Fisherman aims to hook anglers on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario has world-class salmon fishing, charter captain and fishing guide Aldo Nava said Saturday just before appearing at Seaway Mall’s outdoors show.
Nava, who operates Niagara Fishing Adventures out of Port Dalhousie, followed anglers JP DeRose, host of “Breaking Boundaries,” and Derek Strub, a past Canadian Open champion, as they also talked about Lake Erie’s world-class smallmouth bass fishery and various rods, fishing line, lures and techniques.
“When we’re fishing on Lake Ontario, we’re targeting Chinook and coho salmon, rainbow, lake and brown trout. We will catch Atlantic salmon, too,” said Nava.
He said the lake is a nice place
to fish, but the real challenge is to find them.
“Unlike Lake Erie, Lake Ontario doesn’t have a lot of structure. To find the fish you need to find the bait. You find the bait, you’ll usually find the fish.”
Baitfish on Lake Ontario, he said, include alewife, smelt and emerald shiners, and lures used imitate those species.
“We troll on the lake, using downriggers and moving about two to three miles an hour, with the lures behind the boat,” he said, adding the style to catch the various species is pretty much the same. “Lake trout are on the bottom, so we use a different lure and go a little slower.”
The lake is better for fishing spring through fall, and then as the fish move into the lower Niagara River to spawn it becomes the fishing ground.
Nava said while the wind can whip on Lake Ontario at any time, thanks to the predominately southwest winds in Niagara, it makes the south shore of the lake quite nice for fishing.
“In the last couple of years we’ve been very fortunate with the wind,” he said, adding he can take out at least six people at a time on charters.
With charter boats and recreational anglers all around the lake on both sides of the border, the fishing industry is bis business.
A report done a number of years back showed that it brought at least $100 million into the region through sales of lures, fishing licences, gas, bait and use of lodging and restaurants.
“If the region promoted fishing it would be great for all businesses … it would draw people in.”
Nava said tourism is great, but when people come to Niagara, they may not realize how great the fishing here is, even if they are anglers themselves.
Working in the tourism industry in Niagara Falls, Nava said people would sometimes ask would ask him where the fishing was.
“It’s how I got started,” he said, realizing he could make it his business taking people fishing.