Rice lake July 11

Went to rice lake today launched out of bewdly, clear sky's and a slight chop closer to noon. Managed 3 wallleye 13-16". I don't know why I've been having a hard time locating the walleye. Got out at 6am fished many weedlines in bewdly in 8-10fow using bucktail and jig. Trolled the weedlines around and across the islands with a harness. Went and jigged in 15-20fow with a minnow. Am I missing something here? We used to catch them by the dozen in the deeper water this time of year. Where do they go during this season. Share some advice.
Thanks

I'm on Rice - just started fishing.

Agree - the walleye appear not as plentiful as used to . . .

Water temp 77 F.

Brisk wind.

No fish just yet. Using worm harness.

thanks

If you were out on opening weekend I think you will realize pretty quickly why there isn't as many walleye.

I've been a few times this year, haven't got the numbers like last year. Best day was 6 or 7 between 3 of us

I am glad that I am not the only one noticing this. I went up to Rice for three trips this year and had some difficulty. Just returned home this past week and only caught one under slot walleye...although the bass were biting which was fun! Maybe its because I don't know the lake as well as others or am not fishing deep into prime hours (kids will limit you, lol), but would it be from too much fishing pressure at this point?

I am curious from people who fish this lake a lot. At my cottage there is a recreation room where they have pictures from the 80's and 90's. There are tons of pics with people filled with stringers of walleye. Of course, I don't think limits were in affect back then, but interesting nonetheless.

What are your thoughts?

Back in from afternoon with harness - 1 decent sunfish was total.

I've never done well with daytime walleye fishing - can't comment too much on that. Early evening to night time has been more challenging past couple of years.

Time to try new locations and techniques . . .

Thanks

Hi...Im on Rice and numbers are down for me and also the ones being caught are generally smaller. I caught the smallest Walleye of my life a couple weeks ago...was so funny ...little aggressive thing wasnt much bigger than the Eerie Dearie it attacked...good to see the little ones...there were thousands of small fry a couple weeks ago around my dock..was hoping they were Walleye fry...Last year I let most of the Walleye I caught under 40 cm go...I believe in giving back to the lake...and for the Bass fisherman I would never keep a monster bass...rarely keep any...maybe a couple smaller ones very early in the season.
Also I want to thank everyone for sharing tips, pictures and stories...happy fishing..!

Another note on lack of fish - bass. During evening fishing past years I would often catch lots of bass - 1 to 2 pounds and occasionally 3 plus. Nothing like that this year. Almost forgetting what a bass looks / feels like . . .

On the other hand - rock bass and crappie are about the same.

Weeds are not as bad this year - not a big mess on the surface as has been in some areas in past years. And the there is weed where hasn't been before. Conditions are changing so I've got to change . . .

Thanks

I was also on Rice lake this morning till about 1pm bass were hitting ok but my buddy and I got annoyed by all the panfish people who have zero fishing etiquette but we did end up getting 14 bass all were 1-2.5lb range and I managed to snap a beautiful picture of the sun rise

Well done with your catch of bass!!!

When you refer to the pan fish people - is it their boats (usually pontoon?) Or anchored positions that you are referring to? Or is it they are largely renting so not familiar with boat handling? Or everyone taking shelter from the high winds/ waves on the leaward sides of the islands?

Thanks

Yes pontoon anchored and generally driving all over the place and being too loud for my taste

Would anyone agree a more reasonable limit for walleye would be 2 on the kawarthas?

This is pure speculation but it wouldn't surprise me if you see some changes to Rice Lake limits in the future. I would imagine that it is probably one of the most fished kawartha lakes given its closeness to the gta region.

I like to eat fish but I wouldn't mind if they needed a period to reduce fishing strain. I wonder if they would ever do a rotating system where walleye fishing is closed every three or so years?

6hours on rice north of gores landing, nothing but a catfish today