I was well acquainted with the lake, as our family home in the west end of Toronto wasn’t all that far from its polluted shores. And in spite of my initial reaction upon reading about the salmon derby, I knew full well that some fish lived in the lake. After all, hundreds of dead ones – small, herring-like things called alewife – washed up on the shoreline every spring, creating quite a stink in the warm May sun. There were very limited facilities for boaters back then – in many ports you would have an easier time finding a place to dock a Great Lakes freighter than a pleasure boat. After all, Canada’s so-called Golden Horseshoe – a reference to the crescent-like shape of the lake’s western end – was a hub of industry in every sense of the word.

That was then.

Times have changed, and with the rising value of waterfront property, many of the old industries have relocated to less expensive real estate. But beyond simple economics, shifting attitudes have also contributed to a widespread revitalization of the western Lake Ontario waterfront, from Niagara to Toronto and beyond. Massive initiatives to clean up the lake have met with tremendous success, turning it from commercial shipping highway to a huge blue-water playground for Canada’s most densely-populated area. Marinas have sprung up where they didn’t exist before, restaurants and parks have replaced shoreline factories and warehouses, and the big lake has regained its shine after decades of neglect. The Golden Horseshoe is back, and boaters have never had it so good.

Ironically, one of the biggest factors affecting the lake’s health was the invasion of an alien species that was supposed to bring about its doom. Eurasian zebra mussels were discovered in Lake Ontario in 1990, just the latest exotic creature to hitch a ride across the sea on a trans-Atlantic freighter. About the size of a thumbnail, these prolific little clams bred like aquatic rabbits and soon carpeted the lake bed. Zebra mussels are filter feeders, consuming microscopic matter suspended in the water. As their population soared, the water began to clear. Aquatic vegetation began to reappear, oxygenating the water and improving habitat for fish. Zebra mussels are still abundant, but their numbers have leveled off as the water clarity has improved. While it may have been unintentional, the little striped invaders have played a significant hand in accelerating the lake’s revival.

Many of the boaters who enjoy Lake Ontario today are local residents, who either launch daily or keep their boat in one of numerous public and private marinas along its shores. But with growing facilities for transient boaters, the Golden Horseshoe has also began attracting its share of cruisers from points east and from the United States. One of the first stops for cruisers along the south shore, and a popular destination for day boaters alike, is Niagara-on-the-Lake, where the mighty Niagara River feeds Lake Ontario.

The original capital of Upper Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake is a beautiful, quaint, colonial town surrounded by vineyards and dotted with restaurants, boutiques and incredible live theatre at the Shaw Festival. No wonder more than 1,000 visiting boats stop by the Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club docks each and every year. Call ahead on VHF 68 to reserve a spot or check in at the visitor’s dock on the Niagara River. Smuggler’s Cove Boat Club, about two kilometres upstream, also has transient slips available.

Niagara-on-the-Lake’s main drag – Queen Street – is a little less than a kilometer from the water, and is the place to go for ice cream, tea rooms and small cafés for a light lunch. The Buttery Theatre Restaurant, about five blocks from the Sailing Club, offers comedy dinner theatre on weekends featuring a medieval menu of chicken, lamb or suckling pig. Or try the Olde Angel Inn on Regent Street, about a 15 minute walk from the docks. The Inn, which dates to 1790, has an on-site pub with a variety of local beers on tap and has the best fish and chips anywhere. For fine dining, a separate dining room offers everything from lamb to trout to prime rib.

Niagara-on-the-Lake provides a home base for a number of different companies that offer bus tours of local wineries, many of which have on-site restaurants with fine dining. With some of Niagara’s wineries now producing award-winning vintages that are considered among the best in the world, you’ll want to take full advantage of the opportunity to taste some of them, and stock up on special editions available only at the wineries.

A little farther west, historic Port Dalhousie marks the entry to the original Welland Canal (the present-day canal entry is a little farther east, at Port Weller). Many of the old warehouses and factories near the Port Dalhousie waterfront have been cleaned up and brought back to life as shops, galleries, restaurants and boutiques. Now known as Old Port Dalhousie, this area is extremely popular with Lake Ontario boaters. Perhaps the crown jewel among its numerous heritage structures is a functioning Loofa antique carousel – complete with four-abreast hand-carved wooden horses and the original organ – that you can ride for a nickel. Follow that with an ice cream and a walk along the shoreline in adjacent Lakeside Park and you’ll understand why so many people flock here each summer.

The Dalhousie Yacht Club, located just inside the harbour entrance on the east shore, can accommodate up to 20 visiting boats. Public docks are also found on the west side of the harbour, both along the pier and at the first half-dozen slips north of the Dalhousie Yacht Club docks. Slips here are available on a first-come, first-served basis and  are closest to the action, so they fill up fast. There is power, and the city charges a small fee for overnight use.

Perhaps the biggest decision once you tie up in Port Dalhousie is deciding where to eat. Choices abound, with everything from fine dining to casual pubs, pizza places to patio bars all within a five-minute walk. Marie’s Seafood, on Lock Street where it turns into Lakeport Road, has been serving seafood since 1964. lobster is a specialty, and the restaurant has a 1,000-gallon tank with lobsters ranging from one to five pounds. They also serve scallops, jumbo shrimp, homemade crab cakes, lobster rolls and seafood samplers, as well as prime rib, steak and pasta. Across the street, Murphy’s Restaurant and Harbourfront Inn serves upscale roadhouse-style food in a nautical atmosphere, including appetizers such as barbecued scallops, mozzarella sticks and garlic shrimp, and entrées such as New York strip steaks and a great seafood platter. Afterwards, pop over to the Kilt and Clover, a wonderful pub on Lock Street with a patio that overlooks all the action. With 15 brews on tap and the slogan “warm beer and lousy food,” it’s a popular spot with boaters and local residents alike.

The quiet waters of Lake Ontario from Port Dalhousie west past Jordan Harbour, Grimsby and Newport all the way to Hamilton offer some of the best springtime salmon fishing in Canada. Thousands of introduced coho and chinook salmon, along with wild lake trout, rainbow trout and brown trout, invade the shallows here from March till June, where they enjoy the sun-warmed waters and gorge themselves on smaller fish. Trolling with minnow-imitating lures is the best tactic, and on the right day it’s not uncommon to hook 20 fish or more. Most weigh from four to six pounds but larger chinooks weighing more than 20 pounds are not uncommon. You might want to keep an eye out for big lake freighters as you approach Hamilton – although Hamilton Harbour is a bustling recreational port with outstanding facilities, it remains busy commercial port. In face, more than seven miles of commercial docks line the Harbour’s south-east side. The Stelco and Dofasco steel plants are located here, and their flame-throwing exhaust towers are highly visible at night.

Continue into the bay past the ship docks and you’ll find the inner harbour is home to long-established and thriving boating communities. And at the southwest end, recreational opportunities on the waterfront have blossomed over the last few years, culminating with the opening of the Canada Marine Discovery Centre in 2004. Within easy walking distance of Harbour-West Marina and the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, it features exhibits exploring Canadian waters, including the Great Lakes, national marine conservation areas and Canada’s oceans. Visitors can peer into the world hidden beneath the Arctic ice, pilot a Great Lakes freighter, listen to an Atlantic gale or walk through a Pacific kelp forest. Exhibits are hands-on and interactive, and ideal for all ages.

Located nearby is the HMCS Haida, Canada’s most decorated warship and the only remaining Tribal Class destroyer in the world. It’s open for self-guided tours.

Hamilton’s downtown core is about a 15-minute walk up James Street from the waterfront. You’ll find a variety of restaurants, shopping and entertainment options available seven days a week.

Boaters who continue east from Hamilton along Lake Ontario’s north shore will find docking, food and places to reprovision at Bronte, Oakville and Port Credit. These three ports bustle with activity in August and September as fishermen from across Canada head out in pursuit of trophy trout and salmon. Port Credit proudly bills itself as Lake Ontario’s salmon capital, and has been the centre of the action since the first coho salmon were introduced to Lake Ontario from BC  back in 1969. There’s no better place to wet a line.

Port Credit is an easy port to spot – just look for the grounded freighter Ridgetown, which serves as a breakwall protecting Port Credit Harbour Marina from the south. The Snug Harbour Seafood Bar and Grill, overlooking the water at Credit Village Marina, has a great patio and a wide-ranging menu including an oyster and mussel bar. Many other dining and shopping  choices are just a short stroll from the docks.

Anchoring the Golden Horseshoe is Toronto – Canada’s largest city with a tremendous range of docking options and facilities for boaters. It’s easy to spot – it’s impressive skyline, dominated by the massive CN Tower – is just east of Port Credit and visible for miles offshore. The harbour itself is protected from the open lake by the Toronto Islands to the south, and by the man-made Leslie Street Spit to the east. The approach to the Inner Harbour is through one of two dredged channels on either side of the Toronto Islands, known as the Eastern and Western Gaps. A number of marinas and yacht clubs are found on either side of the Islands, on the Islands, and within Toronto Harbour itself. Ontario Place, just west of the Islands, has a large number of transient slips available and superb facilities, but it’s a popular spot so you will want to reserve a slip well in advance. Your slip fee includes admission to the grounds, and to the Canadian National Exhibition, held each August. In September, Ontario Place is home to the Toronto In-Water Boat Show. East of the Islands, Ashbridge’s Bay and the Ashbridge’s Bay Yacht Club provide excellent access to Toronto’s trendy Beaches area, with excellent restaurants, boutiques and nightlife. The Beaches Jazz Festival, held each July, attracts music lovers from around the world. The Aquatic Park Sailing Club, on the Leslie Street Spit, offers additional mooring options nearby.

Closer to Toronto’s downtown core, the National Yacht Club, Alexandra Yacht Club, Marina Quay West, Harbourfront Centre, John Quay and Marina Four are within walking distance of the Rogers Centre and the city’s many attractions. Outer Harbour Marina is a little farther, but with more than 600 slips it usually has room for transient boaters after other facilities fill up. Boaters will also find all sorts of mooring options and transient slips on the Islands, at Hanlan’s Point, the Island Yacht Club, Toronto Island Marina,  Harbour City Yacht Club, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club and Queen City Yacht Club. There is also limited berthing at some finger docks on the northeast side of Centre Island Park, as well as more mooring along the south side of the facility. Regular ferry service connects the Islands to the mainland; ferries leave every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes from three different terminals on the Islands. Many of the yacht clubs also offer private tender service to and from the mainland.

Regardless of where you tie up, getting around Toronto couldn’t be easier as the city boasts one of the best public transportation systems in the world. Alternatively, cabs are relatively cheap and found almost everywhere.

As Canada’s cultural epicenter, Toronto offers so many dining, shopping and entertainment options the most difficult task is narrowing it all down. With more than 7,000 restaurants, a thriving live theatre district, every variety of pro sports, numerous museums and art galleries, a variety of festivals and amazing shopping, it’s tough to decide exactly where to start. Many visiting boaters plan ahead by picking up one or more current guidebooks to Toronto’s many attractions. Some include great money-saving tips and advice to beat the lineups by purchasing event tickets in advance.

It would have been impossible to imagine this scenario 35 years ago. But the Golden Horseshoe has changed in a big way. With great facilities for boaters and countless waterfront parks, marinas and restaurants, what was once an industrial heartland has reinvented itself as one of Canada’s most vibrant boating destinations.