For the fourth year in a row a group of us fished the famous Bay of Quinte for monster walleye. In comparison to the last couple of years, we didn’t see the size and numbers we are use to. The late fall patterns and unusual warm temperatures seemed to effect the fishing.

Most of our fish came off spoons running on wire dispeys. This provided some additional entertainment as well, as you could feel the headshakes from the most lethargic Quinte walleye.

Our biggest fish was just under 10lbs. Out of 10 or so boats with us (in early November) the biggest boated was just over 12lbs. Reading the reports now, we are wishing we waited just a bit longer to get back out there.

A bonus for this weekend was catching a lot of native fish which eventually made their way back into the frying pan.

Not to take away from the fun of fishing, but my the best part of these weekend fishing trips are the conversations that you have on the boat.  Yes you have you best friends in your “normal” life, but a true fishing buddy is one you can talk to anything about.  There is something really to be said about this bond you share and I am very thankful for all the hours I’ve spent fishing with with my favourite partners.

Now nearing the end of December, you can almost hear the ice forming outside.  Ice fishing is here!  I am in transition of changing jobs… going from 9-5 “comfort” to a bit of an adventure which will have me traveling the country. Saying that I’ve given myself 3 weeks “off” during this transition and will be hitting the ice in full force. And you know my fishing buddies will be the first ones I call once I begin my vacation.

Panfish first, then moving onto pike, walleye and maybe even some trout. Very much looking forward to my late December and January ice fishing.

Anyone else have some success in Quinte this year?

Tight lines,

Christine

With the summer weather not staying all that warm, our fall season came pretty quick come mid September.  With the water temperatures dropping quickly I made sure to get out as much as I could in search of some fall fatties.

I’ve been on the water consistently twice a week but I thought I’d share a couple of favourite outings:

Enjoying  a warm day on a favourite Eastern Ontario lake we found some largies between 6-8fow on a mix of cranks, flipping jigs and senkos:

A bonus pike on a crankbait:

At the end of the day we managed 40 bass and 3 pike.  Top 5 weights
3.4
3.4
3.2
2.9
2.9

The next day we hit up another lake where the conditions went from sunny and no wind, to windy cold, and rainy.  Meeting some friends on the water our goal was to find fall bass on deep weedlines flipping 1/4oz to 3/8oz jigs.

We didn’t get as great numbers the sizes were there:

End of the day:

17bass
1 pike (but a few bite offs)

top 5:
4
3.14
3.10
3.10
3.7

Now with the temperatures really dropping, water temps as low as 43F it’s getting a bit more challenging to find decent numbers. The short summer season brought on a quick and cold fall transition.  This fall season is no where near as great as last years (perhaps due to the early fall turnover and continuous change in conditions), but I am enjoying the hunt for some big fall largies.

Tight lines,

Christine

With Fall just around the corner I thought I’d offer a bit of a wrap-up report of my recent outings.

Early July I hit a local favourite and took advantage of a frog bite.   Previously throwing hollow body frogs and soft plastic toads was a favourite technique but the last couple of years it really hasn’t produced all that well.  I still enjoy using it as a bit of a search bait to cover a large area full of pads, and when the frog bite is on.. it can be a blast

I enjoyed an evening on the water flipping some shore lines.  Using my favourite flipping combo, a Shimano Castaic 201 spooled with 17lbs P-Line and St. Crois Legend 7ft heavy action, pullinh these bass out of the trees is a lot of fun.

Another favourite spot of mine which always seems to have a few bigguns saw my first day of double 4lbers this season.

A small organized tournament saw my fishing partner and I bring in a decent 4 fish limit.

The same weekend the group went to lake known for small numbers but big bass.  It turned out to be a tough day for us but I managed to get one high 3 bass flipping some deep weedlines.

Likely one of my most favourite weekends I changed paces a bit.  I went to a small no motor Quebec lake where I’d fish from a paddleboat. Fishing an unpressured lake is something we should all experience as a few short outings (in between enjoying the cottage lifestyle) saw high numbers of healthy smallmouth bass.

From a dock and paddleboat

I went for a long drive out to the Kawarthas area, a place where my Grandfather use to love to fish.  Unfortunately he’s been gone for many years but I made sure I went to the same spot he use to fish many many years ago.  Although he use to troll the deep waters, I decided to try throwing some frogs in some thick pads.  It produced a beautiful 4.1oz healthy Kawartha’s largie and a wonderful story.

And just this past weekend my favourite two fishing buddies and I managed a 20lbs 5 limit bag on our favourite lake.  We threw in the 6th bass for a great photo opportunity.

4lbers and high 3s for everyone

Bring on the fall fatties

Tight lines,

Christine

Having this target species on my hit list for a few years, I finally broke the ice and caught my first sturgeon!

Tight lines,

Christine

My friend Andy gives me a call a few weeks ago and asks if I want to fish the Palmerston Lake derby with him. Now typically, I am a warm stained shallow water largemount bass angler. Palmerston is a cool, clear, deep smallmouth fishing water. So I said, sure!

He didn’t know all the details so I looked into it. It’s a 2 day, 40$ each individual tournament. Over 2 days you can EACH weigh in 4 fish max, and they take your best 2. So you can fish with however amount of people you want. And there’s a mens and ladies division.

I left Friday night after work which I will briefly describe as the drive from hell. Instead of taking the most “practical route” (hwy1 to hwy2, turn left… reach campsite)…. I took the “quickest”… (4 dirt roads which aren’t even roads, but “trails”)… thankfully, I made it to our campsite alive.. as I took my car towing boat through a road most appropriate for atv trails.

The derby had no set start time, so we were lazy and were not on the water until 8:30am.

We strategized to fish shoals and drop offs which were everywhere around the lake. The main technique was drop shotting, which I had to teach Andy about.

We decided to go to the East end of the lake which would end up being the most productive. We fished around and island which had drop offs of 20-30fow and deep weedlines. The visibility was about 20ft so we made sure to have fluoro line and a more finesse technique.

Palmerston Lake in one word is beautiful..

..definetly the ultimate cottagers lake with crystal clear water

Alot of our fishing came off islands and shoals much like this

We quickly began culling 2lbers in the livewell.. here’s a typical 2lbers that we saw

Andy managed to get our nicest smallie from day 1, just over 3lbs

although I was told is was strictly a smallie lake, I still managed to find some largie waters during a much needed drop shotting break. I found some shallow weed cover and tons of fallen wood, and even in water less than 2ft…the LM were still pretty active and we managed a ton on toads. The best being 3lbs…

Here’s a double shot of my 3lbs LM, with a 2lbs+ smallie (I believe just over 2.5lbs)

Just before heading to the weigh in which was at 4pm we fished the west end and found some more shoals that look promising. I picked up our last keeper on a crankbait

Day two, we had to pack up from the campsite so we weren’t on the water until 9am. The plan was to stick to the East end of the lake as the west end just didn’t have the extra touch (deep weeds) that we wanted

In the am we drop shotted and picked up one keeper smallie, then headed back to some more LM territy just for fun… the fish were very agressive which made it extra fun. And we were able to site fish, such as this LM which i spotted and cast 3ft on front.. just to have it hammer it.. small, but fun

The end of the day we weighed in our final 2 fish., on 3lbs smallie and another 2.5lbs which would go towards my total. Andy had the two 3lbs.

The end of the day we weighed in our final 2 fish., on 3lbs smallie and another 2.5lbs which would go towards my total. Andy just had the two 3lbs.

Once the weigh in finish, the rain came so we went back to the local fire hall.

I was feeling good going into it as apparently the female side never has decent weights. I ended up finishing 4th on the women’s side, which felt awesome considering I’ve never fished the lake.

But it was just for fun, so I finished 4th and picked up a new Magellan Triton 400 GPS (their was a prize table and it looked the most expensive).. and Andy finished 24th in the men’s and got a hat..

We were pretty happy with how things went.. I may actually do it again next year… or head back into the fall for some fat smallies. And, I realized drop shotting is actually pretty fun and I look forward to fishing some deep smallies more often. Most of the smallies that came off the drop shot faught as if there were a 4lbs largie.., acrobatic jumps kept us very entertained.

Just to add.. our final numbers.. we caught well over 30 smallies and about 15 largies over the two days.. but only 3 over 3lbs… tons and tons of cookie cutter 2lbers, but we didn’t get the last kicker. Either way, talking to a lot of people we seemed to get the best #s… just didn’t find the big ones.

Tight lines,

Christine

I decided to get the heck out of the city and venture up to the cottage with the folks.

I arrived Friday night with the Sea Nymph and had a few pints before heading to bed.

After watching a couple fishing shows, I enjoyed my last cup of coffee and headed out on the water.  I was not surprised to see the water temps still in the mid 50s.  What was a bit surprising was how high the water is still and how dirty the water is.  I found myself casting for pike for a couple of hours with no success.

But before heading in for some lunch, I decided to head to one of my favourite spots and try jigging for walleye.  There was another boat there and I almost turned back, but noticed they were not in an ideal spot so I was happy to move in quite a bit behind them where I know it holds fish.

I was met with the warmest water I’ve found and ton of bait and fish being marked on the graph.  Perfect!

With the water levels being so high, it was more of a challenge keeping the boat in a stable position without being swept away with the current.  I had the bowmount dialed in for perfect positioning and grabbed my jigging stick with 6lbs fireline and a 1/8oz title shot jig head with a gulp minnow.

First cast… nothing….

Second cast… tick…. set… fish on!!!

It had some weight to it, but with the M action spinning and light line, all fish feel bigger than average.

Then the line started peeling….

so I said out loud… “oh f***…”

then I slowly started bringing it in, and it peeled some more.. but the drag was set perfect, for a bit of fight but still allowing the fish to move..

I had it about 6ft near the boat.. and it peeled again…  I thought this has got to be a big cat… peel, .. must be a sturgeon…

..then I see the flash.. “OH walleye!!”  I jumped towards the net where it was stuck in the holder for a suck.. then I grab it, fish co-operates and its netted..!!!

As some people know, I literally do go through this mini freak out when I get a good fish on.. and I was FREAKING OUT.. heart was racing, but I didn’t screw up and it came in perfect.

No way this fish was getting off either, the jig head was buried in its gum’s.  The guys down river a bit said “LET US SEE!”  at this point my words were literally shacking… I weight it…. “its a giant walleye…. 9lbs!!!!!!!!”

The guys says bring it over, so I did.. and they took some pics

30″ and 9lbs 1oz to be exact (weighed twice on the digi).

I am still smiling… what a beautiful fish.  By no means my biggest (11.7lbs quinte)… but I think having this beauty come out of the Ottawa River… as not necessarily unheard of, but pretty rare.

I put her in the livewell and took it to the cottage (3min ride) and showed it to the neighbour and my folks.  My neighbour who’s lived up there all his life said the biggest he’s seen was 7lbs… this fish was a trophy.  Then I told him I was planning on throwing it back… and he pretty much begged me to give it to him.. sorry, this fish allowed me to have probably one of the greatest days on the water yet… so she can swim another day.

This spring has brought some seemingly unusual weather.  Days varying from 25′c dropping to 8′c with hail has offered a few challenges to this spring fishing season.

Targeting mostly pike this spring, I decided to go back to the more traditional style of fishing – throwing spoons for pike.  Johnson Silver Minnow with grub, Williams Wabler and Lucky Strike spoons have been my go-to choice this year.

Water tempteratures have varied on Rivers and Lakes from as low as 51′F to 60′F.  This is well below average for this time of year and had a significant impact on the fishing.  The few days I’ve targetted walleye proved to be quite the challenge only able to boat a few, biggest 16″ on a Fin Tech jig head and Gulp minnow.

Spring fishing allows you to dust off your gear and get out fishing again with friends and family.  Although weather hasn’t been the greatest (including being pummeled by hail on Sunday),  I look forward to being out on the water every chance I get.

Once the water does warm up we should see some increased fish activity and the countdown officially begins for bass opener… not without possibly some sturgeon action in between, stay tuned

Tight lines,
Christine

Finally in the full swing of things!

It was a long winter but I’ve finally been out on the big water, got the Sea Nymph wet, and even got my first sun burn of 2009!

This year was another year of “Salmon Slammin’” a small organized tournament which sees two fishing message boards competing, the private “Reel Buddies” board and the “Spoon Pullers.”

For a second year in a row I teamed up with Darrel and his Lund, and with another friend we were called “Team Slaughterfest.”  Pre-fishing Friday had a lot of people worried as there was a “small craft warning” and most people decided to duck out and head for monster Grand River catfish instead.

We decided not to believe the weatherman and instead launched at Port Weller where we would quickly get into a couple salmon.  I managed to land my first Chinook of 2009 and Tony got his first ever Atlantic Salmon, proof that the Lake Ontario stocking program is working!

My first salmon of 2009:

Saturday morning, tournament day, after a 4:30am wake-up and stop at Tim Hortons, we were launched by 6am.   As someone who is located in South Eastern Ontario, I am not on the “big” waters as much (Lake Erie or Lake Ontario).  When I am, we are often met with crazy winds and really rough water.  To my surprise this day it was flat calm… no wind and even bugs started coming out.

Maybe it was the difference in conditions from the day before but for a long day of fishing we managed to go 2 for 4.  Still brought in a box of 25+lbs but we were about half way to the winning total.

Regardless of few fish, having one of your first soft water fish peel a few hundred feet of line certainly makes me excited!

Big thanks to my friend Darrell to guiding us to some beautiful salmon!

Once home, I was anxious to get the Sea Nymph out and launched it at a local lake:

I managed to boat over 30 pike on a solo mission but unfortunately the average weight was about 3-4lbs, nothing really post worthy.  It always surprises me the amount of aggression that comes from these small “hammer handles” absolutely killing the spoons every chance they get.

It is officially on for 2009 – already have almost every weekend booked for fishing until the winter.  Looking forward to sharing some more stories.

Tight lines,

Christine

Well it has been too long since my last post.  My focus on ice fishing this year has been on walleye.  Fishing a stretch of the Ottawa River,  we have caught well over 100 walleye this season.  The slot size is 15.8″ and a limit of 5 fish.  This being said, we were excited to catch smaller then average walleye to enjoy in the frying pan.

What has astounded me is how time sensitive the walleye bite is.  Literally, 95% of all fish were caught between 7am and 9am, then from 6:30 pm to 8pm.

Last night being officially my last day ice fishing before spring ice out.  We walked onto the ice nervously using a trusty 6ft to create a safe path within the first 20ft.  Once past this thin area, the ice was still about 12″ thick of white ice.  The weather is calling for 10′C and rainy all weekend meaning it will be too risky to head out again.

Using a variation of spreaders, spoons, floating jigs, and minnow tipped hooks, we enjoyed some quick action beginning right on time, 6:40pm.

The action continued as we went 4 for 6, losing a couple on the tip-ups. It was a great way to end the early 2009 ice fishing season, bringing home two keepers to snack on after a great evening on the hard stuff.

Bring on spring crappie!

Tight lines,

Christine

I’ve noticed in the last Ontario Out of Doors (OOD) and Outdoor Canada editions, there tends to be talk about the new craze for hollow body minnows.  Yeah they look kinda cool, I want to perhaps try to small Mister Mino’s for spring crappies… but have you seen the price of these?

At Canadian Tire 4 Mister Minos goes for $7.99 a pack, $7.18 at LB

Yum’s Money Minnow:
QTY 5 for $8.63  (3.5″)

Yum’s Fat Money Minnow
QTY 2 for $9.25 (5″)

Berkly
Hollow Belly Swimbait
QTY 3 for $10.45

Yes the price of plastics has increased, but this new hollow body craze which I don’t even hear anyone really talking about just yet, is already jacked up in price?

Especially in seemingly “tough” economic times such as these, am I being cheap, or don’t you think it’s weird to expect people to just jump on this bandwagon and pay $10 for 3 5″ plastics??

Tight lines,

Christine