Ontario offers free fishing weekend for Family Day
If you're looking to get out this Family Day weekend, the province is offering up a few fun options for outdoor activity.
Between Feb. 16 and Feb. 18, you don't need a licence to fish in Ontario. You still have to follow conservation catch limits, obey size limits and sanctuaries and following fishing regulations.
If you haven't been out before, planning a full day on the ice is a must before heading out, to ensure you stay comfortable while catching your dinner.
Ramakko's Source for Adventure store manager Paul Skuce says currently, ice conditions are not great and getting stuck in slush is a possibility.
"After you drill your hole through, there's a lot of water coming up because of the pressure on top," he said.
"So you have to have good rubber boots and tall rubber boots."
To drill that hole, you'll need an auger. Skuce says the industry is moving away from gas augers.
"To drill holes, they're buying a hand auger and little electric drill adaptors, put the drill on the bottom end which goes to your drill and you use a hand drill to get in the ice."
Once you've figured out what to wear and how to drill the hole, you'll have to make sure you have the proper equipment to actually fish. Skuce says there are lots of options when it comes to rods, reels, tackle and tip-ups, which hold on to a fishing line.
"You're allowed to have two lines," he said. "One you're going to have in your hands jigging and then [the tip-up] will do the work for you."
As for lures, Skuce says the options are endless.
"I couldn't even list them all," he said. "Our ice fishing tackle wall has expanded. It is five times bigger than it used to be."
Throughout the years, Skuce says ice fishing has started going high tech.
"I sell as much high end electronics for ice fishing as I do in the summer," he said.
"If you're out there and you don't have a flasher … you're pretty much setting yourself up for failure. A flasher is an electronic device that has a sonar in the water. Anything that swims by it — you know exactly when, where and what level they're at."
Ontario offers four free fishing weekends each year. The next one will be Mother's Day weekend between May 11 and May 12. Father's Day weekend between June 15 and June 16 will also be a free fishing weekend as will June 29 to July 7 to celebrate Family Fishing Week.
