Welland Canal

[DarkEdge]

Since I can't really find anything or anyone personally that can give me any information, I'll ask you experts. Is it legal, acceptable, or proper to fish in the Welland Canal? I know people do down in PC, near the Clarence Street bridge, but I've never known anyone who actually did. I ask because the canal is only a block from my house, and I want to know what I can catch out of it.

So what's the deal? Can I fish it? Will I get in trouble? Will someone show up in an unmarked van and no one will ever hear from me again? (I think I lived in the US too long...)

[marth11]

you arent aloud to fish the new canal but you are aloud to fish the old ones and they can fine you for fishing the new as well hope I helped

[riverfisher22]

unmarked van imo

[stickelback]

if you park away from canal and walk along the shoreline...you wont have a problem...be goin it for years and never had a prob!try up in the allanburg,port robinson area.... theres a bike trail that runs along there.... good smallie fishin! Mepps work for me!

[Phranchise]

why risk a fine? just fish n the old canals...lots of fish in there...anything that swims really

[stickelback]

why risk a fine? just fish n the old canals...lots of fish in there...anything that swims really

what fine.... ive never got one in 22 years you must have some bad luck bud!

[DarkEdge]

I think I'll go with Phil. Seeing as I'm a non-resident, the last thing I want to do is chance losing my license, let alone my chance at residency because I decided to do something foolish. If anyone has some good spots they'd be willing to share, I'll gladly meet up for a day's fishing. Just tell me what does good and where to meet you.

[tmate]

the new canal has produced some nice smallies for me aswell stickel....worms, crays, tubes......no one has ever said a thing

no signs saying not to fish to trespass...i;ve been doing it for years

[captnn]

Instead of listening to pros and cons on this board just call the Seaway Authority and ask them. This way you will know for sure.

[Phranchise]

I have never been fined myself but I remember seeing multiple topics on this board about this exact topic. From what I remember, the general consensus was that the new canals were off limits to fishing.

[spottedGARRR]

Dark, stick to the canal near your place, fish near the old bridge platform or anywhere along the wall walking back towards your place. You'll find lotsa of smallies, largies and rock bass. You'll also find monster drum and channel cat. ive been fishing there my whole life, and was there last week for an hour. got 11 fish in an hour. Yes it's private property, yes if you were causing trouble someone would show up and fine you. No, i dont think you'll have a problem and you'll certainly catch fish. =]

ps bring worms and run a drop shot rig on the bottom near the wall, likely it wont make it to the bottom before you find the bass =]

[minnow killer]

i've fished in the canal for 30 years. you can fish anywhere that you can walk up to, as long as its not a secured area, or fenced in. there are signs posted in areas you are not allowed in. they have cameras all along the canal, do keep that in mind. people here in POCO fish everywhere.

[DarkEdge]

So I managed to find it on the Seaway authority website. Took some hunting for, but now I have information. This is copied word-for-word from the page:

For your own safety, recreational activities such as swimming, water skiing, fishing, and diving are strictly prohibited in all Seaway canals, channels, pleasure craft docks, locks, weirs, and their approaches.

These prohibitions are enforced under the Canada Marine Act as well as under various regulations governing Seaway property. Violators will be subject to substantial fines.

http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/studen...ors/safety.html

Everything can be found at the address above. According to their rules, even fishing any of weirs is illegal. I guess a word of warning to everyone that does?

[Luvevolution]

good that you found the info Scott. I'll add to that too. technically, you aren't allowed to fish in any active and/or controlled waterway that is for the transportation of goods. it is part of the new homeland security act, which is also the reason why they are fencing in the canal and all other active water systems for the transportation of goods. however, there are guys that fish the canal and I've even personally seen and spoke to seaway guys that were there watching them fish while on their break. after asking them about the law, they told me that "they don't give a crap, because it's too much BS to even bother with trying to stop them fishing and/or pressing charges for fishing. as long as they aren't doing anything wrong and they pull out if a ship passes, then they aren't concerned". in other words, they are too lazy to be bothered to go tell anyone or make a phone call. they probably don't get paid enough to be tattle tales. LMAO. I know that would be my attitude if I worked for the seaway. it's like the Blue Ghost Tunnel behind GM. it's Seaway property and it says no trespassing, but every day, hundreds of people walk, off road and all kinds of stuff there and they don't care as long as you aren't causing problems. by law, they have to post no trespassing signs and all that good stuff, but the workers generally just don't care as long as you aren't going there to cause trouble. one night, we went out to the BGT to do some ghost hunting and we ran into seaway security. he asked where we were going and I told him the truth and showed him our meters and stuff for ghost hunting. he told us to park in a certain spot, so that he could watch our vehicle while we were in there, so it didn't get broken into or vandelized. so, the point to the story is, don't go in areas where it's fenced off and don't cause any trouble and you'll be fine with the workers. if they do have a problem with it and you are nice with them, they will tell you where to go and fish....................we had that happen years ago when we were fishing the wier at lock 1. they asked us to move and since we were nice, they told us where to go a bit further down stream, where they knew fish were. LOL. we fished there for hours and they even came back from time to time to see what we had caught.

Rich

[spottedGARRR]

[captnn]

They also have speed limits. A lot of people get away with it and others get caught. Same as the rules for the canal Some will fish there and never get fined and others will get fined. Just don't cry if you get caught and get fined.

[smerchly]

Since 9/11 they have gone over board with this security stuff . We fished all over the canal years ago and the fishing was great . Now , all those spots are gone and fenced up . But , all along canal rd.near the Dry Docks I see people parking , picnicking , cleaning their cars etc & it's wide open to fish ....just grassy banks and easy access . I don't see any harm fishing in these areas . Other spots ,like the falls at lock one could be deemed dangerous if you fell from the wall , so a liability situation comes into play there . I believe we should be using that waterway to get more people out to enjoy the boats , the fresh air , socializing like we did years ago ....and wetting a line while enjoying the sights . We are being shut out of more simple pleasures and letting these nice spots go to waste . There are many good spots from Lock One to Lake Ontario . The water is very wide and slow moving there. .... what a spot for carp !

[DarkEdge]

The real reason I was wondering is within a ten minute walk from my house, right along the east side of the canal, there's a small concrete slab poured at the very edge. It doesn't go out far into the water, but I imagined it'd make a great place to stand a chuck a lure for a little while. I'm sure, being so far away from any lock, that there'd be some good fish in there. But I didn't want to chance getting in a bunch of doo-doo because I didn't bother to look up or ask the rules. Knowing I can get in big trouble, I think I'll stick to fishing Gibson, or Marlatts Road.

Maybe I'll take a run up to Marlatts tomorrow morning, see if I can't scare up a bite or two.

[Luvevolution]

I'll probably join you after I drop the wife off at work. was gonna stop and fish for a bit anyway.