Captinminnow and myself got under way around 1:30am February the 8th to arrive and fish the BOQ for first light. Local intelligence identified Peats Point as a good starting point for our trip. Went out about 1.5km towards Snake Island for the morning bite in about 14-15' of water. Ice was good with at least 5-6". We had a few lookers but no takers! Checked into our cottage and returned in the evening to fish out towards Cow Island about 1.2km out from launch. Again we had a few lookers but no takes. Managed to ice a few perch to keep us focused.
After seeing some open water and sketchy ice conditions at Massassauga Point, we were joined at Peats Point access on February 9th by Randaller and fished the morning bite about 1.0km straight out (slightly east) from the launch. We were in about 15' of water with good ice conditions (5"-6"). Captinminnow hooked into a large walleye on a Chartreuse Jigging Rap but couldn't hold on to it long enough to ice it. We fished all afternoon for perch and returned to the 15' mark for the walleye night bite. Randaller ventured to the holes we drilled around the hump (12' down to 15') and landed 2 nice walleye (3lbs and 5lbs) using a glow red Jigging Shad. Saw a few other walleye taken in the area.
Looking for a change in scenery (sort of) ... February 10th had us accessing Belleville Bay from the Herchimer Launch. We walked about 2 km towards Snake Island fished 15' for the morning bite. We gave the pressure cracks in the area respect and a wide berth. With nothing to show for the morning bite other than a three foot Gar observed at 5 feet below the ice, we pushed closer to Snake Island and set up for the evening near a 14- 18' bowl. We were joined by our rookie companion Dan who quite possibly hooked into a good size Bowfin. No other fish landed but there continued to be a few lookers in the area.
It should be noted that the walking (with cleats) was fantastic! The lack of snow had us walking our sleds like dogs as opposed to being the dogs pulling the sled! Then it snowed …
A little disheartened by the fishing success to date we decided to sleep in and access Hay Bay right out from Perfect Vue on February 11th (late morning). We had a few fish come by and inspect our lures but only a few smaller walleye (1 lber) and juveniles succumbed to our presentations. We did hear of a large (7lb) walleye being caught around noon so we knew more walleye were in our future! We fished out the evening with only a few more close encounters.
Inspired by fairly good ice and walleye in the area of Hay Bay we decided to try Shermans Point on February 12th. I would like to point out that Randaller made a bad decision to go to Loborough Lake in search of Lake Trout because it didn't take long in the morning for me to hook and land a personal best 12.6lber, an 11.5lber and a 10lber in the space of 3 hours. These fish were taken on a Green Macho Minnow tipped with a North Fork Fire Tiger minnow, and Glow Green Buckshot also tipped with a Fire Tiger minnow. Captinminnow after landing an eater (2lb) and missing a good fish on a chartreuse Jigging Rap decided to switch over to a simple jighead tipped with a minnow to slow down his presentation and immediately landed an 11lber (it was actually 10.97 but we gave him the extra 0.03lbs). There is much debate on this point because it was Dan's idea to switch over his lure to a jig and minnow but was discouraged to do so … ok …I admit it … it was me that discouraged him . Dan hooked into 2 nice fish but couldn't keep them on for long. Ice conditions were okay with about 4". We checked in with Randaller to see how the lake trout fishing was and as soon as he heard of our success packed it up after only marking fish and headed back to the BOQ. "Larryguy" and his buddy were also doing very well in the area (as you can see by their February 15th post) and stayed into the evening! The evening bite was a little quieter with a few fish being caught around us and Randaller managed to hook up with another 3lb fish on a (some would say) large blue and silver Jigging Rap.
Having seen all the excitement and such large fish popping out from our 10' holes … before he parted our company at the end of the day ... Dan informed us that he was "all in" for next year ... new tackle, new hut and renewed excitement to catch these amazing fish.
Down to 3 people again but knowing where the fish were, we headed back at Shermans on February 13th. The wind was absolutely crazy! My streak continued by hooking and landing 2 9+lb fish and a 10.8lber! These fish were taken on a Smoothie tipped with a minnow and a green glow Buckshot. Captainminnow hooked and landed 2 keepers and lost another hog at the hole using a chartreuse Jigging Rap. Randaller got back into the action by hooking his personal best 11lber a 7.5lber and 2 3lbers. All his fish were taken on a small blue and silver Jigging Rap.
We fished again for the morning of the 14th but to no avail other than a few more keepers ... we sadly packed it in for the year just as the warm sun was starting to beat up the ice near the launch. Another successful ice fishing adventure to the Bay of Quinte had come to a close.
What did we learn? ... 1) a few new access points 2) Walleye CAN be caught during the day on the Bay of Quinte as some of the biggest fish were caught between 10:00 and 3:00 pm. and all day not just the morning and evenings 3) Make sure that you jig at various depths (including within 5' of the ice) and not just the bottom to attract the large feeding fish that are milling about during the migration to spawning grounds 4) when you see that fish on your electronics streaking towards your lure ... brace yourself for the strike because walleye don't "gingerly" take when they are hungry! 5) never assume safe ice conditions and ... 6) Climate change sucks ass
Thanks again to the Discussion Board members and other anglers in the BOQ area ... you are a very special group that continues to be some of the most helpful people in the world of fishing! When you are from out of town information on safe ice and good bets for fishing are priceless! Kudos to you all.
It goes without saying Captainminnow, Randaller, Dan and I will be back again next year! We are already counting down the days!
Frozenflyguy
Enjoy the pictures.
and here is a link to the YouTube Video!
