Herring Quest Part Two, Another Great October Day

[mykola]

Slipped out to the lake again this afternoon for a few solo hours, needed to continue the quest for herring. Launched around 11-11:30, easy launch, no wind, water like glass. Headed right back to where I was getting the herring last time, nothing there. Ventured north along the shore to the next point over, marked a few fish on bottom, 55fow…. Sent my lure down, slam! Laker… out of season, quick release, maybe 15”. Toss the lure down again, slam another small laker. I don’t want to bother the so I move along, try deeper…. See suspended fish, toss down my lure, slam, laker. Maybe 18”, released again. Nobody likes a poacher, so I moved along. I putt around for a bit looking for signs of stacked fish, come upon a 45ft shelf next to deep water, with one heck of a commotion going down on bottom, as well as suspended fish in 20ft range. I spot lock and drop my line down, goes right to bottom and as I pick up I see fish following me from below and above and within two jigs, slam! Damn I think it’s another laker, fighting harder than the last, bring the fish up, herring! Yay! A nice one too, In the livewell she goes and bac down to th bottom, i mange to land two more herring quick, then lost a couple, then landed a 5lb laker, promptly released, then a lull for 15 min… then a mother school moves in, nab 4 more herring and another small laker, released the laker. Kept at it and needed up with 9 nice herring, 8 lakers, all released, and lost a half dozen more herring. All the herring were very big for this lake.

Off the water by 2:15, home to clean fish and picked up my son from school for 3:15. It was so calm out there and tthe herring were all over the place, more than once I looked over my shoulder and a herring was on the surface staring back at me not 3 ft away hahah I tried with the net but they are too fast. What a fishery. What a day. The thanksgiving smoker hoard grows larger….

[Drew]

Another good trip out … 👍🏽

[Fishnhunt]

Nice haul…you are dialled in for sure.

[sabmgb]

really nice haul

[crappeeeman]

Pack that freezer, excellent update.

[naturefan]

Again good outing! You are having good luck, that's real fun)))

[xiaolu]

Very nice haul of fish. Would love to catch some:-)

A question, assuming you are fishing on a lake in Muskoka area, what are herring's the open season and possession limit? Open all year long? Limit? Sorry for the question as I have never targeted herring, so have never paid attention to the regulation on herring:-)

I just checked MNR's 2022 Ontario Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary, and in Zone 15 (that covers Muskoka area), The "Zone-wide Seasons and Limits" listing (see pic below) does not have anything on herring, so herring is open all year, and no limit I assume

PS: Now that Simcoe laker and whitefish are closed, last Sunday I fished a lake in Muskoka area (same lake where I fished many times, but off a different location/launch point), hoping to get some whitefish, but only landed a few smallmouth bass instead.

[mykola]

Yes, the herring are open season all year and no limits. I’m east of Muskoka region, on smaller lakes. I appear to be the only one targeting them up here. Back when I was a child, we would go out in October on lake Joseph for herring, they aren’t where they used to be these days, we assume due to big Pike moving in on greater numbers in the bays where we would find them stacked. I happened to find a great population out my way that only has lakers to contend with, so the population should remain healthy without the additional predators.

I’ll definitely be after some whitefish after thanksgiving, if I can find them. Sometimes they get tricky pre-spawn. The I’ll dust off the waders and start looking for them at night with the dip net come halloween. Only a handful of lakes in FMZ 15 that allow dip netting though, so if anyone is considering it, check the regs. Also can contact your local MNR office for the list of lakes.

[xiaolu]

Thanks for the reply and info.... I recall I once caught a few herrings on the lake where I fished in Muskoka, but those herrings are too small that are not even worth keeping:-) I was also told there are lots of herrings in that lake, though I don't know if there are any as big as what you caught (as shown on your pic above)