My favourite place to fish is known in my family as the Pike Infested Swamp. To others, it is known as Jacks Lake. In the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish, it is known simply as Nottawasaga River, and more specifically 44°28’57”N 79°59’56”W.
I am not saying this is the best place to fish, just that it is the place for me. It is a short drive from my in-laws’ house, near Wasaga Beach. I can drive to the Pike Infested Swamp, drop the canoe in the water and have a pleasant fish.
The wildlife is spectacular. Bald eagles and trumpeter swans nest there and sometimes even sandhill cranes. There are marsh wrens and rails. Pileated woodpeckers and owls. Cuckoos and tanagers. Beaver and otters. In the spring the river rises out of its banks and floods the trees. You can paddle in the woods and see the butterflies of the bird world: many species of colourful warblers all singing their hearts out. If you are lucky to be out past sunset in the summer, the fireflies are the thickest I’ve ever seen anywhere.
When I was younger I would “catch and release” fish to see what was hiding in the water. But despite being as careful as I could, sometimes a fish would swallow the hook and get injured. Now that I’m older, the prospect of harming fish, or whatever else might become impaled, means I am hesitant to fish just to put them back. I still fish, but only when trying to catch a couple to eat. Then I stop.
Joseph Minor mourns his favourite fishing spot, along the Nottawasaga River. Pike and some other fish caught here are contaminated with PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” meaning the Ontario government has to advise against eating them. Photo: Supplied by Joseph Minor
The Pike Infested Swamp fits the bill. Pike (a.k.a. “water wolves”) are super aggressive, which means that even I can catch them. Many people will not eat pike (a.k.a. “snot rockets”) because they are “slimy and bony.” Pike live in swamps and shallows and fight a lot, and the slime is needed to protect their wounds. I think it has a pleasant watermelon-like smell. I fillet the pike, cutting away the skin and the slime goes with it. When I fillet the pike, I’ve learned to cut out the y-bones, an extra set lining the spine that lends the pike its “bony” reputation. The remaining fillets are boneless and tasty. In my opinion, the fillets from a small- to medium-sized pike are at least as good as those from a large walleye.
The current edition of the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish, updated in July 2025, provides test results for 14 species of fish in the Nottawasaga River. Sensitive populations, meaning children under 15 years of age and anyone who is pregnant or may become pregnant, are advised to eat zero meals per month of pike larger than 60 centimetres in this area. These larger pike are viewed as “do not eat” fish — how the province long referred to fish of which they recommended zero meals be eaten (though they’ve dropped that language from more recent guides).
Other fish in the Nottawasaga have even stricter warnings. Currently, that sensitive population is advised to eat zero meals per month of black crappie, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed, redhorse sucker, rock bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, white sucker and perch — no matter what the size of those fish. They are all highly contaminated, “do not eat,” fish for the sensitive population.
The guide lists several contaminants of concern in the Nottawasaga River, but for almost all of the “do not eat” fish, the culprits are PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as forever chemicals.
The source of the PFAS contamination in the Nottawasaga River has never been officially named. The firefighting school at Canadian Forces Base Borden is more than 46 kilometres upstream, and was the site of a million-dollar PFAS cleanup, but no association has been publicly confirmed. PFAS-contaminated fish also swim in two Nottawasaga tributaries, the Pine River and Bear Creek, according to the guide.
Between CFB Borden and the Pike Infested Swamp there is the much larger Minesing Swamp. It is internationally recognized as important habitat for a large variety of plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Swamps are known for their ability to absorb chemical contaminants, cleaning the water. Unfortunately, both swamps did their job and now fish in the surrounding waterways are badly contaminated with PFAS. It is unknown how long it will take before these swamps are clean again. Decades or longer, I would expect.
I take some solace from the fact the Pike Infested Swamp is not dead, all that has ended is my ability to catch pike (and other species) and feed them to my children. On the other hand, I am worried about what effects the PFAS contamination is having on the many species of wildlife that live in the Pike Infested Swamp.
I visit only occasionally, shielded by my canoe. But wildlife lives there, potentially exposed to PFAS contamination every hour of every day.
I urge others who fish these waters — or care about them — to ask questions. We deserve clear answers from our government, and our ecosystems deserve better stewardship.
