Lure Question

[Douger]

in the spring i have a tradition where i visit my dad on georgian bay and we wake up early and hit the harbour wall with our buddy tim horton. it's relaxed and we try for steelies or whitefish.

 

i was wondering if it would be worth it to try lures to catch steelhead there. if so, which lures work well? under which conditions? would you put them under a float or chuck them?

 

thanks!

[fishing n autograph]

Can't go wrong with Mepps spinners...#1 or 2, chrome, gold or silver work best for all conditions....cleos and other flashy spoons work as well!

[OhioFisherman]

Welcome Douger, never fished for them on the Georgian, going on the premise Steelhead are Steelhead like the bass are bass. On Lake Erie a lot of pier and breakwall fishing for them in the fall of the year.

 

While we fished from a boat, and for smallies we hooked a lot of them. White tubes to imitate baitfish, small chrome crankbaits, a white jig and grub, and if the smallies weren`t on we sometimes fished for them on purpose to waste time. A little cleo or other small spoon, a blade bait like a silver buddy or sonar.

 

Most of the time we were within easy casting distance from shore and casting to shore, bait fish such as Emerald shiners schooling around the breakwalls, piers, is a plus, match the hatch.

 

Softer action rod might help also, most of ours were fast action and a lot of lost fish.

[nuke]

Mepps #3 silver blade orange body. Add a little orange yarn to the treble and you are set. This set up was a killer on the Saugeen this fall/early winter.

 

Peace,

Nuke

[nuke]

Douger, forgot to ask, what's your presentation for whitefish ? (if you don't mind me asking)

Oh, forgot to mention pink scented plastic worms to my above post

 

Nuke

[Douger]

thanks for the replies guys, i appreciate the info.

 

nuke: i don't mind your asking at all. the way a lot of the guys fish off the harbour wall for whities is to chum the bottom. the best chum combo is roe mixed with corn, although you can get by with only corn. put it in a margarine container and bring along an old serving spoon. just drop a couple of spoonfuls a couple of feet out in front of you. for your rig, slide a barrel sinker onto your main line, then attach about 18" of flourocarbon leader to your line using a micro swivel. pinch a split-shot sinker just above the swivel to prevent the barrel sinker from sliding over the swivel. use a #16 sedge-hook and bait the hook with a single chinook cheese egg (they come cured in small jars). just drop your line over the edge and wait. wait some more and keep waiting. keep an eye on your line at all times. when you start gawking at the sky or whatever, that's when you miss a strike. if your line starts to move out it may be a strike. to set the hook, give a gentle lift. the mouth of a whitefish is soft and if you set the hook too hard it may tear through its mouth. i was told that whitefish run in schools and that they like murky water, so after a storm (or even during one) is good.

 

and that's the beginning and end of what i know about fishing for whities, and i learned it from the old timers in faded ball caps who call each other by nicknames and whose time spent at the harbour wall is as much about socializing, complaining about the price of gas and shaking their heads at the line-ups at tim horton's as it is to fish.

 

take care