Quinte Fishing

Late fall. Best time of year to catch numbers of good sized Walleye. Normally , that is.
I've never had a year this bad , and it's not just me . Seasoned locals aren't pulling in a whole lot. Guides can post their pictures for business purposes , but 3 or 4 eyes between 3 or 4 guys over 2 days is not quality fishing and honestly , it's not even close to normal on Quinte in late Novemeber.

There's nets in the Napanee River , there's nets up the shorelines every single night right now. In the Spring , there's nets to haul in the pre-spawn Walleye and the ones that get by the nets have to deal with the waiting Natives and their spears.

No one has a problem with the Mohawks taking for personal use , but unfortunately , the Walleye they take are sold or traded .

Even more unfortunate is that none of - the MNR , the police , or the band themselves will do one single thing to enforce some regulations.

It's not just natives , commercial fishing as well is taking its toll.

Sadly , we humans don't seem to learn from the past , and slowly , Quintes fishery is being destroyed to the point where it will take decades to get it back , and that's if something is done soon , which it won't be.

15 years ago I watched thousands , probably hundreds of thousands of Walleye spawn in the Moira . The last two years , I couldn't see one single fish.

It's sad and unfortunate that Quinte is being raped and ravaged ....it's an ecosystem being destroyed ....and no one will do anything about it. And believe me ..... I've met with the MNR , the cops , Ducks Unlimitted , etc .

If they're too scared to speak with the Mohawks ..... at least build a proper Walleye hatchery !! I'm sick of my fishing licence fees going towards stocking lakes with splake and trout.

Hmm Nah I'm not going to touch this one.

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Fred Fisher....

Fishy Fishy In The Bay, Bite This Line And Make My Day....

No surprise really....majority of the reports Ive read have pics of huge fish being held in parking lots and on land so its not just the natives to blame.

I'll touch it Fred.

The situation on Quinte has absolutely nothing to do with the commercial fishery. They are heavily regulated and monitored by the OMNR on a daily basis.

1) everything is late this year by 2 to 3 weeks.
2) most forage that I have seen in Quinte in 25 years.
3)We had a great October averaging 4 to 6 eyes a day.
Then the massive schools of bait hit Adolphus Reach. It shut down but we still managed 2
to 3 fish a day. This weekend we went 10 for 13 and today with the winds it has difficult
to see fish on or hits.
4) How much of a toll has VHS or botulism E toxins during the lake rollovers taken on the walleye population in Lake Ontario.
5) OMNR test netting indicates a fairly healthy population of certain year classes.
6) One can not blame it on reasons that can not be proven.

Al

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Captain - Team ATOMMIK/Rockets

Well said Al...

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Fred Fisher....

Fishy Fishy In The Bay, Bite This Line And Make My Day....

with your 25 yrs of experience around the bay waters i thank you for a very honest report......

Thanks for the post not the first nor last but thank you as I agree something needs to be changed.

The walleye will disappear as did the ice season in the 90's till now.

if ya keep ttalking things will change lol and you know how right ? they hit the lil man this will be us,,,,,, not the natives, not the net guys they will put on a slott or change the posession limit to two lol .......... most days the finder is lite up like a christmas tree the fish are there, and they are thriving in numbers, but so are the fishermen i bet there was 300 boats out there thiis weekend and there is alot of fish taken home big and small,,,,,,,, go for it its your right, you paid for the rights. i say blame everyone, birds, natives, net guys fishermen in general yankees from the south out of towners from the north east and west polarbears, otters, gobies......... god knows i can fish good so it sure cant be me the reason why im not catching fish lol why why why cant i catch a 22 pound walleye ? im pretty sure i could get one in the next 10 years if you guys would quit fishing in my bay without asking my permission!

13 degrees C at the end of November is odd. I used to fish off shore on Halloween on the Kawarthas, and it was snowing and the minnow pail would crust up with ice. We used to catch all kinds of Pickerel before closing, mid November. Weather may be an issue.

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There's something wrong with that rod.
It has a bend in it!!!

They used to say it was impossible to fish-out turbot on the East coast , they did. Like Quinte, some fish were still being caught but the population was in crisis , like Quinte. Most guys are coming back to the dock empty , that is true. What really hits home is that there is almost no spring run up the Moira or Napanee rivers. Again, ten years ago people lined the banks to watch massive spawning runs , but no one lines the banks anymore , as there is no run to see.
I am not soley blaming the natives , although they are a major part of the problem , and have no rules or regulation. I am also not biased because i run a guide service or a fishing lodge.
I must say, i am surprised there are not more conservation-minded people on this site.
I am not looking to blame....looking to be part of a solution. If we cant stop the netting and spearing , maybe we can lobby for a hatchery. Denying there is a problem is old-school short sightedness.

Triggereleven have you not noticed that this thread has slowly sunken out of site just so nothing is said, I have seen at least 6 of these threads in my time on this Form, Not one Walleye master will comment on it just a couple of them, I am guessing the rest must be doing very well this year as they don't see not need to say ANYTHING??????

I will tell you what I do see . I see alot of fish out there, and I see fish coming in in many year classes. I see alot of guys out there fishing that dont seem to have much of a clue of whats going on out there so far its been a tough year but thats not from a lack of fish after all you cant force feed the suckers, if the reports come in high there would be 10,000 boats out there so what i think is most the local people just arnt posting high sucess rate to protect there fishing areas............ many come here to see when the best fishing time is instead of actually going to to find out for them selfs, everyone wants it easy whats the bait, best time, best location. chater guys run a buisness they dont want pressure, guys who fish hard dont want the pressure, and some guys just want to put the blame on everyone or everything but them selfs......... Blaming Natives, and nets become the easy target but what they dont mention is natives and netters have been doing exactly the same thing for many many years you talk to the guys who know they will tell you every year is different different time, different lure, different speed, so think OUTSIDE the box dont blame anyone but yourself this sport is called fishing, NOT getting!!!

I have heard that the walleye population in Lake Ontario is on the rise. This came from a biologist that did a talk around here recently. Sorry don't know the name.

It wouldn't by chance be Lloyd Christmas or Harry Dunne?

The quinte native walleye harvest is actually a model for other bands. Sure they net and spear, every reserve on water does, however they do record there numbers and manage it very well. Im sure if you do some research you will be surprised at the estimated numbers taken by natives compared with the estimated numbers taken by sport fisherman. The mnr creel study's have shown that lake o walleye numbers are back big time, biologist over seeing the project is Shari and you can call her at the peterborough office on water street mon to fri with any questions. It was the same complaint on rice lake this year, natives took too many walleye when the fact is it had one of the best years ever for numbers and size with more year classes then thought. When people can't catch fish with all the technology and money spent on the top gear you need someone to blame.