Quinte Fishing

A couple of my buddies came up this weekend for one last outing before the water turns hard, and our rods go from 7 footers to 2 feet. We're normally not "meat" fisherman (I C&R 99% of what I hook), but this weekend we were on our once-a-year mission to contribute to our families' Christmas Eve dinner. The night before Christmas we get a large group together of toddlers up to Great-Gandfathers/mothers. Our ethnic tradition that night is just fish and seafood on the table...no meat. One of the dishes, Pickeral Almondine, has been a fixture on the table for 4 generations.

We did our bit.The challenge of course in FMZ 18 is weeding through enough fish that fit the slot. This year there are couple of strong year classes that just make it into the bottom and top end of the reg's.

Water temps were 46f..the lake had flipped and clarity was only a few feet (normally its 15ft+). Walleye had schooled up in their late fall/early winter locations (come first ice, they'll be in these same spots). Big Smallmouth were mixed in right bedside them...we were getting 2 Walleye for every Bass. Only a few prime spots had fish concentrated. They were all at the bottom of steep drop-offs in 25 to 35 fow adjacent to the main lake basins. At the top of the drop-off would be extensive feeding flats in 15 to 25 fow (with a few remaining half-green cabbage weeds)... a stone's throw away would be 60 + fow. Fish were stacked right in the "crook" of the transition. Bait balls were showing up higher on the ledge.

This was ultimate finesse fishing...they wouldn't chase anything...they were just waiting for the bait to come to them. The bites were so soft that it felt they were licking your bait and not biting it. Drop shot and tungsten jigheads with subtle-action plastics were the ticket. No paddletails or twisters, just fluke-style or pin-tail baits. Natural baitfish colours like Shad and Shiner with at most a little silver or blue or purple fleck...Finesse ShadZ, Flat-Nose Minnows and DreamShots. Just enough weight to feel bottom...and barely wiggle your rod tip. Any kind of aggressive jigging action they ignored.

This is the type of fishing that the money you spend (and would never tell your wife how much) on a piece of high-modulus graphite is actually worth it. The sticks we were using were all 6' 10'' to 7' medium-light extra-fast action...I'll be buried with my MegaBass Addermine, and my buddies like St.Croix Legend Elite and Loomis GLX. Combined with 10lb. braid (I like NanoFil) main-line, and a 8 lb. fluorocarbon leader 6ft long...with these Fairy Wands you can feel fish breathe on your bait...

THE TUG IS THE DRUG