Originally seen in Fish’n Canada’s Week in Review
Ontario’s 2022 fishing regulations were released this week and anglers will want to be aware of a few notable changes.
1) Baitfish Zones Introduced:
Starting in January, Ontario will be launching a plan to stop the spread of invasive species, as well as prominent baitfish diseases such as Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) that have the potential to devastate local fish populations. The plan will divide Ontario into four Baitfish Management Zones (BMZs), regulating the transport of bait across boundary lines and enforcing strict penalties to those who violate the new system.
As you can see on the map above, not much will change for those fishing locally. However, those travelling to fish should now make plans to buy bait nearby the lakes they are fishing and to always keep receipts to prove where the bait was purchased. If you have bait leftover after travelling outside your area, the bait and receipt can be used for an additional two weeks, as long as you are fishing in the same BMZ.
2) Lake Trout Changes in FMZ 6
For those in Zone 6, your Lake Trout season will now be open from January 1 to September 30. Slot sizes remain the same.
3) Lake Nipissing in FMZ 11
Lake Nippissing will be seeing the most change in this year’s regulations, with the lake itself closing to all fishing from March 16 to the Friday before the third Saturday in May and December 1 to December 31.
In addition to this closure, changes to species-specific regulations can be found in the graphics below:
This excerpt was taken from Fish’n Canada’s Week in Review, our weekly recap of all things relevant to the Canadian outdoorsman. For more stories like this, check out the full article below and tune back in every Friday to catch up on everything you missed!
