Fish to eat :)

Post by **rooky5000** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:39 am

Hi, 22 year old male,
I am new to ottawa and do alot of fishing from shore, fly fishing and wading.
however I do not have a boat.
Is there anywhere I can fish In or around ottawa that I may catch fish and actually eat them?
Ive done alot of fishing up by morris island and caught some pike, garpike, and bass, but none of it looks too healthy.

Anyone able to recommend some good spots for shore fishing?
Any help is appreciated

Post by **Gord** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:09 am

....you forgot one of the best tasting fish of all...........walleye. This species is sought after for consumption more than any of the other species you listed.

........the one I would pick from your list would be trout.

Post by **Eli** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 12:49 pm

What was so 'unhealthy' about the bass and pike from Morris Island?

Post by **Wallyboss** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 2:22 pm

How about panfish??? My choices would be !!

1) Walleye
2) Crappies
3)perch

Post by **Bigfisher101** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 1:44 pm

i would have to agree with walleyes they sure do taste great

Post by **Anton88** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 2:15 pm

I think you should add Walleye to the poll, its the best tasting fish around here... many peoples agree.

Another is supposed to be Freshwater Cod ( Ling ), but I never cought or ate one. There is some debate as to which is the tastiest.

My suggestion

)) , if you want to catch fish to eat, go as far from Ottawa as possible...
The area west of arnprior is full of Lakes, try White Lake, Calabogie and it's sourroundings..

Post by **1lastcast** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 2:28 pm

my vote would be walleye for sure. I dont eat much else.

Post by **Doug** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:10 pm

For an idea of what you are eating, check out the Guide to Eating Ontario Game Fish, published every two years by Ontario MOE - although with the McGUILTY govt slashes to the MNR and MOE budgets that may no longer be possible. It is online here:

http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/cons/590b12_intro.pdf

I would not be in a hurry to eat fish taken downstream of the city of Ottawa or any other major city,

and especially larger and slower-growing fish like lake trout. Same for fish that primarily eat other fish, including walleyes. Read all about it in that publication.

I eat a lot of fish, most of which I catch, but I have to admit that I also enjoy some Chilean steelhead that I troll from the frozen foods section of the grocery store.

I like pretty well all of them, but there is a good reason that crappies, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, rock bass, perch, etc are called PANfish. They are delicious. And in most parts of the province, there are extremely healthy populations of these species, and taking a bunch for the table does not hurt the resource at all. Oh sure, there are some folks who view the death of any fish as a tragedy, and consider that EATING fish is barbaric, but frankly scarlet, I put them on the same side of the ledger as the PETA types. Neither group has a firm grasp on reality.

I am NOT advocating the taking of pressured fish species, nor do I suggest that you keep every fish you catch. Sometimes, catch and release is the ONLY idea for a given species and/or a given body of water. But in most places where there are fish in Ontario, the limits have been put in place for a reason - that is, to allow the consumption of SOME of their catch by the anglers of the province.

Sorry for the soapbox.............

So if you fish from shore, go for the panfish, get a good knife, and ENJOY!

Doug

Post by **creeky** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:39 am

You bet, walleye and perch are great, but for my dollar I'll take pike from a clean COLD deep water lake anytime. If they've been feeding primarily on cisco ... all right! Fantastic white fish meat.

Post by **Scum Frog** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:55 am

Walleye
crappie
perch

Post by **Upper_House** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:53 pm

Being from Northern Saskatchewan, It's all about walleye. Up north, the "Pike" (jackfish as we call'em) are eaten but not as much, even though they are from very cold water lakes. With the abundance of walleye, most fisherman simply can not be bothered with the overly boney pike.

Post by **Moosebunk** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 12:18 am

Man, I've been eating soooo much walleye over the last 5 years that the palate has shifted a little more towards pike. Had some pike last night and the night before and it was just awesome. Yeah, leave the bones in too so it doesn't get wasted.

Perch, whitefish and smaller brookies under 12 inches are the bomb. Walleye is good too. Heck, if it's an Ontario "sportfish" that swims it likely tastes good. Let's not get all top 10 with such a delicious meat.

Grouper, mahi mahi, tuna and arctic char - Mmmmmmmm. Halibut - drooooool. Louisianna catfish - slurp that fatty fish right up.

Fish-Hawk.Net

Fish to eat :)

Best tasting fish

Fish to eat :)