A Fisherman's Happiness

By Mark Benn

A selection of Ontario fishing stories from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and Gulf Shores, Alabama to Algonquin Park, Ontario.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Benn
• Release date: Jan 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224144525

Book preview

Ice Fishing - Port Dover Pier

I find that somewhere during mid-December, at the height of the Christmas chaos, my thoughts will wander to the far side of the festive season and the opening of ice fishing season.

I’ll start by hauling out the ice fishing gear from the storage area of the garage and inventorying, all the equipment that has remained in situ for the better part of the past year. At the end of any particular fishing season, I try to stow my gear in the way that I would like to find it when that season comes around again. The process of bringing life back to seasonal fishing gear typically takes a few weeks of puttering and pondering on my part, so mid-December is a good time to start kicking the tackle tires.

Of course, the single most important factor for ice fishing is ice, chiefly, the existence of and that which is safe enough to support activity upon it. During the ice fishing season of 2023, in the area of Booths Harbour (St. Williams, Ontario), sufficiently safe surface ice never happened. Mother Nature was warm on the mercury, but bitter to the hopes of ice anglers (and snowmobilers).

According to fishing rules and regulations in southern Ontario, most species of sport fish are deemed to be "in season", as of January 1st. When 2023 rang in, the waters of the Inner Bay at Long Point – including Booths Harbour, were completely fluid. There wasn’t even a flimsy formation of hard water to be found.

Having completed my inventory checklist and being at ease with the quantity and quality of my ice fishing gear, I was hopeful that the ice conditions would eventually improve and provide the opportunity to put these provisions to purpose, but by January tenth, the water of the Inner Bay remained "open".

My itch to fish became irritable, so I decided to revert to a bait-casting reel and rod set-up, with an assortment of casting lures (crank baits, spoons) and go to the pier at Port Dover, Ontario, to try my luck – just casting for fun on the open water. I wasn’t overly expectant of actually catching anything. I just wanted to go fishing. The weather was dull and overcast, with the temperature holding right around the freezing point, but dry at least, with a low chance of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, or any combination of the three), in the immediate forecast.

The pier at Port Dover is a magnetic, year-round attraction. The Port Dover business area and beach draw thousands of tourists to the area. During the winter months, as with all beach towns, the patrons become mostly localized, however the pier remains a popular draw – if the weather conditions permit access. The ferocious wind, wave and water action of winter can make the pier very dangerous (even perilous) for pedestrian access. During the most pernicious conditions, the township will close access to the pier completely. Still, on a crisp, clear, cold winter’s day, when the pier is accessible, the views of Long Point Bay can be spectacular and the dense sheets of crystallized ice that crash and pile into each other in the shallow water on the beach side of the pier, have a mythical quality about them.

All across Lake Erie, as I’m sure on all other bodies of water that feature public access piers, the Port Dover pier attracts a core of wharf anglers, who cast, jig and dead-stick a variety of baits throughout the year and depending on what species of fish are (a) in season and (b) most prevalent in the area. At the mouth of the Port Dover pier, there is a possibility of catching a variety of sport fish, year-round.

Northern Pike are a permanent resident of the channel that connects the Lynn and Black Rivers to the mouth of Lake Erie. Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch, White Bass, Sheepshead (freshwater Drum) and even Walleye are attributed to this area. During the spring and fall, migratory Trout and Salmon can be located in the vicinity. The Northern Pike are the big ticket fish and are most sought after by the regulars at the pier, and when I say big ticket, I’m not exaggerating.

I have witnessed a couple "once in a lifetime" catches of this majestically menacing monster (there will be more to come about these toothy terrors later on), from the pier at Port Dover, including an absolute behemoth that measured in at over forty inches (over 100 centimetres) in length. And it is very true, these fish are mucho menacing, but that forty inch giant was probably one of the most impressive fish I have ever seen. It possessed an aura of regality, emanating from its overall massiveness to the richness of the red accents on its pectoral and tail fins.

I was saddened to see it reined by rope, held in place and surviving at the surface, damned to its captor’s dinner table (at least that’s the best fate I could imagine at that time). Ah well, to each their own, there was no regulation, no size-restriction and no rule that stated such a stately fish shall not be harvested. It still sucked to see such a top-flight – Apex predator ending up on someone’s stringer. Alas... Anyway, as I said, there will be less saddening and more nerve wracking Northern Pike report in the pages ahead, but for now, I’ll return to January tenth on the Port Dover pier.

I arrived at the pier that afternoon, at about half past one, just after the "lunch crunch". This is another year round Port Dover practice - picking up lunch at one of the many popular local restaurants, parking the car to face the channel leading out to the pier and dining on the dashboard dais. On this early January afternoon, the parking lot bistro was bustling. I found an open parking space, unloaded my gear and walked out to the end of the pier.

When I first got out to the end of the pier, I was a solitary figure. I opened up my tackle bag, extended the length of my landing net to its maximum, laid out my pliers and forceps and surveyed the assortment of lures I had assembled in the hopes of inveigling one of them ponderous Pike.

My first choice was a jerk-bait that featured a plastic lip to make the lure dive a little bit on retrieval. After making a few casts straight into the eastern wind, I changed direction and cast on a slightly side-wards angle, to use the wind as an aid in advancing the distance of my deceptive device. As I continued casting and retrieving my lure, I was joined at the end of the pier by a young lady who was dressed quite colourfully.

The young lady had a Drone which she launched from the end of the pier. As the Drone whirred overhead and out over the lake, I changed the lures at the end of my line a couple times – switching colours or swimmability. The lady and I started talking a bit and she asked me if I had ever caught any fish from the pier. I told her I hadn’t, myself, however I had seen others catch Pike. I then added that it would be neat if I caught a fish while she was flying her Drone, as she could film the event as it unfolded from above. We introduced ourselves (her name was Kate), she agreed to partake in the fishing/filming partnership and continued to work the buzzing Drone above.

I then realized another angler had come out to the (near) end of the pier and he had set up his gear on one of the many benches that lined the median. He was setting up to fish on the channel side of the pier. We acknowledged each other and I reeled in my lure. I then walked over to my competition and we exchanged some small talk about fishing from the pier. He was an avuncular type of fella and quite easy to chat with. He introduced himself as Mike and I told him my name. I now had a fishing partner, as well as a videographer. The syndicate was taking shape.

Mike went on to tell me about a time when he caught the biggest Brown Trout of his life, right at this spot and happily shared the story of that catch with me.