Ice Fishing In Ontario

By Sunny Jones

Ontario is Canada's number one fishing destination.

Ontario is an "Iroquoian" word meaning beautiful or shining waters. As Ontario has some 250,000 lakes there is plenty of beautiful shiny water about.

Most people know it as a fisherman's paradise in summer but don't forget it has a great winter season too.

Why not consider ice fishing in Ontario this winter?

Fishing in winter is more of an adventure holiday. For the Canadians it is an everyday event and no big deal to cut a hole in the ice and start fishing or to haul out an ice fishing hut and in comfort.

For everyone reading who is not from North America you probably won't know much about ice fishing or ever have considered it for a winter holiday.

But for all you keen fishermen and women out there it is a fantastic experience that you should not miss.

You can chose literally any type of holiday you want and combine it with some ice fishing. The lakes and rivers are so numerous that wherever you chose to stay you are going to be in reach of a days fishing.

If you are traveling with the family and you are staying in the city you can still arrange a guide, an ice hut and fishing equipment for a day out on the lake fishing and enjoying the wonderful scenery.

If you are on a skiing holiday you can bet you can fit in a days fishing. These trips may also be featured as a sideline during snowmobiling, dog sledding, Native Cultural experiences or adventure lodge trip holidays.

There are hotels, motels cabins and B&B's all dedicated to the winter fisherman. You can rough it or stay in five star luxury. You can get a guide to show you the best fishing spots and you can sit out on the ice or have the comfort of a basic hut which will keep you warm and keep the wind off or a luxury ice fishing hut complete with heating and kitchen.

There are basic safety rules, the main one being make sure the ice is at least four inches thick, but a skilled ice fishing guide will see you have everything you need and update you on safety rules. You will also need warm, water proof clothing. Everything you need can be hired.

There are a number of ways to get to fishing spots. The easiest, you just drive up, get out of the car, tramp out across the lake and start fishing.

But for the more adventurous you can snowmobile out to a more secluded spot or really go for it and hire a light plane to take you to the more remote areas of Ontario. Whatever you do you will see beautiful winter scenery and have some of the best fishing of your life.

This will be a unique fishing experience and it gives you the chance to potentially catch some very big fish. Depending where you chose to fish you might catch, lake trout, northern pike, walleye, whitefish or rainbow trout. There are 180 varieties of fish in Canada and 144 of them are found in Ontario!

Of course after catching your fish You will want to eat it and what could be better than an open fire out by the frozen lake and the smell of fish cooking while you enjoy all that beautiful winter white Ontario scenery.

Sunny Jones is the owner and writer of the popular online travel guide and community, Travel Advice Pages, which dispenses invaluable travel advice for worldwide travelers.