Winter a lure on the Bay

[Spiel]

Winter a lure on the Bay

 

Henry Bury

Bellville Intelligencer

 

 

A father and son from St. Catharines did plenty of "jigging" in Belleville over the weekend.

 

Dick Vanstone, his son, Darren, and a good friend, Bob Buttery, ice fished on the Bay of Quinte Saturday morning and evening as well as Sunday morning.

 

"We were out Saturday morning for three hours and it was slow. We had no bites for walleye," said the 65-year-old Dick Vanstone, a retired Sears Canada employee. "I don't think the east wind helped." The trio did manage to catch a few perch about a mile out from the Herchimer Avenue boat launch.

 

But a week earlier, the father-son duo also did some ice fishing on the bay and they caught three walleye - weighing from three to five pounds each - between them.

 

"Those were our only two times here this winter," he said.

 

Other anglers interviewed by The Intelligencer reported plenty of good fishing trips this winter on various sections of the bay.

 

For Vanstone, though, he said it's almost "embarrassing" not catching any walleye this past weekend - anglers are allowed to catch four walleye per day.

 

"We usually catch walleye every time we're out in the summer," he said.

 

Vanstone and his son have a summer trailer in Deseronto and they do a lot of fishing from when the walleye season opens in the spring to about the end of November. They often enter various summer fishing tournaments.

 

They also visit Belleville a few times over the winter to do some ice fishing.

 

"It's been slow the past couple of weeks," Vanstone said. "The ice conditions are not good. The thickness is good but there is too much snow and slush."

 

Darren Vanstone, 42, said ice fishing on the Bay of Quinte is "better than sitting at home."

 

Besides, he added, there is no pickerel fishing where they live.

 

"So we come here because it's supposed to be the walleye capital of Ontario," he said with a smile.

 

The angling trio towed an ATV with their van.

 

Vanstone said there was no other way to get out on the bay because of the heavy slush on the ice.

 

After arriving at their spot, each man drilled an eight-inch hole and sat on five-gallon pails for the next three hours.

 

"We're just jigging spoons over the hole," said Vanstone, adding they were tipping the spoon with minnows.

 

"It's just nice to be out for a couple of hours. But it would be even nice to catch some walleye," he said.

 

For Bob Buttery, this was the 71-year-old's first ice fishing trip in Belleville this winter.

 

"I've enjoyed the fishing but would have preferred a few more bites, not nibbles," he said.

 

Justin Singh, 23, of Toronto, braved the elements Sunday afternoon to try his luck about 100 metres out from the Herchimer Avenue boat launch.

 

"I didn't catch anything except frostbite," he shrugged while the wind whipped across the frozen bay.

 

Singh normally ice fishes near the George Street boat launch "but the ice there wasn't safe enough. So I came here for a couple of hours ... I only get one day a week so I fish here and try and make the best of it."

 

Belleville's Gene Frederick fished off Big Island near Demorestville and said an angler just yards from him managed to snag a 12.32 pound, 32-inch walleye Saturday morning.

 

"There was lots of fish being caught this morning ... And me, nothing but heartache today," he said while picking up some more bait at Skevy's fish and bait store on Dundas Street East.

 

Frederick said he's managed to catch several pickerel this winter.

 

"The fishing has been good, not excellent. And not as good as last year. But that's only one man's opinion," he said.

 

Paul Cotton, also of Belleville, has only been ice fishing for the past couple of winters.

 

"I have caught a couple of walleye this winter," said the novice angler. "And I have been out quite a few times."

 

Cotton said he has a pop-up ice hut and his favourite spot is near Point Anne.

 

"I've heard there are lots of fish in the bay but you really have to be careful because the ice is thin in a lot of places," he said.

 

As owner of Skevy's bait store, Ron Skevington has heard many fish stories this winter.

 

"We've had days that have been phenomenal and days where it's just not good at all," he said. "And that's because of the weather pattern being up and down. The barometer is high one day and low the next. This warm/cold cycle is confusing the fish."

 

Skevington said the unusual winter weather has plagued anglers, and that comment is borne out by the few ice huts dotting the frozen bay.

 

"The fish are there but the problem is that with climate change, we're not getting the thick ice like we used to. We still have open water under the bay bridge, for example, and anglers have to be careful where they drop their line," he said.

 

Despite the unpredictable weather, Skevington said he's received "very good" comments about the ice fishing on the bay.

 

"The fish is good for walleye for most people, but there are some who come in skunked, like me, because I'm always here," he said with a laugh.

 

He added more anglers are reported catching big jumbo perch measuring about 12 inches "and that's unusual for the Bay of Quinte."

 

Skevington said this region's reputation for walleye still attracts a lot of anglers from well outside the Quinte area, and he arranges accommodation and where to fish for visitors.

 

"I had a group of five people from Timmins who drove non-stop to get here Friday night so that they could fish all weekend," he said.

 

Later this month, he will welcome a group from Wisconsin, some of whom work for Walleye Insider Magazine, as they test the Bay of Quinte.

 

"I also have another guy from Germany coming the last weekend in February," he said.

 

The ice fishing season ends Feb. 29 and ice huts have to be off the Bay of Quinte.