Ontario is the Great Lakes and the lakes of the Shield. Its most searched water is Lake Simcoe, for ice fishing, followed by Lake of the Woods in the northwest and the Lake Erie ports of Long Point, Erieau, Port Glasgow and Wheatley. Lake Ontario and Lake Huron are trolled for salmon and trout, Lake St. Clair and the St. Lawrence are muskie and smallmouth water, the Bay of Quinte is famous for walleye, and the Niagara, Detroit and Grand rivers each have their own runs. The pages here are built from the weather over each water, with live Water Survey of Canada gauges on the rivers and lakes that have one; Great Lakes levels are the Canadian Hydrographic Service’s and are not used.
Reports current for Friday, September 25
Every one of the 16 Ontario waters we cover has a live read this morning. 4 are scoring 4 out of 5 or better and 7 are slow. Water runs 16 °C to 19 °C. Pressure is rising on most of them, which costs a point in our model when the sky is clear. Wind touches 32 km/h on the roughest of them.
Best right now: Grand River 4/5, Lake Huron 4/5, Lake Superior 4/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
Lake Simcoe: Ontario’s ice-fishing capital for perch, lake trout and whitefish, and a summer bass and perch lake an hour from Toronto.
Lake of the Woods at Kenora: walleye, muskie, smallmouth and pike among thousands of islands, with a live level gauge at Keewatin.
Long Point Bay on Lake Erie: yellow perch, smallmouth and largemouth bass and ice fishing in the inner bay, from Port Rowan to Turkey Point.
The Niagara River: steelhead, chinook and lake trout below the falls, bass and muskie above, with a live gauge at Fort Erie.
Erieau on Lake Erie: walleye trolled in the western basin and perch in spring and fall, from a small port at the mouth of Rondeau Bay.
Port Glasgow in West Elgin: a quiet Lake Erie marina and pier for perch in spring and fall and walleye offshore in summer.
The Detroit River: a famous spring walleye run, with muskie, bass and perch between Windsor and Amherstburg.
Wheatley on Lake Erie: walleye and perch out of one of the lake’s busiest commercial harbours, beside Point Pelee.
Lake St. Clair: world-class muskie, smallmouth bass and ice-fishing perch between Windsor and the St. Clair River.
The Bay of Quinte: trophy walleye in fall and through the ice, and summer bass, between Belleville, Trenton and Prince Edward County.
Lake Ontario’s Canadian shore: chinook, coho, rainbow and lake trout trolled out of the ports from Niagara to Kingston.
Rice Lake south of Peterborough: walleye, muskie, bass and panfish in a shallow, weedy lake on the Trent-Severn Waterway.
The St. Lawrence in Ontario: muskie, smallmouth and walleye from the Thousand Islands to Cornwall.
Lake Huron’s Ontario shore: salmon, rainbow and lake trout from Goderich, Kincardine and Southampton, and the tributaries in fall.
The Grand River: brown trout below Shand Dam, smallmouth through the middle and walleye and steelhead near Lake Erie, with a live gauge at Brantford.
Lake Superior’s Ontario shore: lake trout, salmon and the Nipigon’s brook trout in the coldest of the Great Lakes.
Species activity across the covered waters, written for the Canadian year. Peak of the year: January.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for the dominant water type here, in degrees Celsius (estimated, not a reading).
| Water | Type | Live data | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Simcoe | Lake | modelled | Jan |
| Lake of the Woods | Lake | Water Survey gauge | Jun |
| Long Point Bay, Lake Erie | Lake | modelled | Jan |
| Niagara River | River | Water Survey gauge | Jan |
| Erieau | Town | modelled | Jan |
| Port Glasgow | Town | modelled | Jan |
| Detroit River | River | modelled | Jul |
| Wheatley | Town | modelled | Jan |
| Lake St. Clair | Lake | modelled | Jul |
| Bay of Quinte | Lake | modelled | Jul |
| Lake Ontario | Lake | modelled | Jul |
| Rice Lake | Lake | modelled | Jul |
| St. Lawrence River | River | modelled | Jul |
| Lake Huron | Lake | modelled | Jul |
| Grand River | River | Water Survey gauge | Jul |
| Lake Superior | Lake | modelled | Jul |
Southern Ontario fishes two ways: the big lakes, where salmon, trout and walleye are trolled and perch are jigged, and the inland lakes and bays, where bass, walleye, pike and muskie live in the weeds and on the rock. In winter, the ice turns the same lakes into hut villages, from Lake Simcoe to Lake of the Woods, wherever the ice allows.
Most anglers need an Outdoors Card and a sport or conservation licence, before 13% HST. Seasons and limits are set by fisheries management zone in the annual regulations summary, and the bass season, the walleye season and the ice seasons for trout and whitefish differ from zone to zone, so each water page names its rules and links the summary.
On the Great Lakes, wind decides the boat days and the fish follow the cold water offshore in summer; on the inland lakes, a falling barometer before a front is the classic bite, and in winter the water temperature estimate sits near freezing under the ice. No agency certifies the ice on any lake.
Most anglers need an Outdoors Card and a sport or conservation licence; Canadian residents under 18 or 65 and over can fish with ID. See our Ontario licence page.
No agency certifies it; check it yourself or use an operator, and follow local warnings.
Lake Simcoe, Lake of the Woods, Lake Erie at Long Point, Erieau, Port Glasgow and Wheatley, Lake St. Clair, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, the Bay of Quinte, Rice Lake, and the Niagara, Detroit, St. Lawrence and Grand rivers.