Montreal fishing spots

Montreal fishing spots

Montreal shore fishing spots click here.

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Spring street fishing in Montreal

Spring 2019 has finally arrived. Ice fishing season started earlier than normal for me this season, due to the unusually cold fall we had. Not having fished open water since November, I decided to hit a couple spots in Montreal with open water before the season closes early next week.

As winter rules are still in effect here (Quebec Zone 8) until the end of the season, I could have opted to use up to 10 lines, as well as the use of dead baitfish.

Instead, I opted to hit a couple spots by bike using one rod, more for the workout than for the actual fishing results. Having been stuck using an indoor bike for about 4 months, I was more than ready for the ride down to the water. Using a bike to hit spots around town is a great way to run and gun spots without having to worry about parking, traffic or construction, and the workout is phenomenal in the sense that you don't feel like a rat on a treadmill, just running pointlessly on the same spot.


First spot I fished has fast moving water. It stays open all winter long, as the current is too strong for any ice to form on the surface. Though the spot turns productive for walleye and the occasional pike in May, I wasn't too hopeful I'd be able to hook anything in near freezing water being that it's the first day of spring, being that iceout just starting in some spots.




It seems that some artist has an idea of strange catches in the polluted waters of the St Lawrence River in Montreal.


Hoping for a possible smallmouth bass or walleye, I tied on a jig a grub combo, and was ready for my first cast of 2019.


Not much luck, but after about 10 minutes of casting in the area, I finally hooked up. It felt like a lethargic fish in the strong current, but my hope were dashed when I landed my first windbreaker hood.


After not catching much at the spot, I made a small detour to fish another spot on the way home. This one had less current and deeper water.


Unfortunately, nothing bit at that spot either. To be fair, I only fished each spot for about 15 minutes, as I was just more interested in having a good bike ride to kick off my street fishing season.

For those of you that have a copy of my shore fishing guide, I started at the second spot in the guide, then fished the first spot in the guide on my way home. For those of you that don't have the guide yet, you can get a copy by clicking: http://freshwaterphil.com/Fishing-spots-Montreal.cfm

5 comments:

GLENN PURCELL said...


FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT FISHED ALOT AROUND THE MONTREAL AREA, PHIL'S GUIDE WILL SAVE DAYS OF DISCOURAGEMENT......AS A VERY YOUNG CHILD (when you could drink the water in LAC ST.LOUIS) TO MY MID 30S MY GRANDFATHER AND I FISHED FROM MONTREAL TO OKA,MOSTLY BY BOAT.......GREAT FISHING SPOTS BUT 200 YARDS AWAY, ZERO....
THE SCECENARY MAY BE GREAT, BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHERE TO FISH.....

PHIL AND FAMILY, WISHING YOU THE BEST IN 2019....
FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND/GLENN

Freshwater Phil said...

Thank you for the kind comments Glenn

Domenic said...

Did we just change the tariffs for the fishing permits in Quebec? Just got mine yesterday and it seems we need one for every member of the family now. ~22$ each seems steep if I need to buy one each for the wife and kids.

Freshwater Phil said...

No, wife and kids can fish under your license, and fee went down from about $30 last year.

Domenic said...

Ok thanks Phil. I guess the young cashier at Canadian Tire was miss informed. I was about to buy another permit for my son but I wanted to verify first.

BTW Sorry for your loss, my condolences to you and your family.