2014 Episode Synopsis


Episode 243: Quinte Walleye & Live Bait Cuda

Today, the Mercury Marine Destination starts us in the Bay of Quinte for monster Walleye, then down to sunny Key West Florida for Barracuda. First, it is time to hitch the 2050 Crestliner Raptor to the RAM, and head off to the Bay of Quinte. Charlie joins friend Jim Johnston today, not only is Jim a good friend, but a guide for many years on Quinte. Between Charlie and Jim, the fish will be in trouble today, Jim’s spots and Charlie’s can’t miss lures give them a very successful day! If you are looking for one of the most experienced guides for Quinte Walleye, contact Jim at 1-613-393-3767

Good thing the RAM has four wheel drive, the ramp is slippery this morning. This is early December and winter has shown that it is here to stay. RAM BOX to the rescue, Charlie has a pail of salt handy for the ramp. The RAM BOX keeps everything contained and handy without having to crawl around the back bed of the truck. The RAM BOX is a hinged storage area on the outside of the back bed, above the back tires on each side of the truck, perfect for frequently used items. Not only is the RAM BOX easily accessed, it is washable, complete with drain holes, and lights up as soon as you open it. It also locks and unlocks with the rest of the power door locks, so you are sure it is locked back up again when you hit your power door lock. Perfect for this early morning!! Now that the boat is safely launched, time to deal with ice. There is at least 300 yards of ice that has formed at the Picton launch from the cold calm night, and there is only one way to open water, and that is to break through. Charlie has been using Crestliner boats for many years now, and once in a while, there is still something that amazes him at the quality of these boats. After breaking that much ice, he was sure there would be some paint damage when checked at the end of the day, the surprise was not even a scratch, just another testimonial to the quality of even the paint finish of these boats.

Many very good anglers have struck out this year, clear waters and attention to details, are a must at all times, but especially here. With the fish scattered, it was time to search, and it was the Humminbird 1198 Side Imaging that came to the rescue today showing bait to the sides of the boat, keeping them in the area longer to explore in greater detail. Most Walleye are suspended over deeper waters at this time of year, but the Walleye might only be 15 – 20 feet down and easily spooked by the boat, and will move out to the sides and away from the approaching vessel. This is definitely a situation where the clip on side planers, are a must to take the bait out and away from the boat. Using a slow trolling speed of between 1.7 – 1.9 mph, the baits must still have great action at this speed, and the very realistic Live Target Perch was outstanding. Not only is it a dead ringer for a real Perch, the action is perfect and the shallow running YP115M 4 ¾ inch size started to hit fish immediately. After so many folks having a poor season at Quinte for large Walleye, this was just a reminder that these Live Target Perch are truly a go to lure for this situation and have been productive for Charlie year after year!

In cold waters, the Walleye want a consistent lure action, not one that is pulled and jerked that looks to difficult to catch. For this reason, Charlie does not use a braided line on the boards when there is any wave action, but the Seaguar Abrazx Fluorocarbon line. Not only is this line abrasion resistant, low memory, and invisible in the water, it has a slight stretch to it, so when waves are pulling and bouncing your boat and boards, the lures run more consistently than they would with a no stretch braided line. Many hits are simply noticing your board has changed its angle of pull. The slightly more aggressive Walleye will be more obvious as your boards are pulled backwards. With light hits, you need all the help you can get, so keep the hooks as sharp as possible. The new incredible Mustad Ultra Point KVD treble hooks are perfect for this. The KVD treble has the same Ultra Point features that have made Ultra Point a leader in hook technology, but also incorporates the Triple Grip configuration. Once in, this triple grip is extremely hard to shake and twist out, even by the most determined lunkers.

This is another situation when the Okuma line counters more than pay for themselves. Once you start hitting fish, repeat the exact lead of line out, and even keep track of the amount of line to the planer board. If it is working, you sure want to repeat everything exactly the same, over and over again. This is also a perfect opportunity to use the Okuma Catalina reels with the TSC knob (tension spool control). This is an independent drag setting for your reel when it is in free spool, so you can have various amounts of tension when you are letting your lines out. Ideal when you are setting planer boards, Dipsy Divers, lowering your downrigger weights, etc. As soon as you snap your reel back into gear, you are back to your original drag setting, simply awesome! Everyone has different ideas on where your rod holders should be, and every technique can be different, but with the Cannon track system and adjustable rod holders, you can have the perfect set up, no matter what species you are fishing for.

Designed for serious fishing the Crestliner 2050 Raptor was ideal today and helped make the fishing even easier. Calm water or rough, this is a well designed boat that is sure to help you fish better. Powered by the 300 hp dependable Mercury Verado, once out of the ice, it was a quick fuel efficient run to the fishing grounds. When you are no longer worried about gas sucking outboards, it sure does make it easier to cover more water. With temperatures never getting much above freezing today, and only a few boats in the distance, it is also nice to have the dependable performance of the Verado on your side. To stay with the slower trolling speeds required today, the 9.9 Mercury Pro Kicker was quick to find the proper trolling speed and kept a whisper quiet approach for these spooky lunker Walleye.

Then, later in the show, Charlie and wife Terri load up the RAM and head for Key West, Florida. Towing the Crestliner boats with ease, or the long trip to Key West Florida in the second half of the show, the RAM has earned a reputation for not only being comfortable, but dependable. Year after year Charlie takes his RAM Diesel 2500 on many long trips, and this vehicle has been remarkably flawless. Features that were once thought not needed are now irreplaceable, like the back-up camera, Ram Box, heated and vented seats, the room of the Mega Cab, and the list goes on. The only surprise is what RAM comes out with each year that makes this vehicle even nicer than the one before! No sales pitch here, just a great comfortable dependable work truck and Charlie loves his RAM. When work is getting to the fishing spots, what can be more important than reliability, even the 28 hours of driving time to get to Key West is not in anguish, but enjoyed!! If you are planning a trip to the Keys, the Holiday Inn Express in Marathon offers clean spacious rooms in the heart of the Keys, 305-289-0222. Marathon is the largest city in the keys and centrally located, only a beautiful 1 hour drive across the picturesque bridges further south to Key West, or back up to Islamorada or Key Largo. The Keys do warm your heart in the middle of a cold Canadian winter, and always great to get back on the water.

Today, the target is the Barracuda. Just the name strikes fear in some, but despite the fearsome appearance of jagged teeth and undeserved reputation, they are often spooky and line shy. Wire is needed because of the razor sharp teeth, but keep it thin and short, with 8 inches being about maximum length, joined with an Albright knot to invisible Seaguar Fluorocarbon leaders of 8 feet or more. Without the Fluorocarbon, hits will stop, same if the wire is too long, it is just a reminder of how invisible Seaguar Fluorocarbon is and how important it is in crystal clear waters to be detailed with the presentation. Live bait is the key today, and with a small but strong Mustad ringed live bait hook. The welded ring on this hook gives more freedom to the frisky bait and allows it to swim freely and naturally and certainly made a difference in bait action compared to a hook without the ring.

Sometimes you learn the hard way, when there is sharp teeth only a headshake away, you need to protect your hands. It might be from Pike and Muskie, Walleye, or the scary sharp teeth of the Barracuda. Charlie makes sure he has his Viking cut resistant NBR palm coated gloves on this trip. It could save you a slash across your hand that will ruin your trip. Now time to get back in the RAM for the trip home. The massive back seat of the RAM Mega Cab is great for large amounts of gear. And all the wet shoes, fish slimed Viking rain pants and wet slimy soaked cut resistant Viking gloves, found storage during the ride home in the handy RAM BOX. The RAM BOX can be washed and hosed out at home and this wonderful RAM feature is great for dirty equipment or anything you need to keep handy. At first, Charlie wasn’t sure he would use the RAM BOX much, now he couldn’t imagine not having it. The trip home was still comfortable and trouble free, just not as much fun as the trip down, must have something to do with the winter temperatures dropping every few hours heading north again.

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