Shore Fishing around Hamilton/ Burlington area

Hi everyrone,

Well i really enjoy surfing around this site, everybody here is super informative.
So on to my question ... I just got stated into fishing this year and am quickly becoming a weekend warrior, sadly i have been hitting the conservation area's that seem like good shots but keep getting skunked.

mostly using nightcrawlers and a spinning rod, every once and a while i will toss a crankbait out to see if anyhting is interested.
Just wondering is anyone knows of a couple good shore fishing spots that i may have a little more luck with.

Oh yeah here's where i have been btw,

Peir 4 - Hamilton
Christie Conservaton - Dundas
Byng Conservation and Port Maitland - Dunnvillie
Shade's Mills Conservation - Cambridge
Also tried to fish the grand while i was in Dunnvillie.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

James

BurlingtonJames said:

Hi everyrone,

Well i really enjoy surfing around this site, everybody here is super informative.
So on to my question ... I just got stated into fishing this year and am quickly becoming a weekend warrior, sadly i have been hitting the conservation area's that seem like good shots but keep getting skunked.

mostly using nightcrawlers and a spinning rod, every once and a while i will toss a crankbait out to see if anyhting is interested.
Just wondering is anyone knows of a couple good shore fishing spots that i may have a little more luck with.

Oh yeah here's where i have been btw,

Peir 4 - Hamilton
Christie Conservaton - Dundas
Byng Conservation and Port Maitland - Dunnvillie
Shade's Mills Conservation - Cambridge
Also tried to fish the grand while i was in Dunnvillie.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

James

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do you weight the worms down? you should look around and see what other people are using, because conservation areas are stocked I believe and try fishing different spots in the area.

Yes i do weight the worms down, and according to Fish on-line from the MNR these places are not stocked ... but do contain fish.

Christie Conservaton - i did get some bites, but mostly little bass not big enough to keep.
Ithink it maybe the time of day i'm going out ... between 10 am and 4pm-ish, could that be part of the problem ?

You can catch em at any time of the day, but id almost suggest heading out later and staying later for the evening bite. I fish from 1-4 in the afternoon pretty often and get good numbers of fish so if that is the time you can make it out I wouldnt worry about that aspect.

Thanks NADO, maybe i will give that a try this weekend and see how that works out.

BurlingtonJames said:

Yes i do weight the worms down, and according to Fish on-line from the MNR these places are not stocked ... but do contain fish.

Christie Conservaton - i did get some bites, but mostly little bass not big enough to keep.
Ithink it maybe the time of day i'm going out ... between 10 am and 4pm-ish, could that be part of the problem ?

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Fishing is a hobby for enjoyment, it doesnt have to be an activity aimed to keep fish... As long as you enjoy yourself and get bites thats a good outing, practice Catch and Release its good for you trust me :wink:

Gonna bump this one up instead of making a new topic and see if we can get some Hamilton/Burlington peeps to come out of the woodwork.

I've been hitting Lasalle park pretty hard lately pulled out a pike a few weeks back which was a pleasant surprise (when you target a fish and catch it is a great feeling!), have started looking into Bayfront park went down there for the first time last night and from the assortment of fish i spotted just sight fishing around the whole park (first time exploring!) I think that place has lots of potential especially when bass opens up. I actually had two bass explode out of the water as I lifted my Xrap in the water column over some thick weed beds. Was awesome seeing the one fly out from the weeds up towards the surface maybe 5 feet from where i was standing blasting my lure and itself out of the water! Missed both though, not to concerned being OOS and all.

If anyone wants to fish the area I am down for basically anything, would love to have someone show me how to get to cootes and where you can fish down there as I am lost as to entrance and typical areas.

jlisk said:

Gonna bump this one up instead of making a new topic and see if we can get some Hamilton/Burlington peeps to come out of the woodwork.

I've been hitting Lasalle park pretty hard lately pulled out a pike a few weeks back which was a pleasant surprise (when you target a fish and catch it is a great feeling!), have started looking into Bayfront park went down there for the first time last night and from the assortment of fish i spotted just sight fishing around the whole park (first time exploring!) I think that place has lots of potential especially when bass opens up. I actually had two bass explode out of the water as I lifted my Xrap in the water column over some thick weed beds. Was awesome seeing the one fly out from the weeds up towards the surface maybe 5 feet from where i was standing blasting my lure and itself out of the water! Missed both though, not to concerned being OOS and all.

If anyone wants to fish the area I am down for basically anything, would love to have someone show me how to get to cootes and where you can fish down there as I am lost as to entrance and typical areas.

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Hey there,

Just signed up on this forum deal. Sort of a weekend warrior myself.

Fished alot as a kid, now getting back into is as my girlfriend enjoys fishing more than I do, and she catches something every time.

I live in Burlington and recently have been fishing the Cootes Fishway with mixed results.
Im a little lost on everything, I have some basic gear, just lacking some good instruction and maybe a few good spots.
I dont know how to target a species, (i use corn in cootes hoping for carp, my girlfriend lands everything on worms)

Any tips or help or anything at all would b great.

Thanks and Happy Fishing

get a couple colours of jigging minnows in size 1" to 4" and jig heads from 1/32 - 1/4 oz couple of floats and learn to fish these effectively you will catch all kinds of stuff

Was down at Bayfront last night in the drizzle (and later pouring rain). Lots of fish action all over, carp rolling around bass leaping out lots of fishy shadows cruising around.

Hooked into a bullhead with a #4 Mepps black fury which was a nice surprise as I have been trying to catch a bunch of different fish lately rather then the usual suspects. Out of the water he/she came a quick pic and a few odd barks and he/she was on its merry way.

After awhile of trying different things I switched over to my HJ12 and was jerking it through the weed beds when it got taken and completely entangled my line in a clump of weeds. A few tugs, pulls running up and down the shoreline alter and it gave free and on with the delayed fight.

And out came Mr OOS large mouth bass. A quick pic and he went back in with a splash of the tail. Not a huge large mouth but not a bad size ether.

All in all it was a good day out on the water, no one was around because of the rain so it was nice having choice of spots all along the river/bay area.

I think I might bring out my lighter rod and some worms and kick it back at Lasalle tonight or just head back down to Bayfront and attempt to catch a million catfish with some bait.

Back at bayfront last night, a couple small rockies and stabbed in the hand by a bullhead.

Had three fish smash a finesse worm but they didn't grab enough of it/the hook and gave me a 1-2 second pulling battle before they smartened up and spit the worm out. Probably large mouths or maybe bullheads as they seemed to be munching on things around that time.

Threw out my new frog just for fun to play with the retrieves and get used to how to work it for my Kawartha trip in a few weekends and third cast i had something cause a massive swirl/suction right under it but didn't fully take it (was hopping it) or leave the water enough to ID it.

Fun night fishing.

I know almost sure fire spot in dunnville. I will PM you or you can to me.

Hey there

I've tried a lot of the same spots you mentioned and it seems we have had similar experiences (including getting stabbed by a bull). I was down under the York street bridge a couple times this past week. Trying to land some rainbows. Didn't seem to have any luck (could be because I don't have a proper setup) , but a guy further down landed two nice ones. Also a group of guys were targetting carp and managed to catch 3 nice sized ones. I've tried Lasalle a handful of times without any luck. I've thrown everything in my tackle box out but have never even gotten more than a nibble from gobies on a warm.

I have been told that there is a good spot near Olympic and cootes drive. When I went there was a RBG sign. I didn't think it was a good idea to fish it so I kept going. I've also had confusion about fishing cootes. I have had people tell me different things whether its ok to fish there or not. Could someone clarify that for me? I've tried looking online and can't find any clear answer.

iFish said:

Hey there

I've tried a lot of the same spots you mentioned and it seems we have had similar experiences (including getting stabbed by a bull). I was down under the York street bridge a couple times this past week. Trying to land some rainbows. Didn't seem to have any luck (could be because I don't have a proper setup) , but a guy further down landed two nice ones. Also a group of guys were targetting carp and managed to catch 3 nice sized ones. I've tried Lasalle a handful of times without any luck. I've thrown everything in my tackle box out but have never even gotten more than a nibble from gobies on a warm.

I have been told that there is a good spot near Olympic and cootes drive. When I went there was a RBG sign. I didn't think it was a good idea to fish it so I kept going. I've also had confusion about fishing cootes. I have had people tell me different things whether its ok to fish there or not. Could someone clarify that for me? I've tried looking online and can't find any clear answer.

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Hey iFish. The RBG owns a good portion of the land around Cootes and the people from the RBG would have us think that there is no fishing allowed in Cootes but in fact there is nothing to stop you from fishing there other than seasons or if you find private property (not sure you will though.) I fish there all the time and in the summer you will find lots of fishermen there on any given day.
Despite the Carp barrier Cootes is full of large Carp, you can watch them rolling all day long in the summer. I mostly fish there for Cats, both Bullhead and Channels ( my biggest being about 12 lbs.) You can also get Bowfin and Sheephead in there and very occasionally a Bass or Pike.
On the Harbor side, you can get the same fish, but also some Salmon, Rainbow and Browns at the right time of year. I've never caught Salmon or Trout, but have seen them caught so there are a few there. There also seems to be a few more Bass and Pike than in Cootes.
I don't usually head down there until the Catfish start to move, late Apr or early May. Maybe we can meet up one day and I can take you to a few good spots, one really good one is on RBG property but no worries.
Just one other tip. I tend to stay away from using worms down there. Using worms is a diner bell for Gobies and you will catch them all day or be bringing in hooks to rebait them often after your worm is stripped away by Gobies.

Alfie.

Alfie thanks a ton for all the advice. Very helpful! And yes I've come to learn my lesson with warms and gobies. I'll be getting in touch to get some fishing done!

Ifish keep putting in the leg work and keep a fishing diary, when you get skunked after reading hot reports, well that's fishing!

Ask any chromer, when conditions are perfect, and they don't even get a sniff could be something ridiculously simple as they missed that perfect drift by 10 minutes,

However......we keep track of bait natural or man made, moon cycles, water temp and flow etc....

At the end of the day, even if you don't get into the fish...you should have paid attention and learnt something.

After all unless your 7 yrs old, you are your best teacher.

It's funny that you mentioned a fishing diary ChefMick. I had the same thoughts about a month ago. I was actually watching duck commander on OLN and notice how much paper work they were looking through before they were going out on their hunt. That sort of gave me the idea to do the same for fishing. I made a template for fish I catch. I will upload it as soon as I can get on a laptop (iPhones stink for that). It would be great to get some feedback for it and also to share it.

I went fishing for some carp the other day and got skunked in a spot where my buddies said they were everywhere the day before. One managed to catch a 7.5 pounder. I was thinking thought that its worth noting the days I get skunked too because its more info and plus give you something to do on the slow days lol.

I will upload that template soon and get everyone's thoughts on it.

I'm planning a fathers day fishing trip for Sunday. I hope we don't get skunked, lol. We're in Burlington but I wouldn't mind driving somewhere for up to an hour to find a nice spot submerged in nature. Any ideas? Laura

Laura said:

I'm planning a fathers day fishing trip for Sunday. I hope we don't get skunked, lol. We're in Burlington but I wouldn't mind driving somewhere for up to an hour to find a nice spot submerged in nature. Any ideas? Laura

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mountsberg or rockwood, but they will be crazy packed... hilton falls will be less packed and only about a half hour out of town

riverhugger said:

If anyone wants to fish the area I am down for basically anything, would love to have someone show me how to get to cootes and where you can fish down there as I am lost as to entrance and typical areas.

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I know Cootes relatively well. Have never fished it though. I know the trails around all of that area though. Went to Mac for several years and did those trails, done Princess Point with family, and even did he trails of the RBG with a guy I called "the King of the Hobos." He had a camp set up at the top of the lookout point (Bull Point, I think). I've hiked all around there, live across from Bayfront Park, and need a fishing buddy.

This promoted me to join the site, fyi. Would love to do some real fishing. My old high school friends have all moved on, and people I know now are all "professionals" who don't get dirty...

Plus, I'd like to catch a few fish to eat. I know of an untapped catfish reservoir up the mountain near King's Forest, full of fat fish that have no predators. Looking to try some local salmon, catfish, perch, and trout. I'll catch and release the real game fish. Ate enough on Georgian Bay in the 90s anyway.