Quinte Fishing

Headed down late Saturday morning from the Ottawa area to Napanee. We got our motel room and then headed for Big Island for the afternoon bite. Thankfully we took 2 vehicles because once we got there and 1 of the guys saw the conditions he headed back. Two of us braved the high winds and 6" of slush and water and headed out from Wager's. Didn't get out as far as I would have liked but set up in 16.5' and hunkered down. Had the usual perch around but also had some nice marks come in and a few even looked interested. Managed to get one 2.5 lb eye around 5:30 on a Sidewinder with 2 muds. The next 2 days we fished the east end of Big Island out by the red marker in 18.5' and managed to scrape up one 3.5 eye and a small whitefish. One of the lads has a Vexilar camera and saw lots of walleye traffic throughout the 2 days at all times of the day. They were just not interested and only a few even made half hearted attempts.

One of our group had to head home so 2 of us decided to hit Sherman's on Tuesday. Using my Navionics app we set up in 28.5' on a steep break at the end of the point and the screens lit up immediately. Had multiple chasers most of the morning and managed to land 3 eater size eyes and lost a big one. Sidewinder, Do-Jigger and large Buckshot did the damage. We put the camera down after the morning bite tailed off and watched many eyes, sheephead, smallies and perch cruise around without much interest. The evening bite produced 1 more small eye and the fish didn't seem as active as the morning. Headed back to Sherman's for the morning bite today before leaving. Again the screens lit up and had fish chasing, even had one come all the way to 8' before it headed back down. Had two come off on the hookset and that was the end of the action.

So total for us was 6 eyes and 1 whitefish. According to the Ministry creel census team we were fortunate the morning we got 3 as they said the bite had been slow. They did divulge that they had seen an 11-12 lber caught further down the Reach that morning.

As a side note; is it common for the current at the end of Sherman's to switch back and forth multiple times in a day? This morning it was all over the place in the 5 hours we spent out there. Made it tough to keep baits in the cone of the flasher.

Good luck to all for the end of the season and hope my report helps.

I also noticed that the current changes direction...I posted something on here a couple years ago asking about current, and if I remember correctly, I thought the answer was the current always ran towards Lake O. I guess it doesn't.....

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There's something wrong with that rod.
It has a bend in it!!!

The current in lake ontario areas is subject to a wishwash effect. The wind blows water in a direction and it fills that area then flows back and repeats.

We drill two holes and put the ducer in the opposite hole you are fishing so you can switch back and forth as needed with current

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Bob MacMillan
Owner/Operator
Kingston Sport Fishing
https://kingstonsportfishing.ca/

Well you're group did a lot better than ours as we didn't ice any eyes. We fished Sunday and Monday off Wagers and west of Potters.

I believe the term is Seiche.

As a side note; is it common for the current at the end of Sherman's to switch back and forth multiple times in a day? This morning it was all over the place in the 5 hours we spent out there. Made it tough to keep baits in the cone of the flasher.


The area I fish had crazy current in the evening last thursday. I had to drill my hole for my LX5 5 feet to the south from the hole I was fishing. And that was with using a 5/8 oz buck shot. Was able to land a fish, but lost one close to hole because my barrel swivel got stuck on edge of hole. Was marking tons of fish to, just unlucky with the current that night. Now I know why people use 3/4oz jigging spoons. I have never carried one, but I will going forward.

Thanks for the responses on the current. But I was really wondering if anyone had experienced multiple switches in the current during the course of a few hours. I deal with current all the time on the Rideau River here; a big key to my walleye success through the ice...have landed over 100 this winter. If I had drilled extra holes for all the current changes that I experienced this morning I would have been on my own little ice island in the Reach.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the lady at County Shores who doesn't know how to count minnows and the CO that came by and checked our group off Big Island on Sunday afternoon. One of the guys had forgot his wallet in the car and of course it contained his fishing license. He was very understanding of the fact and called into the office to verify that he had a valid license. A little diplomacy goes a long way to heighten the image of the hardworking men and women that are out there to protect our resources.

It's common to see the current switch directions every couple hours or so at Quinte, especially after heavy winds out on the big lake. Like BryanG said, it's the pendulum effect of water pushing into the bay and then pushing back out.

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I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane.