Freshwater Fishing.
Hamilton Harbour / Burlington Bay sits in Fisheries Management Zone 20 — year-round Atlantic salmon (must exceed 63 cm), lake trout from January through September plus December, and the standard Great Lakes bass and walleye seasons. Decades of remediation under the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan have rebuilt the bay's warmwater fishery, with walleye returning alongside bass, pike, and perch.
Grindstone Creek (lower reaches) runs chinook salmon, steelhead/rainbow trout, and lake-run brown trout — MNRF stocks the creek annually downstream of Lowville.
The brief.
Burlington's principal shore-fishing access points are LaSalle Park Marina (largemouth bass, pike, carp, perch), the Burlington Canal at the Lift Bridge (open-water canal — salmon, trout, perch, walleye in season), and the harbour shoreline along North Shore Boulevard. Grindstone Creek lower reaches give creek fishing for chinook salmon (fall), steelhead (fall and spring), and lake-run brown trout — annual MNRF stocking averages 50,000 rainbow trout fry and fingerlings and 35,000 chinook salmon fry and fingerlings downstream of Lowville.
FMZ 20 rules govern Burlington Bay; FMZ 16 governs the inland creek reaches. A valid Ontario Fishing Licence is required for anglers 18 and over.
4. places.
- 01
LaSalle Park Marina
Burlington Bay shore-fishing for largemouth bass, pike, carp, perch.
- 02
Burlington Canal Lift Bridge
Open-water canal fishing access; salmon, trout, perch, walleye in season.
- 03
Burlington Bay shoreline
FMZ 20 warmwater + salmonid fishery.
- 04
Grindstone Creek (lower reaches)
Chinook salmon, steelhead/rainbow trout, lake-run brown trout; MNRF stocked downstream of Lowville.
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.
By the book.
- 01FMZ 20 rules: Atlantic salmon year-round (>63 cm); lake trout Jan 1–Sep 30 + Dec 1–31; standard Great Lakes bass/walleye seasons; American eel — no recreational keep; lake sturgeon — closed all year.Source ↗
- 02Inland creek reaches above the Burlington Bay estuary fall under FMZ 16.Source ↗
- 03A valid Ontario Fishing Licence is required for anglers aged 18 and over.Source ↗