Quinte Fishing

Went twice during the weekend. Skunked here but it wasn't for lack of fish around. Yesterday had dozens of marks. Fished depths of 55',70' and 84'. At each of these depths marked numerous fish and some of them would follow your bait all the way up to 20'. The water is so clear you can look down your hole and see the fish following your bait 50' down. Most of the fish I saw following were in the 5lb range. Didn't mark many bigger fish. Saw one lad who iced one at 24 lbs. Talked with a few folks and most had got 1 or 2 fish. Fished with Ed and Hans (it was great fishing with you again) and Hans managed to get a few.
The ice was very inconsistent. The bare spots or thinly covered ice was thicker and the snow covered ice you could put a spud through in a couple wacks.With the warmer temps coming this week be careful if you venture that way

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Dan Elliot - A bad day on Quinte is better than a good day at work !!!
http://www.quintefishing.com

My experience in ice fishing for Lakers (on inland lakes) is they like to chase. A bait that's escaping is a big trigger for them....the faster the better. If you're marking them, and they're not that interested, reel up like hell. Often they'll whack it within 5 ft of the surface, chasing it all the way from 90ft+ down. The other 2 factors (for me) that get them to bite is: 1. soft plastics (tubes, swimbaits) always out fish hardware (spoons, hardbody jig baits) 2. they like scent...I always slather my baits with Herring Oil.

If I really want to get them excited...I'll take a TubeZilla (5 " in Simcoe Pearls colour) and stuff the hollow body with Herring Oil and half an AlkaSeltzer tablet. Let it drop right down (to the bottom or below the fish you're marking) and reel like stink back to the hole....repeat, and recharge the tube as necessary. The combination of scent and bubbles often triggers vicious strikes.

and if you really want to target the big ones...try a BullDawg