Quinte Fishing

Hey y'all,

My dad and I had at it today and tonight.

We fished from about noon til 4:30 in the area of the lighthouse a couple-three miles east of Glenora. Two fer three with a big-ass 12-pounder and a nice-eatin' two-and-a-half pounder. Long leads, side planers, deep divers and snap-on weights are what worked for us. We were marking the fish fairly deep [40-50'] hence the addition of the snap-on weights. The big bugger came up with his air bladder in his throat, but a jab with the jackknife deflated it, and he took off for the depths with a huge swish of his tail. Dr. Death, Purple-Silver Tail Dancer, and #9 Silver Shad Rap. FireTiger colours got lots of time in the water, but no hits. At one point I counted 20 boats.

We headed for Picton Harbour at sunset, but it was completely DEAD. Perhaps six or eight boats, I didn't see even a single headlamp come on to net a fish. So we left early.

Talked to a couple guys at the ramp who said they caught five in the daytime out where we were. They were using side planers, but no snap weights. Perhaps the more active fish were a bit shallower?

For the next coupla weeks, I'm bummin' a berth in my folks' cabin on the NCL Norwegian Majesty - San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Antigua, Aruba, and back to Florida. Woo-hoooo!!!

I'll be thinking about you guys out there on the Bay of Quinte freezin' yer asses off ......











NOT!

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!

Cheers,

Pete

P.S. Thanks to Roughrider and WIG for the beta. Look for me and my dad three weeks hence. We'll be the ones with the suntans, and the BSEG's.

[Big Sh|t-Eating Grins]

_________________
Self-unemployed and available for fishin' mid-week most days.

....... Hey, nice catch,, days like them keep you going back.......... im confused as to what you said about the big fish comming up with its bladder in its throte? .......... you said you puncured it with a knife? and put it back? .......... wont that kill the fish? ............ im confused, and ALSO WORRIED....... I like to reliece fish but if i see them bloody i figure putting them back will only kill them so why? ............ is puncuring the bladder a commone thing ive never heard of? ............... ive seen other comments talked about not fishing the deepest of waters for the reason of damaging the bladder and here you say you just puncture it and send them back in the water............. im new to the world of walleye fishing, but not new to the world of fishing........ please fill me in on this ................. thanks

Holy frig, dude, you could put a slightly smaller picture of yourself in your post, eh? It makes my trip report kinda hard to read...

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what to do with fish brought up from the depths. I've pulled up lake trout from 90' down in Lake Athabasca, and didn't have the air bladder problem. This is because I was expecting it, and brought the fish up slowly. I didn't realize how deep this walleye really was, and should have played him a bit slower. I guess the snap weight really took the lure deep. It's possible the fish swam deeper, I'm not sure.

I chose to release the fish for the following reasons:

1. I'm not going to mount a fish. Ever. If I want a trophy, I'll get a replica. At any rate, he wasn't all that big.

2. I'm not going to eat a big walleye from Quinte - ever - because they taste like crrrrrrap. The small guy, however, will be delicious.

3. I'm not going to eat a big walleye from Quinte - ever - because it is emphatically hazardous to your health! Have you guys who eat big fish ever looked at the contaminants tables?

4. If I keep a fish, and don't release it, it will never live - ever. This fish took off with a lot of energy, and I'm hoping it will live to fight another day. At least swimming in the lake, it has a chance. I'm not a biologist, and can't assess its chances, but it seemed happy enough to swim away!

Cheers,

Pete

_________________
Self-unemployed and available for fishin' mid-week most days.

"3. I'm not going to eat a big walleye from Quinte - ever - because it is emphatically hazardous to your health! Have you guys who eat big fish ever looked at the contaminants tables?"

LOL, I read them, I thought I was reading a label from a can of paint thinner.

"4. If I keep a fish, and don't release it, it will never live - ever. This fish took off with a lot of energy, and I'm hoping it will live to fight another day. At least swimming in the lake, it has a chance. I'm not a biologist, and can't assess its chances, but it seemed happy enough to swim away!"

Even if that fish dies, it will stay in the ecosystem benifiting other life in the lake.

Sure that kills them but hey, there's lots of them. I hope that wasn't the big fall report I heard about.

sunfish. lake athabasca my a$$. Get a grip.

Thanks for the report...

Don't fish so deep and you wont kill as many fish. Lots of active fish to be had above the 30ft mark...you just don't see them on your sonar because they are moving out and away from the boat.
If we as recreational anglers start fishing deep and killing walleye for the sport of it, the MNR and lobby groups will close down the fall fishery. I am sure as these big walleye start to wash up on shore we will hear about it.

Last time I was out I was catching them 10 to 15ft down...

Good luck and lets protect the future fish stock by not killing the large females that are cruising at deep depths.

EDIT: I have added a link to some release information from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Fisheries Biologist Jim Vashro:

http://www.walleyesunlimited.com/info/release.html



Cheers'

-et

_________________
Fish On...
Sheldon Hatch
NPAA 928

Good tips on that link, mate. I like the one about putting the clip-on weight onto the fish's lower jaw to help an exhausted upside-down fish recover faster while in a livewell.

I'm still puzzling over the air bladder problem, as I'm pretty sure it never happened with any of the Athabasca lakers. We were fishing from about 50 to 110 feet, with a lot of fish brought up from 90+ feet with no [apparent] ill effects. But we took our time bringing them up, for sure.

Incidentally, superb fishing with Lakers Unlimited! I think my dad and I got eight lakers from 25 to 30 pounds that trip, though we *really* kicked ass on the northerns. Twelve pike over 20 pounds including a 27, 28 and the [still] Lodge Record 31-pounder. While my 31-pounder was the biggest, my dad's 27 was the best - that guy took six screaming runs on 20-pound test line cranked so tight on the baitcaster that you could easily cut your hand trying to pull it off the spool! That's fishing. It was back in the mid-90's when they were just starting out - at $2700 per week per person these days [and those are MERRICAN dollars!] you'll need to take a second mortgage on your home just to visit. And I can think of places I'd rather spend that kind of money. Antigua comes to mind...

Have any of you Great Lakes Downrigger Fishermen encountered the air bladder problem on fish pulled up from the depths, and if so, what did you do?

Cheers,

Pete

_________________
Self-unemployed and available for fishin' mid-week most days.

passthepitonspete,

Lakers can burp out the gas from their bladder as you bring them up, therefore they are not affected like Walleye when angling deep.

Here is a question and answer link about fizzing (Popping the bladder with a sharp object) and information about lake trout burping gases.
http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/qfizz.htm


cheers'

-et

_________________
Fish On...
Sheldon Hatch
NPAA 928

Hi all.
Eyetracker when Lakers come up you will often see bubbles well before you see the fish. That is because they have the ability to release air from the bladder as they rise through the water column. As the fish comes up the pressure exerted by the water on the fish decreases and the bladder expands, lakers can expell the air from the bladder, not necessarily at will but certainly when needed. The Walleye does not have this ability and the deeper we catch them the larger their bladder will expand as they approach the surface. They cannot relieve the air pressur inside them as a laker can, there fore they end up floating on the surface when released.
This is the same for many fish. I think Sea Gulls like this fact. You will often see Gulls eating fish on the surface and will notice that the Bladder is the last thing you will see.
When a Walleye comes up and you can see the bladder in the throat it is probably not a great sight if you want the Walleye to live. If you were however going to release a Walleye in this condition slowly releasing the air might be a consideration. This is referred to as FIZZING, although it is usually done without seeing the bladder in the throat. If too much air is released from the Bladder the fish will sink to bottom and be just as dead as the one on the surface. The ideal FIZZ would be to release enough air so the fish doesn't float but doesn't sink to bottom. If you have a livewell you can tell if enough air is removed if the fish isn't bellied or if the fish isn't laying on the bottom of the livewell, but right side up.
I have probably bored you all and apologize with my simplification of the process.
I think that it is important to remember that a fish can be revived in the livewell and then released no matter how big and how fought out, and there are other ways as well.
Cheers Clark

While I am aware of the fact that fizzing has been done, I would suggest that anyone interested in this consider getting some professional insite be it from a fisheries biologist or fisheries technician. This (amateur fizzing with information by magazine articles, etc.) like bad releases are bad for us all, when done in a sloppy manner, that is dangerous to the fish.

Sooner or later I expected this to emerge in the Bay of Quinte, with the US much more readily embracing this from what I have read.

Regards
Don Stokes

Hi all.
Don. I agree with your post for the most part. I think that fizzing the fish is an attempt to revive the fish where as poking the bladder with a knife and popping the bladder is the surest way to kill a fish. I put a post on about a year ago on fizzing and how to do it. The ethics of doing so are up to each of us. My opinion is that any attempt to revive a fish is better than no attempt and in the case of properly fizzing a fish, I am told by fishery biologists is effective. My experience has also shown that it works at least in the short term.
There are other ways that can be effective as well. Clipping weights to the fish's pectoral fins allow the fish to sit in the live well in the upright position allowing it to adjust the bladder.
The only tournements I have fished are live release Walleye tournements where the fish are usually inspected by a biologist at the weigh in. The judge determines if the fish is alive, dead or stressed. Live fish get weighed in, dead fish do not and you lose one fish for each dead one and stressed fish recieve a penalty. I have seen anglers posed with a conundrum in that they have the allowed number of fish in the live well. One of those fish is bellied but still gilling. Will the fish die if nothing is done? Do I fizz the fish knowing that I can be sure the fish will pass as live at the weigh in? Do I attempt the weight method and take a chance that once the weights are removed it will bellie again? Do I throw the fish overboard and watch the gulls do what they do best? Do I poke the bladder with a knife and sink the fish so that there is no evidence of my treachery?
These questions arise whether I am in a tournement or fishing with my kids and I have seen that fizzing if done properly seems to give the stressed fish it's best chance.
I think that every time I release a fish I have done my best to ensure it survives, but I will never know for sure.
I am coming to Quinte and will try my hand at the tournement on th 13th if I can find a partner. Hopefully I will catch something this year as last year I had to enjoy watching other people get the net out.
Cheers Clark

.......... wow......... always nice to learn from them who know or them who made the mistakes , Not me............ Deep water fishing has never been my thing so this info is wonderfull..... guess ive learned best is Not to Fish Deep......... well unless yer keeping what you catch! ......... im pretty much letting go 95% of the fish i catch , and if i think its chances are slim at best ill take it home, and make a meal out of it! ........... The live well trick sounds great, but what if you dont have a live well? ............ Im wondering if a slow troll on a stringer would help... check the fish in awhile to see if it has any fight in it to swim off when the boat is stopped............ I guess its a parrel a sport fisherman faces we all want to catch the big guys but is it worth it if you almost know it will harm the fish pulling it up from the deep?..... even if you take yer time, and try yer best to bring it in slow.......... I guess ill just do as i have always done.... thats put a beat up fish and put it on a stringer, even if my freezer is full its never a hard thing to offer up your next door neighbor a nice fish fry, walleye is too nice a fish to feed to the gulls eh! i must admit i see far more pike, and bass floating belly up in the waters, than i see walleye!

One problem i have found is that somtimes a fish will go belly up in the livewell immediatley. Bass and walleye. Is this due to stress or expanded air bladder. Even trying to revive them doesn't help. Any suggestions as to how to revive them.

_________________
Live to fish

I read an article the other day where it was a problem with deep caught fish. The author had created a a clip on weight of about 10 lbs and a light rope . He would clip the weight to one of the fine on the front side of the fish then lower the weight overboard. The weight would pull the fish down to the depths then after a few minutes a quick jerk on the line would release the clip from the fin then handline the weight back up. As the fish is lowered back to depth the compression would deflate the air bladder without damage to the fish.

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

Which fish biologists stated that fizzing was effective? A 2001 MNR publication entitled "A review of Fizzing - a Technique for Swim Bladder Deflation" states unequivocally in the executive summary "... the widespread use of fizzing should be discouraged in Ontario". Additionally, besides Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Quebec and New Brunswick don't advocate fizzing.

So whats a sportfisherman to do?

Fish shallower!! According to the same report, " to maximize post-release survival, walleye should not be taken at depths exceeding 7.5 meters".