Don Nadolny was one of a handful of fisherman who was casting their lines into the Beaver River in Thornbury on Monday morning.
Nadolny prefers fishing here on weekdays because the banks of the river on the weekend get too crowded.
“It does yeah, especially when you get into October. We are shoulder to shoulder, it gets pretty hectic,” he says.
The fishermen come to catch salmon that are returning to the rivers to spawn. Stan Czeban was one of the lucky ones on Monday.
“I was up here at 6:30, quarter to seven. I caught the fish around quarter after seven and shortly after that I hooked another, but unfortunately I lost that.”
The salmon are migrating into the tributaries of the Nottawasga River, as well as the Pretty, Beaver, Big Head and Sydenham Rivers.
According to the latest data from an electronic fish counter and camera at the Thornbury Fishway, between 40 and 70 rainbow trout and salmon have been passing by there each day. The data shows that the fish are most active in the afternoon.
The salmon attract more than enough fisherman to the region at this time of year because the fish are visible in the clear shallow water and they are a popular spectacle during fall colour tours around the bay.
The bridge over the Beaver River in Thornbury is a popular place to look down into the water. Charmaine Grosse says people migrate from the fish ladder to local restaurants and she expects that the next several weekends will be busy with sightseers.
“Especially when people come up from the city, it's not something they get to see every day or show their children. So it's nice. It’s kind of heritage here.”
Fishing regulations vary from place to place depending on the river, but generally the trout and salmon season comes to an end on Sept. 30.
