Beginner fishing around Beausoleil Island/Penetang area

[lupinglade]

Hi all,

My wife and I are just starting out fishing around the Beausoleil Island area and Penetang harbour. We have made about 10 trips now on our dinghy with two rods and lots of various good quality lures (crank, spoons, plastic worms) and have caught absolutely nothing. We had one bite in all! We are watching technique videos on YouTube, etc. but have so far been unsuccessful. It seems like there is just no fish. We've fished around the Gin Islands, around Magazine Island (near Discovery Harbour), various other places in Penetang Harbour, and most of the west side of Beausoleil Island.

Can anyone give any tips or what might we be doing wrong? Is it too early in the season? Are we just in the wrong places? 

[GeorgianBay MessageBoard]

[Canuck]

Depends what you are fishing for.  Bass not open till this weekend, but smallmouth are around the gin islands and shoals once the season opens and things warm up. Largemouth are around once they finish spawning.  Quite a fe in the harbour.  Pike are in shallow around the weed lines.  Water is still quite cold so patience is needed.  I have caught walleye around Whisky island, And present island, although not many.

[MarkD]

Yes, to get some advises, specify what are you fishing for and what techniques do you use.

[Wasagabeach]

I’ve fished Penetanguishene for many years and there are so many spots to fish in that bay just the same as the rest of gbay.  Tour around the weed lines with your cranks and lures and you will get fish.   I got a pike there last night and lost a nice walleye both with wormharnesses.   Someone once said there is so much shoreline in Georgian bay you can’t fish it all in a lifetime.  I’ve tried and hardly made a dent but I’ve got lots of new great spots

[work2fish]

Depends what you are fishing for.  Bass not open till this weekend, but smallmouth are around the gin islands and shoals once the season opens and things warm up. Largemouth are around once they finish spawning.  Quite a fe in the harbour.  Pike are in shallow around the weed lines.  Water is still quite cold so patience is needed.  I have caught walleye around Whisky island, And present island, although not many.

Bass open next weekend for clarity 4th saturday in june.  Muskie open this weekend 3rd saturday.

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[Canuck]

Bass open next weekend for clarity 4th saturday in june.  Muskie open this weekend 3rd saturday.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Oops, my mistake.  4th Saturday for sure.  I know it is the last weekend in June this year, which is the start of my vacation week. 

[lupinglade]

Thanks for all the great replies, we got some bites today using worms around a reed line. I think we'll catch something tomorrow. How important is the time of day? We're not fishing for anything in particular at the moment, just trying to catch something, learning.

[MarkD]

We're not fishing for anything in particular at the moment, just trying to catch something

I would say this is the biggest mistake. If you target a specific species the result will be much better.

[glen margaret]

Where you are fishing, now, you should target pike. We fish the same area as you describe, usually trolling an xrap or live target smelt around weeds in 12 to 15 ft at about 2.5 mph. Cast over weeds as well. Should get a decent pike every hour or so. Find the weed beds, learn how to filet pike, and wait for the walleye.

[Canuck]

Where you are fishing, now, you should target pike. We fish the same area as you describe, usually trolling an xrap or live target smelt around weeds in 12 to 15 ft at about 2.5 mph. Cast over weeds as well. Should get a decent pike every hour or so. Find the weed beds, learn how to filet pike, and wait for the walleye.

Good advice. IMO one of the best eating fish is a pike about 3 to 5 lbs.  Bones are big enough to avoid when eating.  I filet like any fish and leave the y bones in and take em out while eating.  Never grubs or worms in pike and they are nice and mild.  Fun and easy to catch and great to eat.  As a matter of fact, I am taking the dinghy out tomorrow morning to get one for lunch.  Big boat going out in the evening for a troll.. 

[lupinglade]

Thanks for all the help, we’ve caught some Pike and perch! Would anyone recommend any area in Penetanguishene harbour for bass?

[MarkD]

and wait for the walleye

What do you mean by this? Is that walleye won't bite now but will be some time later?

[glen margaret]

In our experience, in the area discussed, we don't catch walleye until mid-July. We are almost always fishing 10- 18 FOW near or in weeds. Once we start catching walleye, for 6 weeks or so, we catch roughly equal numbers of walleye, smallmouth, and pike. Most of the walleye we catch are in a couple of relatively small areas, and almost all are in the slot.
Every year we catch at least one muskie, around 36 in.

[MarkD]

 glen margaret,
thanks for the reply.
It is interesting that salmon in some areas is also starting to bite later in the summer.... even though they are species with different habits etc..

[glen margaret]

Pike and Walleye notwithstanding, we do target species, for example, salmon. Downrigging in the hole two years ago, we caught a muskie that was probably longer than 4 ft.  About 110 FOW, Lyman at 100 ft. We thought we'd snagged lost gear. Couple of headshakes and up she came.
We also target perch. Anchored in 50 to 60 FOW, shiners on the bottom. Not unusual to have a muskie stop a perch on its way up. They sometimes hold on for a minute or so.