Ice Walleye – A Weekend on the Bay of Quinte
Currently Ontario residents are facing a record winter. Bitter cold and record snowfalls have been par for the course. I am not sure about most residents but this is good news to me. Like many fisherman I enjoy chasing our finned friends year round. Ice fishing is no exception. I usually spend my hardwater trips chasing Yellow Perch, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed and Black Crappie. However, we all like catching big fish from time to time. Recently I spent a weekend on the Bay of Quinte. My recent trip started out with some bitterly cold temps. A strong high pressure system was going to make fishing tough. Even with the weather I managed to convince a group of my closest friends to join me. Temperatures were close to -20C with wind chills closer to -30C. Thank goodness for the protection provided by portable ice shelters.
We set up on a large flat, adjacent to some main lake structure. Depths ranged from 22ft to 17ft. The first fish from our group came shortly after 9am. A solid 10.5lb walleye. The next fish to come through the ice was 7.5lbs. Two great fish landed within the first hour of fishing. By 10am the bite had drastically slowed. The high sun and clear skies seemed to chase away any wandering fish on my flasher. I spent the remainder of the day running around to intercept some fish. All my hard work would not pay off on Day 1. It was time to regroup back at the motel.
At 6am on Day 2 I was met with 10cm of fresh snow outside of the motel door. A strong low pressure system had moved in overnight. We decided to try a different location for the second day of our trip. Our group was reduced from 12 to 3 due to the bad weather. We arrived just before sunrise at our new location. There were a few portable shelters on the ice but not much action. We set up in 20ft of water. I started to mark fish almost immediately. Some marks were perch but some behaved more like a curious walleye would. Soon my flasher showed me the tell tale mark of a large fish approaching my jigging spoon. I worked this fish methodically for a few minutes. Then there was that familiar ‘tap’ on the end of my Frabill medium/heavy rod. I set the hook hard. This fish barely moved as I my rod was doubled over. The fish slowly swam back and forth under the ice. Then I saw the fish approach the hole. This walleye was huge! I was not sure if it would squeeze through my hole. After some negotiating I quickly steered the head of the beast through the hole.
I dropped to my knees. This fish was enormous! I have never seen a walleye this size before. My two friends quickly ran over to my location. They were laughing with excitement. I was speechless! I quickly pulled my digital scale from my pocket. I told my friend ‘I think this fish is over ten pounds?”. I was assured it was much larger than ten pounds. Sure enough the scale settled on 13lbs 14oz. What a monster! This was the biggest walleye of my life! After two quick pictures the fish went back down the hole to be caught again another day. The day was not over. My other two friends landed two large walleye, 7lb and 10lb respectively. What a day! It is amazing how a weather shift overnight can change a fish’s and a fisherman’s outlook!
Ahead of me was a long, snowy drive home from the Bay of Quinte. Visions of my new conquest would linger in my head for the long drive. Now, where to go for my next ice fishing adventure? Heard rumors of some slab crappie close to home. Sounds good to me!
Jason Barnucz
"Sure enough the scale settled on 13lbs 14oz. What a monster! This was the biggest walleye of my life! "
Man it was cold - continued....
Man it was cold! We heard -35 with the wind chill in Toronto - and we were up along the north shores of Lake Simcoe so it was likely colder. Perhaps those who decided not to come at the last minute were smart after all Izaak said as we headed out into the bitter wind onto the frozen lake. The sunrise was gorgeous … but that was about all that was and it was a pain just to take a quick photo.
We had just placed a phone call to John Whyte to let him know where we were so he packed up from his spot further south and within a few minutes he drove up to us on his ski-doo. We all began fishing in 73 feet - hoping our Lowrance Ice machines would show us some fish. It seemed to get colder as the morning wore on.
"It's a bitter, wet cold" John said. No amount of jumping jacks or running around could keep him warm. "That's it, I'm outta here he said after a few hours." It wasn't even noon yet - but Izaak and I said we wouldn't be much longer either.
Snot froze on my son's beard ... it was gross but what can ya do ... I didn't even complain about - just looked the other way. I'm just glad he still wants to come out here with his crazy old man. It seems like only a couple of years ago that I was pulling him out on the sled for a morning of ice fishing. "Faster daddy, faster!". .. I can still hear him yelling. Naturally I obliged. Today - I made him pull the damn sled with all our gear - and felt like jumping in there myself as I tried to keep up.
Well we begin to get ready to pack her in. We can't feel our faces they're so cold. I reel in the Windlass tip up and quietly hear Izaak moan, "There we go"! I thought he was just happy one rod was in and we were that much closer to leaving. I turn around and see a big bend in the rod and an even bigger smile on his face.
"Sweet!" I quickly run over to the hole and scoop out all the frozen ice and slush. I advise him to hold his rod more horizontal. "Let the rod tier the fish out and when she wants to run, let it run - the drag is set just right." That's the only advice I needed to give... or he wanted to hear. The long runs told us this was no whitefish but a decent lake trout. A few more powerful runs and Izaak finally gets it near the hole … a couple careful attempts to steer her thru and finally I have a chance to see the big head. Up a little higher ... a little higher and I grab the behind her gill plate and up and out, all in one swift motion.
"Yee-ha … Wow! What a fish! Izaak says. We high five - I take a few quick pics as the big trout begins to freeze before our eyes. My exposed hands are so cold I can barely feel my fingers... but now we’re pumped and excited for more so we try a little longer. It’s was just too damn cold out there though so off we went … a little frigid but none-the-less happy we came out. One more opportunity to go fishing together was not passed by. Izaak nails his biggest lake trout ever – 13 ½ pounds on the Normark Digital scale. More importantly one more happy memory was created.
Anyone fishing tomorrow?
Wil Wegmen
"Yee-ha … Wow! What a fish!
Izaak Wegman with a 13 1/2 lb Simcoe laker
Deadly Dead Sticking - by Ryan Hare
Consistently catching lake trout can become a tactical game. Like most fish Laker's can be moody and effected by weather pattern's, but most of the time they are very aggressive feeders.
One of my go to techniques for catching laker's is deadsticking, a technique utilized for various species of fish. The term deadsticking is about as literal as it gets. Your bait is hanging at a given depth almost motionless. Having a good quality fish finder is a must to get full potential of this tactic. Realtime data gives you a set of eyes under the water and full control of what your bait is doing through out the water column.
When using one rod my first choice of bait is a spoon, something flashy to grab the attention of fish cruising around the area. I drop the spoon to the bottom and reel it back up at a steady speed half way to the surface, a form a yo-yoing. I maybe do this 4 or 5 times to see if there are any aggressive fish in the immediate area. Its not uncommon to get a fish right away yo-yoing if you happen to set up on feeding fish.
After flashing the spoon around a bit I let it sit 10-20 feet off bottom and watch the finder. Curious lake trout see the spoon flashing and can't resist coming in and seeing what it is. Once you see the fish start to rise up toward your lure the games begin! As the fish start to approach your lure grab your rod and slowly reel the lure away from the fish. Instinct kicks in and the trout cant help but pursue the lure. I often have laker's chase the spoon right to the surface from bottom in 100+ feet of water only to hit a few feet below the ice.
Its common in the winter for trout to press bait against the ice when feeding, so as long as your hut is dark they think nothing of hanging around and taking swipes at a spoon jigged just below the hole. When using two rods I prefer to use a tube as my chase bait. I hang the tube 15-25 feet off bottom and continue to use a spoon as a attractor, jigging it just off bottom. Fish will usually come into the spoon and notice the hanging tube above and cruise up to have a look. That's when you grab your rod and start steadily taking the tube away. Start when the fish is about 5 feet from your tube. If the fish happens to turn away from the tube use your spoon rod as a follow up sometimes its just the ticket to hooking the fish.
Hanging spoon
Dead stick tube or spoon
Fish coming up
off bottom
These are my base techniques to determine just how active the fish are.Not every fish will commit to hitting using this method but it's proven deadly on aggressive fish. Paying attention to how fish are reacting to the way your presenting your lure is key to success. My choice of finder is the Lowrance x67c.Although flashers are extremely popular and will work, I prefer to have the small history the graph setting allows.
I personally believe it gives you a better idea of how your bait is working. If fish seem reluctant to follow your lure a change of colour or speed might be in order. Even small differences in the depth your presenting your lure at can make a significant difference in the amount of follows you will get. Just like anything some fine tuning makes a difference, try different baits and different take away techniques to find what is most successful for your fishing style. One things for sure hold on cause I can guarantee you'll hook into fish using this technique! Ryan Hare
