From July 2-10 our parks will be celebrating Family Fishing Week with special events taking place in many of our parks. Ontario Family Fishing Events is a province-wide opportunity for Canadian residents to fish without a license. There has never been a better time to introduce a friend to fishing or to take advantage of the incredible fishing opportunities offered by our parks.
Across Ontario, most parks still have a good selection of sites available for the weekend, for tent and RV campers alike!
Scout out your ideal campsite on our Campsite Browsing/Reservation tool (including pictures of most campsites!), or check out these featured campsites (available as of noon, July 7):
Southeastern Ontario
Lake St. Peter Provincial Park
The large body of Lake St. Peter is known for lake trout and bass. Although you can fish from the shoreline, for best results try fishing from a boat or canoe. You can also spend the day at nearby Algonquin with your camping permit.
Lake St. Peter is 3 hours from Ottawa and Kingston.
Charleston Lake Provincial Park
Charleston Lake is widely known as an excellent fishing destination. Anglers fish for lake trout, large and small mouth bass, northern pike, black crappie, yellow perch and other species of panfish. The rocky lake and forest landscape provides an excellent backdrop for a day out on the water.
Charleston Lake is under 1 hour from Kingston and under 2 hours from Ottawa.
Southwestern Ontario
Sibbald Point Provincial Park
Lake trout, bass, whitefish, pike, yellow pickerel and jumbo perch are abundant in Lake Simcoe. After a day of fishing, the large sandy beach is a prime location to relax and tell fishing stories. There is a boat launch and parking area for boaters.
Sibbald Point is just over 1 hour from Toronto.
Rondeau Provincial Park
The most popular catches in Lake Erie offers salmon, walleye, and perch. The warm, vegetation rich waters of Rondeau Bay offer excellent largemouth bass fishing. Perch, sunfish, crappie, catfish, and pike can also be caught in these waters.
Rondeau also offers six hiking trails that will allow you to explore the world renowned bird watching destination.
Rondeau is 3 hours from Toronto and 1.5 hours from London.
Central Ontario
Algonquin Provincial Park
On Saturday July 9 Algonquin will be hosting Rock Bass Family Fishing Day which is a great opportunity for families to fish license-free on Whitefish Lake. Park staff, Conservation Officers, OPP Marine Unit, and various volunteers will take participants out on boats. Fishing rods, reels and PFDs are available for loan.
Participants are also treated to a lunch featuring the day’s catch of Rock Bass and freshly cut fries. Is your stomach growling yet?
Algonquin is 3.5 hours from Toronto, and 3 hours from Ottawa.
Grundy Lake Provincial Park
The numerous lakes located within this park offer excellent fishing and include species such as northern pike, bass, panfish, walleye and crappie. The nearby French River delta offers one some of Ontario’s best fishing.
There are eight (yes, eight!) natural sand beaches recommended for swimming.
Grundy Lake is 3.5 hours from Toronto or 1 hour from Sudbury.
Northeastern Ontario
Wakami Lake Provincial Park
This is of Ontario Parks’ undiscovered fishing hotspots! This waterfront campsite is nestled in the shoreline of Wakami Lake, minutes from the boat launch. Discover strange plants like the pitcher plant and sundew on Wakami Lake’s hiking trails, or rent a kayak and explore the park by water.
Fish species in Wakami Lake include walleye, northern pike, lake whitefish, yellow perch and white sucker. Imakaw Lake has been stocked brook trout.
Wakami Lake is 4 hours from Sault Ste Marie, and 5 hours from Sudbury.
Finlayson Point Provincial Park
This gigantic site offers the perfect starting point to knock a Temagami fishing trip off of your bucket list. As it is such a large lake, with many diverse aquatic habitats, Lake Temagami is a popular angling spot for a wide variety of sport fish including lake trout, lake whitefish, northern pike, smallmouth bass, walleye and yellow perch.
Finlayson Point is under 5 hours from Toronto and 2 hours from Sudbury.
Northwestern Ontario
Sandbar Lake Provincial Park
The lakes in and around the park teem with northern pike, walleye and smallmouth bass. A fish-cleaning station, with lights, running water and cutting tables is located by the boat launch. This is the perfect park to have fish fry – especially if you are using our frying tips.
Sandbar Lake is 3 hours from Thunder Bay or 1.5 hours from Dryden.
Rainbow Falls Provincial Park
Rainbow Falls is a perfect Northern park to visit during Family Fishing Week as the East Beach will be the location of their 9th Annual Bass Blast! Participants can look forward to all sorts of fishing fun and games, a BBQ lunch, including giveaways, and prizes for the kids.
Whitesand Lake offers great opportunities to catch lake trout and bass. Rainbow trout, salmon and whitefish can be found in nearby Lake Superior.
Rainbow Falls is 2.5 hours from Thunder Bay, and 5 hours from Sault Ste Marie (just follow the Lake Superior shoreline!).