Italo Thanks for making yourself so available to us mere mortals.Now that the zebra mussels have made the water so clear. Have the walleyes change there habits in the bay of quinte Would you think clear mono would work best or low vis green Not opening week but a couple of weeks later where would you fish in the bay and how deep worms or lures Best regards Jim Z Rochester NY
Posted on March 27th, 2015Hi Jim…We have had zebra mussels long enough in southern Ontario that most of the fish populations have adjusted to the water clarity changes. The walleye have indeed changed their movements according to water clarity. Before the zebra mussels arrived, there very few, isolated, thick weedbeds in the Bay of Quinte and the water was turbid throughout the open-water season. Back in the early to mid 80’s, in the spring & summer months walleye could be caught litterally at any depth from the bottom in 15-40′ of water, or cruising in 1-2’of water along the shorelines. During the peak of the zebra mussel water clarity period the water did indeed become very clear, the aqatic vegetation expanded imensely and the walleye predominently either stayed in deeper water near the bottom (15-40′), or fed on suspended baitfish in much deeper water (in water as deep as 120′). Today, things appear to have stagalized. During the winter, early spring and late fall, the water is pretty clear throughout the Bay, but during the summer months, there are healthy “algae-blooms”, and the walleye are once again cruising and feeding along the multitude of weedlines in 5-12′ of water. I normally don’t start fishing the Upper Bay until June when there is good weed-growth and turbid water produced by the algae-blooms. That’s when I just cast the www.rapala.com , Tail Dancer #9 “hot-chub” color crankbait along the weedlines and catch lot’s of walleye all day long. If you will be fishing a few weeks after opening you can catch eating-size walleye litterally drift-fishing or trolling near the bottom anywhere in the “main-Bay-basin”, ( around the channel markers where the water is 15-25′ deep). If you are drifting, you can fish a live-bait rig with a worm harness along the bottom, or you can fish a weighted forward spinner/worm. If you troll, you can use the Rapala Tail Dancer #9, The Shad Rap & Jointed Shad Rap in the #7, and the Rapala DT Flat series in the #7 size. Line color does not really matter as long as you use a fluorocarbon leader that is at least 2′ in length. I prefer to fish for walleye there using either the www.sufix.com , or www.rapala.ca , Braided lines….God bless you, Italo
