Fishing Ontario’s Rivers

“River Road Diaries: A Father-and-Son (Daughter) Odyssey Through Ontario’s Finest Fishing Waters!“

Prologue – Why We Unhitched the Boat and Hit the Road

It started one April evening, long before the map was scrawled with circles and coffee stains. My son, twelve, bright-eyed, forever fiddling with his first bait-caster, peered up from a glossy guidebook and asked, “Dad, how many rivers does Ontario really have?”

“More than a summer’s worth,” I answered, then heard myself add, “Let’s try anyway.” (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

That throw-away promise became a six-week pilgrimage from Southwestern farmland to the pink-granite Shield, chasing trout at dawn and campfire crickets at night. We called it The River Road, and these are the pages we kept.

Week 1 – Taming Three Southern Gems

1. Grand River – “Learning to Wade Again”

Elora Gorge, Upper Grand – The limestone walls rang with late-June swallows as we stepped into calf-deep riffles upstream of the historic grist mill. Conservation crews stock this reach with plump brown trout, but fly-flicking my beginner was risky business, he still back-cast like a helicopter. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

So, we rigged weight-forward nymphs and drifted them beneath strike indicators. By mid-morning the boy had landed two respectably speckled browns and, more importantly, quit saying “I can’t.” Between bites we explored the shaly trails, pointing out fossil corals frozen when Ontario was a tropical sea. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Paris, Middle Grand – Two evenings later we were 80 km downstream, charmed by the cobblestone main street and riverside ice-cream stand. Smallmouth bass replaced trout here; their bronze backs flashed beneath the footbridge lights. My son discovered the thrill of top-water poppers, every slurp echoed across town. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

2. Credit River – “Salmon at Street-light Hour”

The Credit slides through suburban Mississauga so politely you’d swear it booked a permit. In Meadowvale’s parkland we pitched under willows, landing scrappy smallmouth before lunch. But we returned after dusk, when summer Chinook salmon prowled upstream on a test run ahead of the September riot.

Under the glow of the Britannia Road bridge, we watched ghostly shadows nose gravel. Regulations forbid salmon harvest this early, so we simply observed, whispering like museum patrons, awed that a wild fish weighing more than my son could thread a city of 800,000 souls without fanfare. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

3. Saugeen River – “Where the Canoe Becomes a Classroom”

Three days paddling the Walkerton-to-Southampton stretch taught river reading better than any textbook. Mild rapids kept us alert; oxbow pools invited lazy casts. Saugeen Bluffs Conservation Area offered showers (bliss!) and a ringside view of the nightly “salmon parade”, school-bus-sized Chinook stacking in tail-outs. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

We kept dinner modest: pan-fried smallmouth and fire-blackened corn. My son practiced knots under headlamp until bats flitted past. Sleeping bag whispers drifted from his tent: “Best day ever, Dad.” (Fishi (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)ng Ontario’s Rivers)

Week 2 – Locks, Limestone & A Giant Toonie

 4. Rideau River – “Fishing Between Heritage Locks”

We slipped the aluminum runabout into Kars and moseyed north toward Ottawa. A gentle 10 km/h speed limit meant we could troll without spooking paddlers. Largemouth bass wallowed under lily pads near Watson’s Corners; a long-handled net saved Dad’s pride more than once. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

At Burritts Rapids lock station Parks Canada volunteers invited my son to crank the 19th-century swing-arm. He declared the clank of iron gears “steampunk cool” and scribbled sketches in his journal. That night we moored below the stone walls, rigged glow sticks, and plucked black crappie until the stars blurred. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

5. Trent River – “Campbellford, Walleye & the $2 Coin”

A silver morning delivered us to Campbellford’s riverside campground, where the world’s largest Toonie statue towers like an oversized lunker. Below it the Trent-Severn channel funnels current into perfect walleye habitat. We vertical-jigged half-ounce ball heads tipped with chartreuse minnows, classic, effective, and easy for a tween to master. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

By supper we had a legal pair of 45-cm walleye sizzling in butter beside lock-master-approved picnic tables. My son etched the date on a two-dollar coin and slipped it into his tackle box: a memory more portable than any trophy.

Fishing on the Trent River in Campbellford

Week 3 – Mighty Waters & Northern Lights

6. Ottawa River – “Bays, Bald Eagles, and the One That Snapped the Rod”

From Pembroke downstream to Arnprior the Ottawa broadens into island-studded bays, safe havens for jon boats and first-time casters. We camped at Driftwood Provincial Park, letting the boy pilot through morning mist while Dad scanned for channel markers. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Sightings:

• A bald eagle cartwheeling after a sucker.
• A pod of sturgeon breaching like prehistoric torpedoes.
• One legendary northern pike that inhaled a bucktail, ran thirty metres and, crack, left Dad holding a broken graphite souvenir.

That night the aurora fired neon ribbons across the valley. My son declared them “sky fish” and vowed to hook one someday. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Sturgeon Fishing on the Ottawa River

7. French River – “Where the Shield Tests Your Knuckles”

We hired a tin skiff from a family lodge near Highway 69 and threaded narrow gut-cuts lined with pink granite and wind-crooked pines. Every shoreline screamed Group of Seven palette. Between casts we traced voyageurs’ portage glyphs carved into rock faces. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Fishing? Stellar. Morning walleye along weed edges, afternoon smallmouth pounding jerk-baits off boulder shelves, and a sunset muskie that followed to the boat, stared disdainfully, then melted into black water. My son’s gasp said everything: some giants choose when, and if, they meet you. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Week 4 – Urban Edges & History Lessons

 8. Thames River – “Catfish Beneath the College Bridge”

Back south we re-entered city limits, London, Ontario, and discovered the Thames’ underrated channel catfish scene. Local teens on long-boards pointed us to Harris Park, where night crawlers drifted under slip bobbers until orange floats vanished into moon-lit current.

Cats aren’t glamour fish, but to a twelve-year-old they are pure arm-wrestle. One blunt-headed brute rolled in the shallows, snapping 20-lb leader. My son shrugged: “We’ll get him next year.” That, dear reader, is long-term angling optimism.

9. Humber River – “Subway to the Salmon Pool”

Where else can you ride public transit to a steelhead run? We boarded Toronto’s Line 2, hopped off at Old Mill station, and five minutes later were free-drifting spawn sacs beside stately swans. City traffic hummed overhead, yet a wild rainbow vaulted clear, silver sides flashing against condo glass.

Crowds gathered on the concrete walkway, strollers, joggers, curious seniors. When my son finally coaxed a trout to hand, spontaneous applause echoed off the retaining wall. He blushed deeper than the fish’s gill-plates.

10. St. Marys River – “Atlantic Salmon at the Soo”

Sault Ste. Marie’s canal-side boardwalk proved both stage and classroom. Fisheries researchers allowed kids to peer into underwater viewing windows as Atlantic salmon cruised the rapids, one of North America’s rare self-sustaining stocks outside the East Coast.

Angling slots alternate days to protect the run; we lucked into a legal time and drifted smelt-patterned flies through bubbling seams. My son’s reel screamed; a silver bullet cart-wheeled three times before surrendering. At the cleaning station we filleted the 28-inch beauty, then joined waterfront locals grilling whitefish. Community tastes like cedar smoke and lemon pepper.

Week 5 – Granite, Bluffs and Black-Water Creeks

11. Mattawa River – “Casting Between Canoe Strokes”

The Mattawa tumbles from Trout Lake to the Ottawa along a corridor once paddled by voyageurs hauling fur and dreams. We chose the gentler lower half, timing portages so the boy could cast Rapalas into eddy pockets. Smallmouth bass hammered anything shiny; a surprise walleye added lunch.

Camped on a sand spit, we skipped stones until loons called reclaiming rights. My son’s journal entry: “River sings lullaby, no earbuds needed.”

12. Maitland River – “Steelhead Shadows Under the Bridge”

Goderich’s harbour lighthouse guided us to the lower Maitland, where autumn-run steelhead linger into early summer, fattening on emerald shiners. Low, gin-clear flow demanded stealth. We walked the shady trail to Benmiller Bridge at dawn, casting three-inch pink worms beneath floats. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Third drift: indicator buried, rod bucked, chrome flashed. My son’s drag squealed a reprise of the St. Marys battle, but this fish slipped the hook after a blistering run. He slumped, then laughed: “Okay, steelhead 2, Ethan 1.” Scoreboards don’t matter when lessons stick harder than treble hooks. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

13. Black River, Prince Edward County – “Bass & Butter-Tarts”

PEC locals claim the Black flows as slow as a Sunday, perfect for canoe trolling. We launched at Morrison Point Road amid reed beds alive with red-winged blackbirds. Largemouth bass lurked under duckweed mats; weedless frogs drew surface explosions that left both of us cackling. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Afternoon detour: Waupoos cider, Fifth-Town cheese curds, and legendary County butter-tarts. Fishing fuels more than reels. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

14. Moira River – “Final Casts Beneath Belleville’s Lights”

Our odyssey wound down where the Moira kisses the Bay of Quinte. Downtown Belleville’s Riverside Park features accessible ramps and a promenade perfect for reflective strolls. Evening mayflies hatched in clouds; walleye and white bass dimpled the surface.

My son’s very last cast—honest—produced a modest walleye. We measured, snapped a photo, and released it into gold-lit current. High-five, hug, headlights back to the motel. Journey complete. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Epilogue – What the River Gave Back

Miles logged: 3,870 km
Rivers fished: 14
Species landed (father & son combined): 11 including trout, salmon, bass, walleye, pike, catfish, crappie, perch.
Rods broken: 1 (R.I.P.)
Arguments: 0.5 (over whose turn to paddle).
Inside jokes: Too many to count, each a polished pebble in our shared tackle box of memory. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Lessons Penned in Waterproof Ink

 Every River Has a Personality – The urbane Credit is not the untamed French, yet each offers wonder if you meet it on its own terms. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

1. Failure Hooks Deeper Than Success – The pike that snapped my rod and the steelhead that threw the hook pushed us back to the water next day, sharper and humbler.
2. Time Beats Trophies – Of 14 rivers, my son lists the Thames catfish outing among his top three, not because the fish were huge, but because downtown streetlights painted ripples copper.
3. Maps End; Curiosity Doesn’t – We left dotted lines unexplored: the Saugeen’s tributaries, the outer islands of the French, whispered brook-trout creeks off the Mattawa. They are invitations, not regrets.

On our drive home he asked, “Next summer, new rivers?” I nodded but offered a twist: “You plan the route.” He flipped to the final blank page of his journal, drew a wavy line, and began plotting. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Because in Ontario water never really ends, only flows forward, carrying fathers, sons, and every angler who believes the next bend might hold the fish (or memory) of a lifetime. (Fishing Ontario’s Rivers)

Tips to Keep the Trip Fun

• Pack variety: Bring small spinners or floats for panfish plus a few larger lures if youngsters want a shot at “something big.”
• Plan breaks: Pair an hour of casting with a riverside playground, ice-cream shop, or short nature hike.
• Safety first: Kids under 16 can fish license-free, but everyone should wear PFDs on docks or if wading.
• Check regulations: Seasons, bait rules, and sanctuary zones vary by river section, Ontario’s “Fish ON-Line” map or local tackle shops can save headaches.

 

NOTE: A fun, made up story about a father and son traveling across Ontario, fishing on Ontario’s fabulous rivers!