Quinte Fishing

This year me and three buddies of mine have decided to go on a fishing trip to the Bay of Quinte this winter. Probably late January early February. We usually fish around Lake Simcoe and havent been able to fish for walleye. Were going down on Friday and plan to stay until Sunday. If you guys could let me know where we would have the most luck it would be greatly appreciated. Also where is the best place to stay? Anyone have previous experience doing this before? Thanks

Hire a guide on your first trip. Expensive, but generally worth it. Lots of dangerous ice and conditions depending on when and where you go. The first time I went, I hired a guide for two days and then fished on my own after that. If you go commando, expect to take some pain learning what and how. You can look for the pack and go amongst them, but that doesn't guarantee fish. For your first trip, I would recommend picking an area and then select a hotel relatively near by. There are also cottages listed on this site. If you use a guide, you will come up the learning curve WAY faster. You must have a flasher or a graph. You can get by with 3/4 oz Little Cleos, 3/4 oz Buckshot Spoons, and the largest couple of sizes of Jigging Raps. Never fish without minnows on the hooks. Other than that, read historical posts on this site and you will see lots of information on jigging techniques, lures, etc. There are also some decent youtube videos that will get your blood pumping. Also, get the Navionic app on your smartphone and download the entire area you are considering fishing. That app is fantastic. If you like perch fishing, there is some fantastic perch fishing. Most people don't do it. We generally switched to perch in the middle of the day. Best walleye fishing I found personally has been in the Reach. The best perch fishing has been in Big Bay south of the Concrete Plant. I consider myself a newbie at BOQ, but am a veteran fisherman.

We fished Hay Bay (Perfect Vue) the end of Jan 2015 and did very well. Last year we had to wait until late Feb to get safe ice and did very well.......on perch!
Only one walleye for three days of fishing. We had a major snow storm the day before we got there so ATV travel was brutal

I've been going to the BOQ for 7 straight years now and for the first two we used a guide service.
I highly recommend using a guide as this body of water is like no other and things can get pretty sketchy and ice conditions can change within hours. There are numerous spots that hold fish so depending on when you go you will have to check the board for fishing reports. A flasher is a must so if you don't have one don't go! As for baits I like buckshots and jigging raps the best. Good luck and bring a spud.

I agree with everything said above , except for the flasher part. Are you going to miss a lot of fish with out a flasher.....Yes , but you can still catch them without ( I bring buddies out that don't have any electronics and they still catch, just not as many ). Would I go out without my flasher....Not a chance.
It took me many years on Quinte before I started getting a hang of catching gold and if I had hired a guide it would have taken the learning curve out of it .