Quinte Fishing

Can't beat the light winter we have been having. This allows for us "non icefisherman" to keep at the open water. For this season I've decided to try a few new sticks. The first, and most fun, is the new Okuma Dead Eye 7'10" deadstick rod. It's perfect with a 12" handle (necessary for proper handling of fish with soft rods) and has a very soft parabolic curve. The second set of rods I picked up are Daiwa DXW 7'6" medium action. They too have a nice 12" butt section with a slightly faster action than the Okuma's.

Yesterday things fell into place. Dad and I were able to get out for a few hours in the morning and afternoon...been too long!! I scouted out the launch Saturday afternoon...of course no ice to be found (gotta love it... ). We arrived at the marina at crack of 10am. What a beautiful sight for February 7th.



Dad and I launched and found the water temps to be 39 degree's..not even close to freezing!!! I moved to a spot that has yielded many browns in the past. The shore quickly drops to 12', so I run a three rod inside, one rod outside spread. My three inside rods consist of two inline boards and a long line.





The sun was starting to shine and I knew the browns would start hoppin'. Not long into this new troll the inside board pulling the trusty silver/blue ripplin redfin dropped back. I cleared the long line on the inside and dad fought our first fish of 2016.



After a short feisty battle I slid the net under a chunky silver brown.



This particular spot is about 75 yards long of cobble stone and rock with sand flats on each side. Rather than trying to troll back up, we cleared rods and motored back up to the head of the run. Set up the same three rod inside, one rod outside spread and started the troll. Almost the exact same spot the board closest to shore fired. Black Silver ripplin redfin.

Was very happy when this beautiful buck cleared the surface.



The depths we were working were 8' to 13', keeping three rods on the inside shoreline. I kept working small sections hard, knowing the green water is where the fish would be.



To this point all the action was on the inside rods. A little further west down the shore the inside inline board rod fired again...I quickly cleared the long line and dad fought his second fish of 2016. This bulldog was a little more acrobatic, giving us an aerial display. Dad managed to keep the fish pegged long enough for me to slide the net under it. Another beautiful brown.



The day was getting on, gray clouds covered the warm sun, and the once active fish shut down. We started packing up the rods and the lonely outside board started creeping...I looked up and noticed a jumping bow 50' behind the yellow bobbing inline.

I quickly took care of our final fish of the day.



We made our way back to dock and were loaded up by 4 in the afternoon. All four fish came on different variations of ripplin redfins. Here's a quick shot of the baits ran today.



Hope this winter continues to be mild and we can get out a few more times this month.

Steve,

Isn't fun to soft water fish in Feb??? Great report and pix. Thx for sharing.

We always learn something when brown fishing in cold water.

Steve, you're the man in the western basin.

David aka Superdad

You've got those shallow browns down pat.

Good pics and nice to hear from an open-water fisherman! Say, what launch was that in the first pic?

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The fishin' nut ><>J

Great report and really nice pic thanks for sharing,wish my Dad was still here to fish with me

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Charlie

Those are some nice looking trout !! Thanks for the tips.

Hans.

What a team !! You guys are the best !!

Great photos of beautiful fish. Glad to see your dad on board too.

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So many fish. So little time.

Maple

Nice job Steve.

Al

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Captain - Team ATOMMIK/Rockets

Thanks for the kind words folks.

I took a drive on Saturday, day before we fished, to check out the launches. From Niagara back to Hamilton every single launch was open, and as I mentioned, the water temps were 39 degree's....so it'll take some cold nights to drop that down to freezing.

Superdad, it was your brown that truly got the blood flowing....it's interesting how different our brown trout fisheries are from where you fish to where I fish....shows you have to adapt to your surroundings. I showed my dad your fish....his first comment - wow, that's a pig! (and it was)

Charlie, fishing with my dad is my absolute favourite thing on earth. I normally would start earlier, but dad isn't too thrilled with getting up at 5am after a long week at work...so I start when dad decides to (in this case, 10am). Works for some species, makes others almost impossible (such as King Salmon). I'll fish with dad for as long as he possibly can...hopefully for many more years to come!

Trannyman, still appreciate the help you provided, geez, 8 or so years ago, when I was just starting to learn the majestic brown. Little did I know the Brown Trout would become my favourite fish that swims!!

I received a couple funny PM's giving me the gears about the old electronics....(lowrance 510c and iFinder H2O) ... I find if your learn your electronics inside and out they work quite well...especially when fishing shallow water.

Hey Steve, browns are are in my top 3 species. At certain times of the year I have to head north and fish speckles as that is probably #1 for me but as late June roles in, I get the call from the king. At present I am thinking browns.

Electronics are a subject that I try to avoid. Over the years guys say why haven't you up-dated to the new units. Well I fish with some guys on occasion that have the new stuff. I know they don't know probably half the features they offer and the units are so out of tune that it drives me nuts. I still run an old LCX-25 that's probably 11 or 12 years old. Still works great !!!
Over the years I have had offers to test. free of charge, new units and have turned them all down. Reason being that every time I put a new piece of equipment on board, it distracts from the angling thinking process by having to learn the new features and process of how it works. Hell the head unit for my down speed is still a Big Jon Monitrol. I run the new X4 probe but the rest of the unit is old old old. Electronics help but it is the brain that catches the fish. lol

Al

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Captain - Team ATOMMIK/Rockets

Steve your the best !! Great post with info as usual , not just pics !! Keep up the good work .

Steve, thx for post. We live down in Hamilton also have been shore fishing in recent weeks but wondered about getting the boat out. It is a 16.6 tinny with 40hp on which does well up in quinte but only been out on Ontario once trolling. Do you think it's ok, obviously in calm conditions. Btw, we Use same floater suits and electronics as you and your dad. Thx FP.

Well hello Sir.

Great to hear from a fellow Hammertonian.

With this last cold spell we are having, many launches locked back up again..however...they'll be open soon enough.

Once they do, your boat is fine for early season fishing. I'm always fishing less than 25' of water, so close to shore.

Just make sure you pick a day with SOUTH winds....Certainly not east or north.

Head down the QEW towards Niagara and fish any of the ports (including NIagara on the lake, Weller, Dalhousie, Jordan, and Forans). I've caught good browns early season out of each of those ports.

Don't over complicate your approach. At first just two or three rods, until you get the hang of shallow water trolling....a lot different than deeper water trolling as you are following shoreline contours and changes in depth.

Have fun out there!! Greg and Tim at Bills Bait, as well as Steve at Fishing World all will be a big help as well. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions

Excellent report, an inspiration for us all.
Some real classic lures still performing.
Can't wait to get out, and give some sticks ( even japanese ones ) a jerk with rod in hand, instead
of in a rod holder, Hobie style, but will wait till milder.
Great report Steve.

Brent

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Weedlefish,Snagglefish..Oh Fish -On !

Great job on the Brownies Steve and Pops !..P.S where the hell yah been...lol

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Keep your stick on the ice.