Advice re fishing on the Grand and Guelph Lake

[jimmarst]

Hi. I just joined this forum. I hope that I can find some useful advice on where and how to fish on the Grand River in the Kitchener area, and on or near Guelph Lake.

I've fished a little here and there throughout my adult life, and really enjoy it. I have enough basic fishing gear and a kayak and canoe. But I don't have enough knowledge and experience to be very successful. I am also relatively new to the area, so don't know the good fishing spots, etc.

I just retired this summer, so have the time to get more into it. So, I would appreciate any advice. And if anyone in the area would like an occasional fishing buddy - expecially during the week, respond to this post and we can exchange contact info.

In the meantime, I will also search the private forums on this site, in case I find some good advice there.

Happy fishing!

Jim

 

[AaronKrick]

Welcome jim! Tons of guys including myself fish the grand regularly.

 

[hamiltonangler94]

Welcome to the forum! I also fish the Grand, mostly south of the Caledonia dam

 

[FishingNoob]

Welcome to the forum! What species do you target, what setup do you use?

 

[jimmarst]

I live in the Chickopee area, so close to the Freeport bridge. Yesterday I tried a little shore fishing between there and the weir upstream (I accessed it by bicycle from the Walter Bean Trail). I was trying to catch bass, using a casting rod and spinners (smaller Mepps) and tube jigs. I only caught one very small one.

Near the end of my fishing I met another fishernan, Gary, fishing near the docs on the West side of the Freeport bridge. He said that the fishing was pretty good in that area for small to medium sized bass (up to 2 lbs). He mainly uses a bobber and worms.

He might be right because there are some Osprey that nest in the area, and we saw one flying over with a decent sized fish (likely a bass). It was very cool to see.

I may drop my kayak in that area today, and try fishing with worms. It would be nice to have a spot so close to home, that I could bring my wife, and my grandson to - here they would be likely to catch something - even if it was small.

For myself, I would prefer to catch some bigger fish, so am prepared to travel some more, use different gear, etc.

Any suggestions for other locations on the Grand to catch bigger bass, or other fish?

Based on some posts in this forum and other places on the web, I see that some people enjoy carp fishing on the Grand. I was intrigued by that, but the more I read, the more challenging it seemed to set up the rig, prepare the bait, chum the water, wait for a bite, etc. Perhaps its easier and more active than it sounds.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Jim

 

[fishy_slayer]

Best way to catch those big bass are finding the forage. Minnows. Look for big populations of minnows.get yourself some baits that look exactly like them....or even use the live.minnows.you will noticd you will be catching 1 or 2 lb bass.now you havd found the bass.time to stop using minnows and baits thag look like them.the small bass are the most agressive and will 9 times out of ten get to your minnow before the big ones.throw on a bigger tube,stick bait.and just drag them slow across the bottom.little bass are too afraid of the big baits to hit.now you wont get as many bites but when u do you wil hook some nice fish.

 

[jimmarst]

Thanks for the advice, fishy_slayer. I will try to follow it. Jim.

 

[steve]

Try Guelph lake some real big pike 8 to 10lbs .some big bass there to sm n lm good luck

 

[mrdrifter]

Welcome.. Looking forward to the pics!