Sometimes it takes a step back to truly understand how good of a position you are in. From our perspective one of these things is the quality of fishing we have right in our backyards! While Georgian Bay is where we choose to spend our time on the water to chase trophies Ontario as a whole is world class when it comes to fishing for almost every species of fish anglers can target. Sure there are bigger bass in Mexico or bigger Pike in Scandinavia but no where else on the planet can anglers fish waters for so many trophy species in such close quarters. Don't believe it? Let's go over some of the numbers.
Number of bodies of water:
With approximately 250,000 lakes and over 100,000km of rivers, 1/6th of the surface of this Ontario is covered in water! To put this into perspective the country with the second most bodies of water is Russia (Canada being #1) with 201,200 still less than Ontario alone! This means anglers can not only fish just about anywhere but easily find waters without dealing with other anglers.
Number of species:
Anglers in Ontario have opportunities to target over 30 species including all of the worlds most popular game fish! Whether you want to target Bass, Crappie, Musky, Walleye, Salmon, Trout, Pike, Sturgeon, Catfish, Panfish - Ontario has it all! Not only does Ontario have them but the Great Lakes and many others contain all the species in the same body of water!
Trophy Sizes:
Being able to target any species you want isn't enough for some anglers. Some anglers want to chase giants, trophies, and potential world records. Lucky for them Ontario is a great place to do this as well. See fotr yourself by comparing the provincial and world records below! Despite the records noted there will always be witness reports of bigger fish. Either from following, catching & releasing without proof, during spawning periods, or in nets so we compiled some of these notes that we have heard from anglers.
Current Provincial Records:
Walleye (Yellow Pickerel): 22.25 Lbs at 36.5" length
Northern Pike: 42.12 Lbs, No Length provided
Musky: 65 Lbs at 58" length, Current12 Lb Line Class World Record & Debated as only valid All Tackle World Record
Smallmouth Bass: 10.15 Lbs at 23.75" length
Largemouth Bass: 10.43 Lbs at 22" length
Lake Trout: 63.12 Lbs at 51.5" length
Rainbow Trout: 40.68 Lbs at 39.1" length
Burbot: 17.95 Lbs at 39"
Bowfin: 15.1 Lbs at 31.5" length
Catfish: 33.36 Lbs at 39.3" length
Unofficial Accounts (Ministry Netting, C&R, Other)
Walleye: up to 40" length
Pike: up to 54" length
Musky: up to 60" length, & Rumours of 70 Lb musky being netted in MNR studies
Let's compare these to official world records and see how Ontario stacks up!
Current IGFA World Records: https://igfa.org/member-services/world-record/search
Walleye (Yellow Pickerel): 25 Lbs, All Tackle Length World Record Only 31" (79 cm). We know dozens of fish from Ontario that would beat length record!
Northern Pike: 55 Lbs 1 Oz, No Length provided. All Tackle Length World Record Only 48.75" (124 cm). Although this length has been beaten several times in the past few years in scandinavia
Musky: 67.8 Lbs, All Tackle Length World Record Only 53" (135 cm). We know of dozens of fish caught in Ontario waters that have beat this length!
Smallmouth Bass: 11 Lb 15 Oz. All Tackle Length World Record Only 20.8" (53 cm). We know of dozens of fish caught in Ontario waters that have beat this length!
Largemouth Bass: 22 Lb 4 Oz. All Tackle Length World Record 25.5" (65 cm).
Lake Trout: 72 Lbs (NWT, Canada), All Tackle Length World Record 43" (109 cm)
Rainbow Trout: 48 Lbs (Sk, Canada), All Tackle Length World Record 37" (94 cm)
Burbot: 25 Lb 2 Oz (Sk, Canada)
Bowfin: 21 Lb 8 Oz, All Tackle Length World Record 28.75" (73 cm)
Catfish: 58 Lbs, All Tackle Length World Record 35.5" (90 cm)
Looking over these world records Ontario could post up a bunch of new All Tackle Length World Records should someone go through the process! If this doesn't convince you that Ontario is the best fishing destination in the world I don't think anything will. The next time you think about planning a fishing trip don't overlook the waters in your own back yard!
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