Here is a most informative illustrated sheet from 2014 of various species found in Ontario’s lakes and streams:
Fishing in Little Silver & Rainbow Lakes
This article was written by our previous Lake Steward. There is a link at the end the article to contact our current incumbent).
Little Silver Lake has a limited population of small and largemouth bass and a good population of pan-fish. Pan-fish include yellow perch, bluegill sunfish and black crappie. As the lake is relatively small, it can sustain only light fishing pressure for bass, and moderate pressure for pan-fish. We encourage catch and release and selective harvesting. Catch and release means just that. If you catch a large bass over 3 pounds, it is most likely a female breeder fish and should be returned to the lake to supply future generations of bass and keep the population healthy. Take a quick picture and release the fish to catch another day. Smaller bass are mostly males or juveniles. If you’d like to keep a few bass to eat, these are the ones to eat. They are also better tasting and have far fewer contaminants in them than the larger fish do. If you just want to catch a few fish to have a nice meal, we suggest you target the pan-fish. They are plentiful and easy to catch. You can catch them with a bobber and a small jig suspended beneath it with a bit of worm or artificial bait. The kids will like this type of fishing as it is easy, so they can catch lots of fish and you can have a nice fish fry at the end of the day. The black crappie are particularly tasty and have plenty of meat on them. These pan-fish reproduce readily, and they also eat the small bass fry and bass eggs in the spring of the year. So feel free to keep and eat them. If you practice catch and release and selective harvest, we’ll continue to have good fishing in our lake for many years to come.
If you choose to use live bait (although it is not necessary to catch fish), please do not dump your bait bucket into the lake at the end of the day. Take it home with you or dump it far from shore. This is to prevent the spread of invasive species that can easily tag along in a bait bucket.
If you launch a boat into the lake, please ensure that your boat has been properly cleaned (power-washed) or at least dried in the sun for 5 days prior to launching. This is to prevent the introduction of zebra mussels and other invasive species. As of April 2009, RVCA sampling has confirmed both Rainbow and Little Silver Lakes are free from both zebra mussels and spiny water fleas.
Rainbow Lake is a very small lake with very few fish in it. It does contain small and largemouth bass, bluegill sunfish and a few pike. If you do fish the lake, we encourage catch and release of ALL bass in this lake in order to sustain or improve on its small population.
We hope this information helps you and we thank you for your support. “Tight lines” and feel free to contact the current Lake Steward for more information regarding fishing.
Information on laws & rules, catch & possession limit, size restrictions, and releasing fish is on the Ministry of Natural Resources site
To report illegal activity against Ontario natural resources ( including fish, shorelands, for example) call 1-877-847-7667.
Do you have a fish story to share? Do you know what the record fish is for your lake? Please send it to the Webmaster. We will be happy to share it with others.
| Organization | Link |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Natural Resources – Fish Ontario | MNR – Fish Ontario |
| Go Fish Ontario | www.gofishinontario.com |