Steelhead
Fair
The winter run. Slow and deep: float gear right on the bottom, swing slower, and fish the days after a small rise in water.
Lake Ontario Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Lake Ontario’s Canadian shore: chinook, rainbow, brown and lake trout trolled out of the ports from Niagara to Kingston, with stocking by Ontario every year.
1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Water temp
~8 °C est.
Air / High
8 °C / 11 °C
Wind
NW 42 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Ontario has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the warmest hours. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 42 km/h, rising pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 11 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:37 PM-1:37 AM and 11:13 AM-1:13 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Chinook (spring) salmon
Slow
Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
Lake trout
Closed today
Reopens Dec 1, 2026. Lake trout are open 1 January to 30 September and 1 to 31 December, in Zone 20 and in Zone 19 alike.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 11:37 PM-1:37 AM, 11:13 AM-1:13 PM, 7:13 AM-8:13 AM. Similar at 11 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Ontario requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$12.21. Ontario fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing chinook (spring) salmon here? Check the size and bag limits with Ontario MNR before you keep anything; the Chinook (spring) salmon page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake Ontario today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:59), sunset (16:53), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:37 PM-1:37 AM and 11:13 AM-1:13 PM; minor 7:13 AM-8:13 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Water Survey of Canada station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp8 °C
High / Low11 °C / 8 °C
WindNW 42 km/h, gusts 51 km/h
Pressure101.11 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain9% cloud, 30%
Sunrise / Sunset06:59 / 16:53
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
The level of the whole lake, live at both ends: Lake Ontario water level today.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Ontario
The best day on Lake Ontario this week looks like Wednesday Nov 11, at 3 out of 5, against 1 today.
Best day this week: Wednesday, Nov 11 — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.
Today, Nov 9 — Slow
Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
- Solunar majors
- 11:37 PM-1:37 AM and 11:13 AM-1:13 PM
- Minor period
- 7:13 AM-8:13 AM
- Sun
- 06:59 to 16:53
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 48 km/h
- Rain chance
- 30%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Ontario: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Chinook (spring) salmon
BC coast: spring to late summer; Great Lakes tributaries: September and October
Open all year Pacific salmon and rainbow trout (steelhead) are open all year in Zones 19 and 20; many tributaries have their own seasons and sanctuaries, such as the Ganaraska. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The biggest Pacific salmon, called spring or king on the BC coast. Feeds along the kelp lines, points and tide rips of the BC coast before running rivers in late summer; introduced to the Great Lakes, where it runs the tributaries in fall. Retention on the BC coast changes by area and by DFO fishery notice. Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
Steelhead
BC: winter run December to April, summer run into fall; Great Lakes: fall and spring
Open all year Pacific salmon and rainbow trout (steelhead) are open all year in Zones 19 and 20; many tributaries have their own seasons and sanctuaries, such as the Ganaraska. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
Sea-run rainbow trout, the fish of the Vedder, the Skeena system and the Island rivers in winter, and of the Great Lakes tributaries in fall and spring. In BC wild steelhead are released; a steelhead conservation surcharge applies on top of the licence. The winter run. Slow and deep: float gear right on the bottom, swing slower, and fish the days after a small rise in water.
Lake trout
Ice season, and spring after ice-off
Closed now Reopens Dec 1, 2026. Lake trout are open 1 January to 30 September and 1 to 31 December, in Zone 20 and in Zone 19 alike. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The big char of cold, deep lakes: Lake Simcoe, the Kootenay and Shuswap systems, the northern lakes. A winter favourite through the ice, where the season allows.
When to come: the Lake Ontario calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Chinook (spring) salmon
Steelhead
Lake trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Ontario today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 40 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 12 °C, wind to 40 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 11 °C, wind to 32 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 42 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 13 °C, wind to 42 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Outdoors Card and Ontario fishing licence, from C$12.21 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy → Except on a one-day licence you also need the Outdoors Card.
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by Ontario MNR and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Ontario licence page before you keep anything. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on Ontario fishing seasons.
Access
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed on the Canadian side; the New York side needs its own licence.
About this water
Lake Ontario is a lake in Ontario, Canada, covered from the Ontario reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Lake Ontario: the full guide
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is the last lake in the Great Lakes chain, with Toronto, Hamilton, Oshawa and Kingston on its Canadian shore and the St. Lawrence River leaving it at its eastern end. Its deep, cold water supports a trolling fishery for salmon and trout from ports such as Port Credit, Bronte, Whitby, Port Hope and Cobourg. The coordinates on this page are out in the lake south of Cobourg; Great Lakes water levels are published by the Canadian Hydrographic Service and are not used here.
Species and seasons
Chinook and coho salmon, rainbow trout (steelhead), brown trout and lake trout are all caught. The Canadian side is in Fisheries Management Zone 20, where Pacific salmon, rainbow and brown trout are open all year, and lake trout are closed from 1 October to 30 November. Salmon and trout of all species count together toward a single daily limit in the zone.
Stocking
Ontario’s stocking record shows the Lake Ontario Management Unit releasing chinook salmon fingerlings, brown trout and rainbow trout yearlings and Atlantic salmon in the lake every year from 2021 to 2025, and lake trout yearlings in 2023. The chinook release was 243,464 fingerlings in 2025. Coho appear in the record only as releases in the Credit River, in 2017, 2020 and 2024.
Where to fish it
Boats troll from the ports, following temperature breaks offshore in summer; piers and river mouths are fished from shore in spring and fall. The tributaries have rules of their own: on the Ganaraska River at Port Hope, the water from Highway 401 down to Jocelyn Street is a sanctuary all year, and the stretch below it closes from 1 September to 14 October.
The water through the year
Spring brings brown trout and coho close to shore; summer sends the salmon deep and offshore; late summer and fall bring chinook back toward the rivers to spawn. Winter is quiet on the open lake, and the big water stays cold well into summer.
Reading this report here
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, shows the lake’s slow warming, but salmon follow the cold water below the surface, so treat the surface figure as a starting point. Pressure, wind and cloud all shape the score.
Licence, access and rules
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed on the Canadian side; the New York side needs its own licence. Two lines may be used from a boat in open water on most of the lake, but not in Hamilton Harbour, Toronto Harbour, Frenchman’s Bay or the tributaries. The Zone 20 summary is linked below, and our Ontario licence page has the fees.
Common questions
What can I catch in Lake Ontario?
Chinook and coho salmon, rainbow trout, lake trout and brown trout.
Is Lake Ontario stocked?
Yes. Ontario’s record shows chinook, brown trout, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon released every year from 2021 to 2025.
When is lake trout closed on Lake Ontario?
From 1 October to 30 November on the Canadian side, under the Zone 20 rules.
Is fishing good at Lake Ontario right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Fish stocking
- Ontario fish stocking report
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.