Fish ON-Line is turning 10! 

In the spring of 2010, the ministry developed what would eventually be known as Fish ON-Line. Our goal? Creating an easy-to-navigate web portal for finding information on recreational fishing opportunities throughout
Ontario.

Not long after showcasing the new tool at the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show, Fish ON-Line made its public debut. It featured information on 12,000 waterbodies, fish stocking data, and depth contours for 1,300 lakes. It also included links to fish species fact sheets, lake monitoring bulletins, Ontario Parks, local weather
forecasts, and the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish.

MNRF has enhanced Fish ON-Line several times over the past 10 years, largely in response to your feedback. It now includes information on more than 20,000 lakes and rivers, depth contours for more than 2,400 lakes, waterbody-specific fishing regulations, access points, fish sanctuaries and licence issuer locations. The built-in fish observation survey has allowed users to submit more than 9,000 reports and 12,800 observations of fish species in our waters.

Fish ON-Line was completely overhauled in 2016. The new version of the tool is scalable, so you can view it easily on any device connected to the Internet (e.g., phones, tablets, laptops, etc.)

In 2019, Fish ON-Line hit 500,000 page views in a single year. It is now one of MNRF’s most-visited websites.

Keep sending us your suggestions to NRISC@ontario.ca. We’re always looking for ways to improve this tool to give anglers across the province current information about what’s swimming in the lakes and rivers near them.

Fish ON-Line is funded through the Fish and Wildlife Special Purpose Account. It’s just one more example of your fishing and hunting licence dollars in action.