As avid walleye fishermen we often dream of catching a fish surpassing the ten pound mark. This is considered a goal for many walleye anglers throughout North America. This also can be a very humbling task and can leave fishermen doubting and disbelieving their strategies. The honest truth to being successful in doing this you have to be where they exist. Many bodies of water throughout our provinces and states simply don’t have what it takes to produce this size of walleye.
Genetics, over population, food supply, regulations, and quantity of harvest are some of the major factors causing this. Bodies of water that have proven themselves over the years like Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Winnipeg, Tobin Lake, Columbia River, and Last Mountain Lake with impressive numbers of fish over 10 pounds, even some exceeding the 18 pound mark! When walleye reach this size it’s absolutely breathe taking and landing one of these will leave a smile on your face that doesn’t seem to leave!
Up until last year I had never been to the Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario, and all I have to say is WOW! We are talking GIANT GOLDEN WALLEYE! The same fish we all picture while we sleep. Some of these fish look like they just came from a pie eating contest!
FALL WALLEYE MIGRATION
In late fall huge numbers of giant walleye migrate from Lake Ontario into the Bay of Quinte, where they stage to spawn in the spring. This process starts in early September and carries through all winter long. Opening up a huge window of opportunity, for us fishermen to catch a walleye of a lifetime. Some of these schools of fish can be in the hundreds! Just imagine knowing you’re lure is about to intercept a bunch of pigs with fins! The excitement I get just thinking about it is absolutely overwhelming.
The the key areas to target in the bay are Adolphus Reach, Hay Bay, Picton Bay, Long reach and Glenora Ferry. Throughout the course of the migration each spot has it’s time and place. This makes it very important to cover ground when not getting strikes. A huge factor in this migration is the abundance of gizzard shad that can be in schools of thousands. It’s plain in simple to know why these fish look like sumo wrestlers. They are lined up at the smorg all day and all night! This brings me to the importance of properly locating the bait/fish/or bait and fish. While using your locaters once you have found the fish, bait or both it becomes a game of what lure and what speed is going to make it happen.
CRANKBAIT BITE!
The best way to catch these big walleye is to run crankbaits behind inline planer boards. Often these walleye and gizzard shad can be within a few feet of surface, making planer boards the essential part of the set up. What a planer board allows you to do is get your lines as far away from the boat as possible. Quite often the boat itself going over the fish spooks them from the boat path out to the sides. In the meantime your lures and planer boards are a few minutes behind the line of boat path allowing the fish time to settle down exactly where you want them. At times we had planer boards 150ft away from the boat when we were alone in a spot. In saying this if you are around other fishermen its proper practice to respect their space as well.
One very important piece of the puzzle while connecting your line to the planer board is to double loop the front clip. This will ensure your board stays on your line during hard strikes, being in waves, and while fighting the fish to the boat. Nobody wants to reel in six lines because a board comes off it takes a lot of time, and is frustrating when you know you’re on the money spot!
A tricky part is removing the planer board while fighting a fish. It’s important to keep tension on your line and always keep the motor in gear with enough speed to do so. The guy with the rod should be standing halfway up the boat pointing towards the motor, where essentially the second guy will unhook the board. Behind the board depending on what depth we want our lures to run, can be up to 150ft of line. A great app for your phone is Precision Trolling Data. It carries many different lures showing the amount of line to depth ratio, a great component to know where your lure is running at all times.
LURE SELECTION
Key lures we used are the Bagley Deep Diving Minnow B , Bagley Rumble B, Rapala Tail Dancer, and Rapala Husky Jerks. The ability to stager multiple lines give’s you opportunity to try different models and colors during the same time. When we talk colors don’t be scared to use some wild looking stuff, but make sure you start with a good variety. As shown in the picture featuring our lures most of our big fish came from the crazy colored lures. Speed is crucial and a very tricky part to the equation. Some days they want it slow and some days they want it on the faster side. This could mean experimenting from 1.2 – 2.2mph. My belief is the later in the year it gets the more you want to slow down. Our key speeds were 1.4-1.6mph if we got out of that range we could not get a bite during the first week of December. Earlier in the fall you had to be going around 2mph.
Rod and reel brand remains a personal preference. I highly suggest a long 9-10ft medium action trolling rod allowing good support for the planer board setup. This also allows you to stagger lines properly in control to ensure a tangle free setup. The long rod also allows plenty of bend for these heavy hard hitting fish to eliminate tearing hooks. Line counter reels are a must to know how deep your lure is running. Spool them with 15-20pd Braid. To the braid you can connect a trolling swivel or tie a uni- knot to a 6 ft 10-15lb Fluorocarbon leader which will connect to your lure. Fluorocarbon is a must for its abrasion resistant durability.
The Picton Harbor is a great place to stay as well leaving you 50ft from the water! Chasing monster walleye for decades the one thing I stress the most is proper handling and release of trophy fish. Many taxidermists make beautiful replicas that will last a lifetime. Releasing these giant fish properly will ensure future generations get the opportunity to experience these giant walleye. So get down to the Bay of Quinte this fall and catch some golden pigs with fins! Tight lines friends.