Author Topic: Kingston, Ontario, Back Lakes (Read 227935 times)

TheDL · « **Reply #360 on:** Dec 31, 2011, 02:45 PM »

went out today for a drive, picked up a new fishing license (a real hassle) and talked to some guys at the inverary hardware store that just got off the ice on eel bay on Sydneham lake. They said they were on 7" of ice, riding ATVs - I DID NOT TEST THE ICE OUT THERE TO VERIFY. They caught a few good pike.

I drove around the North side of Dog lake and saw lots of open water on the way. I walked out hogan's and was surprised to see guys out there fishing. There was dicey spots, and lots of one hit spud throughs...so I didn't venture more than 20 yrds from shore, where I walked to there was only about 2-3" of crappy white ice. There was about 10 guys out there, but the ice was white and poor quality so I stayed off. I did however see a guy drive one of those argo/cart things across from the island to the beach and I'm surprised he made it

Go if you're brave...even with the float suit and picks I chose to wait. SPUD every step and stay dry!

Happy 2012!!

bass_belt · « **Reply #361 on:** Jan 01, 2012, 11:13 AM »

Thanks for the update TheDL! Wow, guys already out on that stuff!?!? I'm with you...I'm waiting until it's at least 3 - 5 inches of good ice before I head out.

Happy New Year!

liveforit · « **Reply #362 on:** Jan 01, 2012, 09:21 PM »

Hey Folks

I am new to IceShanty and I am wondering if anyone knows the ice conditions of the Upper Rideau at westport? or if rock lake is froze yet

TheDL · « **Reply #363 on:** Jan 02, 2012, 09:57 AM »

welcome to the shanty liveforit! I can't say I've seen the ice out that way - but I'm sure someone will chime in.

9am53 · « **Reply #364 on:** Jan 02, 2012, 12:07 PM »

I know this is weird, does anybody have a pair of skis they want to give me?

I have used one set for one ski on my shack (curved at both ends so I move the hut back and forth) but need another set of garbage old skis to cut and mount under my hut. The only real things I ask are that they be alpine (downhill) skis so they sit ontop of the snow a bit more than the skinny cross country skis, and that they be at least 8 feet long total (4 feet each) so they fit under my hut.

If anybody has a set of garbage skis they can donate to the cause let me know!

Thanks.;

bass_belt · « **Reply #365 on:** Jan 02, 2012, 12:25 PM »

Quote

I know this is weird, does anybody have a pair of skis they want to give me?

I have used one set for one ski on my shack (curved at both ends so I move the hut back and forth) but need another set of garbage old skis to cut and mount under my hut. The only real things I ask are that they be alpine (downhill) skis so they sit ontop of the snow a bit more than the skinny cross country skis, and that they be at least 8 feet long total (4 feet each) so they fit under my hut.

If anybody has a set of garbage skis they can donate to the cause let me know!

Thanks.;

Hey 9am53

I picked up a set at Value Village for $15...I don't remember if they had any that would work for what you are looking for but worth a try, if not try the Salvation Army store in the plaza where McDonald's used to be by my place!

Free is best I know but $15 might be your next best bet!

9am53 · « **Reply #366 on:** Jan 02, 2012, 02:47 PM »

Ahh, the old sports McDonalds...that was my first job, but I don't need to tell you that

I have checked VV and they all seemed to be more like 29 bucks...which is more than I want to spend on some garbage skis (which they all are) I will check some other thrift stores too, but I only get into kingston about once a month so I don't know when that will be. I plan on working on the hut this weekend, so hopefully I can get it all done save for the tarp roof.

icejunky · « **Reply #367 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 07:18 AM »

I had a buddy tell me this morning that he saw a perm hut out on Dog this morning? anyone see this?

TheDL · « **Reply #368 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 07:46 AM »

not as of Saturday...that's pretty brave

bass_belt · « **Reply #369 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 08:28 AM »

Quote

Ahh, the old sports McDonalds...that was my first job, but I don't need to tell you that

I have checked VV and they all seemed to be more like 29 bucks...which is more than I want to spend on some garbage skis (which they all are) I will check some other thrift stores too, but I only get into kingston about once a month so I don't know when that will be. I plan on working on the hut this weekend, so hopefully I can get it all done save for the tarp roof.

haha no you don't need to tell me that, was mine too!

Ah, I must have taken the last $15 pair muwahahahaha!

Quote

I had a buddy tell me this morning that he saw a perm hut out on Dog this morning? anyone see this?

Wow, brave indeed!!!

JZ · « **Reply #370 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 03:51 PM »

Checked out Dog today and unfortunately it is worse shape than it was a week ago eventhough we have had a couple of brutally cold nights. I think the problem was all the wind we had. Dog by Gilmour point had previously been covered with a half inch of ice and is now wide open in the middle with maybe 30ft of ice around the shoreline. I then went up to the north end of Dog, lots of open water there too although some bays are fully ice covered and as mentioned in previous post there is a perm hut out there now. I wanted to check out where people walk out at Hogans but not sure if I was in the right place or not because there were a couple of roads named Hogan off of Burnt Hills but I ended up taking the road just before where the school buses are parked looks to be a trailer park I believe but couldnt see any access points to the ice.(If anyone is familar with that area let know if I was in the right place) Anyway, there was some ice in that area but also lots of open water. So after this disappointing tour I ended up at Loughborough and just went out 300-400 feet from the launch at the marina, solid 5-6in of ice. This part of the bay is only 4fow so I just played around with some panfish for an hour or so, sadly the 5" fish below is my first fish of the year

Hopefully in another week I will be able to go our further into the bay, I marked some waypoints from open water season where there are some nice 10-12ft holes.

bass_belt · « **Reply #371 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 05:48 PM »

Quote

I wanted to check out where people walk out at Hogans but not sure if I was in the right place or not because there were a couple of roads named Hogan off of Burnt Hills but I ended up taking the road just before where the school buses are parked looks to be a trailer park I believe but couldnt see any access points to the ice.(If anyone is familar with that area let know if I was in the right place)

Hey JZ,

Thanks for the great information! You were definitely at the right place. If you continue on that road down into the trailer park you'll see the road turn right towards the water, follow that and you'll end up right at the beach where people walk out from. If you happen to make it back out there let us know how the ice is as I'm JONES'IN to get out!!!

BTW, I know it was only a perch but hey, at least you were able to get out on the ice!

bass_belt

TheDL · « **Reply #372 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 05:50 PM »

thanks for the detailed report JZ!

seoo · « **Reply #373 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 06:04 PM »

was the hut made out of aluminum with a blue front?

Last year we were out there on 6" of ice boxing day with atvs everywhere when the side by gilmours was open in the middle and under the bridge was open or very thin because its moving water its also gonna thin up around the point where it gets quite deep

most people I know go on from the trailer parks beach they charge you in the summer to launch your boat there but it seems that they dont seem to do anything like that in the winter time if you dont have 4wd it can be hectic getting out if theres snow as there are some hills and uneven ground

look for smaller lakes that dont have current you will find more ice above deeper water its out there

JZ · « **Reply #374 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 06:21 PM »

Quote from: seoo on Jan 03, 2012, 06:04 PM

was the hut made out of aluminum with a blue front?

Last year we were out there on 6" of ice boxing day with atvs everywhere when the side by gilmours was open in the middle and under the bridge was open or very thin because its moving water its also gonna thin up around the point where it gets quite deep

most people I know go on from the trailer parks beach they charge you in the summer to launch your boat there but it seems that they dont seem to do anything like that in the winter time if you dont have 4wd it can be hectic getting out if theres snow as there are some hills and uneven ground

look for smaller lakes that dont have current you will find more ice above deeper water its out there

I think the hut was all white, I just saw it while I was driving had to do a double take, lucky I didnt drive off the road. Ya I am going to focus on the smaller lakes until we get further into the season, temp wise its great now, there are a couple of above zero days forecast for this week but it dips back down at night so no big deal but 20-30k winds every day this week thats going to stop ice production on the lakes that are still open. The silver lining I guess is that the water is at its min temp so as soon as the wind does die down for a day or two the lakes should lock up quick. My next free day to fish is Sunday so maybe by then things will be better if not I am going to hit frontenac park. I spoke with a staff member at Frontenac today and for liability reasons they do not test or give out ice conditions however they did say S Otter was ice covered. If that doesnt work out might have to go a little further north.

9am53 · « **Reply #375 on:** Jan 03, 2012, 07:01 PM »

Round Lake has been getting fished for about a week now...

JZ · « **Reply #376 on:** Jan 05, 2012, 12:33 PM »

West end of Loughborough...
Still nowhere near ready but there is a thin sheet of ice, might open up again with the warm weather tmo but still nice to see that eventhough we are a couple weeks behind on some lakes the West end of Loughborough is pretty much on the same pace as last year. Here is a view from the Sydenham rd lauch....

TheDL · « **Reply #377 on:** Jan 05, 2012, 12:51 PM »

I'm surprised to see it's locked up, I would've thought the winds would've broke that up. Thanks again for the detailed report JZ!

JZ · « **Reply #378 on:** Jan 05, 2012, 01:52 PM »

Quote from: TheDL on Jan 05, 2012, 12:51 PM

I'm surprised to see it's locked up, I would've thought the winds would've broke that up. Thanks again for the detailed report JZ!

It was still open when we had those couple days of strong winds and as soon as they died down it froze over but I'll be surprised if it survives the +5 on friday, but even if it doesnt the warm temps will get rid of the snow so we can get some nice clear ice. Last year the first day I saw someone on the west end was the 15th I believe. Not sure if that will happen this year but who knows, last year once it was iced over we had a few -20 nights in a row and that did the trick.

JZ · « **Reply #379 on:** Jan 07, 2012, 12:42 PM »

Anybody go out today (Sat Jan 7th)? I am trying to decide on a spot for Sunday, curious about ice conditions on the backlakes.

bass_belt · « **Reply #380 on:** Jan 07, 2012, 03:30 PM »

PM sent

leviathan_slayer · « **Reply #381 on:** Jan 08, 2012, 08:37 AM »

Going to drive around the lakes north of Verona today and check out ice conditions. Need a good ffix of ice fishing soon or will be suffering withdrawal!

9am53 · « **Reply #382 on:** Jan 08, 2012, 05:07 PM »

4th depot had 6-8" of good ice, but no fish

bass_belt · « **Reply #383 on:** Jan 08, 2012, 05:30 PM »

Quote from: 9am53 on Jan 08, 2012, 05:07 PM

4th depot had 6-8" of good ice, but no fish

And trust us...we walked that ENTIRE lake, I am spent!

5 guys, 6 hours, kilometers walked (at least it felt like that) and one Rock Bass...Priceless

It was a blast fellas, lets do it again sometime.

bass_belt

leviathan_slayer · « **Reply #384 on:** Jan 08, 2012, 05:44 PM »

Well did not get much further than Verona Lake today. 8" of good clean ice. Was able to use my new Jiffy Pro 4 propane-powered auger. It was fantastic to use. Also used my new mini AquaVu camera. Picture was clear and colours down to 16' feet were great. Ended up catching 3 pike and several perch. Saw hundreds of bluegills on the camera and even a few bass. All in all, a great day!

seoo · « **Reply #385 on:** Jan 09, 2012, 01:30 AM »

my aquavu screwed up today after its 4th trip on the ice not impressed with that great for locating structure but its hard to get it to point towards your lure it also stirs the bottom a lot if you put it down all the way

still some sketchy ice on a number of backlakes small shallow lakes are your best bet but this week will probably eat some of the ice hopefully friday will make some back spud your way out ice conditions can very a lot from spot to spot

slayer89 · « **Reply #386 on:** Jan 09, 2012, 10:04 AM »

Hey guys,

New to the area, im a student at the college, just wondering if anyone can help me out with some ice conditions and what lakes have the best bite goin. Ive done as much research as I can (most coming from this forum) and I decided we were gonna try out Upper Rock for splake or Verona Lake for pick's and pike, maybe some panfish if the size is right. I would really appreciate the help, safety first.

TheDL · « **Reply #387 on:** Jan 09, 2012, 10:32 AM »

welcome to the shanty slayer! PM sent, after 5 posts you can check your messages.

icekid · « **Reply #388 on:** Jan 09, 2012, 12:28 PM »

I'll be looking to hit up verona if the ice stays safe this week.

slayer89 · « **Reply #389 on:** Jan 09, 2012, 12:48 PM »

I could go tomorrow morning or friday afternoon if you dont mind showing me the ropes... im an avid fisherman, just not familiar with lakes and species.. anyone know a good spot for minnows going north on either 38 or 10 from kingston?

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Author Topic: Kingston, Ontario, Back Lakes (Read 227935 times)