Spring has finally sprung here in Kingston, Ontario. While the ice had mostly gone off the big lake a few weeks ago, it was hanging on in some of the bays and marinas in the area. We have extreme low water right now and very little usable boat ramps to service us. Low and behold the wind on Mar 26th blew out the ramp that I prefer to use, and we were in business for the first trip of 2021. Having started @KingstonSportFishing over the winter, this would be my first season guiding clients on Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte for Trophy Walleyes and Lake Trout.
Today I had one client, an avid angler that had fished many species but not Lake Trout. We met up at 730am and hit the lake. I had the Ranger in the water and the motors all warmed up for our trip, water temps are around 34 degrees and air temps are in the low 40’s. After our run out into the lake, we slowed and set lines. Speed is important, like with all species, so we aim to start around 2mph but tweak that as the day goes along to find the sweet spot. There are a lot of currents in this area and you have to be careful as you can be doing 2 mph on the surface but your lures are barely moving due to the underwater currents. After setting the speed, its time to set the lines. We can run 2 lines per angler on Lake Ontario, so we set out 4 different spoons on planer boards off my Okuma 8’6” trolling rods and reels with various snap weights and a lead core setup. We started in 60 fow and worked some of the area that I have had success in the past. We hit a fish early on but lost it at the boat, otherwise the first hour was slow. I am now in hunt mode and working my way to another area that has been good with a little more structure. Once we got there, the screen lit up and I knew it was only a matter of time. Lakers very rarely mark as suspended hooks on the graph but with properly tuned electronics you can see them clinging to bottom. We are now in 40-50 fow with marks all over the bottom and boom the lead core fires. After a short battle we landed a 10-12lb fish. This would be close to our average for the day. After we hit two more fish on the lead core, I pulled one of the braid rods and deployed another lead core with the same spoon but different colour, boom, fish on within 2 minutes. We made 4-5 passes across this spot over the next 4-5 hours and caught a bunch more fish. By 130 we had boated approx. 20 fish, all reeled in by one guy. We were at the end of our troll at this point, and I gave him the option of turning back to continue the pounding or turn towards port and work our way back in closer, still a chance for a fish but less for sure. Well, he had enough action that he wanted a rest, so we turned back towards port for that well deserved rest. Unfortunately, the fish did not agree, and we hit another and then another and then another. By this time, the wind had picked up and was rolling Lake Ontario pretty good, but the Ranger 620 handled it with ease and made for a very comfortable, dry ride back to the dock.
All told, we boated somewhere between 25-30 fish on the day with many other rips on the boards that did not stick. Our average was around 13-14lbs and the largest of the day was a chunky 21.5lbs Spring in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario is incredible Lake Trout fishing and once you dial in the program it can be electric. As the water warms these fish push out deeper into the lake and need to be targeted in 80-200 fow. We are spoiled to have them so close to home at ice-out. Hopefully, the bite stays hot for my clients in April and then it will be time to switch gears towards Walleye’s, our opener is the first Saturday in May. Check out www.Kingstonsportfishing.ca for some info on the fishing in the area or our Instagram @kingstonsportfishing for current reports/pics.
Thanks for the report, Bob!
