Quinte Fishing

I was hoping to fish midnight Friday off the dock with my kids, and was wondering if it would be better to use a minnow and bobber or use a pickerel rig (where you have two minnows suspended off the bottom with a weight at the end of the line). I hope to catch a few and have a fish fry to celebrate opening season with the kids.

Normally I would use huskey jerks, but I don't want to get into a hassle with my kids lines getting all knotted up and stuff. Looking for the easiest way to have a little success with the kids (aged 8 and 9 who normally don't enjoy fishing).

My hope is quantity over quality as I think it will give them a more enjoyable outing.

Thanks for any tips and info.

Dan

I have had no luck with a bobber and a minnow in the bay. I have saw people catching them on a minnow and bobber but if you dont want to use husky jerks i would try a 3\8 oz jig head white with a 4 or 5 inch twister body just cast out and drag it on bottom slowly. Hope this helps and good luck out there.

Thanks, my only concern with casting anything is my kids getting their lines all mixed up in the dark. Not only that, but there are trees and things like that. I am afraid that if I let them cast off the dock, we'll spend more time fixing lines than fishing.

I was hoping for a way to fish for walleye like the way you would for mudcats or perch. Bobber fishing or a sinker rig type way. I know that a lot of you guys have raised your kids around fishing and was hoping for some tips to make opening night a memorable occasion for all the right reasons.

Thread a egg sinker on your line, tie on a swivel eye, tie another 2/5 ' of line on the other end of the swivel. Then finish off with a floating jig head.... stick a worm or leach on there and you should be good to go. not sure about night, but i have caught many on this rig in the river.... when the water is running quick. You might even try doing this in the Murray Canal if nothing in the River. Might be tough this year with the early spring off shore though... but i could be wrong.

you could try a slip bobber set up this will hold your meat up off the bottom yet give the kids a bobber to watch . could try to explain here how to rig it but to save time im sure you could google the way it works and give you a better understanding but ive used that way alot over the years to cover water depths yet still use a bobber unstead of just fishing the bottom in fact its a great way to catch trout in 80 fow when you fishing water thats 300 foot deep ..... good luck . grizz

I've used Pickerel rigs for years off shore at night with great success. Unfortunately, never tried it on Quinte. Put a fair sized bobber on it, and a big bell sinker on the bottom, and try to make the rig hang vertical so the weight just touches the bottom. Knowing the depth of water where you are casting to helps, so you can adjust your bobber to water depth. Having too much line out will make the rig lay down on bottom.

Good Luck!!

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

Mountainministries...Now is the time of year for Pickerel Rigs off shore. I'm going to give it a try this weekend due to the rainy and windy weather. They seem to work better when the water is rough. Was setting up my lines, and made me think of this thread. This time of year, the walleye move right in on shore at night, which makes this rig perfect. The water where I fish is about 8-10 degrees colder than Quinte right now, so not sure if it will be as effective there yet, but should be soon. I'll let you know how I made out.

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

What do you guys prefer on a rig like this, minnows or worms?

Another variation you can try.
There is no bobber at all.
Instead, use small copper bell. Attach it after you've made a cast to the line near the rod.
You can use more than 2 hooks.

If you can manage to buy rubber string 2-3 mm diameter and about 20-25 length I can show you how we catch walley at night it in Russia.
It's the most sophisticated way of all. I do it here all the time.

Sounds good....but only problem with that, is here in Canada, we drink beer and listen to AC/DC and Metallica while shore fishing, and the copper bell would be useless. That's why we use Big Bobbers!!! By the way....when I was a kid, we used to use empty pop cans as a fish alarm. Now that's sophisticated!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding guys!!!
Happy fishing!!!!!!

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

I like heavy metal & beer also but ... AC/DC and Metallica when walley fishing???
That's made me laughing
If I would do it I would be a shark bait right away.

Minnows for sure. In the fall anyway. The arms on the rig will spin around as the minnow swims. Hook them through the back as opposed to through the mouth/head. They will stay alive longer. If the water is wavey, it may not matter if the minnow is dead, as the bobber will jig the minnows as it bounces with the waves.

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