A good base for a great day on Hay Bay.

The distinctive Z-shaped waters of the Bay of Quinte had their origins millions of years ago, when movements of the earth’s crust created cracks and faults in the region’s limestone bedrock, helping to shape an ancient river system. Later, approximately 10,000 years ago, as the glaciers of the last ice age melted and retreated, changing water levels filled and drowned low-lying valleys, helping create Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte as we know them today. Quinte’s geological history (PDF).

Hay Bay, in particular, has become known for its excellent fishing, including northern pike and bass, but most famously walleye. Fishing in Hay Bay.

Walleye get their name from their eyes, which contain a pearly reflective layer that makes them look opalescent and allows them to hunt in low light. Contrary to a common misconception, they are the largest North American members of the perch family, not true pickerel, which belong to the pike family. Read more about their eyes and biology, place in the perch family and Ontario fish classifications.

The region has long been home to First Nations peoples, including the Wendat (Huron), Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Mississauga (Anishinaabe). Later, Europeans arrived: first the French, who built Fort Frontenac at present-day Kingston and also called Lake Ontario “Lac Frontenac,” then the United Empire Loyalists, who fled the United States after the American Revolution because of their loyalty to the Crown. Learn more about the region’s Indigenous communities and Loyalist arrivals, Fort Frontenac and the lake’s historical names.