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Here's a reprint of an article about Quinte from the 'Angler and Hunter' March 1982.
It's in a long form here, and it's an interesting read.
Hope you enjoy.
David aka Superdad
Reprint – Angler and Hunter – March 1982
Bay of Quinte: The New Walleye Capital By Ron Truman
There have been some amusing events in this part of Southeastern Ontario this winter. First, the city of Belleville laid claim to being the freshwater fishing capital of Canada.
That set off the tempers of Trenton's anglers. The local club promptly laid claim for Trenton as the world's capital in that department.
Then Owen Sound got involved in the mess but that area doesn't have the walleye that the Bay of Quinte has this year. Walleye anglers are a special breed. They'll go out in all kinds of weather, at all times of the night for their fish. In fact, the more miserable and darker it is, the more pleasure the walleye angler takes in going fishing.
I'm not going to hide my prejudices on the matter of which city has the legitimate claim to the title for the best fishing around. I was born in Belleville. It's not a bad place to see the light of day for the first time. But I wouldn't drive 10 miles to go fishing there, not when I can go fishing in Trenton.
The fact of the matter is I live in Trenton. From my house I can see the village of fishing shanties on the Bay of Quinte, right at the mouth of the Trent River. I can walk out my back door, be fishing for walleye in five minutes.
Incidentally, I'm fourth generation Trenton. That doesn't mean I come from a long line of anglers. All the rest of my relatives just eat fish. Until I started catching fish hereabout 10 years ago, some of the walleye eaten by my ancestors were, I'm afraid, not taken quite legally.
Now, when I wet a line, if I get more than my own family can eat fresh, I have no problem finding homes for fish. But being a longtime resident of the city hasn't influenced my opinion. If you want fishing action in March and May, head for Trenton.
This year promises to be one of the best in living memory in this area. March, should spring be late, will give good ice fishing action. If we have an early spring, there will be trolling in the Trent River. In May, the season opens on May 1, a week ahead of the general May 8 opener in most of the south. That should be nothing short of spectacular.
Limit Reduced
The fishing is s good in this area that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has had to clampdown. You are allowed six walleye per day in most of the province. Here, you're limited to four. That's for the future. If everything works Out, this area will be one of the best locales for walleye for years to come.
Let's get down to specifics. Chances are you're reading this in March, perhaps even at the Toronto Sportsmens' Show. If that's the case, the season will end in less than two weeks, (at the end of March).
If you're anxious to catch some fish before the season closes, here's how to go about it.
There are, as I mentioned earlier, two possibilities - a late spring or an early one.
Given my druthers, I'd choose March fishing in a late spring. That way, you can go out on the ice, drill a hole and Sit in the nice weather jigging a minnow.
Don't plan on using a fish hut after March 15. A recent spate of early springs has left too much debris on the ice in the past few years. Some of that debris has included complete shanties. This year, the MNR Napanee District is enforcing a mid-March pull-off.
Those huts on the ice must bear a registration number issued by Napanee. So if you haul a hut down to the Bay of Quinte before March 15, make sure you phone the ministry and get a number for it.
Ice fishing action should pick up as winter comes to an end. Right now (in mid-winter) there aren't many walleye biting. One avid ice-sitter told me recently he hadn't caught anything yet but perch slightly bigger than his minnows.
By the time March rolls around though, the action becomes almost steady. The most successful anglers seem to be the ones who come out just before dark and fish in the open. A group will drill several holes in likely places, then congregate in one area once the fish are found.
On the other hand, if we have an early spring and the ice is gone from the Trent River and it's mouth, the places where the walleye start to gather for the spawning run, then different tactics will be needed.
Trolling Tradition
There's a tradition here of trolling for walleye in the last week or 10 days of March. Most of the action takes place north of the old town bridge crossing Highway 2.
Last spring, though, I was fishing below the bridge. An unusually mild late winter had opened up great areas at the mouth of the river.
The usual tactic at this time of year is trolling a balsa minnow weighted with one large split-shot. Others will use jigs. But the most fun seems to come from taking the fish near the surface after dark.
This is one of the good times to take some of the bigger walleye, fish in the 12 pound plus category. I'd be reluctant to keep a big hen, though. The pleasure I'd get from having a fish that size just wouldn't compare to the bad feelings I'd get from preventing that fish from spawning.
There are other fish in the Trent in late March. Rainbows, brown trout and various species of salmon have all been caught by the trollers.
The catch to going trolling in March is the condition of the river. That varies from day to day. In many years the first dam on the Trent- Severn is opened to blast the ice away. For a few days, the water is clear. Then, in the first thaw to follow, the debris from above the dam starts to float down the river.
With chunks of ice, sticks of wood, and clumps of cattails drifting downstream, fishing can be next to impossible. You could arrive in the morning to a clear river, but by afternoon be forced off because you can't keep a lure in the water because of flotsam and jetsam.
Once again, the seasonal appetite of the walleye has some bearing on the matter. In the last couple of years, the river was open for weeks before the fish moved in and started feeding. Last spring, the action picked up just the last two or three days before the season closed.
So much for March fishing. If you go, have some consideration for the future. Part of that is you. The water is cold and swift. Don't overload a boat. And wear a lifejacket. There are comfortable personal floatation devices available that serve as a coat as well as a life preserver. The other is thefish. This is a vital year for spawning, critical for the future of the Bay of Quinte's walleye population. Limit your catch.
Spring Fishing
And now to the spring. Stay away from Trenton (with a fishing rod in your hand) in April. The poaching has been so bad during the spawning runs of the last few years that the Trent River and part of its mouth are a fish sanctuary.
That means if you are near the river with fishing tackle you don't stand a chance of escaping the charges that will be laid. That sanctuary is in effect for the full month.
Come May, the season opens. In the Bay of Quinte and other waters of Zone 8, the season has always opened the first Saturday, a week ahead of the rest of Southern Ontario.
Sometime before the long weekend in May, there will be a time when the walleye are biting so well and the fish so numerous that Trenton will earn its claim to world leadership and Belleville its claim to being the Canadian sports fishing capital. The fishing will be spectacular.
I'll stand by that claim, even if you get skunked on opening day or can't catch your limit later in the month. Spectacular fishing doesn't mean the fish will be easy to catch.
In the spring of 1979 and 1980, conditions were almost disgraceful. Anybody could throw anything in the water and come up with a limit of walleye. It wasn't angling. It was a supermarket.
By the spring of 1981 things had calmed down a little. There were days when it was easy, but there were many more when only the anglers who knew what they were doing were getting fish.
The main reason for that is the fish. The Bay of Quinte fishery is rather narrowly based at the moment. The good angling depends on one year-class of walleye, the huge group that hatched in 1978. (More about the importance of these fish in the "Update" column).
In 1979 they were perch-sized, vastly numerous and hungry. Anglers with some pride were sneering at people who insisted on taking a limit.
By 1980 the walleye in that year class were almost respectable. They weighed in at about a pound apiece. They were still hungry, determined to get from the bay to the frying pan.
Last year the fish had matured considerably. They were two-pounders in the spring, a little wiser about taking the bait. That's why people had to fish harder to get them. The supermarket atmosphere was diminishing.
By the fall, the walleye were truly respectable. They were running 21/2 to 3 pounds. At times, they were really difficult to put a hook into. There were others, though, when the
fish went on feeding sprees. I found a total of a half-hour last fall, about 30 minutes in which I could put aside my camera and notepad to concentrate on my jig. I landed three fish, fumbled the landing of a fourth.
Come May, the walleye should go on a feeding spree after spawning. That's when the fishing should be at the best in this area.
Successful Methods
In May, finding the fish is no problem. Fishing pressure solves that for you. You get out in your boat, spend a half hour looking around. Where you see anglers landing walleye, you imitate their tactics.
Some of the most successful anglers use jigs. The tactic in this case is drift-fishing. They run the boat upstream, put an oar out the downstream side to keep the boat perpendicular to the current, then jig as they drift slowly down the river.
Others will use spinners or worms, even balsa minnows. The advantages of jigging, though, are numerous. One is that your lure is close to the boat. In that press of boats, you're almost foolish to try anything that involves a long line that might get snarled in props or other gear. The second is the ease with which a new angler in the area can imitate the action by watching the successful jiggers.
Don't anticipate trophy-sized fish. You'll be looking for fish under four pounds. They're edible. Checks done last fall indicate that the contaminants have not built up horrendously in any fish of this size in the Bay of Quinte.
If you'd like to try for slightly bigger fish, head above the new bridge to the second railway bridge upstream. There, on the western extremity of the bridge, on the downstream side, near a drowned tree about 50 yards from shore, is the place where the biggies are sometimes caught.
Come-prepared to fish hard. Remember, Belleville and Trenton aren't advertising themselves as supermarkets but as angling capitals. And angling means sport, not shopping.
These cities have every right to do some bragging. They've paid for every ounce of meat and every scale on these fish. For more than a decade now, town and city budgets have been strained by the cost of improved sewage treatment.
Everybody in the area has held the line. Everybody has paid out of their own pockets and sometimes out of their own popularity to clean upthe Bay of Quinte. It used to be one of the most phosphate-enriched bodies of water in existence. Now that the bay is cleaner, the fish have returned.
While no one is saying the fish have returned because the bay is cleaner, there's no doubt in my mind that it's true. The anglers are the main beneficiaries of this. A minorityof people are reaping the first benefits of the work and money of the entire population of the area.
There will be benefits for everyone from cleaner water, but anglérs should be among the first to show some appreciation for the clean-up. One way of doing that is coming here and spending money, buying tackle, gas, meals, staying in motels and hotels. That kind of spin-off effect from angling is most appreciated.
Directions Given
The easiest way to get to the angling in Trenton is to leave the 401 at Highway 33 south. Follow that route towards town.
Just below the overhead railway bridge is a postage-stamp-sized parking lot provided by the local conservation authority. You can launch your own boat there.
A few hundred yards further south, there are two bait shops and boat liveries. Garrisons and the Green Belt Sport and Bait Shop both rent boats.
The next boat launch on the west side of the river is at the town dock below the downtown area.
On the east side of the river, there are three more places to launch. Cross the river at the new town bridge. There's one free launching area Ontario Street just below the bridge.
A second boat launch ($4 in and out) is at Trenton Cycle right above the old town bridge. Centennial Park, near the arena has a launching area as well and is free. From any of the boat launching areas you have only a few minutes to run to good fishing.
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