Cranking for big walleye in Adolphus Reach.
Posted on August 25th, 2009[singlepic id=357 w=320 h=240 float=]August is an excellent time to fish the Lower Bay of Quinte, or more properly called, Adolphus Reach. This is where the Lower Bay meets Lake Ontario, and in-fact, if you are fishing east of Glenora, ON (where the ferry goes across), you are legally allowed to fish with 2-rods (just like in the open waters of Lake Ontario). Of course, cranking you can only use one rod at a time. I talk to anglers all the time that like to troll this area and I do too, but only when the temperatures are below-zero, and there is too much ice-buildup on the guides to cast effectively. So, I normally troll in the same area in Dec., & Jan., until it freezes-over. In Aug., though, the walleye feed voraciously in and out of the miles of weedlines on both the south and north shorelines. When Roger Cannon and I shot the show that is repeating on TSN this week we had bright sunny skies, flat-water and air temperatures of around 75F. Most people would think that these are not good conditions to catch walleye, but for the Lake Ontario walleye, these conditions are ideal. I have found over the last 38-years that the best time to crank the weedlines in this part of the Bay of Quinte is from 10am-4pm. That’s right, you don’t have to get up before daybreak to be on the water. Though, if you fish up until dark, the same walleye that cruise the weedlines in 12-20′ of water, move into just a few feet of water and that’s when you can use floating Original Rapalas and the Rapala Husky Jerk right along the shorelines to catch the same fish. Many fans as me how long it takes me to shoot a TV show. In Roger and my case, we caught all the walleye we could use in the show in about 4-hours!
