Lake Trout Opening Weekend

[JimW]

With Zone 20 lake trout opener December 1st and my boat in storage, I jumped on the offer to head out on Lake Ontario on Saturday with my buddy Matt in search of a lake trout or two. The weather was not bad, a couple degrees above freezing and just a drizzle of rain, but the winds and waves were definitely not ideal. So we decided to not travel too far and fish some shelter water instead of rocking and rolling out in the waves in open water.

We started setting lines and immediately had a fish on and landed a nice laker to start the day!!! The bite has not epic but with speed and boat control an issue in the waves in open water we worked sheltered areas for the morning.... catching one fish here and another fish there, here a fish, there a fish.... nothing huge but a fun morning on the water.

laker 2.jpg (154.08 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

Hopefully if I get out again, the winds will be more cooperative so we can venture out into more open water.
On our way back the the launch we passed a 2 guys trolling in 14 foot aluminum boat bouncing around in 2-2.5 foot waves.... not wearing float suits or even life jackets and no other boats within site.... late Fall fishing can be awesome, but please be smart and be safe.

laker 1.jpg (394.86 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

Normally I don’t keep any Lake Ontario lake trout, usually because they are too big, but we caught a few smaller fish yesterday, so a couple come home with me. So what is producing all these big Lake Ontario lake trout…. let’s take a look inside… gobies!!

laker stomach.jpg (115.25 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

laker n goby.jpg (152.21 KiB) Viewed 2264 times

Hopefully back out on the water next weekend chasing Quinte walleye or Lake Ontario lakers.... if someone wants to take me.

[Fisherman89]

Nice lakers Jim!

Do you ever get out to ice fish Quinte? I never have, but hoping to make a trip out there this season for a PB walleye!

[JimW]

Nice lakers Jim!

Do you ever get out to ice fish Quinte? I never have, but hoping to make a trip out there this season for a PB walleye!

Yes for awhile I used to make the 2 hour trip and ice fish Quinte 6-8 days each winter. Now depending on the weather I usually fish 2-3 days on the ice each winter on Quinte. First ice is usually really good but no fish is worth fishing on 2-3" of ice in areas with current. Quinte ice is sketchy in a good cold winter due to currents, with the winters lately definitely need to take lots of precautions.

If you want to hit Quinte ice feel free to give me a shout I will hopefully be making a few trips this winter.