Quinte Fishing

Hey guys,

I have only ice fished a bit in the last few years. Still a rookie. Anyways, I was wondering if it is necessary to tip your jig, or will they bite without a minnow? Does Gulp work as much as live bait, and is there a preference between shiners and muds?

Just curious. Thanks.

I always tip my lure with 3 mud minnows , one on each hook.

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Born An Angler, Bred to Fish!

3, 2 or 1 minnow or just the head or tail. Always different u just got to experiment. As for type I've always heard MUDs r the best and I believed it for a while but now I don't think there's much difference. I think it's more important to get the number of minnows or head on ur hook(s) right

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Fishing is not a hobby. A hobby is something you do in your spare time!

...hands down, 2-minimum, 3-preferably for a jiggin spoon; it's a little rediculous but it's been working for 28 years for me ! Not uncommon at all for them to whack your jig, rip off a minnow, and 99% of the time you can get that walter to turn around and finish what he started so long as you have a couple more minners dangling... mudders (dace) rule, but bigger muds the better typically!... If they take all three it pays to wind up fast and get back down there with a pair of minnows again - can't tell you how many fish I've got that way - one 13.5lbder years ago stripped me 6 times, I re-baited and finally got her on the seventh drop and 14 minnows later, she was likely only 13.25 before I found her ... Lol!

I agree with Bubblebuster, seems to change every time. Some guys swear by certain numbers of minnows just as they have the one lure that works great for them, but everyone is different.

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Give a man a fish & he'll eat for a day ...
Teach a man to fish & he'll be broke for life.

HAHA, wicked!

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Stoty

I've been ice fishing the BOQ since the mid 1980's and while there is much discussion as to tipping your spoon with 1, 2, or 3 minnows, there is also merit to no bait..When the walleyes are aggressive and the bite is on they will literally rip your rod out of your hands.....had it happen many many times over the years. Make sure you use a good, sharp treble hook!!!

Pretty much the status quo for me.....1-3 minnows or even a minnow head, depending on the aggressiveness and action I'm lookin for with a given bait. As for type, I've been fishing BOQ for many years and have only ever seen one true central mud minnow. Not sure where you can find these on a regular basis?

Most of the bait you buy in this area are in the Chub family of minnows.

A good friend sometimes brings emerald shiners from the GTA and we've done well with them, but they are tough to keep alive.

P.A. Guy

I totally agree with you. It totally depends on the fish activity that day. I have had days when the smaller the bait the better. Marked fish on the screen while fishing with spoons or buckshot with 3 minnows but got no response at all. immediately switched to a perch size jigging rap with a small minnow tail tipped to the back hook and hit fish for rest of the evening. the whole bait including the minnow tail was only 1". Landed my personal best 12lber that night to.

Fishgolfpro

as for the mudminnow topic you are right the true name is the central mudminnow but the slang name "muddminnow" or "Mudders" referred to in the Quinte area are actually fathead minnows. These are a very tolerant species of lower water quality and seem to survive much longer on the hook than your shiner species. May also be why they are more successfully on the bay. I've always heard dead sticking does not produce on Quinte eyes.

I'm familiar with fatheads. I find the majority of bait around here to be a mixture of chubs and dace lately.

I find it funny how everything gets lumped into a "mud" so long as it's not a shiner.