It’s easy to look forward to winter when you have an excellent fishery like the Bay of Quinte within a few hours’ drive. World-class trophy walleye fishing is what the bay is famous for and targeting these fish through the ice is worth the trip.
The Bay is relatively sheltered when compared to neighbouring Lake Ontario with many areas where walleye can be found. The walleye season is open from the first Saturday in May until March 1st in fisheries management zone (FMZ 20) and the ice season often starts early. Anglers flock out, sometimes before Christmas, to be rewarded with giant walleye. It is common to see multiple fish in the 30-inch class caught in a single day.
Bay of Quinte for walleye
Several bays join to form what is known as the Bay of Quinte and a number of tributaries feed them. The largest of these walleye nurseries is the Trent River, followed by the Moira, Salmon, and Napanee rivers. These trophy walleye, residents of Lake Ontario during the summer months, migrate into the bay as they stage near spawning waters. They start the trip in late fall, attracting hundreds of anglers. Boaters will target these fish until their boats are breaking the first ice of the season and it is nearly time to break out the ice fishing gear. You could be fishing trophy walleye from a boat one week and pulling giant fish through an eight-inch hole in four inches of early ice the next. Sometimes in early winter, boat anglers fish the open waters of Adolphus Reach, while ice anglers are venturing out onto new ice in the upper reaches of the bay near Trenton.
The many bays and reaches in the Bay are accessible with public parking access at parks and boat ramps as well as roadside parking. Pay attention to signage; parking on some waterfront roads is illegal.
Bay of Quinte hotspots:
Adolphus Reach: A popular location for late fall open-water trolling. This area takes longer to freeze and is not prominent for ice fishing for walleye. It can, however, offer excellent lake trout fishing. It is deep and walleye can be caught suspended from 20 to 30 over water as deep as 150 feet.
Long Reach: Long Reach connects upper Bay of Quinte to Hay Bay and Adolphus Reach. It’s a long narrow section of the bay that has current like a large river. Ice conditions here can be dangerous because of the current, so all precautions should be taken. The ice is accessible at Huff Warf or by snow machine from other areas. Long reach has good structure close to shore and large migrating flats where walleye can be found.
Hay Bay: This bay, located in the southern portion of the Bay, will freeze up sooner than Long Reach, which it connects to. Hay Bay has no major tributaries feeding it but migrating walleye will use the near-shore structure and deep flats in Hay Bay to feed enroute to upstream spawning waters. Anglers use Hay Bay to access the deep structure near Sherman’s Point and Long Reach.
More spots
Big Bay: This part of the Bay is relatively shallow with many large flats that feeding walleye like to roam while migrating. It freezes quickly due to its depth and low current making it a great early ice option. Access can be found in roadside locations on the east side of the bay.
Trenton: Trenton to Belleville is the shallowest area of Quinte and typically has the first safe ice for anglers to begin their ice season. It is also popular late season because walleye move in to spawn up the Trent River. Potters Creek is a popular area for anglers to access the ice. Depth in this area doesn’t exceed about 17 feet.
Deseronto: This area of Quinte has extremely variable ice conditions. Current comes in from the east and west and anglers must pay very close attention to ice thickness when fishing here. Foresters Island, accessible from Deseronto, is a popular location for ice fishing when conditions are cold enough for safe ice.
Catching those ‘eyes
Walleye feed heavily when there is little light. This is often true on the Bay, where there are flurries of action in the early morning hours and at last light. This is why I try to stay on the ice from sunup to sundown. The fish do not exclusively feed at these times, however, and it is worth keeping your bait or lure in the water at midday. I have personally caught all my biggest Quinte walleye between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and have witnessed many big catches. Maybe it’s because big fish need to eat more, so they roam at midday for an extra feed. I frequently use the deadstick technique for these midday fish, usually because I’m busy doing something else, like making lunch.
So if you become preoccupied, keep a line down the hole and don’t stop looking at your sonar. At these times, I’ve spotted fish creeping in and even had fish bite with no lure movement at all. I recommend grabbing your rod when you see this and create small subtle jigs with a slight upward retrieval to try and trigger these fish into biting. We often refer to ice fishing for walleye as a game of cat-and-mouse. Sure, there are those days when fish come in and smash the bait. More often, however, it’s a game of enticement. The use of a sonar or flasher is a must. Seeing what is happening beneath the ice, to assess fish aggression, is what will help you make the right move to get a bite. Often, fish can be seen on the screen visiting a bait, leaving, and returning. This process can repeat over and over.
Equipment
Getting that bite all depends on the allure you create with your jigging cadence. I find that short pops with a deliberately slow retrieval is the best starting point. If the fish refuses, I’ll drop the lure straight to bottom and slam it on the lakebed a few times, then repeat the short pops and slow retrieval. If this fails, I will resort to banging bottom more regularly to attract fish, or adjust with more intense, short, and rapid aggressive jigs.
Lures such as Buckshot spoons, Slender spoons, Rapala Jigging Raps and Snap Raps, and lipless crankbaits are all favourites on the Bay. Tipping these baits with a piece of a minnow is always a good way to increase your odds. Some anglers have success deadsticking a live minnow in a tip-up or an automatic hook setting device, and this is a great option to run a second line outside of the hut.
When it comes to rod and reel, I like medium-action rods from 32 to 36 inches. I primarily fish inside my ice shelter and longer rods are sometime a pain in limited space. I’ll pair rods with light 1000-size reels spooled with 12- to 20-pound braided line. I use an eight- to 10-pound leader about two rod lengths long, tied to the braid with a micro barrel swivel. A small snap tied to the end of the leader will allow you to quickly change baits.
I avoid using snap swivels for two reasons. One, they aren’t as subtle as a snap and two, they often foul baits like buckshot spoons when jigging. A barrel swivel tied to the braid will help deal with any line twist that lures may cause.
Deep or shallow?
Choosing a place to fish on the Bay often means deciding if you want to fish deep or shallow. I prefer to fish walleye at 20 feet or more because of the way sonar displays. The beam it shoots down is shaped like a cone, which hits the bottom and reflects to the surface. In shallow water, the cone’s area will be relatively small due to the angle of the beam. For water less than 20 feet, the cone may only represent a circle on bottom smaller than my ice hut floor area. In deeper water, however, the cone has more opportunity to widen. With more area displayed, I see more fish and have more opportunity to catch them. Fish tend to stay on the screen longer, allowing more opportunity to figure out what it will take to get a bite.
The downside of fishing deep for walleye is that fish may suffer. Sometimes, the eyes of walleye caught in deeper water will bulge, as a result of the quick pressure change. Anglers regularly report bloated eyes and air bladders coming out of the mouths of their catches when landing fish from 30 feet or deeper. These fish cannot be released as they will not swim back down and harvesting is the only option. If you’ve caught your limit, move to shallower water.
Late winter means lakers
When walleye fishing closes on March 1st, it’s not quite time to hang up the ice rods on the Bay. The waters in Adolphus Reach and near Amherst Island offer some excellent lake trout opportunities. Ice can last here until late March in a cold winter. A short ferry ride over to Amherst Island is a neat experience and anglers do this to take advantage of access to some textbook lake trout structure. The depth exceeds more than 100 feet in these areas and this water is heavily stocked with lakers. These great lakes beasts can exceed 30 pounds. Lakers hunt down baits with aggressive chases on the sonar and take drag-peeling runs that will spool your reel if you aren’t prepared.
Venturing out onto the frozen expanse of the Bay of Quinte for ice fishing is an endeavour that rewards anglers with an unmatched angling experiences. The allure of landing giant walleye and massive lake trout on these waters is irresistible to enthusiasts who seek the ultimate challenge. Angling on Quinte demands patience and perseverance, but the thrill of hooking into one of these monsters and the satisfaction that comes with a successful day on the ice makes the investment worthwhile.
Safety first
Ice condition reports found on the many online forums must be taken with caution. There is no way of knowing if ice is safe to travel on unless you check it yourself. Any ice fishing done on large bodies of water with current must be approached with extreme caution. The Bay has taken lives and to ensure you keep yours, the following precautions should always be taken.
- Always fish with a friend or in a group.
- Don’t trust ice reports.
- Check ice thickness using a spud bar and auger regularly. Spud every step.
- Watch for pressure cracks and avoid crossing them.
- Don’t fish early ice on a warm or windy day.
- Use aerial imagery to see if there is any open water in the area to avoid.
- Carry a rope.
- Take ice picks to pull yourself out if you fall through.
- Stay off ice under four inches thick.
Pay attention to ice and weather conditions throughout the day as they can change and always check the ice with your spud bar on your walk back in because it may not be the same thickness as when you walked out.
More info
On Quinte, the walleye limit is four fish, and only one may be over 24 inches long.
Three of my angling buddies show the average size of walleye found on Quinte. In extreme cold temps, take quick photos of the fish you aren’t keeping. Their skin and eyes can freeze quickly. Keep fish inside hut if possible.
If open water fishing is more your thing, check out our fall visit to the Bay of Quinte, in your Nov.-Dec. 2022 Digital Edition.
Originally published in the Nov.-Dec. 2023 issue of Ontario OUT of DOORS
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