duck hunting Lake Simcoe advice needed

[rubberdown]

Myself and 3 other families will be staying in the cottage for a few days over the Thanksgiving weekend and 3 of us are duck hunters. We have a 17' Jon boat with a blind. We will be staying at the north end of the lake. Any tips, advice or suggestions on where we could put the boat and try and get a few ducks?

And we will likely take the kids fishing during the day, what will I need to bring, what fish is the known common catch in this lake?

Thanks.

 

[phinton81]

Grew up on Lake Simcoe and there are many spots to go.

On the North end, check out Shingle Bay, Strawberry Island. Also, Lake Couchiching is quite good as well and doesn't get as rough as Simcoe. Big Chief island has lots of spots to set out a spread and you can move around with the wind. Many of the shoreline spots are close to cottages/houses so islands offer more privacy. Most of the cottages are closed by Thanksgiving and the boat traffic dies down significantly. It's mostly Mallards with Woodies early in the season and many of the diving ducks towards ice up. If you like sawbills, there are lots but I never shot them. I have seen occasional Bluebill flyways landing but they are rare these days.

Patrick

 

[rubberdown]

Thanks Patrick, I think we are staying in the McPhee Bay right on the water. The closer the better since this is a shallow boat and rough water and me dont mix LOL. Strawberry Island doesnt look to far. We dont have a dog, do you know if this is an area where waders and my 2 feet could be used for retrieve's or would we need to pull up anchor each time? How about Goffat Island, and same questions on retrievals?

 

[phinton81]

Simcoe is a big water lake, can be very rough and unpredictable. Stay close to shore or stick to Couchiching. Strawberry is not wader friendly. McPhees bay has a lot of cottages, not a great location for hunting. Goffatt not great either, lots of shoals and fairly close to shore.

Do you have a trailer? There are other lakes around Simcoe and Cooch like Sparrow and St John, worth checking out and lots of weedy bays/shorelines.

Big water and island hunting will usually require you to pull anchor for retrieves, plus you aren't likely to get large flocks more just steady birds all day in singles or small groups.

Seriously, check out some of the smaller lakes or big chief island on Cooch.


Patrick

 

[Cintax]

The south side of Big Chief island holds ducks and has patches of reeds. You can use waders around the island, but on the eastern side there are mucky parts that aren't overly safe for waders. You aren't allowed to go on the island itself as it is part of the reservation.

I've never done it, but I know some people hunt on the Ramara side of the Narrows. Lake Couchiching often gets big flocks of geese over it, but don't confuse them with the ever-present flocks of Cormorants.

Whatever you do, get or review a chart of the lake. By October there will be parts of Couchiching that are excessively shallow, such as the marked shoal near Tudhope Park.