Fish in the 416

Hey guys, first time poster here. I've been reading this forum for a while now and since I'm fishing regularly this season I thought I could contribute. Because of work, most of my fishing this season will have to be in the GTA, so I'll post here with updates and reports. I pretty much always have a Toronto Raptors hat on so feel free to say hello if you see me fishing, I always say hi to fellow anglers walking past my spots.


Rouge - Since the Pike opener I've been to the Rouge at the end of Lawrence Ave. Used minnows and bobber but didn't catch anything. I read another post somewhere that said someone caught a 5lb Pike just the day before! Saw people carping but didn't look like they caught anything, it was pretty windy when I went.

Milne/Rouge - I've been fishing here a lot lately, always getting lots of bites but just small fish. Using worms as bait. Hooked a few fish that looked like small trout but jump off before I can land them (I use barbless hooks).

Today the dam was overflowing with water so the water level was high and had a strong current. Had trouble keeping my bait on the bottom but found a spot where the water was calmer. At about 8:30pm I dropped in about 2' from the shore and hooked my first Trout of the season and the first I've caught in Toronto. About 7-8" length. Wonder if it was one that was stocked (read a post about trout stocking recently).

Anyone have any spots to check out in the Toronto area for more trout action?

Went to Milne today and within 15 minutes of fishing my fiance hooked a 5lb carp! A few trout in there too but ran out of worms

Nice! when did milne open?

I'm guessing you guys are fishing at the bottom part and not on the Park side because you were sighting some trouts. Just make sure you're 25 yards from the dam. CO's actually check the area. Lot's of big carp on the park side...and bullheads. actually caught bass there too. The stretch of water going to TOOGOOD pond was stocked with pike before but I think MNR never followed thru after that.

rich_ace_G said:

Just make sure you're 25 yards from the dam. CO's actually check the area.

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Your right, there are signs that say no fishing directly behind the Dam for 25yds. I'm pretty strict on regulations and laws that I know of since our fishing resources are so precious. If I see anyone fishing there I politely tell them where they can't fish as I heard the CO's come by.

I'm headed there today to see what else I can pull out of the river. Gonna bring along my friend who just got his conservation license today! Remember to catch and release!

416fish said:

Your right, there are signs that say no fishing directly behind the Dam for 25yds. I'm pretty strict on regulations and laws that I know of since our fishing resources are so precious. If I see anyone fishing there I politely tell them where they can't fish as I heard the CO's come by.

I'm headed there today to see what else I can pull out of the river. Gonna bring along my friend who just got his conservation license today! Remember to catch and release!

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are you going to be headed out there tomorrow? i am heading out there tomorrow and would love someone to fish with as i am going alone.

Spent a few hours at Milne today and got a bunch of chubs and lost a trout. Water level was a bit low so wonder if that's effecting the fish. No carp today!

tuhlapsss said:

are you going to be headed out there tomorrow? i am heading out there tomorrow and would love someone to fish with as i am going alone.

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Unfortunately I have work! But I might be there Sunday. Wonder if there is any more access to the river on the other side of Markham rd.

Went for a few hours today, lots of anglers out but looked like my buddy and I were the only ones catching fish! Bunch of river chubs and a surprise bullhead! No trout today, but saw lots of fish jumping around. Constant bites but I suspect they were all small as they were stripping bait off the hook all day. Fun day of fishing anyway!

Today I went to check out Mill Pond in Richmond Hill with some family. Took a walk during the day and saw plenty of sunfish and even spotted 3-4 Largemouth Bass probably over 12" length. That got me excited! (For this summer when bass season opens)

Didn't get to fish it until the late evening and only for half hour. In the far pond we caught some sunfish but the mosquitos were out and we chose to fish the main pond before we left. The main pond yielded some sunfish and a small crappie! I suspect there's carp and bullhead too so the pond's diversity seems pretty healthy with many different species.

Interesting thing is, none of the locals thought there were any fish in the pond. When they saw us bringing in fish they were surprised! I even asked some park employees earlier in the day where people usually fished there and he said people don't really fish there! He asked me "why would you want to fish here? There's a lot better places to fish" I told him about the bass and he simply said "you learn something new everyday". I guess Mill Pond might not be people's first instinct for fishing and because of this the fish aren't stressed or over-fished. Makes for good urban shore fishing!

I live 10 min walk from Mill Pond, only fished there once, out of PURE boredom...didnt catch anything.

I only see old asian men fishing for carp, never see them get anything at all, they are almost always there in the evenings.

The main pond has HUGE carp, different colors (not sure how and what species), when the water is low in the hot days, you can see their tails and backs allllllllll over the pace.

Second pond is full of small mouth bass and perch ...very hard to catch them though, only useless sunfish and crappies

Mill Pond and rumble pond. people fish there all the time. wait till bass opens and you're see what i'm talking about.

I want lunkers! Not perch lol. Maybe ill give it a try this summer

fishing89 said:

I want lunkers! Not perch lol. Maybe ill give it a try this summer

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You should try it! I went there again the other day, caught lots of perch, obviously sunfish, the odd largemouth (10" length but I'm sure there are some lunkers as well!) and saw some koi and one huge gold carp that looked to be at least 2.5' in the second pond. Main pond had big carp but missed on a big one I was trying to sight fish. You can see lots of them when the sun's out, big black shadows moving lazy through the middle.

A nice place I checked out today was Professor's Lake in Brampton. Water was crystal clear and the setting would of looked perfect if not for so much garbage on the shore! Obviously left behind by other fishermen and teenagers that hang out there. But saw loads of 12"+ bass cruising the drop off I was fishing and even got one by accident (wasn't trying to target them as they are out of season). Caught a bunch of perch, sunfish, and rock bass as well.

Later in the day I went to Milne and caught about a dozen trout, mostly small but most trout I've seen biting in the last couple weeks. Saw a dark shadow cruising around too that splashed and scared the ducks, might have been a carp. Fishing conditions were great today!

I was going to check out milne next week since Bond lake is a bust. They now have G4S security watching....so fine I parked somewhere else and walked.

Next day there was 2 OPP suvs...alright I still went lol

Day after my dad was taking a walk around the lake and ran into MNR and ENV Canada....

No more bond for me I guess, oh well it was a gooooooood run while it lasted, now all that lake is good for is biking and hiking.

416fish said:

You should try it! I went there again the other day, caught lots of perch, obviously sunfish, the odd largemouth (10" length but I'm sure there are some lunkers as well!) and saw some koi and one huge gold carp that looked to be at least 2.5' in the second pond. Main pond had big carp but missed on a big one I was trying to sight fish. You can see lots of them when the sun's out, big black shadows moving lazy through the middle.

A nice place I checked out today was Professor's Lake in Brampton. Water was crystal clear and the setting would of looked perfect if not for so much garbage on the shore! Obviously left behind by other fishermen and teenagers that hang out there. But saw loads of 12"+ bass cruising the drop off I was fishing and even got one by accident (wasn't trying to target them as they are out of season). Caught a bunch of perch, sunfish, and rock bass as well.

Later in the day I went to Milne and caught about a dozen trout, mostly small but most trout I've seen biting in the last couple weeks. Saw a dark shadow cruising around too that splashed and scared the ducks, might have been a carp. Fishing conditions were great today!

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Did you actually caught trout on milne? as I know they close the ladder for trout going up the milne.

rich_ace_G said:

Did you actually caught trout on milne? as I know they close the ladder for trout going up the milne.

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I fish at the river side of milne, on the other side of the fish ladder/dam. If you go there, just remember not to fish 25 yards from the dam (there are 'no fishing' signs that will let you know). Lots of fish, constant bites, lots of action!

fishing89 said:

I was going to check out milne next week since Bond lake is a bust. They now have G4S security watching....so fine I parked somewhere else and walked.

Next day there was 2 OPP suvs...alright I still went lol

Day after my dad was taking a walk around the lake and ran into MNR and ENV Canada....

No more bond for me I guess, oh well it was a gooooooood run while it lasted, now all that lake is good for is biking and hiking.

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Yeah that sucks. It's one of the restricted places now right? There are 4 natural kettle lakes in richmond hill and they are all off limits to anglers! sigh...

416fish said:

I fish at the river side of milne, on the other side of the fish ladder/dam. If you go there, just remember not to fish 25 yards from the dam (there are 'no fishing' signs that will let you know). Lots of fish, constant bites, lots of action!

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that's where I fish when i'm there too. on that steep drop off. merely looking for resis. but i thought water was murky all this week so didn't bother. thanks for the info. what's your rig for trout?

some people actually enjoy that there isn't 2000000 people that fish there maybe you could take your little courtship to the PM world --so that next tim I go to my home river I don't have 200000 fools casting into the waterwith 9 rods each because we ran an AD on "where is good near milne dam"...frustrating that people still don't get it--why don't you tell me where yuou keep valuables in your house--doesn make sense? neither does giving away the only peace we have in our lives--

remyboy1 said:

some people actually enjoy that there isn't 2000000 people that fish there maybe you could take your little courtship to the PM world --so that next tim I go to my home river I don't have 200000 fools casting into the waterwith 9 rods each because we ran an AD on "where is good near milne dam"...frustrating that people still don't get it--why don't you tell me where yuou keep valuables in your house--doesn make sense? neither does giving away the only peace we have in our lives--

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It's a popular spot, depending on what time you're there. Half the time there are lots of other anglers, we pretty much fish 3-4' from each other along the shore line. Plus if you can climb a bit, there are secluded areas you can get to if you want to fish in peace. If it wasn't such a popular spot there wouldn't be so many bobbers stuck in the trees (looks like christmas sometimes). All of these spots are listed online when you look up Toronto urban fishing so I don't see why I can't let people know where I'm fishing. People come to this site to find places to fish, and I don't feel right making it hard for them to gain such public information. And if too many anglers are bothering you, why don't you tell them to leave? Especially if it's your home turf. P.S. everyone's TV is probably located in their living rooms! LOL

rich_ace_G said:

that's where I fish when i'm there too. on that steep drop off. merely looking for resis. but i thought water was murky all this week so didn't bother. thanks for the info. what's your rig for trout?

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I usually use my own style of drop shot rig with a single hook. I use live bait mostly, trout worms, mealworms, and superworms. But that doesn't mean I don't change it up from time to time and use a bobber with split shots or even some crappie jigs. I use pretty small hooks when looking for trout, maybe a size 10 or 8.