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.
Wheatley Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Wheatley on Lake Erie: perch and walleye out of a working commercial and sport harbour just east of Point Pelee.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~8 °C est.
Air / High
6 °C / 13 °C
Wind
WNW 16 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Wheatley is a cold-water proposition today: small baits, slow presentations and a long soak. Today brings clear skies, wind WNW around 16 km/h, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 13 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:12 PM-1:12 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 PM: the windows to build the day around.
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.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 11:12 PM-1:12 AM, 11:31 AM-1:31 PM, 7:26 AM-8:26 AM. Warmer at 17 °C. 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 yellow perch here? Check the size and bag limits with Ontario MNR before you keep anything; the Yellow perch page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Wheatley today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:12), sunset (17:14), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:12 PM-1:12 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 PM; minor 7:26 AM-8:26 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 temp6 °C
High / Low13 °C / 5 °C
WindWNW 16 km/h, gusts 40 km/h
Pressure101.51 kPa, steady
Sky / Rain10% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:12 / 17:14
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
The level of the whole lake, live at both ends: Lake Erie water level today.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Wheatley
The best day on Wheatley 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
- 11:12 PM-1:12 AM and 11:31 AM-1:31 PM
- Minor period
- 7:26 AM-8:26 AM
- Sun
- 07:12 to 17:14
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 21 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Wheatley: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
Open all year Walleye and sauger, yellow perch and northern pike are open all year in Zone 19. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
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.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
Open all year Walleye and sauger, yellow perch and northern pike are open all year in Zone 19. 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.
Smallmouth bass
Opens late June in most of Ontario; best July to October
Open now Closes Dec 1, 2026. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are open from the fourth Saturday in June to 30 November. 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.
When to come: the Wheatley 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
Yellow perch
Walleye (pickerel)
Smallmouth bass
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 Wheatley 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. Yellow perch led the card at good. High of 14 °C, wind to 32 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Yellow perch led the card at good. High of 9 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Yellow perch led the card at good. High of 11 °C, wind to 24 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
At Wheatley, an Ontario Outdoors Card and fishing licence are needed, and US waters toward the islands need the other side’s licence.
About this water
Wheatley is a coastal town in Ontario, Canada, covered from the Ontario reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Wheatley: the full guide
Fishing Wheatley
Wheatley is a lakeshore town in the southwest corner of Chatham-Kent, on the north shore of Lake Erie just east of Point Pelee. The municipality calls it the “Freshwater Fishing Capital of the World”, a local nickname, and says sport charters, commercial fisheries and recreational boaters all use Wheatley Harbour. There is no live public level gauge used on this page; the report is built from the weather and the season.
Species and seasons
Chatham-Kent lists perch, walleye, trout and salmon among the fish anglers take from Wheatley. Walleye move through this end of the lake after spawning and are trolled through the summer, yellow perch are the spring and fall fishery, and smallmouth hold on the rocky shoals, with white bass and freshwater drum common catches. Wheatley is in Fisheries Management Zone 19: walleye, perch and pike are open all year, and bass open on the fourth Saturday in June.
Where to fish it
Boats leave the harbour for open water off the town and, on calm days, run around Point Pelee toward the western basin and its islands. Shore fishing is limited. Wheatley Provincial Park, next to the town, is a camping park, and Ontario Parks does not list fishing among its highlights, so check its rules before casting there.
Point Pelee
Point Pelee National Park, west of the town, sits at the southernmost point of the Canadian mainland, according to Parks Canada. Fishing inside a national park follows federal rules that can differ from Ontario’s, as the Ontario summary points out, so read the park’s own rules before fishing its shoreline.
The western basin
Beyond Point Pelee and the Pelee Island group, which NOAA describes as bordering and lying within it, is Lake Erie’s western basin, about a fifth of the lake with an average depth of about 7.4 metres, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, which also notes that the lake warms rapidly in spring and summer. That early warmth is what brings walleye and perch within reach of small boats in spring.
Reading this report here
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, follows the lake’s fast spring warming. Wind decides the boat days on this shallow end of the lake, while pressure and cloud cover set the rest of the score.
Licence, access and rules
At Wheatley, an Ontario Outdoors Card and fishing licence are needed, and US waters toward the islands need the other side’s licence. Chatham-Kent holds a fish festival in Wheatley each August. The rules are linked below, and our Ontario licence page has the fees.
Common questions
What can I catch at Wheatley?
Perch and walleye above all, with smallmouth and white bass; the municipality also lists trout and salmon.
Is Wheatley near Point Pelee?
Yes. Point Pelee National Park, the southernmost point of the Canadian mainland, is just west of the town.
Can I fish in Point Pelee National Park?
Fishing in national parks follows federal rules that can differ from Ontario’s; check Parks Canada’s rules for the park first.
Is fishing good at Wheatley 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.