Quinte Fishing

Hi everyone,

I have been looking at the weather reports and it looks to be a good weekend for a last bit of soft water fishing, however I have never been out as late as mid December. Before I make the haul I was wondering if any one can tell me does the launch at Picton harbour close? Also any advice from experienced late season fisherman would be appreciated as I have no idea what to expect fishing this late into December.

We are also going down on sat/sun. Weather is looking perfect for a December trip.
We will be staying at merland park and most times the boat ramp and docks on property are not frozen in as long as there is a wind through the bay. The problem this time of year is usually getting from the ramp in picton out to the open water of picton bay, watch the weather for the next few days for temperatures on overnight lows. you also have 2 other choices of ramps finkles or north shore side of ferry. be very careful at the ramp early in the morning it only takes 1 boat to launch and the trailer will bring the water on to the ramp and freeze immediately (bag of salt in truck is a good idea)
good luck and I hope it is a successful weekend for both of us!!!
cheerz

I'm not sure what kind of boat you guys are coming down in, but I would highly reccomend that if you have a boat with one or more bilge pumps, ensure they are free of ice and working properly before launching. One way to insure they are working is dumping a 5 gallon jug of plumbing antifreeze into your bilge area. It will thaw any existing ice and prevent freeze up. One thing is for certain on the bay this time of year, when something goes wrong it is amplified by the cold water and possibility of extreme conditions. Second is more of a courtesy thing but to prevent icing the ramp up on fellow fisherman, when pulling your trailer out do it very slowly so the water from the trailer has time to drain instead of coating the ramp.

Tight lines and good luck!

It looks like launching in Picton will be out of the question (see post by Nick) . I too want to fish this Saturday and Sunday and am making plans to drive down depending on how much snow shows up in the next few days. I launched at the ferry last week and it was good. No ice and I didn't have to throw salt or sand down on the ramp to get out but I always have it just in case. Last year towards the very end anyone that was going to be fishing a particular day exchanged cell phone numbers with any other boat that was going to be out there... in case one of us needed help for whatever reason.

Now that's thinking that could prevent hypothermia or save a life!

Thanks for all the advice. Definately many things I did not consider for late season fishing. Hope to be out on Sunday and I will happily swap cell numbers with any other boats at the launch. Such a simple but brilliant idea.

Tight lines everyone!