With the most important fishing week of the year kicking-off this Saturday, anglers are being reminded of what this great sport is all about.
National Fishing Week is all about educating and informing the public on the merits of sport-fishing in Canada. During NFW, veteran anglers are encouraged to lend their support – offering those new to the sport a chance to cast a line and discover the fulfillment of fishing in this great country of ours.
In celebration of National Fishing Week, all walks of life across Canada -young or old – are encouraged to plan a fishing day at the nearest stream, pond, river or lake.
Also keep in mind that no fishing license is required in Ontario between July 2 – 10, so regardless of what you have planned this weekend, try to include some time on the water. I know I will.
For more information on National Fishing Week, log onto:
http://www.nationalfishingweek.com/eng/where_fish_live
Outdoorsguy
If the weather can cooperate that would be real nice for the kids. Best condition, cloudy, not to much sun, no rain.
Off to the cottage, buying an overpriced Quebec fishing license and am going to wrap a line around my big toe and relax.
Little bit of fireworks and a lot of R&R
This is what cottaging is all about
Enjoy your weekend all you lucky Canadians, and remember
If your lucky enough to be Canadian,
YOUR LUCKY ENOUGH!
Sounds fun Iggs, but you know if you stayed in Ontario you wouldn’t even need to buy a license this weekend.
Outdoorsguy
I’m in the market to replace my 20 year old abu garcia spinner and rod … any suggestions ?
Rob, I have an Abu spinning reel(instant anti-reverse) of about that age and it still works great..is yours shot?
For spinning reels, because I only use instant anti reverse, I have a couple of good Shimanos that work well..one is a Aero I think and the other a Sadona..don’t even know if they make those model anymore. With Shimano, after about $70 you’re getting a pretty decent quality reel.
Outdoorsguy
just tie it to your toe, who needs a reel
and save the 70 bucks for worms
Does anyone know the rules for fishing on the Ottawa River? When do you need an Ontario license and when do you need a Quebec one? I was told that it depends on which side you accessed the water (where your truck is parked). I’ve also been told that it doesn’t matter because the waterway is in both provinces so you only need one license.
GPG, from what I’ve been told you need a license from your ‘home province’ and because its a water border, it doesn’t matter what side you fish on.
Outdoorsguy
Oh GPG, keep in mind that because of NFW – starting Sat(July 2) until July 10, you dont need an license to fish in ON at all..and I assume that applies to anyone fishing the ON side for that period..even QC residents.
Outdoorsguy
Isn’t it National Fishing Week which means that you don’t need a license anywhere in Canada?
sureshot-dave, it is a National event…however each province administers the no license’ days a bit differently. The province of QC, for
example, had their license free days back in June. Most provinces, however, tend to do the license thing during NFW.
I believe ON has another license-free weekend during Family Fishing Weekend, which is held twice per year…once in winter and once during the summer.
Outdoorsguy
jeff, honestly I can’t remember what the model was, was one my dad gave me when I was younger and something I used for backpacking …
looking into getting another backpack setup … goes with the lack of boat
Thanks for the info Jeff. That’s good news because I already have an ON license and I was really trying to avoid the QC one this year!
Used to fish the Ottawa a lot and I checked about the license, it doesn’t matter what province you launch in, or which one is your home province, as long as you have a license from one province you are fine
Hey Iggy, thats great to know..thanks.
Outdoorsguy
Thanks Iggy.
BTW, I went back to the same spot this past weekend, fishing for the Longnose Gar. I think they were still there, I saw a huge fish jump out of the water, but the water was much higher and I couldn’t see the bottom like I did the weekend before. Didn’t get a bite. We did catch 7 nice Catfish, a few bass and a pike though. I kept 3 Catfish and pan-fried them in my own cajun mix. Yum!
I got a chance to talk with some locals too, which is always good when they don’t mind giving you some info.
The Ottawa is full of Catfish, not one of my favorites, I won’t eat them and to me they are a PITA
GPG, what you are referring to are probably Bullheads? Or Barbotte?
I have eaten bullheads before and they’re good..never tried Channel Cat though.
Outdoorsguy
I’m not a biologist but I’ve been told they are Channel Cats, I think Barbotte are much smaller, the ones I caught are 3 to 10 pounds and fight like crazy. If you ever want to have a blast, take your boat to the bottom of the falls where the Rideau dumps into the Ottawa, throw in a hook with bread or worms and every cast you’ll pull out a Channel Cat. Too easy and I don’t eat them, but fun once in a while
Ah yes… I didn’t realize there were different species of Catfish.
From what I can tell, these were Channel Cats, with the V shaped tail, smaller mouth, and grey colour.
Thats right guys..the larger ones with the forked tail are Channel cats and boy do the bigger ones ever pull! I used to fish for them in Central ON and caught them up to almost 10-pounds..course they get bigger than that.
And like you said Iggy, bread, worms whatever will work. We’d make these big juicy worm balls the cats used to really go for!
GPG, did you learn how to skin them too?
Outdoorsguy
For sure they put up a good fight and would dive back down when they ‘d spot the boat, similar to a pike.
No, i didn’t learn how to skin them. It was just kind of on-the-job training. I started just the same I would do with a walleye, but it was a little tricky behind the pectoral fins and along the rib cage.
I just googled how to skin a catfish… wow, that’s neat.
Is this where the old saying comes from: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat?”
I just can’t imagine eating them. We once had a chef with us named Bob-Joe, a Chinese guy, on a fishing trip near Algonquin Park. We caught a bunch of Red Finned Suckers. He just about threw me into the water when I tried to throw it back. He cooked up a real nice spread that night including the RFS’s.
I went into town to eat.
Disgusting!
Iggy, we used to call northern redhorse and white suckers ‘White Trash’…not a very nice term, but appropriate none the less.
Outdoorsguy