Quinte Fishing

Another "GREAT" day on the bay .
4 of us went down from Lake Simcoe ,Guelph & Pickering .
Got out on the ice by 7:30 am . The fish started to bite about 9:00am & slowed down arround 2:30pm.
Red Mr.Champ still the lure of choice as we landed Alot of bigfish.
Here is a summary of the catch,
4 fish about 2.5 - 3 lbs
2@5.5lbs,2@6.5lbs,@2@8.5lbs,1 fish 9lbs & 1 fish @ 11lbs.
between us we lost about 8 fish some quite large.
One of the guys was like a "kid in a candy store", he had never seen a Pickerel over 4lbs.This guy is now "HOOKED" and I wouldn't be suprised if he goes to the bay every weekend.
I must Thank All those who post messages in this forum.If it were not for the message board I never would have been turned on to Quinte Pickerel or learned so much on how to catch them.
Thanks again to all & GOOD FISHIN.

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A bad day fishin is better than "any"day at work

Read your report on your days catch. I'm new to the message board and to fishing walleye. I was there in spring and had some decent luck. But, i'd like to learn to catch them now in winter. A friend of mine wants to go ice fishing and has never been. We're hoping to head to Quinte later this week. I'm lookin for some tips. I got the Mr. Champ thing. But what about bait...did you use minnows...were you jigging...how deep were you...or any other tips would be great. Like i said i'm a little green with this one and my friend only has one day to go. Any tips would be great.

Andrew

Steely,

Medium to large lures with some weight to them seem to work the best.(Mr.Champs or Swedish Pimples)
You will also need some red reflective tape(from any good tackle store)medium sized long shank 3-ways & a good stiff 2' rod .Stinger hooks are a MUST on the Bay as these pickerel seem to attack from the tail.Tape the flat side of your SP & the short flat side of the Mr.C.
Take a 3-4" shiner & put a 1/8"Slit into the throat just below the gill plates so you can insert the 3-way up & out the mouth & attach the stinger to the split ring & insert the hook to the back of the minnow making sure the minnow hangs naturally.
CHANGE MINNOWS OFTEN(every 1/2 hr) and jig agressively with a good snap on the up swing.Just like fishin for Big Lakers through the ice.
Forget about tipups.It seems better to jig with 2 rods about 4-5 feet apart in about 15' of water & 6" off bottom.These methods may be disputed by some but it worked 2 weekends in a row producing about 30 fish, most of which were in the slot size (19"-25"or 48 to 63 cm).Remember you can only keep 1 fish over 25" each.
Keep an eye on the ice thickness & Current as they change almost daily depending on where you fish.
Good luck & have fun.
I hope my advice will help you catch a "LUNKER"

Speckhunter

P.S
Let me know how you do.

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A bad day fishin is better than "any"day at work

Hey, thanx for the tips. I'll let you know how we do. We'll probably be going on Saturday/Sunday. Last thing here... do you know of any bait shops in Bellville or close by that are open early in the morning? We're driving from Toronto and i'd rather buy bait the day we go?

Steelly

Speckhunter

Your technique of two rods jigging simultaneously is one that I have produced well on Scugog in the past. I usually use relatively light spoons on Scugog (1/4 oz) because the water is so shallow.

What size of jigging spoon do you prefer to use on Quinte? 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 3/4 oz?

Thanks
Barnyard

Hey, Speckhunter which end are you at east on Big Bay or west in the Massasauga Narrows.Us Taylor Clan fished west end about half way up the narrows,then about 2 years ago we got zip I mean ZIP. We went a couple times last year, fished all day nothing. So we started fiishing Deseronto bridge. We have been having good luck.

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YOU CAN'T PUT A PRICE ON RECREATION <*{{{{><

I only know of one bait shop in Bellville on Dundas St. east of 62 it opens @ 7:00am on saturdays & Closed on sundays . I usually pick up my Shiners @ TightLines in Pickering. Take Brock Rd. south . 2nd driveway on the right south of the 401.

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A bad day fishin is better than "any"day at work

Speckhunter, where abouts is point Anne?