Quinte Fishing

Hey guys,
I am kind of new to the area, without giving out secrets I was just wondering if I could get any tips or tricks.
I’ve always used Cleo’s with bright colours when targeting eyes through the ice. I was noticing people talking about gold colours in BOQ.

Also, I’ve heard the onderdonks is a decent place to try my luck. I’ve fished the reach before but was wondering if the better the area due to season?
Is the reach better around now and later start working my way up the bay or are the fish everywhere you just gotta find them lol.

If I’m asking too much I’m sorry.

Hi Mayzer,

I am new to the board however not to the Bay. I have fished the bay for over 30 years however still learning. I have followed the board for many years and picked up an incredible amount of good information from board members and figured it was time to share some as well. I noticed no one responded to your question so I thought I would use my first post to see if I could assist.

I typically fish in the Trenton area however also hit Rush Bar,Big Bay, Hay Bay and the reach. I have found them all to be productive however usually fish one area over another based on the thickness and safety of the ice more than the expected number of fish the last few years. However as the season progresses if I was looking for big fish I typically would look for areas where I think fish may stage prior to Spawning. Assuming we have good ice this would include , Rush Bar, Mouth of Trent River and pretty much anywhere in long reach. These are all high current areas so make sure you have a spud as these spots change quite rapidly and often have ice very different than there surrounding area. Last weekend I fished in the channel off of Bain Park (ice in channel was about 11-12 inches). On Saturday my buddy was right in the channel and marked walleye all morning until about 9:45, landing about 8 biggest was about 3 lbs, I was about 80 yards closer to shore and landed one about 2 lbs. Pretty slow morning as I only had about 4 come by my camera. Goes to show you that moving a short distance can make a big difference. Went back on Sunday to same spot my buddy fished and saw a fraction of what came by on Saturday which sounds consistent with the rest of the reports from the Bay. Funny but seems like usually the majority of fisherman on the bay are either doing well or are all having an issue getting them to bite no matter the location. Seems like two year classes are really making up the majority of the fish being caught (mostly eaters) this year. Onderdonks is one of my favourite first ice spots however no experience later in the year. Onderdonks has a parking lot and a reasonable walk out to Walleye grounds 300-600 yd offshore and pretty consistent ice compared to rest of bay as long as you do not walk too far west from the lot (current area approx 300 yds west of parking lot) Trent river is even shorter walk (walk out from mouth). Rush Bar is a really interesting spot and a short walk however I would only suggest to go out if you see others and if you have a spud as it is one of the high current areas of the Bay and ice changes very quickly as you walk off shore and move into the middle of the channel. One of my favourite spots however also probably most dangerous ice. As far as colours I too have heard of Gold and have a few in by box however I always seem to go back to silver or yellow/ chartreuse being my favourites. I too have had good luck with cleos (green and silver or yellow/green)but have also done well with lipless crank baits and spoons such as williams ice lure (smaller one). Many on Bay tip with one, two or three minnows however from my experience with the camera I see a lot nibbling so have gone to minnow heads. May not necessarily be any better but it is what I use and often provides a better action to your lure. Lastly if you do not have a flasher,get one,, it was the smartest thing I did and greatly improved my success and a lot of fun to fish with. It has been a good year for numbers for my son and I however not so much for size. I also caught my first whitefish on the bay a few weeks back and my buddy caught a herring last weekend on a vibrato. Hope this helps you with your plans, good luck.