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 (b) 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
