Ganaraska River

The Ganaraska rises in the Ganaraska Forest on the Oak Ridges Moraine and runs southeast past Kendal to Lake Ontario at Port Hope. Port Hope counts it among the healthiest small rivers on the lake, and its trout and salmon are almost all wild, born in the river. Corbett's Dam, just below Highway 401, is the first barrier from the lake. A fish ladder has carried fish past it since 1974, and a scanner and camera record each one that goes through. The Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority suggests you check the live count on River Watcher before you drive out: when the count climbs, the fish are in.

There are two seasons. Chinook and coho run from mid August into early October, between 5,000 and 19,000 of them a year, by the town's count, and they stack up in the pools through Port Hope. Rainbow trout, the lake's steelhead, run from late March to early May and again from October to mid December, as many as 9,000 a year. The fall fish and the spring fish in town are open to fishing below the CNR bridge. Above Highway 401 the river opens on the fourth Saturday in April, while spring rainbows are still on the gravel upstream. It is a small river, so a single-hand rod, nymphs and egg patterns cover most of it. Read the Dale gauge: the runs follow water temperature and flow, and rain colours the river quickly.

The rules in Port Hope change by the block, so learn them before you fish. From Highway 401 down to the Jocelyn Street bridge, around the dam and fish ladder, the river is a fish sanctuary, closed all year. From Jocelyn Street to the CNR bridge it closes from September 1 to October 14, which covers most of the salmon run, and reopens until December 31. Below the CNR bridge you can fish for trout and salmon all year. Fall weekends are crowded, and police, conservation officers and by-law officers patrol during the run. Most land upstream of town is private, so ask before you cross it. The town opens a free parking lot at 95 Mill Street South for the migration, and runs a fish cleaning station at 91 Mill Street South.