Fishing spots in Mississauga and troubleshooting?

Hi folks!
After a trip to Ohio two weeks ago, I have fallen in love with fishing! On land, I caught a bunch of bluegill in a quarry and one snapping turtle (accidentally). I live in Mississauga. My family and I have taken up the hobby and we're having some serious trouble catching anything!

We have an Intex Excursion 5 dinghy with a solid floor and trolling motor. The majority of our fishing is from the dinghy. We've tried the Credit River in Port Credit, Erindale Park on land, the cove at Lakefront Promenade park and Mountsberg Conservation area. In all those spots, the only fish caught was a young Pike as a miraculous "one last cast" with a red devil at Mountsberg in Campbellville.

I know that the Credit is well known for its great fishing. We also camp yearly at Balsam Lake Provincial Park. Do you have any troubleshooting suggestions for an enthusiastic but slightly frustrated beginner angler and her family? When I caught bluegill, all I needed was a hook and a worm and swarms of little fish would come. I'd catch fish in less than a minute. I can't manage to find any panfish in my spots. I don't even see ANY fish. I fish near structure in search of rock bass or other smaller fish and I haven't come across anything. I'm using artificial baits with an appropriate hook. I also recently bought jig heads and grubs.

I know that all fish are different and different baits and hooks and methods will attract different fish. I'm primarily interested in bass, panfish, perch, and rainbow trout. My brother is more interested in walleye, musky, pike.

Any and all bait/hook/tackle suggestions are graciously wanted and any spots or methods would be greatly appreciated. I really want to learn and I really want to catch fish!!

Thanks in advance.

Hi philosothicc - welcome to the forum! Normally there won't really be suggestions of where to go specifically on here, but you've provided some great background and I'm sure there will be some generous info provided on here.

One recommendation I have is to try live bait in areas where you haven't done well before. Artificials are excellent when you have the confidence that there are fish there, and you can play around with sizes / colours / shapes. But if you're in an area where you know what species are present but have never caught them, try using live worms/minnows/leeches until you start getting some action.

One tip that helped me out was switching to drop-shot rigs:
https://www.wikihow.com/Fish-a-Drop-Shot-Rig

It's just a great way to keep your bait in the strike zone at all times.

Another tip that can help improve bite rates is using fluorocarbon leaders. When the water is clear and when fishing pressure is frequent, just a bit of fishing line can easily scare the fish away. 2-3 ft of 6 lb test fluorocarbon line at the end of whatever main line you're using can make a big difference in how many bites you get.

Good luck!

I've found that right under the 403, many pike come by, at the start of the Culham Trail

Hi there amateur angler:


There are numerous spots on the Credit River to wet your line in. You can most certainly try under the QEW bridge as there is parking available in the little dead end street off off Stavebank Road north of the highway. You can try jigs there for steelheads and browns at this time of the year.

Water is slow at this time since we had no precipitation lately.


Good Luck to all of you!