2019 Ice season, Shirley's bay

[CCLad]

Hey P.B.S. So same for you with respect to the time of the bite (Was out tonight and caught two very small pickerel between 4-5 pm, then nada for the rest of the night, )... man thats odd!! Thats been the same for us both in towards the shore and where we are now...Been out there for allot of years and the standard of 1 hr before sunset to the 2 hrs past was always the window.... Will keep at her......, hopefully things go back to "normal". Going to be out tomorrow with the Brown Hound

@ smitty55 (didnt feel like posting twice
Where we are now its about 11 feet deep. There is no "Deep line" par say.. Fishing the standard 1 foot off the bottom. Have worked the jig up the water column as well from time to time.... You are probably correct with respect to the larger walleye. I'm guessing they are still out in the main channel. They should be getting the notion to move in towards spawning grounds pretty soon. (and or move towards them)
"how much ice is there where you want to go? We're into a good cold snap again"?
Havent ventured out any further yet but I am guessing there's a good foot. Its only about 400 m from where we are now and we are on 12-13" and that was as of Mon - its COLD!!!. I'll walk out and punch a few holes to test, if its good we will move.

[pickereye chaser]

heading to shirley's with a group of newbies on Friday. Any idea how the slush is going to be with the milder temps this week?

[smitty55]

heading to shirley's with a group of newbies on Friday. Any idea how the slush is going to be with the milder temps this week?

It's only going up to 0° on Wednesday, other wise it's still below 0 so the temps shouldn't be much of an issue. Most often slush forms after a heavy snow pushes down on the ice forcing water up through cracks and ice fishing holes. You'll get a better idea later in the week.

Cheers

[pickereye chaser]

thanks - figured as much but wanted to make sure I'm not taking newbies into a gross mess

[Pickerel Boy Senior]

So, a little better tonight, 2 small sauger and 3 pickerel that were 10-12 inches, still small but aleast got some bites, and OH, The young fella got them all, all the fish were caught jigging, none on the tip ups, another great night . Will move further out this weekend hopefully

[smitty55]

So, a little better tonight, 2 small sauger and 3 pickerel that were 10-12 inches, still small but aleast got some bites, and OH, The young fella got them all, all the fish were caught jigging, none on the tip ups, another great night . Will move further out this weekend hopefully

Good on Junior, congrats on finding the right lure and cadence. I bet he was smiling even if they were small. I'm surprised your set lines didn't get touched. How close to bottom did you have your minnows? I've found that it can make a huge difference, specially with good snow cover and come dusk.

Good luck

[Pickerel Boy Senior]

Thanks Smitty, we mix it up between 6-18 in off the bottom, it will happen soon with the bigger ones coming in.

Thanks

[smitty55]

Thanks Smitty, we mix it up between 6-18 in off the bottom, it will happen soon with the bigger ones coming in.

Thanks

Well I would then say that you are way to high off bottom, specially at 18". I've seen it enough times where someone was not catching fish while I was and when I told them to get under 6" from bottom they started catching Pickerel. Myself, I have my minnows within 2" of bottom. If you think about it, even in the summertime working structure with a jig, most of the time you want your jig making contact with the bottom fairly often. And specially in current, Walleye tend to hug the bottom even more where current is lessened.So my suggestion on your set lines is to get as close to bottom as you can without the minnow being able to hide.

Cheers

[CCLad]

Has anybody ventured out in a truck since the giant dumps of snow??? We moved are hut way the f*^k out then the snow came. Havent been able to fish since
Of course we have a snowmobile .... But... Its in the shop.. Sigh.....

[cjohnson@tj5.ca]

Hey CCLAD - I was out yesterday and there was at least 3 or 4 trucks I saw plowing their way through and went pretty far out. We went out in a 4X4 Jeep Cherokee (More of an SUV) with no issue.
1 Perch and a few hits but nothing else...I like Shirley's Bay because it is closer but I gotta say that I caught far more fish at Buckhams bay last year. ALso, is there any pike in Shirley's? I caught alot last year at Buckhams and they are not my preference but they at least make it fun....

[CCLad]

Thanks for the update. And yes there are Pike at Shirleys but you have to target different areas to get them. Along the causeway will likely be more productive for them.

[cjohnson@tj5.ca]

Last evening there was more activity.... Got a perch an hour before sundown and 2 walleye just after sundown...Walleye were 10 and 12 inches and the perch was small...all thrown back. So far on about 10 outings I have gotten 7 Walleye and about 4 perch - nothing over 12 inches. I kept one of the walleye only so far because I was more curious if I was catching the same damn one over and over. Seems odd to me that it is not far more perch than Walleye.
I am thinking of getting an underwater camera....but then I don't want to know if there is nothing there!..LOL. Seriously, the "unknown" at least makes things seem possible and fun!
Question - when I do get something worth eating is it safe from Shirley's bay? Is there a slot size of any kind to be aware of? Or is there a rule of thumb that is just followed as an unwritten rule...I remember seeing a picture someone proudly posted of 6 or 7 small walleye not long ago - that stuff really bugs me personally.

[smitty55]

The Ottawa is pretty murky water, I don't think you'd see much with a camera. As for eating fish I've never ever worried about Shirley's. At least it's upstream from Ottawa, so the fish are never subjected to the sewage overflows that happen after heavy rains.

Cheers

[CCLad]

Like any body of water in or around people there are limitations on the amount of fish you can eat. For the most part the bigger the fish, the longer its been in the water, the more contaminants it has been exposed to. The MNR puts out a guild line of what they deem a safe level for the consumption of different species in different bodies of water - Her is the link: https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and- ... tario-fish.

With respect to slot sizes, you should familiarize yourself with the regulations for where you fish. Ottawa River is mnr zone 12 and has a 5 walleye or sauger or any combination of either fish, catch and possession limit & there is a slot size, but that comes into effect in March:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/fisheries-m ... -12-fmz-12


My buddy and I plowed through the snow (25-35 more cm's coming too Sigh...) and made it out to our hut yesterday aft. and ended up with a hand full of small sauger, 1 walleye (all small) and a 3lbs Ling. As I have posted before, the fishing hasn't been up to par so to speak thus far this season. Our numbers are way down and so is the ave size...

[pickereye chaser]

was out Saturday afternoon on the bay. Was walking with smitty sled and followed the plowed road - thank you to ever that was - and then out about 100 m from there in the deep snow. Lost two decent upper teen (inches) fish at hole and landed one 18 inch fish. I also caught at least a dozen 10 inch sauger and wallys. All on jigging rod. barely got a sniff on the live minnow on bottom.


Cheers