bluegills and crappie in gta?

[fisherboy123]

hey guys,

for the march break, i am looking for a pond or lake to fish for gills and crappie. i am planning ahead of time for organizational purposes,

i have come up a few locations...

mill pond (milton)
grenadier pond
mountsberg reservoir
kelso lake

if anyone has any info for these spots and what lures i should use that would be awesome. Or if anyone has better spots that would be better producing, plz let me know through pm or on this forum.

thanks,

theyoungfisherman

 

[Klik]

there was a massive fish death in grenadier pond either 2013 or 2012, plus the fact it gets over fished. not sure about crappy but you can find sun fish anywhere. try deeper parts of some of the rivers. there is tons of stuff in big marshes of most gta rivers, well, the less dirty ones.

 

[usernamehere]

grenadier pond is dead. anyone still taking fish from that place is simply making it impossible for fish to establish a good size/population in that pond. I visited the pond 2 months after the fish kill and I still see taking 3-4" bluegills by the bucketloads.

I think anywhere is better than grenadier pond lol. At least for the next few years.

GTA, at least around downtown Toronto, is a sub-par place to fish in general (except the islands, cause not everybody wants to pay the $7 ferry fee to go fishing). If you can find the fishing spot online, its over-fished, guaranteed.

What you are looking for are SMALL, hard to access, out-of-the-way ponds that not too many people know about. This will be extremely hard. People nowadays knows that once you find a good fishing spot, you gatta protect it and keep it secret to the best of your ability.

To my knowledge, mountsberg reservoir is your best bet, unless you want to spend hours and hours on google earth locating small ponds and trying them out one-by-one.

 

[hamiltonangler94]

Most ponds will have sunfish, but ponds with sunfish that have decent size to them (8 inch plus) are hard to find in an area that has such a big population nearby such as Toronto. Honestly I would go with what usernamehere said. Do you research and go on google earth and find those small secluded ponds, you will be shocked with what you find. I know I have found abandoned quarries with little fishing pressure filled with rock bass and smallmouth. Make sure though you are not trespassing, as many of these places are private property, or it is illegal to fish such as many drainage ponds. Hope this helps

 

[fisherboy123]

Most ponds will have sunfish, but ponds with sunfish that have decent size to them (8 inch plus) are hard to find in an area that has such a big population nearby such as Toronto. Honestly I would go with what usernamehere said. Do you research and go on google earth and find those small secluded ponds, you will be shocked with what you find. I know I have found abandoned quarries with little fishing pressure filled with rock bass and smallmouth. Make sure though you are not trespassing, as many of these places are private property, or it is illegal to fish such as many drainage ponds. Hope this helps

i did look through some secluded ponds and found some ponds near my house. i highlighted some key areas to fish at. if anyone could give me some feedback on these ponds, that would be great. I would like to keep these ponds secretive, so plz pm me if u would like to take a look and leave some feedback.

on the other hand, mountsberg does look promising (according to fishing freak), as i have seen him in a pic with a huge bluegill.

thanks guys

tyf

 

[fisherboy123]

oops double post

 

[Drop_Shot]

Mountsberg is great for panfish... I've had great success in spring more towards mid April though... Good thing with that site too is that it's governed by one of nature authorities there, and limits have been in place for fish species including the panfish, and they do check... Last time I was there someone with a bucket of 30 - 40 panfish got kicked out as the official walked him to his car. Wish all the Gta waters were cared for like that...

 

[fisherboy123]

Mountsberg is great for panfish... I've had great success in spring more towards mid April though... Good thing with that site too is that it's governed by one of nature authorities there, and limits have been in place for fish species including the panfish, and they do check... Last time I was there someone with a bucket of 30 - 40 panfish got kicked out as the official walked him to his car. Wish all the Gta waters were cared for like that...

good thing i will be strictly c&r.I hate when people do that.

 

[Christopheraaron]

You guys know you aren't allowed to fish mountsberg for ANYTHING out of bass season right?

 

[fisherboy123]

just checked website... it says season: year-round (from shore)


website: http://conservationhalton.ca/fishing

 

[Christopheraaron]

Strange that it says that because there a re a couple of signs aaron the CA with seasons.

 

[fisherboy123]

hmmmm... that is strange. anyway atleast u have an argument that lets u fish for other species

 

[fisherboy123]

I have a small inflatable Seahawk row boat. Can I use that in mountsberg?

 

[MuskieBait]

I have a small inflatable Seahawk row boat. Can I use that in mountsberg?

Many places can still be frozen over during March Break. You may have a better bet icefishing for panfish and crappies. It's a transitional time of year and tricky to say if you'll be icefishing (safely) or boat fishing...or not even fishing at all if the ice is unsafe yet the lake or ponds are still locked in ice. Do you have icefishing gear?

 

[fisherboy123]

Many places can still be frozen over during March Break. You may have a better bet icefishing for panfish and crappies. It's a transitional time of year and tricky to say if you'll be icefishing (safely) or boat fishing...or not even fishing at all if the ice is unsafe yet the lake or ponds are still locked in ice. Do you have icefishing gear?

I have an ice fishing rod and some lures, but no shelter. I don't think u can ice fish at mountsberg though.

 

[BowSlayer]

almost all lakes will be frozen solid on march break, i ice fish most lakes in april and some well into april.

 

[GTAbassangler]

I made multiple trips to mountsberg towards the end of last years bass season. Fished out of a canoe, only fished the lower half of lake ( from the boat launch to the train tracks and the little cove in the far back corner) Caught one largemouth, about 2 LBS and a few 12-18" hammerhandle pike, nothing close to huge. Although I was not using panfish attractive gear, I saw little to no action. My buddy was using a 2inch minnow from shore and caught a 4 inch perch. Other then that, from my expereinces, mountsberg seems to be somewhat fished out. The 2nd last time I was there, I was launching my canoe and there was a guy drifting in on a inflatable boat with a bucket, was acting really sketchy and kept the bucket away from where we could see what was in it. I also see what seems to be the same group of foreigners (Asian) sitting on the dam and keeping litrly everything they can get their hands on. It makes me furious when I see that happen. I strictly catch and release. I have been hoping to find my "honey hole" around the GTA, halton region in specific. Hopfuly I can get some luck this year

Kelso on the other hand, is looaaaaaaaded with rockbass, perch and sunfish, some deacent size. I take a trip up there often to see if I can get my hands on a few largemouths. Caught one last year, about 2 lbs and it looked like it was reacently caught and half of its mouth was like cut and ripped. I made sure I was extremly gentle, I couldn't even pick it up by the lip.


Goodluck if you take a trip out, I would most deffinatly go to kelso if you are tareting panfish!
~Matt

 

[fisherboy123]

I made multiple trips to mountsberg towards the end of last years bass season. Fished out of a canoe, only fished the lower half of lake ( from the boat launch to the train tracks and the little cove in the far back corner) Caught one largemouth, about 2 LBS and a few 12-18" hammerhandle pike, nothing close to huge. Although I was not using panfish attractive gear, I saw little to no action. My buddy was using a 2inch minnow from shore and caught a 4 inch perch. Other then that, from my expereinces, mountsberg seems to be somewhat fished out. The 2nd last time I was there, I was launching my canoe and there was a guy drifting in on a inflatable boat with a bucket, was acting really sketchy and kept the bucket away from where we could see what was in it. I also see what seems to be the same group of foreigners (Asian) sitting on the dam and keeping litrly everything they can get their hands on. It makes me furious when I see that happen. I strictly catch and release. I have been hoping to find my "honey hole" around the GTA, halton region in specific. Hopfuly I can get some luck this year

Kelso on the other hand, is looaaaaaaaded with rockbass, perch and sunfish, some deacent size. I take a trip up there often to see if I can get my hands on a few largemouths. Caught one last year, about 2 lbs and it looked like it was reacently caught and half of its mouth was like cut and ripped. I made sure I was extremly gentle, I couldn't even pick it up by the lip.


Goodluck if you take a trip out, I would most deffinatly go to kelso if you are tareting panfish!
~Matt

hey,

Thanks man. This really helped me.

I will probably go to kelso. If i do, what would be the best place to cast out?

thanks again,

tyf

 

[GTAbassangler]

hey,

Thanks man. This really helped me.

I will probably go to kelso. If i do, what would be the best place to cast out?

thanks again,

tyf

Anywhere along the shore line is good. In the canoe, we often go towards the back end of the lake ( since its the most unaccessed and fished parts of the lake) Use a 1-2inch jig and your golden
You are often being swarmed by schools of perch as you retreive your bait. Howevver, my lures are often too big for them
They are crazy aggresive!

 

[fisherboy123]

thanks once again,

I will probably head out when i see that the ice has melted.

I have very small crankbaits (1-2 inch), as well as gulp alive maggots. should i use these?

Also, how big are the perch/rockbass? Would i be able to use my pocket fishing rod?

Thanks,

tyf