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From: Jay Thomas
Date: 09 Nov 2004
Time: 14:58:33 -0500
Remote Name: 64.230.64.11
Hello again Capt Guy:
Yes, I have fished Bay of Quinte (BOQ) thru the ice for walleye during our winter months. Its about a three hour drive for us. However, it's been at least 10 years since I was there. Our group didn't stop going because of lack of walleyes but rather because us old retired guys just didn't like the cold much any more. We always caught walleyes (about 9 lbs was our biggest).
November and December are great soft water months to catch trophy sized walleyes - you just require the proper equipment (i.e. survival suits and appropriately sized boats and motors). Lately, the guys have had to deal with 4 to 6 foot swells. The BOQ discussion board is the best information source. (http://forums.quintefishing.com/phpBB2/) Most of the guys are helpful and will let you know where the schools of big girls are.
Telegraph Narrows is probably one of the better ice fishing areas for walleyes. However, it can be very treacherous because there's three different currents there that can eat away ice quickly. On one Sat in February, our hut was positioned 150 yards from open water. By Sun afternoon, open water was less than 50 yards away. Once again, the BOQ discussion board can advise you on ice thicknesses and local weather forecasts.
The BOQ definitely has not been fished out. Evidence for that is easily seen on the web references I have provided. On top of that, each spring during the spring spawning run, the native fishery traditionally harvests between 10,000 and 15,000 walleye (average size harvested in 2001 was about 5 pounds).
The BOQ probably represents one of the best opportunities available in North America to catch a trophy walleye. Jay