Fish that you may not know that exist in Ontario, Some are invasive

I bumped into this YouTube video that I know some of you will find as interesting as I did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-k0HQWvCHU

Arnie

Cool video Arnie. The only fish I have caught in that video are the two species of gar. Living in Kingsville as a child, the fishing was great near Point Pelee.

Now thats strange as those two species of gar are the only ones I have caught on that list.....oooops I have also caught the American Lamprey Eel in the Credit River at a young age.would love to catch an Aurora Trout...they are beautiful.

Arnie

I've caught 10 from that list and it's just a matter of time until I get a buffalo. Lots of mileage chasing these smaller/ rarer species.

I caught one of the Mad Tom just this year, well not really caught.
I landed a King on the credit and while it trashed around in the shallows it kicked up a Mad Tom on the rocks.
I have caught one of the Gar species and a few of the others.
I love under rated fish. All fish are fun IMO.

Well done you guys....Fossil Fish it was you who I was thinking of when I posted this link as I know by previous posts that you have caught a lot of these species. Disco always good to see you chime in with your vast fishery knowledge.

Arnie

Cool list of lesser known fish. I've caught a long-nose gar, American eel (long before they had issues), gizzard shad, log perch (lots netting for minnows though) and I have a friend that has caught the buffalo, quill back and rainbow darters too (very colourful fish for sure ....the males that is). All of these fish were from creeks or the main rivers that run into the great lakes. Lots of lesser known species in the Thames, Grand and Trent rivers....those are the ones I remember. And also, I am sure when I was very young, we caught a bunch of interesting fish in the Humber River too....just too young to really remember that much. When you are young, you have much more time to fish with tiny hooks to see what you can catch because there may not be anything too desirable to catch near home but you still want to catch something.

The Humber has a good population of Green Sunfish around Bolton which are not common in this area. More common in Niagara region and Lake Erie tribs. Pretty cool catching them up here.

You can catch the rudds at Ontario place in the channels on micro jigs if anyone's trying to get that one off their bucket list.

Got quite a few on this list but most of these can't be targeted and there just straight luck based.

I'm still trying to get a mud puppy in lake nipissing or a mooneye anywhere, tbh.

This post has been edited by Arthur on Dec 28, 2024 - 06:22 pm

The Humber has a good population of Green Sunfish around Bolton which are not common in this area. More common in Niagara region and Lake Erie tribs. Pretty cool catching them up here.

Cool looking sunfish (looks longish)...I would give it a shot one day just to see what they look like in person (and for another species too).

Rudd...cool looking fish as well. Looks like they would be great pike bait (if they were not invasive).

Mooneye - caught many from the Grand River (between Caledonia and Dunville) probably a good 10-15 years ago during our hunt for walleye (can't see why it would be any different now). I would see fish feeding at the surface and I'd get small nibbles if I used a worm on a jig that would tell me to switch to a small slip float with split shots and a small hook with a small chunk of worm. Throw it into the current to take it down to where the current decreases or gets into an eddy situation and usually they are right there at the edge of the current and calmer water. ...of course, this is only when we were not getting any walleyes and I was getting tired of not catching anything. I tried eating one once - very mushy flesh so I am guessing that is why people smoke them into a jerky situation so the flesh is better texture-wise. Nothing wrong with the taste of the fish though.

Lots of Mooneye in the Ottawa River at Voyageur Provincial Park too. For the similar Goldeye, you need to go a lot further north.

Lots of greens in the ponds in Brampton. It took me longer to walk from my car to a spot than it did to catch one once I got a line in the water.

still able to catch the odd American eel down my way if you put the time in....As late as 1998 there was a commercial fishery for them in St. Catharines.......I remember seeing the holding nets with lots of plenty big ones in there

When it comes to Gizzard shad.......tossing any small Mepps in the spring will get you plenty of them as long as the timing is right.........man do they ever stink though

same with catching Rudd


Interesting stuff

Lots of greens in the ponds in Brampton. It took me longer to walk from my car to a spot than it did to catch one once I got a line in the water.

Interesting. I grew up in Brampton and never saw a single one. Are you sure you’re not mistaking rockbass? Their body shape is very similar.