Quinte Fishing

I have just returned from my 10th annual trek to Quinte. The fishing was poor, to say the least. In three and a half days of fishing, two of us caught one 4-pound 'eye. After checking my notes, the least we had previous caught (and released) is 11. My question pertains to the baitfish that were clogging my screen from Picton through the Narrows and up through Hay Bay. Were these alewives that had come in early to spawn? I always come up the third week in May and have never witnessed this scenario. If they were alewives, it certainly would explain the lack of interest in any artificial. Though the water temps were a little on the cool side (52 degrees average) and Hay Bay and the flats off Deseronto were muddy due to all the rain, I anticipated being able to work around these issues. The one thing that's very hard to work around is a walleye with a full belly. Any thoughts would be appreciated. There's always next year!!!

Don't despair. The Q was tough this spring unless you were on a jig bite. I caught just enough fish to keep me from falling asleep trolling.7 in 3 days.We need 58-60 degree water for a good trolling bite to start.3 days of sunny warm weather needed for that.