Hey Italo my name is James from Hamilton Ontario and about 2 years ago I was always fishing the Grand River with friends and family members. However due to loses in my family and changes to my life I havent been able to fish the Grand River lately. I was wondering if you had any tips or pointers on starting up again and finally getting back on the water. My boat was stolen and sold so I might only be able to fish from shore but I doesnt hurt to try! Hope to hear back from you soon!
Posted on July 8th, 2014Hi James…Sorry to hear about your challenging situations. Fishing the Grand River from a boat does give you more access to different areas, but you can also have good fishing from shore spots. I would encourage you to try the following areas from shore:
Dunneville, ON dam area. If the water conditions are normal (not flooding/overly muddy), you can catch walleye all season long fishing both the upper and lower side of the Dunnville, ON dam. Best locations are the Dunnville-corner both above and below. Fishing live minnows on a pickerel-rig, casting a Rapala Dives To Thug, or fishing 1/4 oz. jigs/3″ twister-tail grubs will work well for a variety of fish. If you fish worms you will catch a variety of fish including; sheepshead, bullhead catfish, white perch and bass, smallmouth bass, carp and channel catfish.
West-side of Grand Isalnd, Dunneville, ON. If you want to target channel catfish, the west side of Grand Island especially around the Hwy.#3 bridge is a good choice. Good baits to use are chunks of sucker meat & a large piece of shrimp, fished on the bottom with a sliding-sinker rig.
Port Maitland, ON. Fishing the Grand right where it meets Lake Erie produces good jumbo perch fishing, smallmouth bass and all of the fish listed above. For larger walleye (4-8 lb.), best to target them by casting crankbaits like the Rapala Tail Dancer #9 or Rapala Dives To 7 Flat, after dark.
Caledonia, ON dam. Good mixed fishing on both sides from shore, and wading and fishing the base of the dam for a variety of fish. If you cast a Vibrax #2 or #3 you will probably hook smallmouth bass, pike and walleye. Jigs work well there too.
Big Creek, Caledonia, ON. Just north of Caledonia, on the east-side of the river, Big Creek flows into the Grand. This can be a really good spot for panfish like crappie. Also, the whole rocky shoreline (rip-rap), can be good for smallmouth bass and pike by fishing 4″ TriggerX tubes, 3″ twister tails and small crankbaits.
Hope the above gives you some info. that will help you get back into fishing the Grand. There are many more spots you can fish form shore, all the way up to Elora, ON, but this should suffice for now….God bless you, Italo
