Freshwater Fishing.
Twelve Mile Creek's upper headwaters and Short Hills tributaries are a documented brown, rainbow, and native brook trout stream on the Niagara Peninsula, fished under FMZ 18. The Lake Ontario nearshore at Port Dalhousie and Sunset Beach and the lower Twelve Mile Creek estuary fall under FMZ 17, with Chinook salmon and rainbow trout / steelhead returning to tributaries from late September through November.
The brief.
The fishery splits across two FMZs and three habitat types. Upper Twelve Mile Creek and Short Hills tributaries (FMZ 18) carry the cold-water trout fishery — brown, rainbow, and native brook trout — and a valid Ontario fishing licence is required at Short Hills.
Lake Ontario nearshore (FMZ 17) gives Chinook salmon and rainbow trout / steelhead off Port Dalhousie and Sunset Beach, with the salmon run into Twelve Mile Creek tributaries from late September into November. Above the Niagara Escarpment, the Lake Gibson and Lake Moodie reservoirs hold warmwater bass and pike.
Best season runs April through October for most species; salmon and steelhead are an autumn-into-spring fishery.
4. places.
- 01
Twelve Mile Creek upper headwaters / Short Hills tributaries
FMZ 18 cold-water trout fishery — brown, rainbow, native brook trout.
- 02
Lake Ontario nearshore (Port Dalhousie / Sunset Beach)
FMZ 17 Chinook salmon, rainbow trout / steelhead, smallmouth bass.
- 03
Lower Twelve Mile Creek estuary
FMZ 17 salmonid run from late September through November.
- 04
Lake Gibson and Lake Moodie reservoirs
Warmwater bass and pike on the NPCA reservoir system above the Niagara Escarpment.
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.
By the book.
- 01Lake Ontario nearshore and lower Twelve Mile Creek fall under FMZ 17; upper Twelve Mile Creek and Short Hills tributaries fall under FMZ 18 — separate seasons and limits. A valid Ontario fishing licence is required.Source ↗
- 02Short Hills Provincial Park: brown and rainbow trout fishing requires a valid Ontario fishing licence.Source ↗