Fishing the Mississpi River and Lake area with kids

[TheGroundTruth]

Hello, I stumbled across your site looking for fishing info to help me take my kids out and hook up with some fish. We are new to Ottawa and haven't had much luck fishing locally at Dows, Dick Bell, etc. I really want to keep my boys fired up for fishing but we come up empty handed most times, its rough to see them so excited and then let down. After lurking here for a couple weeks, I'd like to get some advice on places to fish from the shore along the Mississippi River and Lake area where we can self isolate and make memories at the same time. From what I have read on here, it is a great place to catch some fish. My boy 10 and 12 FYSA. Thanks for the help!

[Fisherman89]

Sorry I can't help too much with shore fishing spots on Mississippi Lake/River, but I do alright on the southern portion of the lake fishing from a canoe. I believe shore fishing spots are pretty limited since most of the surrounding land is private. I'm sure I've seen people fish the river from shore by the bridge where Hwy 7 crosses over the river at the north end of the lake, though not sure if they need permission to fish there or not. There's also a park along the river by the municipal boat launch in Carleton Place, but with current restrictions I'm not sure if the park is closed (or if they are fining people for using it).

Also keep in mind you are limited to what you can fish for right now: season for Walleye and Pike opens May 9th and Bass opens June 20th.

For shore fishing I've done well along the trails at Morris Island Conservation Area. It's currently closed due to quarantine, but a good area to check out when things open back up. It's mostly smallmouth bass up there, but I've also caught pike, perch, channel catfish, and a 20" walleye all from shore.

These are some of the fish I've caught up there (Walleye was caught on a white Cotton Cordell Big O, and the other two were just slip bobbers with a jig head and worm):

[David Chong]

You would have to first check which public access sites are re-opened. Mississippi Lake & River has a wide variety of fish species and most importantly for kids a great population of panfish! My sister and niece regularly fish in Riverside Park right in Carleton Place with good success! I would assume that it is closed like most parks in Ontario right now!

[TheGroundTruth]

Thanks for the reply, those are some great points and nice pictures! I was thinking about investing in an inflatable with a small trolling motors to cover some water with the boys.