river trout 100km from chatham kent

[christopher_law]

Good day fellow anglers.

So after a 5 year absence from the sport I have dusted off my equipment and am ready to get get back in the water. I started flyfishing in 1993 where I primarily fished the forks of the credit river. During this time I was tying flys for my highschool teachers (vision and dexterity issues), and heavily invested in the sport. I moved to Guelph Ontario in 2002 where I fished the top end of the Grand for brown trout until 2008. I have had the itch to get back into the water...and as fate may have it...had to get my gear from storage this week.

Currently I reside in Chatham-Kent Ontario....a far drive from my favorite fishing spots. I have two rigs, a 5wt and a 9 wt (both floating line). I fish primarily nymphs/emergers and dry when needed (lost interest in streamers in 1998).

My question is....does anyone know of any creeks/rivers that are safe to wade within 100km of chatham kent?? Trout is my poison... so preferably a spot where I could find them.

Chris

 

[brookfieldangler]

I'm thinking a forum that is based a bit closer to kent might be more beneficial. Chicago (aka the Windy City) is a tad far

 

[christopher_law]

According to the headers..I posted in fly fishing in canada> eastern (quebec and ontario).

if the confusion is about chatham-kent...I am referring to C-K Ontario (SW Ontario 100km west of london..80km east of windsor...90 km south of sarnia)

 

[king joe]

Good day fellow anglers.

So after a 5 year absence from the sport I have dusted off my equipment and am ready to get get back in the water. I started flyfishing in 1993 where I primarily fished the forks of the credit river. During this time I was tying flys for my highschool teachers (vision and dexterity issues), and heavily invested in the sport. I moved to Guelph Ontario in 2002 where I fished the top end of the Grand for brown trout until 2008. I have had the itch to get back into the water...and as fate may have it...had to get my gear from storage this week.

Currently I reside in Chatham-Kent Ontario....a far drive from my favorite fishing spots. I have two rigs, a 5wt and a 9 wt (both floating line). I fish primarily nymphs/emergers and dry when needed (lost interest in streamers in 1998).

My question is....does anyone know of any creeks/rivers that are safe to wade within 100km of chatham kent?? Trout is my poison... so preferably a spot where I could find them.

Chris

Hey Chris
Welcome (back) to the sport. Me, I'm 'just up the road' from you living just outside of London and have fished and worked on much of these systems for many years.

Trout and Chatham....are not two words that normally go together unless you are talking about trout-FARMS (i.e. stocked ponds). Turbidity and warm water make for a short window of opportunity as fish are moving through the area only and little to no chance of resident fish, even juveniles.

That said, you have a chance at rainbows in the spring in fall in the Thames River. Problem is, for you, the Thames in Chatham area...tends to run brown pretty much all year round making fly presentation tough. Upstream near places like Komoka and Kilworth..and of course, London....there are more chances for cold water influence and turbidity goes down a short time after rains/precip events.

All is not lost.....while you have a breif chance at bows near Chatham, there is a larger window for walleye...and pike. And always, there are bass and sunfish....all of which are fly-catchable.

Just had a thought...a bit out of your range but not far...is the St. Clair River...basically Wallaceburg north to Sarnia. Cool-to-cold all year round...with basically 24-7 chances to catch a wide range of fish from the various pacific salmonids (including rainbow), brown trout to walleye to bass to perch to whatever...and there are lots of wadeable opportunities. And as a bonus there...water clarity is seldom an issue unless you are immediately downstream of one of the many tributaries that feed into the St. Clair.

The St. Clair can be a daunting affair...because of the large water before you. Take some time...'read' the water....look for laminar cells, back eddies, rock structure (refugia). When I fish the St. Clair, I typically fish ONLY a 25' wedge of water...and do very well for steelhead and browns (landed 97 steel last year).

As for rods.....your 5 is fine for most including most the salmonids you could encounter though a bit under what I would like. The 9....is overgunned unless you target the freighttrain-sized carp (40#+) that frequent both watersheds I have talked about. Myself, apart from my 11' switch rod...I run a 10' 7wt.

Good Luck

King Joe Outa Here!

 

[greg_h]

I understand your pain, but am in Toronto so can't help much. My first suggestion though (since you know the Credit and the Grand) is to pay more attention to the fish at hand and not worry about trout. Your territory is rather flat, so I would look to warm water fish like bass and carp, and to ponds. A day on the water is still better than otherwise. There are good fish in the lower Niagara River, if you are careful.