Are There Trout in Ottawa?

“Where can I go trout fishing in Ottawa?”, It’s a common question I hear from anglers new to the area. Unfortunately, most of the waterways in the Ottawa valley are better suited to warmer water species. One can actually find a few trout in Ottawa, although the waterways that hold them are far from prime.

Also, I’m talking typical stream/river trout species here (rainbows, brookies, browns), not lake trout. Lake trout behavior and habitat differ significantly from other trout species, and is another topic altogether! As an aside, lake trout fishing opportunities are much better in the area (if you have a boat atleast).

A quick note on spot burning. I won’t be giving specifics on any wild trout streams. I give a bit more specific information on stocked trout locations, as that information is publically available.

Trout in Ottawa

Most of the trout in Ottawa are stocked brown trout. Brown trout have a higher temperature tolerance than other trout species, so are ideal candidates for the marginal habitat found within the city.

Ottawa River

It’s fairly well known that Gatineau has been stocking brown trout in the Ottawa rivers for over two decades now. While this offers some opportunity for trout fishing, it’s quite localized around the stocking area. A breeding population hasn’t seemed to take hold to spread the species throughout the river. Still, it’s your best shot for catching a trout within Ottawa city limits.

There are a few factors that make the stocking not as successful as it might be in other areas.

The first issue, is the water temperature gets towards the upper end of what a brown trout can tolerate in the summer. Despite this, they do eek out a living in and around the rapids and riffles between Ottawa and Gatineau.

The second issue is the Ottawa river is full of predatory fish. Stocked trout don’t have the same level of competence in terms of predator avoidance that a wild-born trout would have. Bass, walleye, pike, and musky all make quick work of a lethargic stocked brown trout in the heat of the summer.

The fish are stocked at a fairly decent size in an effort to reduce predation. While that likely reduces predation from the abundance of smallmouth bass, a trophy musky (which Ottawa River is well known for) will have no problem eating even a huge brown trout.

My take on it is fish the areas you think look trouty with trout gear, but expect to get smallmouth bass. If you incidentally get a trout fantastic, you know where they are now and can better target them going forward. For the fly anglers reading this, stonefly nymphs are productive for both smallmouth and browns. I’ve heard reports of brown trout being caught on stonefly nymphs in the Ottawa river rapids.

Spring Creeks

An ideal habitat for trout is spring-feed creeks. There remain three spring feed creeks in the Ottawa region. These creeks retain enough of their original features (pre-development) to support trout. Unfortunately due to development, only specific stretches of these rivers are still suitable trout habitat.

While all three creeks likely held wild brook trout at one point, the brookies are now long gone. The three creeks are now all stocked yearly with a few hundred brown trout (~500 each spring last I checked). I won’t spot burn these specifically, but stocking information is available publically from the government records with a little research.

Apparently, there are a few creeks within an hour of Ottawa that still hold wild brookies. I have yet to find any, and if I do I won’t be sharing those locations here!

Closest Good Trout fishing to Ottawa?

Okay, so we’ve established that there is trout in Ottawa, but it’s not what anyone would call a thriving fishery. If you really want good trout fishing, it’s worth taking a trip.

A bit over an hour either North, West, or South and you’re into much better trout fishing than what is found within Ottawa. You’re going to spend much than an hour trying to find the few trout that exist around Ottawa anyway. Might as well take a drive to get to good trout water.

North – Gatineau Highlands

The highlands north (and a bit east) of Gatineau are filled with spring water creeks that are ideal trout habitat. There are wild brookies to be found in addition to stocked rainbow trout.

The main drawback of this option is how expensive the Quebec fishing license is.

North-West – Algonquin Park

Further west still is Algonquin Park, which has a good mix of wild brook trout and stocked brookies. The main drawback here is that the good water typically requires a fair bit of bushwhacking to access. Once you get to it though, it’s much more pristine wilderness than you’ll find closer to the city.

West – Calabogie Highlands

The Calabogie region has several waterways with a variety of trout species present. These are certainly not the norm in the area, and can be bit tricky to locate. They can be found with a bit of research and a lot of exploration though. There are also incidental reports of fairly sizable trout caught from the few anglers that aren’t as tightlipped as usual.

There are water bodies with rainbow trout and brown trout present. Some are currently stocked, and others were historically stocked with trout and a breeding population has taken hold.

There are multiple ponds/lakes in the area with stocked brook trout. These are ideal ponds to take a canoe for a relaxing evening of trout fishing on calm water.

Finally, there are a few cold water creeks that feed into the larger water bodies. A few of these cold-water creeks have wild brook trout present.

South-West – Lake Ontario Tributaries

Check out the tributaries on the north side of Lake Ontario as you drive west towards Toronto. Not only will you find resident trout, but you’ll also find steelhead and large lake run brown trout coming upstream from Lake Ontario as well! There’s even salmon fishing to be had in many of these tribs, both King (Chinook) Salmon and Coho salmon

South – Upstate New York

There are quite a few trout streams flowing south from Appalachia that support healthy populations of both wild and stocked trout. New York does an exceptional job of managing its fishery, so the fishing is quite good here.

If you want to take a bit of a longer trip, the Adirondack mountains are a well-known fly fishing destination. Many old-school fly patterns were developed in the region chasing after the trout native to the area.

South- New York Lake Ontario Tribs

I know this is still upstate New York, but Lake Ontario tributaries are so different from mountain streams that this deserves its own entry.

Much the same as traveling along the northern coast of Lake Ontario as mentioned earlier. There are some prime trout and salmon fishing that can be found along the western shores of Lake Ontario. The main drawback is that the really good areas are quite well known, and get quite busy during the salmon run.

Alternative species

The best advice I can offer an angler new to Ottawa is to take advantage of the fish species that *are* prolific in the area, and there are many!

Ottawa valley offers fantastic angling opportunities year-round for a ridiculously large variety of species! These are mostly warmer water species such as smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, carp, pike, and musky. All of these species can be targeted fly fishing.

Mooneye is another species in the area that traditional trout fishing techniques are quite productive. Of note, is that you’ll be mostly night fishing when targeting Mooneye.

The Ottawa river in particular is regarded as a trophy fishery for musky. There’s a good chance the next record musky may be pulled out of the Ottawa, although my money’s on it being the St Lawrence, with the Ottawa not being far behind).

There’s also a plethora of minnows, shiners, and sculpins in the area. If micro fishing is your thing, there’s plenty of opportunities here.