Quinte Fishing

For the first time in a few years I toured the Bay of Quinte to see how my old fishing spots are holding up. To my horror I didn't find any vegetation on near or around any of the humps shoals or flats that I use to fish. Infact the only aquatic vegetation that I could find was some eelgrass and milfoil in less than 6' of water. Not a single water plant with broadleaf structure.
From Trenton to Picton not as weedbed to be found.
What amazes me is that No One spoke up and asked "what happened"....
I am not going to discuss the fact that no foliage means no nursery for the next generation of fish, it is a simple fact.
But what I would like to know is why isn't anyone who lives on or frequently uses the Bay upset?
If something wiped out the vegetation then what the hell will it do to the children swimming in it not to mention the drinking water that depends on the water from the Bay.?.
Needless to say it will be a long long time before I go out on the Bay of Quinte again.

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Good question, and I don't have the answer, but a theory might be the high water of the last few years since 2016? I know the run off at the mouths of rivers and streams has changed the structure and weed growth, and in some instances significantly.
Mother Nature being who she is, has a way of purging herself.
Be interesting to hear others thoughts.

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If you eat a live frog first thing in the morning;
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I asked the MNR once what happens to the weed beds that disappear? They advised tht probably the Rusty Crawfish is the reason as they eat the weeds.

When I was out on Saturday, the weeds all appear to have died off- the huge beds were almost non existent.

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David Delcloo aka Superdad
(Retired)

Kingston

I wonder if the amount of brown algae is having an effect. I have seen a lot of cases where weeds are coated all over with a scummy layer of brown algae growth. It can't be good for light getting to the weeds and leading to photosynthesis. Have phosphate levels been rising of late in Lake O and B of Q? Certainly no shortage of brown scummy algae all over everything.

How many crops are now "Round Up ready" around Eastern Ontario?
How many townships have deepened the roadside drainage ditches?
How many fields have installed drainage tiles?
How many wetlands are there that filter the runoff before it gets to the lakes and rivers?

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This is what happens when shorelines are destroyed for people to build property on

Having fished in/around the bay since 1980, end of the year is always a crap shoot. Green, brown, clear, depends on precip, water levels and temps throughout the summer. I remember fishing in pea green soup in Late Aug back that far, so not abnormal, just the year. Cold weather will kill the vegetation, clear the water up and bring them back in... nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing different from back then to now is the water levels have never been as low as i have seen them in the last 10 years barring a few springs in the last few years. I had to trim the motor out of George st a few years back which is the first i have ever seen...

Water is green, follow them out past Picton. Water is green there, fish the lake

EDIT: just to add, i really miss the crayfish that have long disappeared from the bay. The bay 'used' to be full of 5lb smallmouth that you could get into specially in the fall regardless of water color/clarity. Weedbeds didn't seem to be an issue back then even with the crayfish. It wasnt uncommon to get into 10+ smallmouth on every outing in the bay while catching lots of walleye.. miss those days ... I recall vividly of cleaning walleye and seeing crayfish exoskeletons in 100% of the walleye we caught, major food source gone. At least we have lots of sheephead now instead of smallmouth.

probably result of high water

I agree with Biff. I have fished the Bay for 45 years and fall is always tough fishing with a lot of brown dead and dying weeds. All my good fishing spots in spring and summer just do not produce nearly as well in the fall, September and October timeframe. End of October and November the big ones always come in and i have caught these fish up to 12lbs 10 oz. being the biggest. So i just see this situation as being normal just as plants and flowers die off in fall around the house.. in the spring they will be there like they always have. Don't worry be happy.....

I’ve also fished this bay for 30+ years. Yes the weeds have changed but they do every year. This time of year. All I can say is good luck catching any walleye until that water temperature I would say gets to at least 45 to freezing. The best days I have had it was 0 degrees out and the water is like 39 degrees and trolling the deeper water which include the long reach. Thompson’s point. And adulphstown town reach. The walleye just go into I believe a stage where the have gotten there summer feed in and the cooler temps make them go into a transition for there foliage. Which I’ve never caught a walleye in the winter on a worm. But I’m the summer there pound them. It’s just a huge transition period for them.

You can't kill immersed weeds with roundup so those damn farmers must be using something else!!!!! They put a lot of oxygen and twice as much hydrogen on the fields this year, that must that must be why I can't catch a fish!!! Damn them farmers!!

Lots of weeds where I traditionally fish in the summer. Caught lots of “dink” walleye which was good to see for coming years. Had to move to a little deeper water to find eaters but overall had decent summer fishing the bay the times I made it out. No complaints here really.

I fish the bay all the time, the weeds are there, you have to look for them. Yes there's been a die off, as usual.
Another thing that happens often is when the weeds mature and their stems get thick, they re usually hard and the zebra mussels attach themselves to the stem, forever multiplying on top of one another. When this happens, a good wind can literally wipe out an entire weedbed as the weight of the mussels breaks the stems.
I would pre fish tournaments on Rice and find an awesome weedbed only to return the next week and it would be gone. lol
There's nothing like, time on the water.

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