Fishing Reports
Lake Couchiching
Good ice conditions throughout most of the lake and the perchin is excellent. Small spoons, jigs, and minnows are working well. Best fishing is between 18 and 30 feet.
Lake Simcoe
South shore of Kempenfelt has been the hot spot for trout so far. Caution is required as ice conditions vary with 2 to 7 inches of good ice. Virgina Beach whitefish action has been steady and Cooks Bay perch has been excellent since early January.
Georgian Bay
Lake Muskoka
No report yet.
Bay of Quinte
First ice Walleye fishing has been very good.
Lake Nippissing
For the latest information check out Rob Hyatt Outdoors
Fishing Reports Wanted
If you are an OBFN Member or a local hut operator, please send us your fishing or ice condition reports.
2009 Story Archives
by John WhyteA Weekend On The Bay of Quinte by Jason Barnucz
Spring Crappy by Kurt Hehl
Erie Tune-UP by Ryan Hare
Fifty fish days on Simcoe are few and far between for me and I can't help but wonder where all these fish were in August. On the last day of the season late in the afternoon with a setting sun, we pulled up to the ramp and loaded Marks boat for the last this year. There was one other truck in the parking lot. In the spring of the year shortly after ice out I was launching my boat in Smiths Bay near Orillia. There was one tow vehicle and trailer already there and on the water. It belonged to Des Barns, founder of the Ontario B.A.S.S. Federation Nation. On the last day as I hopped in my truck to leave the Barrie launch there was one truck left in the lot. It belonged to Des Barns. Des was off in the middle of the lake somewhere squeezing every last drop of the season and what a great season it was.
Des Barns with a November 30th big fat smallmouth
Mark Kulik with a big smallie caught on a new Strike Zone bait
"50 Bass days on Simcoe"
Lake Erie in November after the Frostbite Open
What a November on Lake Erie! With the Niagara Bassmasters 30 pound challenge and the Frostbite series there was tournament activity every weekend. Erie certainly lived up to its billing as the smallmouth capital of North America producing limits of nice fish for everyone participating. In 2010 the OBFN Provincial Qualifier moves to this incredible fishery and everyone will get a taste of what she has to offer.
The hard water season in the Bay of Quite region is off to a great start thanks to an early cold snap in late December and early January. Ice conditions vary throughout the bay and as is always the case we recommend you contact a local hut operator or tackle shop closest to where you want to access before you head out. With the help of experienced guides from the Quinte Fishing Team, our newest roaming reporter Ashley Rae gives an account of what you can expect from “the Bay” and why Quinte is still the Trophy Walleye capital of the country.
A Cure for the End of Bass Season Blues By Ashley Rae:
My first successful ice fishing trip of the season was on Sunday, January 3, on the Bay of Quinte. I had only been ice fishing about four times in my whole life … and with little success. I set out with local guides Jeff Chisholm, Ryan Shorey and Paul McTaggart from the Quinte Ice Fishing Team; a great group of local guides who knew their stuff. We began at about 6:30am and everything was set up in the dark, and we were ready to go in no time. The bite was slow to start with just few fish for the others being caught early. I was beginning to think this trip would end up like earlier adventures but when my first hit came around 10am my spell was broken and I coached my first walleye through the ice. I was hooked! Not long after my first came another and the bite was on.
We were joined by some more friends of the Quinte Ice Fishing Team and fish were coming up through the ice steadily … with about 20 walleye in total for the day. When you’re out on Quinte and the bite is on, you don’t want to leave. So even after dark we hung in there and I caught three more big walleye after nightfall. My biggest Quinte Eye pulled thru the ice came in at an even10 pounds and needless to say I was very excited!
Ice conditions vary in the bay but there was 8 inches of good ice where we were and I was fishing in about 17 feet of water. The fish were holding down near the bottom and I could see on the flasher that they would follow my lure up and then STRIKE! The power of these trophy walleye thru the ice is something all avid anglers should experience. It was a great feeling and I can definitely tell you I will be out ice fishing again as soon as possible (hopefully next week)! What better way to get over those 'long winter - no bass season' blues! I put together a video of the day here: http://www.youtube.com/ashleymrae
Very special thanks to Jeff, Paul and Ryan of the Quite Ice Fishing Team. For a great day on these trophy waters you can contact the team at www.quinteicefishing.com
The Last Truck in the Parking Lot
As the sun sets on another bass season and the first skim of ice starts to form in the bays and we surrender to the tweener season, we reflect on what an incredible fall it was, particularly November. I can't recall a November with so many perfect days. I spent the last two days of the season with Ontario Pro's David Chong.and Strike Kings own Mark Kulik on Lake Simcoe. The later part of the month might have been the best smallmouth fishing I can remember with fish after fish from 4 to 7 pound range. I was showing off a new blade bait with good success but I was getting schooled on more than I wish to share. Floater suits were the attire but their was a few days that sweaters were overkilll. We fished in depths between 25 and 50 ft. depending on the time of day and how much cloud cover there was.
On some parts of the lake it was no more than a social gathering, a final time to see old friends and diehards before many disappear for the winter. Nobody keeps fish for any longer than it takes to snap a shot or two and after a while nobody even keeps track of how many were caught. Some days we boated 50 fish and bad days were in the teens. We were also trying some new Strike King baits and some old baits in new colors. I won't spoil the introduction of the baits but only to say "AWSOME".
Mark works countless hours testing baits and has an army of anglers testing in different waters all over the province so I was honored to be included in the program. There are days in late fall when smallies will hit a coke can but there are others that they become very particular and those are the best days to test baits with suttle profile and color differences. I know I have some new tools for next fall.
There's a smile under
that mask.
A Bright Light in the Cold of Winter : by Ryan Hare
After what seemed like a lifetime, the day came that Simcoe finally locked up. I felt like a kid on Christmas when I first got the word. It was early in the week and surely by the time the weekend rolled around I would be able to get out and chase some of the lakes scrappy deepwater predators. I paced the halls of my house thinking about what my approach would be to the first day of the season. When the weekend rolled around I had my game plan and gear ready to go. I hit the ice to find the conditions still a little inconsistent, with 5" of good ice in places and 2.5" within a few meters. As we moved toward the first target area I constantly checked the ice with the spud bar. The ice seemed to be very hard so we kept moving further out with a high degree of caution we finally reached our first spot and started setting up our gear.
The area I was fishing holds large amounts of baitfish early season and in turn attracts good numbers of lake trout. I started in 85 feet of water, set up my graph and dropped my lure to the bottom. The graph was lit up with bait and what appeared to be herring slashing around feeding. It’s been great to watch what we believe is the recovery of the herring in the lake. In the last 3 years there seems to be a dramatic recovery in the number of Cisco or Lake Herring. A healthy population of Cisco would certainly assist in the ongoing recovery of natural trout reproduction.
I bounced my lure about 5ft off bottom a few times and watched my graph as a large streak appeared and headed toward my lure. After a couple cranks of the reel a felt a solid smack and my first laker of the season was hooked. It felt great to be back on the ice catching trout and after a few drag screaming runs I iced a nice fish around 8lbs. Not a bad start to the season and I had a gut feeling that it was going to be a great weekend.
The action was great over the next few hours, my fishing partner and I took a steady pick of Lakers that all seemed to fall in the 5-8 lbs range with only a couple of small fish between 3-4lbs. Something I found interesting was that in spite of the apparent recovery of Cisco, every fish caught was gorged and burping up smelt. After the area started to get crowded the fishing slowed down to a crawl. I pack up my gear and moved out to some deeper water. Once there, we found more aggressive fish that provided some great gear testing fights.
The next day was much the same. We started fishing in about 95 fow and found instant success. To my surprise the average fish was again in the 5-8lbs range with a few fish pushing over 10lbs! Keeping mobile was key to finding active fish. A short move made a huge difference in the amount of fish hooked. Through out the day we beat up on them, catching and releasing many big healthy lake trout. The highlight of my day was hooking a 10 pound fish 10 feet below my hole sight fishing. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest when I saw the fish open his huge mouth and inhale the jig, instantly peeling line back down to the bottoms.
When the weekend was all said and done we had iced almost 40 nice healthy Lakers and only a few of the fish came in at 3-4lbs. What a way to start the hard water season.
Every fish was released and swam away to grow bigger and be caught another day. Releasing fish of spawning age is even more important now considering the recent decision by the Ministry of Natural Resources with guidance from the Lake Simcoe Fish Management Zone Council to reduce stocking substantially. These efforts will support natural reproduction.
Tight lines
