on bottom.

For anyone who may be interested, there is a place out near Ashton in the west end which has stocked ponds where you can pay to go fishing.

Here is a collection of websites of general interest to fishing :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monado/2897455078/

Government Websites

http://www.gofishinontario.com/index.aspx?language=en
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/index.html

Interesting website
http://www.ontariooutofdoors.com/fishing/

Guide to eating Ontario sport fish

http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/water/fishguide/index.php

Ontario Freshwater Fishes Life History Database
http://www.fishdb.ca/

Fish ID chart
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/198234.pdf