Quinte Fishing

I could just imagine what the fishing must have been like 40, 50, 60 or 80 years ago on BOQ. Does anyone know an oldtimer or maybe themselves who can share an honest story of what the fishing was like back then? I imagine that the area must have been even better than some of those northern fly-in lakes. Could the lake trout have rivaled those in Great Slave Lake? Perhaps the fishing was worse back then? Also some thoughts of what it would take to brink BOQ back to it's glory years. Perhaps stocking it and making it a 100% release area indefinitly? What species of fish did the area hold in the last 100 years that are now extinct from the region?

You really don't have to go that far back to return to the glory years. The 80's and early 90's were the glory years. One of the spawning runs in late 70's (76 or 78, I can't remember) was one of the best spawning runs ever in the bay and started the rebirth of the walleye in the bay. I started fishing the bay in 1980 when these fish first entered the fishery. You could literally catch a walleye almost every cast. They were small but very tasty. To catch a limit of 6 walleyes (that was the limit back then) would likely take about 15-20 min. As the fishery matured the fishing only got better as several year classes started to appear. In the early spring catching a limit of walleyes was simple. In the spring most of the fish were smaller 1-2 lbs. A couple of guys catching and releasing could easily catch 40 or 50 fish in a 3 or 4 hours fishing. By mid summer the larger fish would begin to bite better. During July and August you could still catch 40 or 50 fish in a morning of fishing only then the fish would average 3-5lbs with occasional 7-8 lb fish thrown in.
Within a few years ice fishing caught on in the bay and this was the time for monster walleyes. Fish 8-13 lbs were common in the winter and would barely turn a head.

Will the bay ever return to its former self. I doubt it. Contrary to what most people say, I really don't think that fishing pressure has been what has been the downfall of the bay. I really believe that the dramatic change in the ecosystem caused by the zerbra mussle has been the primary cause of the change. Bottom line the ecosystem is less favourable for walleyes an more favourable for other spieces like bass and pike which has increased competition for the walleye.