Quinte Fishing

Good evening all,

My name is Cat and together with my wife moved to Belleville recently. Coming from the big city, I had to make adjustments to my hobby list. Fishing is the newest one!

So far, I went a few times fishing in fall (shore fishing, as I don't have a boat yet) and ice fishing during the past few weeks. If you detect a certain sadness in my voice, it's because I haven't been successful much... Reading this forum, talking to a few folks and browsing many dedicated websites, it seems that fishing is as much an art as it is science. I'm missing both...

My quest is two fold:

1. find a fishing buddy (or more), to show me the local places and maybe a few techniques, and
2. learn how to fish. I'll start perusing this forum more, but it's a vast quantity of info. It would help me a lot if you can point good sources of info to me.

Your help will be much appreciated!

Cat

Hey Cat, Welcome aboard.
With ice fishing the best investment is a flasher/ fish finder. Being able to see when the fish are there and watching how they react to your jigging or if they are even there or not will up your catch rate for sure. This forum had been around forever so using the search function will pull up tons of good local info. Good luck

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

Hi Cat: First and foremost, do not lose heart. Quinte is a tough fishery. For every guy/gal you see posing with a monster, there are dozens or hundreds of anglers who went home empty handed that same day (not including perch perhaps). If you are out in one of the hot areas, you can literally see hundreds of huts up and down the bay. Multiply that by the number of locations on the bay and you see the scope of those who also have little success. The hardcore folks who are out on first ice in float suits and who test the limits usually have the most success and are often those in the pics with monsters. That being said, average folks like us do catch fish. Search the "best lure" topics and get the five best. In my mind, those include a 1.5 inch jigging rap (with glow is a bonus for stained water), a gold Slender spoon, a silver rattle bait, a perch colored Buckshot rattle spoon and either a silver/yellow Swedish Pimple or similar lure. Also, a plain old jig head with a lively minnow is a good bet on a deadstick.

I am hoping to come up thru the week next week, likely Wednesday and maybe Thursday if the fishing is decent enough to warrant the cost of a room. If you are around and interested, I would show you my gear (sonar/flasher, camera, lures) and explain the different huts and their advantages. DM me if you want, no worries if you do not though. There are many folks on here with more experience and knowledge of Quinte as I live 3.5 hours away. Also, a day or half day with a guide is money well spent IMO. Best of luck.

CAT, Pick an overcast day, with low winds. Pick a day warmer than -10C. It will be easier on you and these weather conditions are prime for Walleye. Lastly, fish the first three hours after sunrise or last 3 hours before sundown.
BATMAN Good Luck

Great response Kenny. In total agreement. And Batman's right, but we, of course, don't always get to pick our fishing days. Since you're a rookie, get a gold slender spoon...my fav is a sidewinder. Get out towards the middle, [ Point Anne or Belleville ] drop it down with a minnow or part of one....and jig. [ no dancing] Use different cadences. You're just as likely to get a pickerel as most

Thank you all for replies. Very useful info! Now I need to learn a whole new jargon about lures. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Kenny, you made me feel better. Because looking at Dan's pics from last weekend, I think I turned green for a second or two...

I'll be going out at Pete's pt Tuesday for an all day grind. If you want to join me feel free to send me a DM. I have a 5 man hub and misery enjoys company.

Another thing you should look at getting is the navionics app for your phone. The graphs aren't 100% accurate but they will get you mostly in the right area, without requiring a flasher/Fishfinder to find the right depths. YouTube also has some great informational videos for learning jigging techniques and overall how to find fish.