7 replies to this topic

[sandyg86]

Hi there, 

Very new to fishing here and was wondering what were some good spots in and around the Cambridge area or even Hamilton area. I did try some areas and rivers around Cambridge to no avail. Not sure what it is that I am doing wrong but I just cannot seem to catch anything (I am using fake worms on an o-ring, frogs, jitterbugs, etc)! Any tips or suggestions would be great. Thank you!!

[Kit]

I fish the Cambridge area a lot. You can't shore fish the grand. You gotta wade get in the water and fish if you wanna catch fish. It's funny cause most of my friends I go with assume we are shore fishing a river and I laugh and say you can cast and throw everything till your blue in the face and no fish. Most shore spots are fished a ton so that piece of river receives a ton of pressure. You have to get out and explore.

[SaugeenDrifter]

Ok so some of these spots I have fished in the past from my Kayak, it has been years since I resided in the area and may require a boat or kayak, which can be picked up rather inexpensively and toted anywhere on the smallest of cars or pulled behind a bike. A kayak can be an awesome way to fish very shallow water and get to areas missed by other anglers.

 

In the Cambridge area - Bannister lake = pike / crappie; Deans lake = largemouth / perch; Elliots lake = crappie / pike; Pusclinch lake = perch / smallmouth / crappie / pike / wallye / largemouth; Little Lake = Pike / Crappie

 

Fake worms will  work but only on a reaction bite and the best way to increase your chances is put a piece of worm on the hook. Worms are easy to catch, a flashlight at night time and some grass in your back yard after dark and you will find them, don't shine the light directly on them (id recommend an LED), grab them with your fingers and slowly pull them out of the ground (golf courses are the bomb!!! lots of water and short grass, but ask permission first ).

 

If fishing the river and the river looks like chocolate milk (always happens after a rainstorm) then I would call it a day, if you can see the bottom in 3 feet of water you are good to go, just remember, that this is also the visual distance the fish can also see under the water, if the water is muck than they can only see your bait if you hit them in the face with it. River fish are usually ambush attackers and hide until prey swims by to swim out to hit it.

 

Top water baits will work best as long as you use them at the right time (1) at low light levels (evening/morning) right in to the dark on days that are not overly windy. Topwaters cause surface commotion which attract fish, if the waters surface is wavy or distrubed than targeting your bait will be difficult for the fish (not impossible, and yes it can be done, but less likely to occur). (2) Fish become very active surface feeders during 2 situations (a) when there is a bug hatch or bugs are landing on the surface to lay eggs ( once the invertabrates become sizeable and start to appear along the shore lines (by invertabrates I mean frogs/toads/salamaders). Once the frogs are around the fish readily eat them, that is when your jitterbugs and frogs will work.

 

What Kit (above) mentioned is true, every overpass/bridge will be fished heavily, you need to become a more flexible fisherperson and get to those hard to reach "desireable" spots that lazy fisherpeople miss.

 

If fishing a stream/river you must always remember fish are NOT overly smart however they have EXCELLENT hearing. Don't clumsily stumble down to the rivers edge expecting to cast right out and catch a fish. Fish have hearing several times better than us and in the water sound travels (for example; when swimming at my local beach I can hear motorboats 1 mile away under the water travelling to the harbour). I'm no fish and I can hear that. If you spook the fish they shut their mouths or swim somewhere else. Always "sneak"down to the river/stream and make as little noise as possible. In the spring start with smaller baits and slower presentations because the food sources are smaller (minnows) in the river and the fishes metabolic rate is slower, as the summer warms the river the minnows are larger and more plentiful so larger baits work and you can retreive them quicker because fish hate seeing food get away and with warmer water the fish digest food quicker and therefore need to eat more.

 

If I were to fish a stream/river (anyone anywhere) I would do the following; sneak like a burglar to the rivers edge, look for a slow pool off to the size of the faster moving water, put on a small hook and a small piece of worm and catch a few minnows. If I catch a bunch of chubs they become my bait, if I catch a few small bass / perch / trout then I know what colour my baits should be that I am casting, if I see frogs and its evening or morning I cast surface baits, if its mid afternoon and sunny I fish in the shade (under bridges/fallen trees/boulders), when fishing streams/rivers I fish the deeper holes, rapids may hold the odd fish but I would travel the river till I found deeper water. Fish are like people, they want to live in the best real estate, and in river that is a deep hole where there is cover / shade / food and most of all enough water to evade feeding birds and perhaps larger fish.

 

Sorry for the novel, I spent years on my own figuring out how to fish the Saugeen River and its tribs, I can see you are just starting out and if you research enough it wont take very long to become a very avid and successful angler. Just remember to remain flexible and never get stuck using only one technique. The moon will affect your fishing, cold weather/overcast days/high pressure systems; all of these will affect your success rate. Knowledge is key.

 

Cheers and Tight lines

Saugeen

[sandyg86]

Thanks so much for the input and advice Kit and Saugeen. Much appreciated! 

It's true...there are a lot of people out there on the Grand that I have seen shore fishing...as well as the Speed. 

 

Saugeen - thank you!! Novels are good! Especially since I only JUST got my fishing license on Sunday and quite enjoy fishing and would like to learn as much as possible.
I have tried Puslinch but got no luck there...so far, will make sure to check out the other spots you recommended as well. 

At the rest of sounding like a rookie - I have a couple questions if I may!

What do you think of those gulp worms? The ones that you can buy in the liquid...do those even work? I am a little skeptical of those. 

As well I hear corn is good for Pike...is this true? 

Sometimes I will see bass jumping...so close to me that I could probably reach out and touch them...and they are still not biting!! > So am wondering what I am doing wrong here...I also learned something new when you said that I should sneak up on them...I can be a talker. (lol)

So is it not recommended to go fishing after the rain has fallen? And what do you think of super hot days? Just find a shady spot and sneak up on them there? 

I will keep the live worms in mind as well. 

 

Thanks so much! I am going to print these responses out!  

[Kit]

Plastics can be good or a waste of money. Me personally I don't have much at all cause I believe they don't work as well as hard baits. If you click my blog page below you can read a ton of info on fishing. And the fish you see jumping are probably carp. Bass don't jump very often as you think. Never heard of pike getting corn. They usually hit big minnow looking baits. Corn is good for carp though.

Puslinch lake had a bad fish kill this spring from the bad winter. So I think fishing there is gonna be bad for a while to come. The grand and speed has good fishing again you gotta walk in the water. Not shore fish.

Next weekend I'll try to get another outing get together.

[420fisherman]

Awesome info saugeen and kit!

[rybak]

Hey Sandyg,

 

I have re-started my fishing adventures this summer. I do all my short or micro trips in the afternoons or evenings after work and usually don't stay more than an hour or two.

I like to target panfish, so perch, rock bass, crappie, silver bass and the sort.

 

I live and commute in Halton/Burlington area, so a bit south of Cambridge and I prefer various sections of Lake Ontario and halton conservation lakes.

 

As far as Berkley rubber baits like Gulp minnows, red worms are concerned - I have used both. 2" and 1" minnows and the soft red worms.

I can say that the red worms work very well. I can drop shot a 2" piece on the bottom and consistently pull out silver bass and perch.

 

My preferred method is using a micro float, slip or static is fine. Then with a 1/16 or a 1/32 black or white jig head plus the plastic which matches the jig.

Lighter plasitcs on the white jig and darker plastics on the black jig.

 

I prefer any size between 3/4" up to 2" but sitck to imittation of crawfish, bug, fly and minnow.

 

I also don't spend much on the bait. I have not had to re-buy plastics or buy live worms this year yet after the initial bulk up purchase in the spring.

 

I pair those up with an ultra light rod and 4# test line and hooks no larger than 8 size.

 

My sucess rate is fairly good. Yesterday between 4pm and 8pm on one of Halton Conservation lakes, I caught about 15 perch, including my personal best of 12 3/4" and about 8 black crappies( which look like rock bass). One of the black crappies was a personal best as well.

 

Anyway, have fun!

[sandyg86]

You can tell I'm a newbie, eh? Lol!! Corn and carp! That is what I meant! I will look into the minnow rubber baits..I also use those grub looking things, does that work?? 
Rybak - how are you getting these fish!? Congrats btw, that is AWESOME! I feel like I am doing something wrong. :/ Is it best to cast into the water and leave it there for a bit or slowly reel it back in? 

Thank you for all the suggestions! I might need someone to explain it to me in super-newbie terms but I feel I have an idea.  
 

Thanks again everyone! Oh and Kit, I will definitely check out your blog!