Quinte Fishing

First, I had some guys PM yesterday and I hope the info was helpful. Someone in the Wager thread wondered way I didn't post a public ice report and the reason is that once it's out there, who knows who is reading it. A report that says the ice is probably ok in one area could be interpreted that its ok in another. At this point in the season, that's a dangerous assumption that could be made by less experienced anglers.

Myself and a couple of others struck out from Wagers Farm around 3:15. There were three or four clams to the east of the parking lot about 200-250 yards and we headed west and went out about 150.
The one young lad had three hits and three misses on a gold and silver Williams while I iced and released a 4 pound pike that fought well and bit on a mr champ.
The ice- there is some good stretches of hard black ice that ranges from 3.5 to 5 inches thick. The farther out we went, the thicker it seemed to get. The issue is the black ice is deprecated by swathes of gray slushy looking drift ice. It was solid when we went out but two good whacks with a spud and you were into slush and then through. This means that tomorrow and especially tommorow afternoon, these spots and stretches will be very dicey. Complicating things further, the snow built up pretty good today so the drift ice patches (which can be as wide as a few feet or 15 yards wide) will be obscured. The drift ice is especially built up closer to shore. On the way in tonight, due to 2-4 inches of snow accumulated, I ended up walking over a stretch of drift ice I purposely avoided in the daylight when we were heading out. Definitely not a good feeling, especially hearing the cracking under your feet.

Outlook- I'm hardcore, but I would have a really tough time going out tomorrow in heavy rain and plus 9. If you could see the ice, you could navigate it somewhat and stick to the black, but the snow and slush will make that tough if not impossible. The drift ice- slush is palatable for me when it's been cold, but it will loosen up tomorrow for sure.

What ever you decide to do, stay safe, spud everywhere and have a buddy with you. Good luck.

Great post Parksy. Appreciate the info. And agree better safe then sorry. Wait for the cold snap this week boys. Then we will be good to go.

Great post. Thanks for sharing both in the open fourm and the pm's you replied too..
may the fish gods treat you well sir.

That was a very helpful post. Thanks its much appreciated

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

Great post parsky.
The only thing I want to add is that ice can change by the minute.
Either current, sun , wind , pressure cracks, weather, run off ... and so on will effect it. So everyone needs to realize that they need to check it as they go.
If they don't then they are crazy.
Stay safe fellow anglers.
J.

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If you whisper to the walleye they will come!

Totally agree. Unless we've had steady negative temps and a few minus 20 nights in a row I'm always banging holes to check, especially in high current areas like green point or the narrows.
As an aside, I was out to Big Island tonight after dark and it looked like the snow that was on the ice as of last night had totally melted. If we get the cold temps and no snow, we should have some very slick ice out there. Might be bringing the skates out this week and skating out to the spot!

Skates ??????? Wow lol
Stay safe
J.

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If you whisper to the walleye they will come!

Great report! Would love to see more like it. thanks Parksy

Hanco

My brother in law and I strapped on the Bauers a couple of years ago and pushed this monstrosity of a hut out from shore about 350 yards on completely smooth ice. Didn't have to play beer league that week!

Great report. The ice there should be great there 5"-8"come next weekend.