Bay of Quinte - Fishing tips for a newbie

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Hi there,

 

My name is Nigel D and I'm a newbie on the site. Don't know why i haven't come across this site before but any who...Thought it would be the perfect place to exchange tips for successful fishing on certain waters...I usually fish the Rideau canal and river for bass, walleye and muskie but am venturing into new waters this weekend...The walleye anglers paradise - The Bay of Quinte...

 

Its gonna be my first time on the Bay and i am really psyched to see what all the fuss is about...Any tips for a newbie??

 

I will be doing some night time shore fishing from the North East shores of Big Island and will have access to a small boat during the day. I am equipped with some decent trolling gear (8&9 foots MH trolling rods that i am yet to use in Canada, Mini planar boards, dipsey divers, a few crank baits, spinner rigs). Unfortunately, i will not have a depth finder or gps which i understand will make fishing on the bay a little more trickier than usual.

 

Any suggestions on whats hot on the Big island shores of the bay at this time of the year will be greatly appreciated.

 

Tight Lines!!

Edited May 20, 2009 by Fishingitis

[leighfns]

Walleye(alot) and Pike(fair amount) are good this time of year. Try trolling worm harnesses with bottom bouncers in 12-20 feet of water for walleye. Use spinner baits and husky jerks for pike in 5-15 feet of water..

[Headhunter]

Firstly, if your boat is small, you are gonna have to pick your days on BOQ. Being on Big Island, you can easily troll Big Bay. It's a relatively flat bottom, in the 15 to 25 ft depths.

Run 3/8th oz crankbaits as close to the bottom as possible and run the length of the bay. Use your planer boards. If you have lead core, it makes it easier to maintain bottom contact.

Again, and I can't emphasize this enough, it's big water that can blow up very quickly, so be very careful.

HH

[Zubris21]

Walleye(alot) and Pike(fair amount) are good this time of year. Try trolling worm harnesses with bottom bouncers in 12-20 feet of water for walleye. Use spinner baits and husky jerks for pike in 5-15 feet of water..

 

I agree with the worm harnesses and bottom bouncers. 99% of my walleye have come on this setup. Personally I like the silver/chartreuse blades and beads. Using this method you will also get a lot of incidental smallies, pike and sheephead so the action should be there.

[[email protected]]

Firstly, if your boat is small, you are gonna have to pick your days on BOQ. Being on Big Island, you can easily troll Big Bay. It's a relatively flat bottom, in the 15 to 25 ft depths.

Run 3/8th oz crankbaits as close to the bottom as possible and run the length of the bay. Use your planer boards. If you have lead core, it makes it easier to maintain bottom contact.

Again, and I can't emphasize this enough, it's big water that can blow up very quickly, so be very careful.

HH

 

 

Thanks for the warning HH. Will watch out for the wind and waves. Got a couple of cranks that i'm looking forward to try. Will post a report on the fishing on Monday.

 

Any idea how deep the small inlet on the east side of Big island might be and if its a decent spot to drift in if the weather is too windy to fish open waters

 

Tight Lines!

Nigel

[[email protected]]

Walleye(alot) and Pike(fair amount) are good this time of year. Try trolling worm harnesses with bottom bouncers in 12-20 feet of water for walleye. Use spinner baits and husky jerks for pike in 5-15 feet of water..

 

Thanks for the tip!

Tight Lines!

Nigel

[[email protected]]

I agree with the worm harnesses and bottom bouncers. 99% of my walleye have come on this setup. Personally I like the silver/chartreuse blades and beads. Using this method you will also get a lot of incidental smallies, pike and sheephead so the action should be there.

 

 

I dont have too many worm harnesses but will give them a try as well...we are gonna be four of us fishing so will get to try as many lures and methods as possible.

 

Thanks for the tip!

Tight Lines!

Nigel

[leighfns]

I agree with the worm harnesses and bottom bouncers. 99% of my walleye have come on this setup. Personally I like the silver/chartreuse blades and beads. Using this method you will also get a lot of incidental smallies, pike and sheephead so the action should be there.

 

I just started using them this year and they are definitely outproducing the crankbaits so far. And you are right lots of incidental catches like Pike, SM/LM Bass, Silver Bass and Sheepies (and perch ofcourse)

[the spirit of fishing]

Typically the Bay gets rough almost everyday late in the morning-sometimes a little earlier,sometimes a little later but rarely does it stay flat or just have a chop;so the previous posts are correct in advising you to be careful in a small boat.

I usually fish west of Belleville,closer to Trenton and we have most of our success with Erie Dearies.We hook on 1/2 a nightcrawler followed by a plastic worm or grub-we find this prevents a lot of the smaller perch,etc. from stealing our bait as much but still allows the fish to sense real food.

Opening weekend I heard Rapala Husky jerks did well in a clown color trolled in the depths the others gave you.

I've also heard ;but haven't tried, Berkley gulp minnows and leeches to be working well.

Hope you enjoy a safe and successful trip!

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So i'm back in Ottawa and really wishing i was back on the bay....I din't get to do too much fishing since i was once again the only fishing nut in the group..Anyways here is the report ..

 

Fishing wasn't too shabby considering it was our first time on the bay. Trolled bottom bouncers/worm harnesses early Saturday afternoon and hooked into 4 really small eyes (a pound each) in an hour and a half of fishing. Went out again later in the evening and tried jigging and casting cranks by the green buoy on the east side of big island on the way to telegraph narrows (not sure what its called). Anyways, we dint get a bite but saw a couple of boats trolling by us net some nice eyes. Sunday was really choppy even though it was a perfect day to be out fishing. 45 minutes of trolling cranks resulted in a nice 3.5 lb eye by my buddy M..Wish I had more time on the waters...Till the next fishing trip!

 

Tight Lines!

Nigel

 

 

Edited May 27, 2009 by Fishingitis

[Headhunter]

Well, given the amount of time you were able to put into it, I'd say you did well!

Tirdent Point can be a great spot, when the waves are chrashing it, but not a place I'd want to be in a smallish boat.

Glad you had a good time!

HH

[Zubris21]

Well, I'm glad to hear you were successful. great stuff thanks for sharing your results.