Walleye (pickerel)
Good
Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
St. Lawrence River Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
The St. Lawrence in Ontario: muskie, smallmouth, walleye and pike from the Thousand Islands to Lake St. Francis.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~6 °C est.
Air / High
9 °C / 10 °C
Wind
NW 13 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
St. Lawrence River is in its winter rhythm: slow, deep and around the brightest hours. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 13 km/h, rising pressure near 1006 hPa and a high of 10 °C. Water sits around 6 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:03 AM-1:03 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Yellow perch
Good
The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Good
Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 11:27 PM-1:27 AM, 11:03 AM-1:03 PM, 7:06 AM-8:06 AM. Similar at 10 °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 smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with Ontario MNR before you keep anything; the Smallmouth bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for St. Lawrence River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:51), sunset (16:41), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:03 AM-1:03 PM; minor 7:06 AM-8:06 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 temp9 °C
High / Low10 °C / 5 °C
WindNW 13 km/h, gusts 35 km/h
Pressure100.63 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain97% cloud, 65%
Sunrise / Sunset06:51 / 16:41
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~6 °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 St. Lawrence River
The best day on St. Lawrence River this week looks like Thursday Nov 12, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, Nov 12 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Nov 9 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:27 PM-1:27 AM and 11:03 AM-1:03 PM
- Minor period
- 7:06 AM-8:06 AM
- Sun
- 06:51 to 16:41
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 65%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on St. Lawrence River: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Smallmouth bass
Opens late June in most of Ontario; best July to October
Open now Closes May 11, 2027. Smallmouth bass: catch and release only from 1 January to 10 May; regular season from the first Saturday in July to 31 December. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The rock-and-current bass of the Great Lakes shores, the Bay of Quinte, the St. Lawrence and Lake St. Clair. The Ontario bass season opens in late June in most zones, after the nesting period. Closed or out of season in most waters.
Largemouth bass
Late June to October in Ontario
Open now Closes May 11, 2027. Largemouth bass: catch and release only from 1 January to 10 May; regular season from the third Saturday in June to 31 December. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The weed and dock bass of southern Ontario, Rice Lake and the Bay of Quinte. Same season as smallmouth in most zones. Out of season.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
Open now Closes Mar 2, 2027. Walleye and sauger are open 1 January to 1 March and from the first Saturday in May to 31 December. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
Called pickerel in much of Ontario and Manitoba. The fish of Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, Lake Diefenbaker, Tobin Lake, Lake Erie and the Bay of Quinte. Most zones close in spring for the spawn. Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
Muskellunge
Opens in June in Ontario; best in fall
Open now Closes Dec 16, 2026. Muskellunge are open from the third Saturday in June to 15 December; minimum size 137 cm. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The trophy fish of Lake St. Clair, the St. Lawrence, the Detroit River and Lake of the Woods. Catch-and-release is the culture; minimum sizes are large where retention is allowed. Out of season.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
The ice-fishing fish of Lake Simcoe, Long Point Bay and Lake St. Clair, and a summer staple on every Great Lakes shore. Schools move constantly. The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Spring, fall and the ice
Open now Closes Apr 1, 2027. Northern pike are open 1 January to 31 March and from the first Saturday in May to 31 December. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
Called jackfish on the prairies. Found in almost every lake and slow river from Ontario to Alberta; big fish in the cold, deep lakes. Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
When to come: the St. Lawrence River 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
Smallmouth bass
Largemouth bass
Walleye (pickerel)
Muskellunge
Yellow perch
Northern pike (jackfish)
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 6 °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 St. Lawrence River today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 11 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 11 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 17 °C, wind to 10 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 Ontario side; stay on the Canadian side unless you hold a New York licence, and remember that Lake St.
About this water
St. Lawrence River is a river in Ontario, Canada, covered from the Ontario reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing St. Lawrence River: the full guide
The St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario at Kingston and runs northeast through the Thousand Islands, past Gananoque, Brockville and Cornwall, into Quebec, with the border with New York along much of its length. Its outflow from Lake Ontario is regulated under the International Lake Ontario–St. Lawrence River Board of the International Joint Commission, which publishes the outflow changes. Water levels on the river are published by the Canadian Hydrographic Service and are not used here.
Species and seasons
Muskellunge are the big fish, especially in fall; smallmouth bass are fished all summer among the islands and shoals; walleye, northern pike and yellow perch are fished through the year. The Ontario side is in Fisheries Management Zone 20: muskellunge open on the third Saturday in June, largemouth bass on the third Saturday in June and smallmouth on the first Saturday in July, with bass catch-and-release only from 1 January to 10 May.
The lower river
East of a line from Bishops Point to the tips of Howe and Wolfe islands, and including Lake St. Francis, the walleye limits differ from the rest of Zone 20 and there is no size limit. Yellow perch on Lake St. Francis and below the Saunders generating station close from 1 April to the Friday before the second Saturday in May. Only one line may be used from a boat on this part of the river.
Where to fish it
The Thousand Islands between Kingston and Brockville are fished for bass and muskie among the islands and shoals, and the river toward Cornwall and Lake St. Francis for walleye and pike. Thousand Islands National Park, run by Parks Canada, has island campsites reached by boat; fishing in a national park follows federal rules. The shipping channels carry freighters and strong currents.
The water through the year
Summer is bass time, fall is muskie time, and winter brings ice fishing in the sheltered bays when the ice is safe, which no agency certifies. On this stretch, as elsewhere in Zone 20, huts need online registration and must come off the ice before 2 March.
Reading this report here
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, follows the river’s seasons. Pressure, wind and cloud cover build the score.
Licence, access and rules
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed on the Ontario side; stay on the Canadian side unless you hold a New York licence, and remember that Lake St. Francis runs into Quebec. See the Zone 20 summary linked below; fees are on our Ontario licence page.
Common questions
When does muskie season open on the St. Lawrence in Ontario?
On the third Saturday in June, under the Zone 20 rules; it closes on 15 December.
Where are the Thousand Islands?
On the St. Lawrence between Kingston and Brockville; Thousand Islands National Park has island campsites reached by boat.
Do I need a New York licence?
Only if you fish the New York side of the river.
Is fishing good at St. Lawrence River right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
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.