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June 22, 1998 Bay of Quinte Walleye Sport Fishing Update
Results from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) annual open-water angling survey show that yellow perch catches are up and walleye success sporadic along the Bay of Quinte. MNR conducted the survey from May 4 to 31 using a small aircraft to count boats and on water patrols to interview a total of 586 fishing parties. There was a total of 171,196 hours of fishing effort (16,422 boat trips), down nearly 6 per cent from last year. As was the case last year, yellow perch were prevalent in the anglers’ catch in May. A quarter of a million yellow perch were estimated to have been caught, almost double last year’s catch. The Bay of Quinte has produced large numbers of yellow perch in each of the last few years, particularly in 1995. These perch are still of a small size, hence most are released. If the large numbers of yellow perch sustain good growth rates, they will provide some excellent spring fishing opportunities in the years to come. Walleye fishing success was a sporadic across the Bay. There was no difference in fishing success between the upper (Trenton to Deseronto) and lower (Deseronto to Glenora) Bay of Quinte. Improvements in water quality and the impact of zebra mussels has lead to increased water clarity and more underwater vegetation. These ecosystem changes favor sportfish such as pike, bass and yellow perch. As a result the walleye harvest was down 14 per cent from last year. The numbers of walleye caught and harvested were 26,178 and 20,448 respectively. It took the average angler about eight hours to harvest one walleye. Measurement of 112 walleye indicated that the average size of fish harvested during the surveyed time period was 388 mm in fork length (16 inches total length) and weighed 0.7 kg (1.6 LB). It is anticipated that fishing conditions and success rates will continue to be affected by broad ecosystem changes in the Bay including clearer water. For more information: Jim Hoyle, Assessment Biologist Lake Ontario Management Unit Glenora (613) 476-7977
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