Quinte Fishing

Hello fellow fisherman. You may have to bear with me over the course of the winter. You see, I was supposed to go to Picton fishing on Monday only to have my partner crap out at the last minute . I was then going to hook up with a fellow fisherman from this board who unfortunately couldn't manage it due to academic responsibilities ...
Thus, if I seem grumpy it's only because I have had to come to the realization that the boat must be winterized and stored .......
Please assure me that spring will come early............. Oh ya! there's still ice fishing....wahoo! yippee!...things aint so bad after all .

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WIG

W.I.G I have been reading your post and watching your excitement
grow as it seemed like your were getting ready to nail a few BOQ monster
Walleye! And then?????? Empty, a no-go, denied!...brotha I feel your pain! Man what a drag! You must be really bumbed out! Feelin better yet? Didn't think so. Hang in there and good luck on the Ice!

Jimbo

Sorry to hear that.
that really sucks. None of my friends are into fishing, but my brother is and his wife works weekends so he is already to go. Plus I split the boat with him so it worked out awesome.
I had never been out to Picton and thanks to this board I landed 6 10lb+ walleye my second time out!

thanx guys, and Wall-i-guy I feel your pain as welll as I am done with trips to picton this year as the wife has spent too many weekends alone

If I waited until I was certain I had a partner, I wouldn't be able to fish nearly as often. Ditto for climbing - I spent eight days in September making a solo ascent of a 3000' granite cliff in Yosemite, California. One of the reasons I climb alone [besides not having to depend on anyone else] is because it ups the "adventure ante." Solo fishing is no different.

One of the most memorable nights I had was back when my dad and I still fished out of our car-topper. For whatever reason he was unavailable [probably down south of something!] and I decided to give it a shot solo. It would have been the mid-90's, I reckon.

So I drove from Oakville to Picton in a blinding snowstorm [being a skier, this doesn't bother me too much]. The boat was on top, rather than being trailered, though dragging a trailer through a snowstorm isn't much of a deterrent either. Now this was in the pre-quintefishingdotcom days, so I didn't have any fresh info. Picton Bay was frozen, and the ice line was almost to the cement plant! It was snowing like mad when I launched the boat at McFarland's. I trolled around in my little boat in the middle of the night in blowing snow next to the ice line, and over beside the cement plant. I clearly remember the night. I caught either five or six fish.

All the while it was snowing, and I knew there had to be at least a foot of the stuff on the ground! They don't plough McFarland's, and I had serious concerns about being able to drive out of the place. But that wasn't my biggest concern - I was worried about getting the boat back up on top of the van! I wasn't sure I could do it alone!

Anyway, I finally headed back, and found it easier to drag the boat across the snow. I managed to heave it back on top of the van. It's amazing what you can do when you're motivated - kinda like those 95 pound wives rescuing their trapped farmer husbands from beneath overturned tractors. Were it my [now-ex-]wife, she'd have run the discer over me too, just to make sure. [Which wouldn't have been altogether bad as it would have saved me a lifetime of heartache. I digress....] Anyway, I spent the next 300 k driving home in more snow. And between the swishes of the wiper blades, the outside observer could not help but notice my BSEG - big sh*t eating grin.

Fishing this time of year is all about adventure. Adventure requires risk and uncertainty, and great passion. If the outcome were certain - be it fishing or climbing - it wouldn't be half the fun. What's the point if everyone can do it? What fun is it if you win every time? Only with great risk comes great reward, and fishing is no exception. Investing a day to drive 600k to go fishing in big water during the cold months of the year involves huge risk - a long drive, expense of gas and time, and you might end up skunked, or even dead if you blow it. [Note: Dr. Piton emphatically recommends you not end up dead. Ending up dead is NOT COOL, yet every now and then in the Bay of Quinte, someone manages to do it]

Next time you're faced with the dilemma of a partner who has "keffled out", why not up your adventure ante and go for it alone? Nothing beats the adventure of battling the winds, waves and frigid waters on your own to catch [and release] trophy walleyes! Because when you stand on the summit having reached it solely through your own efforts, or net that whopper 'eye while bobbing in the waves all by yer lonesome, you'll have no one to congratulate you but yourself. [And if you get skunked, the converse is also true.] But sometimes the pats you give yourself on the back are the best pats of all.

Shut up and fish.

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

Man Pete! All that to suggest I should have went alone anyway! I don't know but, since I was knee high to a grass hopper I've had it drilled into my head not to go out on the water alone (even though I still do at the cottage whne my son backs out). I know it's not as adventurous but hey, it's safe.

Just out of curiosity, are you going to try go out again this year If not, where's your sense of adventure

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WIG