Quinte Fishing

I've fishied for salmon at the first damn many years ago. I've seen lots of them there but haven't been back in a long, long time.

BTW, I hope this isn't too stupid of a question but, what are resident trout?

I'm from Belleville originally and my grandparents lived up the river, near Corbyville Dist. They had the wood shop then turned antique shop. They put in a trout pond in their back yard and stocked it for many years.

Well, the river flooded and they left. Maybe it's them?

Good luck Hoser.

Trout, salmon and dams can all make for some interesting conversation in the Quinte area. Match it up with some stocking or local history and some unique fishing opportunities can be available. A few special cases come to mind, mainly the old fish hatchery that existed at the headwaters of Waring Creek and the seasonal temperature fluctuations that allow small runs of rainbow on some Prince Edward County streams. * Note- a now deceased friend extensively fished various streams in PE County, and more or less had it down to an art; some apparently were limited to literally a few days given the temperature fluctuations.

Another interesting one is the Salmon river. Every dam all the way upstream to Forest Mills is now passable, with some coolwater trickling into it, in some select locations. With Atlantic salmon once using this waterbody, I have ran into people that have claimed to have caught the odd trout and observed a salmon within the past twentyfive years. I have yet to see any photo's, but do remain hopeful......

I have not fished the Trent, but am aware of the salmon and trout that go there in addition to whitefish. I understand that there is a small stream that enters it below one of the major dams. That always sounded interesting, given the geology of the area and how it could keep the water cooler, thereby holding them longer.

I have not fished the lower Moira, but am aware of at least 2 streams that enter it north of Belleville that hold miniscule populations of trout. Finding them and getting permission to fish for them will require a bit of legwork on anyones part that may be interested.

The Napanee River has a very small run of trout and salmon that make it as far as Springside Park. I have seen, rainbows, lakers, browns, splake, coho, and chinook. These exist by and large according to what the season and more specifically the temperature allows them. That said.....lol.....I caught a couple of splake at the spring discharge pipe, on the Springside Park side in and around 1979......in roughly late July. A tiny holding area allowed them to be comfortable....imho.

I have run into various regional cases where ponds located near rivers have been drained or accidentally breached creating a situation where trout mysteriouly appeared. There are exceptions in the Quinte area, but most trout are usually explainable.

I love quirky fisheries. Having fished for goldens and Athabascan rainbows in Alberta, and Aurora's in Ontario (no luck), I have had the chance to meet one fellow many years ago, who wanted to catch every major strain of trout in North America. He is from Calgary and was facinating to listen to, and to see some various photo's replica's and skin mounts of some of what he had experienced (something like 25/40+?) as of 1993. That said, I like fishing the Quinte area and discovering or perhaps redicovering some quirky little feature......ideally with trout.

Regards
Don Stokes