Fish-Hawk.Net

Well I have not been out fishing for two weeks and after some motor issues a couple weeks ago, I was anxious to get out in the boat a couple last times before freeze up. So decided I would make the couple hour trek west to the Quinte area and either fish for walleye or lake trout. My buddy Brian, who I have been trying to get out on the water with for awhile joined my in my boat today. He was interested in some Quinte gold, so I decided we would start the day looking for a nice 10 pound Quinte walleye for my buddy, and if no luck switch to lake trout later in the day.

Walleye, especially trophy 10 plus pound walleye have been my passion since I was a kid and we fished walleye for our week long summer vacation up in Quebec for 15 years. I have landed and helped friends catch a good number of 10, 11 and 12 pound walleye over the last 10 years, and I always get exciting boating a 10 pounder, which is the reason I love making the drive to Quinte, knowing that every day you have the chance at a 10 pound or bigger fish!!

We launched my boat a bit before 7 am and run to our first fishing spot, thanks to my marine tech buddy the boat was running great.

I set up our 4 rod spread running Deep Husky Jerk 14s, WNC Repears and Reefrunners and we are in business, as usually we start marking good numbers of deep fish 60 to 100 feet down over 120-130 feet of water... we slowly troll along looking for active fish a little higher up, in the 30 to 50 feet range.

After about an hour and a half a rod takes a hit and the planer board is dropping back.... FISH ON. As is standard practice on my boat my guest gets the first fish, though after today I might change the practice, and then we rotate back and forth, so Brian is up and after a nice little battle we land a nice chunky 9 pound walleye.... not a 10 pounder, but hard to complain catching a 9 pound walleye. Brian is happy and we got the skunk off... so things are looking up.



We continue trolling for another hour marking fish, but no takers, I decide to switch up a couple lures and shortly after that FISH ON.... my turn on the rod and in a couple minutes we land our second walleye of the day, no trophy but a nice fish!!



We after a couple quick photos we get the line back in the water and a few minutes later the same lure takes another hit... FISH ON... Brian's turn again. After we unhook the inline planer board we can tell this is a good sized fish, not wanting to be too optimist I figure it is a big ol' sheaphead, the fish is staying down so I don't get to see it until it is right at the net.... it's a big walleye.... this will definitely be Brian's 10 or maybe even 11 pounder we are after!!! We can not lose this fish!!! After a little back of the boat battle I slide the net under the fish... we got her!!! As I lift the net in the boat I realize this is not a 10 or 11 pounder.... it is in a class of it's own!!!

We are super excited to say the least... we quickly unhook the fish and get it out of the net, wanting to get her back in the water asap. A couple quick photos of this hawg and a quick measurement on the scale, I am hoping of a 12 pounder, as I have not boated a 12 pounder for a few years, or maybe a bit bigger, this is the largest walleye I have seen in person!!! Well the scale jumped up and down a bit, but this is her weight that the scale landed on the most, I have used this numerous times and checked it's accuracy and it is pretty accurate....



This fish was a tank in the 14.5 pound range, with a huge gut, no barotrauma, just a hawg of a walleye!!! And one that will not be forgotten for a long time. After a minute or so holding her in the water, she swam away strong and driving back down to the depths with no problems... to grow bigger.

This is the fish the picture does not do the fish justice, and I know there is always lots of talk of how people hold the fish...etc... to make it look bigger, this is not the case, it is an awesome fish definitely bigger than the 12+ pounders I have landed in the past. I am still excited about the fish.



After releasing the big girl, we continue fishing for a couple more hours landing a few more fish, but nothing close to the beast!!!





Here are our top producers for the day... Walleye Nation Creation Repears in Purple Tiger and Candy Crush and Deep Husky Jerk 12 in Glass Minnow.



Well it was definitely a day on the water I will not forget for a long time.

Hopefully I will get out in the boat one or two more times before the ice comes, maybe for lake trout and to look for a 16 pound walleye.

Tight lines and thanks for reading.

Wow great fish. BOQ is a fish factory. Never got to fish it open water just ice fishing.

Man I miss the BoQ

Congrats!

Great walleye!! Thanks for sharing.

Jay

congrats. wtg. trully nice ones ya got there,,,

Beauties...that's a once in a life time fish ! Thanks for sharing tactics and tips, always appreciated.

That's a fish of a life time JIM, were you using lead core lines to get that deep. What kind of fish finder do you have to be that accurate,,,Wally

Wally wrote: ↑Tue Dec 07, 2021 7:21 pm That's a fish of a life time JIM, were you using lead core lines to get that deep. What kind of fish finder do you have to be that accurate,,,Wally

We were running 4 baits between 25 and 35 feet deep over 100 to 130 feet of water. The majority of the deep fish 60 to 80 feet seem to be sheephead and silver bass, I have run my underwater camera down to 60 feet and only get sheephead on camera, though I am sure there are some walleye mixed in.

Some of my deep diving crankbaits run 28 to 30 feet deep just using braided line with a fluoro leader. A few of the baits such as the Deep Husky Jerk 12s only go 20 feet deep max, so for a few extra feet of depth I will add a snap weight or use my rods that have a section of 2, 3 or 4 colours of leadcore.

I do not have any fancy fish finder, I am just using a Helix 5 Gen 1 Sonar/GPS combo.... not 12" screen or live scope or side imaging.... maybe some day.

Thanks for the info JIm ,i have a helix 7 Mega SI and i'm only fishing the Ottawa River can't even see a fish on the screen ,i try different setting but
doesn't seem to make much difference. My transducer is about 1/4 inch under the hull. Any suggestion......Wally

Wally wrote: ↑Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:13 pm Thanks for the info JIm ,i have a helix 7 Mega SI and i'm only fishing the Ottawa River can't even see a fish on the screen ,i try different setting but
doesn't seem to make much difference. My transducer is about 1/4 inch under the hull. Any suggestion......Wally

Hey Wally something definitely does not sound right. I am not overly familiar with that unit do you get bottom and structure on the screen fine? Any pictures of your boat showing location of your transducer?

Wally: Fish won't show up on your screen looking like a fish, but more like a white blob. Larger fish will appear a bit more elongated, but not like the returns we see with the Mega Live or Livescope transducers. Your transducer may be a touch low as well. It should be flush or a hair above your hull. Avoid mounting it directly behind the Strakes.
On my boat, my SI transducer is actually out of the water when I run. I have a second hi speed transducer that shoots through the hull for depth at speed.

Ed

toobinator wrote: ↑Thu Dec 09, 2021 7:36 am Wally: Fish won't show up on your screen looking like a fish, but more like a white blob. Larger fish will appear a bit more elongated, but not like the returns we see with the Mega Live or Livescope transducers. Your transducer may be a touch low as well. It should be flush or a hair above your hull. Avoid mounting it directly behind the Strakes.
On my boat, my SI transducer is actually out of the water when I run. I have a second hi speed transducer that shoots through the hull for depth at speed.

Ed

Thanks for the info Ed

Thanks Ed/Jim for the tips. My transducer is mounted between my 2 runners where there is less disturbance. I have a Princecraft 170 S/E .
I saw quite a few video's on you tube and there's all kind of difference opinions where to mount your tranducer, Was told if it's not low enough
you won't get any reading at high speed (15/25KM ) i even took my leveler on the water add some coins and did the same at home to make sure
it was level.I play with my sensivity and it has to be crank up to the max to even see a screen .I know the Ottawa River is not the ST_Lawrence
the water clarity is a lot dirtier. I was thinking of selling it and get a Mega Plus.What do you think......Wally

Too bad you didn't get any eaters Jim....lol

nice walleye bud