moosebear wrote on May 4^th, 2012 at 2:30pm:

Sorry, I am confused.  We have our cards from last year.  Do we only need to get our licenses when we come up?

Yes, the card and the licence are separate. But bring your card - it's still good for another 2 years, and if you don't, the licence vendor might force you to buy another card in addition to buying your 2012 licence. When you buy your 2012 licence, they will just put a sticker on your existing card.

I know you guys don't want to waste time running around trying to find a place to buy a fishing licence, but I'd be surprised if you will have much problem, even if you don't buy the thing online in advance.

Although it appears that the Atikokan MNR office no longer sells fishing licences (bizarre), you still can get one at the Dawson Trail, Prairie Portage and Cache Bay stations.

As of last year, there are lots of other places in Ontario that also sell fishing licences, not just government offices: some gas stations, sporting goods shops, outfitters, etc. For example Walt's Dry Goods on Main St in Atikokan sells them, Indiaonta sells them, Canadian Quetico Outfitters and (I think) Canoe Canada both sell them. Unless of course the Ontario government has shut down all of these outlets and they haven't updated their websites yet.