Freshwater Fishing.
The Ganaraska River through Port Hope is one of Ontario's better-known salmonid streams — Pacific Chinook and Coho salmon in the fall, Rainbow Trout and Steelhead in the spring and fall, plus Brown Trout, all in Fisheries Management Zone 17. The river is one of the healthiest streams in Ontario and is populated almost entirely with wild, naturally reproducing fish.
Fall run sizes range from 5,000 to 19,000 salmon; the spring and fall trout windows total around 9,000 fish per year.
The brief.
The fall salmon run peaks mid-August through early October. The Rainbow / Steelhead run runs late March through early May; the fall trout run runs October through mid-December.
A valid Ontario fishing licence is required, and FMZ 17 regulations apply — separately from FMZ 20, which covers the open Lake Ontario shoreline at Port Hope. Fishing is not allowed at the Ganaraska Fishway at Corbett's Dam (4 McKibbon Street); below the fishway, the Ganaraska is fished from public access points along the river.
Reintroduced Atlantic Salmon are catch-and-release only. The Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority's River Watch Daily fishway monitor is the live source for run conditions.
2. places.
- 01
Ganaraska River — Port Hope reach
FMZ 17; Pacific Chinook and Coho salmon (mid-August through early October), Rainbow Trout and Steelhead (late March through early May, October through mid-December), Brown Trout; Atlantic Salmon catch-and-release only.
- 02
Lake Ontario shoreline at Port Hope
FMZ 20; open-water salmonid and warm-water fishing; separate seasons and limits from FMZ 17.
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.
By the book.
- 01A valid Ontario fishing licence is required, and FMZ 17 regulations apply on the Ganaraska River.Source ↗
- 02Lake Ontario shoreline waters at Port Hope fall under FMZ 20 — separate seasons and limits from FMZ 17 inland-river regs.Source ↗
- 03Fishing is not allowed at the Ganaraska Fishway at Corbett's Dam (4 McKibbon Street).Source ↗
- 04Reintroduced Atlantic Salmon on the Ganaraska are catch-and-release only.Source ↗