ONTARIO - FISHING AT ITS FINEST

Everyone who fishes, dreams of the perfect fishing experience. The perfect challenge. The perfect cast. The perfect catch. Even the perfect spot in which to wet a line. Fortunately, there is one place where those dreams are met - and often exceeded. This is the province of ONTARIO.

Here you will find more than 250,000 inland lakes and countless rivers and streams that comprise 15 per cent of the world's fresh water. These bodies of water are teeming with the world's most exciting and sought-after sport fish. Only Ontario can offer you more types of freshwater fishing opportunities than anywhere else on the planet. The waters of Ontario are home to 37 species of sport fish. Each year recreational anglers catch more than 107 million fish, of which over three-quarters are released.

This is the place where muskie can reach 65 pounds (29.5 kg) or more. Northern pike in the 20 pound (10 kg) class are common but pike don't have to be large to provide excellent sport. They abound everywhere and are always a willing adversary. Bass, both large and small mouth, are found throughout the province. Pound for pound, they are probably the "fightingest" fish of all. Walleye are spread all over the province with over 8 million walleye caught each year by anglers. And they come in sizes to suit everyone, up to the Ontario record of 22.25 pounds (10.1 kg). Here is a fish willing to bite at most times and whose eating qualities are second to none. The colder waters of the province - lakes, rivers ponds, streams - are home to the many trout species. Lakers, speckles (brookies) rainbows and splake are found in many of the lakes and streams. The rainbow (steelhead) trout, chinook and cohoe salmon provide some of the very best angling opportunities in the Great Lakes and adjacent areas from early spring to "ice up."

Not only does Ontario have a tremendous variety of freshwater sport fish, it also has the most places to catch them. From clear, cold lakes of only a few acres to the largest inland waters on the continent...from rushing streams to big, rambling rivers ...whether you seek your experience from a boat or canoe, in waders or from shore - Ontario has a place for you.

Imagine a land renowned for high-quality fishing, where many lakes are seldom fished, with exciting possibilities around every scenic bend, where angling can be as simple as dropping a line off the Trans-Canada Highway or as exotic as flying into a remote outpost. All this is available in northwestern Ontario. Walleye, lake trout, pike and bass thrive in the pristine waters of the Northwest. And this part of Ontario is famous for its trophy muskie.

Northeastern Ontario encompasses as geographic diversity that begins with the rocky magnificence of the Canadian Shield. This area possesses a wealth of fishing waters.Its boundaries extend north to coastal beauty, wild rivers and wetlands of the James and Hudson Bay Lowlands, south to the rugged Lake Superior shoreline of Algoma country and the popular waters of Lake Huron, Georgian Bay and Manitoulin Island. From cottage country to wilderness, this region has it all. Huge lake trout, monster pike and record-class brook trout abound in the James Bay frontier. In Algoma country, walleye, pike, bass, pan fish and several trout species supply angling memories. And trolling Great Lakes coastal waters produces an exciting array of steelhead, salmon and lake trout.

If you find yourself in a place that has big waters, historic canals, lakes, ponds an drivers - and easy access to them all - you are probably in Eastern Ontario. At the southern edge, the Bay of Quinte is renowned for lunker walleye, pike, and small mouth and large mouth bass. Further along, the St. Lawrence River's shoals and backwaters offer excellent fishing for small mouth and largemouth bass, pike muskie and pan fish. Rainbow, brown and lake trout and salmon prowl Lake Ontario and provide action through fall. To the north, the shallow waters of the Kawarthas teem with bass, walleye, muskie an pan fish, and there are resorts and services to look after all your needs. Further north still, the Haliburton region offers lake trout, brook trout, small mouth bass, and whitefish in deep, clear lakes on the Canadian Shield. And just next door is the beautiful Ottawa Valley offering a smorgasbord of fish. Cold-water species of lake trout, speckles (brookies), splake and rainbow are found in sections of the Ottawa Valley while other regions of the valley provide excellent angling for small mouth, largemouth, walleye, northern pike an muskie the historic Ottawa River, forming the eastern boundary of the province, offers more pike, walleye, largemouth, small mouth, muskie, sturgeon, catfish and pan fish. Nestled between Haliburton and the Ottawa Valley is Ontario's oldest provincial park, Algonquin. the park offers exceptional angling for trout species and small mouth bass. Some park lakes are drive-to lakes while others are in the interior and require portaging. In the east, between Kingston and Ottawa, The Rideau system's lakes and canals host a variety of warm-water species, providing excellent largemouth bass and crappie angling. Several of the deeper lakes offer lake trout as a bonus. just west of the Rideau is the region known as the Land O'Lakes. The countless lakes in this region offer great angling for both warm and cold water species.

Central Ontario..this is cottage country. In the northeast, the regions of Muskoka and Parry Sound are set in the Canadian Shield. Their deep, clean waters shelter bass, walleye, pike, lake trout, whitefish and pan fish. to the west, Georgian Bay and Bruce peninsula waters of the Lake Huron are tops for trout and salmon trolling or for casting for bass and pan fish in shoreline regions. Part of the Trent/Severn Waterway, sprawling Lake Simcoe offers lake trout, pike, bass, crappie, jumbo perch and whitefish. In the Lake Couchiching/Simcoe area expect to find some of the province's finest spring perch fishing, but pike, bass, crappie and muskie keep anglers returning each year.

Southwestern Ontario offers pleasant contrasts. Three of the Great Lakes (huron, Erie and Ontario) and Lake St. Clair cradle the region. hot charter-boat action awaits you on all of them. big salmon and trout, scads of small mouth bass and lunker walleye are yours for the catching. From shore, there are opportunities to catch perch, pike, freshwater drum, bass, crappie, salmon and trout.

Ontario boasts the world's largest number of water-side resorts with facilities and services to suit every taste and every budget. Accommodation options can run from rustic to remote fly-in wilderness fishing camps far away from civilization to luxurious shoreline resorts within easy driving distance.

The fish themselves, of course, are only one of the reasons to come to Ontario. You will also find yourself surrounded by a land of beauty and variety - rich with a bountiful supply of wildlife.

Whether you want the ultimate sport fishing getaway on the fringe of the Arctic or just to drop a line off the end of a dock - or something in between - Ontario offers it. Ontario - where an angler's freshwater fishing dreams come true.

ONTARIO MAPS AVAILABLE

Selective harvest, with a strong foundation of "Catch and Release", is the policy we advocate at FISHING MAPS "PLUS". Many anglers wish to eat some fish, and why not? They are nutritious and "umm", good tasting. If selective harvest is practiced, then the resource is renewable. The modern-day approach is to keep more numerous pan fish before less abundant larger predators, and keep smaller, more abundant fish of a species before larger, less abundant ones.