Pickeral question...

[Gerritt]

With Quinte fast approaching I have had a couple questions on my mind..

 

While not new to pickeral fishing, I admit I have not fished the depths that Quinte affords (80+ feet) targeting the ever so tasty fish... my normal MO is trolling 8-12' of water and being fairly successful of water such as the west arm..

 

should trolling not produce for a variety of reasons on Quinte... can one jig? can the fish see the jig? would this work for those that are hugging the bottom? I assume that red baits would be the ideal bait to jig such deep water.

 

Any thoughts?

 

G.

[BFSC Kevin]

yes yes.

I don't think I will be trolling, throwing out cranks and jigs mainly I think.

I'll be keeping my eye on this thread.

 

btw Gerrit, are you getting my PMs?

haha

 

 

kevin

[lew]

I'm not a jigger myself Gerritt so can't offer any specifics, but I recall watching an episode of Fish'n Canada awhile back and Pete Bowman was jiggin up some BIGGUNS in Adolphus Reach in the late fall, infact he brought in some monster eyes !!

 

I'm sure you know it, but Adolphus Reach is the waters east of the ferry.

 

I can't recall his bait, but I'm thinking it was a large white grub and as for the depths, you'd just have to find them on your sonar.

 

Hope that's some sorta help to you

[Gerritt]

Thanks guys I appreciate the info.. White Grubs I have tons of... kinda wondering if one colour is more visible then another as well given the depths and lack of light..... or do they use other senses as well as sight...

 

my sonar is pretty crummy.. and I was told NOT to purchase a new one with xmas around the corner :santa: it is good for letting me know my depth and seeing suspended objects that is about it... the resolution is pure crap... but it was given to me by my FIL.. so I cant complain... so..I'll just cruise by the flotilla of boats!! LOL

 

thanks again!

 

Gerritt.

[sirfish]

Fished there last weekend. Water was still warm and the winds were howling. Should only get better with the colder temps.

All fish were caught trolling in 65' to 110' from the lighthouse on out using planers with either leadcore or small dipseys anywhere form 250' to 400' out. A variety of stick baits were used with the big hitters being anything with yellow or perch colour.

If you plan on doing some jigging I suggest you try the bay near Picton .Small jigging spoons like crocs and yellow or white jigs with twisters tipped with minnows or worms .

Heres a little taste of a 10lb'er on of many that were caught by our group ...enjoy

 

 

[misfish]

Not really sure bud. But if you target WALLEYE ,then I would use jigs and minnas.

[lew]

There AREN'T any walleye in Quinte Brian, it's strictly pickeral water out that way

[LeXXington]

Jigs should work but hard to jig in the fall with thoes winds?

[solopaddler]

Just got back from Picton about an hour ago.

Yesterday during the day we primarily spent our time jigging and did quite well.

Almost all the fish were caught on large heavy jigging spoons. Primarily Buckshot jigs, but we also got fish on Swedish Pimples.

Same kinda stuff guys use ice fishing.

We were running them clean, not tipped with anything, and were fishing a variety of locations (mostly points) in deep water, from 35-50'.

To fish this way effectively you need a fairly stiff spinning rod and a reel loaded with some type of braid. I was using 10lb PowerPro and tying the spoon directly to it with no tippet.

You have to keep your presentation as vertical as possible. Easy to do if there's little wind. If there is wind you'll need to use an electric (or a drift sock or bucket) to keep your drift slow.

Jig exactly as you would in the winter...you'll get lots of fish, although these aren't generally the big mommas, they're smaller resident fish from 1-3lb's mostly....

Pump up the sensitivity on your graph and spend some time sifting through likely areas to pinpoint pods of fish near the bottom before you start to fish.

If you can find 'em you'll catch 'em.

[Terry]

I know lots of guys that do jig for them down there and do real well at it

 

myself I like to catch them in the top 30 ft of water so we don't have a problem releasing them, so trolling is the best way for me

[Mike the Pike]

Just follow us out to the reach Gerritt we will find them for ya.They will be suspended.

 

leave the jiggin for picton harbour at night.

 

[irishfield]

As Terry notes...if you plan on releasing them fish the top 30FOW only. If you want to eat some smaller ones...there are some spots/shoals for that. I watched a few guys last year...troll the reach..get on top of a bait ball and then pull everything in and stay on the bait ball with electric and vertical jig the ball for eye's..I mean pickeral.

[BITEME]

Just follow us out to the reach Gerritt we will find them for ya.They will be suspended.

 

leave the jiggin for picton harbour at night.

 

 

 

dont do it dont follow him he will tangle your lines

[Mike the Pike]

dont do it dont follow him he will tangle your lines

 

Since when do you come out to play on the weekend the wife must be away and now your aloud online.

 

Don't listen to him Gerritt with out Percher well.............we won't go there

 

 

MTP

[OhioFisherman]

Gerritt, we used to catch them by accident on tubes, grubs, sonars this time of year fishing for smallies on Lake Erie. Trolling does give you a shot at putting the lure in front of more fishes faces. A good depth finder makes it easier to locate them. Just my opinion the walleye roam more following bait fish, and tend to suspend off the bottom.

 

Had some real good days drifting with a swimming jig tipped with a big minnow or small sucker.

[fishindevil]

You can also jig/drift with nightcrawlers & minnows with a bottom-bouncer.. ..its quite effective,and you can keep it more vertical if there is wind as the bouncer will run almost straight down,but if you get a wind and can keep it at a 45 degree angle ...its deadly....so as you can see gerritt theres lots of ways to get the baits down there to them pickeral....cheers

[Fish Farmer]

Gerritt, Last year I boated a lot of fish just drifting Lucky Strike Silver Victor Spinners tipped with a worm. With wind speed and depth of the fish on your Graph add a split shot or 2,3,4 to get down to were you figure the fish are.(Tip: Tie a stinger hook on the spinner) Trolling with all that other crap on your line is not much fun, I do it, but I'd sooner catch a Sheephead, better fight. Dragging a Walleye in with 6 other lines out is not much fun just to get a picture holding a Big Hog. I get more fight walking my dog down the street. I'll be there again in a couple weeks doing the same stupid thing trolling for an entree in the clubs. Nothing like drifting and jigging for (Pickerel) More Funner Gerritt, sometimes you can find a school of fish away from the crowds. Watch the wind, when the wind is blowing into the bay the fish are in, blowing out, the fish are out. A lot of guys cast at night in the harbour off the docks and do very well.

Good Luck Gerritt

Edited November 4, 2007 by Fish Farmer

[noofy]

We went down monday.had no trouble cathing while trolling,.all i do is troll..but they do get em jigging,,just not my style,,ya dont see charters jig,,lol east of the ferry 106 fow,i use,tail dancers ,also 40 ft jet divers with rapala j 13 with the lip taken off red or orange colour ,produced well. also spro dd65 minnow .sardine ...good luck,

[noofy]

We went down monday.had no trouble cathing while trolling,.all i do is troll..but they do get em jigging,,just not my style,,ya dont see charters jig,,lol east of the ferry 106 fow,i use,tail dancers ,also 40 ft jet divers with rapala j 13 with the lip taken off red or orange colour ,produced well. also spro dd65 minnow .sardine ...good luck,

[TroutSlayer]

There AREN'T any walleye in Quinte Brian, it's strictly pickeral water out that way

 

I agree Lew!

[Headhunter]

The largest pickeral in virtually any body of water will always be open water suspended fish. They will spend their lives following schools of bait where ever that may be.

Yes you can catch resident fish jiggin Thompson's point or any other point that has easy deep water access... but if your wanting to catch a trophy Quinte Picker-eye, trolling will net you more consistent results.

The pickeral-eyes arriving from Lake Ontario are following the schools of bait into the bay and gorging themselves. As an opportunistic creature, they will attach an easy meal, resembling their prey.

Using blades (worm harnesses) will catch fish, however, due to the slower speeds these baits require, you will restrict the amount of water covered and therefore lower your chance of encountering schools of feeding fish. You also will have to contend with more "garbage fish" as they will attach a worm harness every time.

If you happen to follow the PWT, you would know that virtually 100% of the pro's troll first, second or third, as their options for catchin fish. There is a reason.

Gerritt, if you want to catch some eaters during the GTG, I can help! But if you want to catch a PB, leave the jiggin rod on shore during the day, cover a lot of water trolling, seeking active fish and you will be rewarded.

FYI - fall trolling speeds on Quinte start at 1.5 mph and you will catch them up to 5mph as well. The key is to cover as much water as possible, to find active fish.

I've caught fish down as deep as 40ft on Quinte and it has not been an issue with survival as in order to get the bait down that deep, you will have atleast 200ft of line out. If you take your time, they will be fine. It also help is you slow the boat down, so you are doing less draggin of the fish.

In the last two to three years, I have found Dipsey's to be a challenge in securing fish. I really believe that these open water fish are extremely boat shy and as such, the dipesy is just not gettin the lure far enough away from the boat. Lead Core off in-line planer boards and long line boards, far away from the boat should serve well.

Also, many folks concentrate mainly on deep fish... early in the day, any day that has a two foot chop or more as well as cloudy days, consider the top 15-20 feet of water to be a potentially active area. You won't see the Picker-eyes on your graph, but you may/will see the bait up high... another option for yah. Just be aware that if you get a double digit picker-eye hit your bait with only 40-80 ft of line out behind the board, you will not have any problems knowing whether there's a fish on that line!LOL Actually, watching them slam a shallow running bait is exhilarating ... "someone grab that rod before it breaks the holder"

HH