WALLEYE
The walleye (also known as pickerel) is found throughout Ontario and is particularly common in the Great Lakes basin. In Northern Ontario it is found in abundance in a wide range of waters.
Walleye thrive in a range of river and lake conditions from cold, clear water to warm, weedy and stained water. Preferred cover includes weed, wood and rock. Bottom types can be anything from soft mud to flooded timber, rubble or bedrock. The walleye is a light-avoiding fish, caught most often under low light conditions. Fishing is generally best on cloudy or overcast days, or on days when waves keep light from penetrating too deeply into the water.
In springtime walleye will take almost any bait or lure, but may be more challenging to catch through the summer months. Fall often brings another peak of walleye feeding activity.
Casting or trolling with spinners or minnow-imitating plugs is a good bet. Special worm harness rigs of spinners and beads are often trolled. Jigs, either traditional bucktails, or tipped with any of the modern plastics, a piece of worm or minnow are walleye angling favorites.
Excellent live bait includes:
- minnows;
- earthworms; and,
- crayfish.
Live baits are often still-fished, drifted or trolled on slip-sinker or "bottom-bouncing" rigs. Walleye are readily caught through the ice, usually on jigs, jigging spoons or minnows.
Length: 25 - 85 cm. (10-33 in.)
Distribution/Habitat: lakes and rivers throughout most of Ontario
Similar fish: sauger, yellow perch
Key identifying characteristics: white tip on lower tail fin; no distinct blotches or bands on adults
NORTHERN PIKE
Pike are widely distributed in Ontario. Historically they have not been found in the Haliburton Highlands and the Kawartha Lakes of central Ontario. However, pike are expanding their range and can now be found in the northwestern corner of the Kawarthas.
In a lake environment pike prefer weedy bays, estuaries and shoals as spring and summer habitat. During cool autumn days pike are most likely to seek deeper water.
Pike are aggressive feeders through spring, summer and fall and continue to be caught through the ice during the winter months. Pike will take just about every kind of live and artificial bait, including very large streamer flies. For trolling or casting try:
- spoons;
- bucktail spinners;
- crankbaits;
- topwater lures;
- spinnerbaits; and,
- buzzbaits.
Length: 45 - 100 cm. (18-39 in.)
Distribution/Habitat: quiet, vegetated waters throughout Ontario
Similar fish: muskellunge
Key identifying characteristics: light, yellowish spots on dark green background; tips of tail fin more rounded than muskellunge
LAKE TROUT
The lake trout, like other members of the char family, is typically northern in distribution. In Ontario they occur in Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Superior and across the deep, cold lakes of the Canadian Shield.
Lake trout normally inhabit only lakes with a depth greater than 15 meters (50 feet).
In spring, just after ice goes out, lake trout are found near the surface and can be taken on a fly rod, or with spinners, spoons and plugs. As the water warms up they go deep and must be sought with special deep-water tackle -- wire line, lead-core line, downriggers, diving planers, etc. Large spoons, spinners and plugs are good summer trolling baits. Jigging, or still-fishing with large, dead minnows in deep water, are sometimes effective in summer. Ice fishing for lake trout is often done with minnows or lake herring, or, by jigging with spoons and jigs with bait attached.
Length: 30 - 80 cm (12 - 31 in.)
Distribution/Habitat: cold waters of deep lakes throughout much of Ontario
Similar fish: brook trout
Key identifying characteristics: light wormlike markings and spots on dark background, none red; deeply forked tail; white leading edge on lower fins, but no black line
YELLOW PERCH
Yellow perch are commonly found in the Great Lakes drainage and have been introduced to waters beyond their original range. They are now widely distributed throughout the province.
Perch are most numerous where there are expanses of open water and moderate amounts of vegetation. They often share water with species such as walleye and bass.
Yellow perch are caught by a wide variety of methods:
- still fishing with small minnows, earthworms, and grasshoppers;
- insects and flies at the time of the mayfly emergence;
- small spinners, spinner and fly combination; and,
- small tube jigs or twister tails.
Perch show a preference for the natural food upon which they are feeding at the time. The live minnow gives the best success at all seasons of the year.
Length: 15 - 30 cm. (6-12 in.)
Distribution/Habitat: clear waters with some vegetation throughout Ontario; often school
Similar fish: walleye, white perch, sauger
Key identifying characteristics: 6 to 8 dark, vertical bands on sides, alternating with light yellow to yellow-green
