Bay of Quinte Fishing Guide: Species, Structure & Where Bass Live

A large, current-fed bay of Lake Ontario with two very different ends: a shallow, warm, productive upper bay, and a deeper, clearer, rockier lower bay toward the main lake. World-class for both bass — and famous beyond bass for its trophy fall walleye.

Largemouth 50% · Smallmouth 50%

  • Shallow upper-bay flats & inflows (weedy, stained) — Largemouth in the weed beds, docks, marinas and river-mouth cover of the warm stained water — topwater, flipping, bladed jigs and dark plastics, worked tight to cover and on wind-blown banks.
  • Middle & lower bay — offshore rock & deep weed edges (clear) — Smallmouth on the mussel-clear rock shoals, main-lake points and deep weed edges — drop-shot, tubes, jerkbaits and forward-facing sonar on the roaming schools.
  • River inflows & narrow current reaches — Current from river inflows and narrow channel reaches concentrates bait and bass, and holds up better through a cold front than open flats — reaction baits on the current seams, especially as the water cools.

Water

Splits by zone and shifts by season. Zebra and quagga mussels have filtered the middle and lower bay for years, so the rock and smallmouth water is often gin-clear — a finesse, natural-colour, offshore game. The shallow upper bay and river-mouth inflows are nutrient-rich and stained, colour up hard after wind or rain, and can green up with algae in high summer, so they fish like classic dirty water: dark, high-contrast baits with vibration, tight to cover. Clarity generally improves as you move toward the deeper lower bay and as the water cools in fall.

Ontario bass season opens the third Saturday of June. The bay is also North America's premier trophy walleye water in late fall and winter — a different fishery from the summer bass game.

Overview