How to catch Lake Whitefish

[Bluegill]

Heya to all!

 

In two weeks I'm back in Canada

 

This winter season I wish try to catch Lake Whitefish.

On many fishing maps I can see that this fish is registered in some lakes, but I've never seen anglers fishing for this fish. All anglers in this area are fishing for lakers, rainbow, pike, bass...

 

Maybe you can give me some helpful instructions how to catch Lake Whitefish?

 

Thanks in advance for your answer

 

Bluegill

Edited February 24, 2012 by Bluegill

[johnnyb]

Willkommen, Bluegill! I'm nowhere NEAR an authority on whitefish, but I would start with small jigs and spoons, right on bottom, along with small minnows. I'd also do a few google searches...with the expertise on this board, you should be ready by the time the ice is

[steverowbotham]

Bad Boyz tipped with a small tube. Shake it on bottom and let it sit, then do it over again. Awesome technique

[johnnyb]

Steve -- when you put the tube on the Bad Boyz...do you rig it like a normal tube...all the way up to the eyelet, or such a small tube that it's just on the exposed portion of the hook shank? I picked up a couple of these last year, but never did anything with them.

Here's a pic of a Bad Boyz, for those who are wondering....hey now that I look at it...doesn't one of our OFC members make these? Meegs?

 

Edited November 1, 2008 by johnnyb

[Bluegill]

Tnx for the pic of Bad Boyz!

 

Bad Boyz tipped with a small tube.

 

... a small tube?

 

what kind of tube do you think about?

[steverowbotham]

Tnx for the pic of Bad Boyz!

... a small tube?

 

what kind of tube do you think about?

 

Just a small 1 - 1.5 inch tube that you can buy at most tackle shops. Berkley and Mizmo are brands that I use often, try and match it to the colour of the badd boy. Here's my favourite set up from last year...

 

[Bluegill]

Just a small 1 - 1.5 inch tube that you can buy at most tackle shops.

 

Ok, now I understand

 

Tnx a lot for all answers!

[Roy]

Good luck to you Bluegill and thank you JohnnyB and Steve for the tips. I'm sure that they're appreciated by everyone, not only newbies.

[GbayGiant]

Damn Johnny, $4.09 for one jig, wouldn't want to loose to many of those.

[johnnyb]

No kidding! I just did an image search on Google, and this was the first one that came up. I picked one similar to it up at the bait shop in King City at the 400 infocenter, and I think it was still $3-something....good reason for the heavy lb. test power pro!

[NANUK]

Bad Boys, Foxie jig etc, all work well for Whitefish application,

I find Shoal Diggers to be the best in quality and long lasting, they come with Mustad Ultra point hooks, better eyes and the paint doesn't chip off like some others,

http://www.lightningserieslures.com/store/...;products_id=85

Edited November 1, 2008 by stonefish

[Sinker]

Nobody has mentioned the half and half williams yet? Half gold, half silver, hammered, williams whitefish ice jig.........get some!!!

 

Sinker

[buckster]

Yeah what sinker said!

[Sinker]

For that area, I would go with a set line on 4lb test. Just a small hook and sinker, right on bottom, with a lively little pinhead shiner. Attach that to a slip bobber and bob's your uncle

 

Sinker

[limeyangler]

Hey Bluegill,

 

Thanks for posting this topic. Ever since I moved to Canada almost 2 years ago i wanted to try for Whitefish, and last winter i got the chance. Now they are my second favourite target species behind lake Trout, They are big, fight pretty hard and where there's one there is usually a whole lot more...makes for exciting days fishing. THEY TASTE GREAT TOO!!!. An added advantage up here where i live is that the lakes i fish for Lake trout tend to have whitefish too.

 

All the methods/tackle discussed so far by the other members are proven winners for whitefish. I think it depends on what lake you are fishing though, as in my limited experience it varies quite a lot from lake to lake what is the MOST effective tackle/bait/method.

 

I got taken to Shoal Lake by a member of an ice fishing forum, who swore by, and advised me to bring Swedish Pimples(small) and 1/8Oz or smaller jigs with Micro tubes....so off i went and got them.

 

 

 

SWEDISH PIMPLE.....this was a picture I used last spring to show folks back in England what i use here....that’s why there is a British pound coin for scale

 

 

 

 

 

MICRO TUBES

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOLD JIG WORKED WELL ON SHOAL LAKE, Google Earth co-ordinates: 49 33 04.45 N 95 00 13.43 W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MY CATCH ON SHOAL LAKE THAT 1ST TIME OUT

 

 

 

 

After that 1st time out i was hooked...so to speak....what a great fish to catch and eat. I then was desperate to find a lake that was closer to me, as Shoal lake was a 2 hour drive. After looking through the Off road Mapbook, i decided to try Big Sandy Lake, only half an hour away which also held Lake trout. First time out i was not successful, despite getting two break offs almost immediately on the micro tubes.

 

 

 

 

ALL I MANAGED MY FIRST TIME OUT WITHOUT A GUIDE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like i said i did get 2 very distinctive whitefish bites on the micro tubes, and before they snapped off they certainly fought like whitefish. My problem that day was 2 fold. Firstly I had been advised to use very light line, as little as 4lb test because whitefish are spooked easily apparently. So i decided to use a fluorocarbon line leader for extra stealth. My knot was not strong enough though...hence the break offs. I did get advice later and was told to use either a TRILENE KNOT or a PALOMAR KNOT. By the end of the season i was using Micro Ice braid line...better bite detection, with a 3 meter leader of 6lb Vanish Transition Fluorocarbon.

 

Second problem that first time out is that i was not reading my Fishfinder right. I had only had my Lowrance X67c for 4 days, and had never used a fishfinder before. What i thought was interference on the screen, turned out to be a thick cloud of smelt that extended 3 meters up from the bottom, and with hindsight i was right on a hotspot that first time...if I’d known how to use that fishfinder i would have hammered them! This is not to say that you need a fishfinder...but i would highly recommend using one when fishing for whitefish....it shows perfectly what technique/lure is being rejected accepted. As you can see from the picture i had tried using a WILLIAMS ICE JIG. I got this idea from a helpful member of an ice fishing forum who posted a pic of all the tackle he used for Whitefish on Lake Simcoe.........

 

 

 

A SELECTION OF LURES USED FOR WHITEFISH ON LAKE SIMCOE, POSTED BY A GUY ON AN ICE FISHING FORUM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On my way back across the lake on that day...i bumped into some guys who were catching fish. They were really helpful. They shared a lot of good tackle/bait/technique info with me and even better was one of the guys had exact same fishfinder as me, ahhhhhhh....so that’s how to use it...lol. They were catching both trout and whitefish, mostly using a small white jig tipped with a small minnow. I was very surprised to see the size of trout they were catching on such small minnows, as another lake i go to for trout, the trout will only really go for big tubes or large dace/sucker minnow

 

 

 

 

 

THESE GUYS TAUGHT ME ALOT...THEY EVEN ASKED IF I WANTED TO SIT AND FISH WITH THEM A WHILE...THEY TOOK PITY ON ME....LOL

 

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THEY HAD A GREAT MIXED BAG OF WHITEFISH AND TROUT

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day i went back to that spot, and armed with small minnows and white jigs, a good idea of how my fishfinder worked and some good quality small live minnows. Needless to say we did great, and i cant wait to get out and expand my knowledge for this species, try a few more lakes that hold them and post some good reports.

 

 

Once again...thanks for posting this topic, its really got me looking forward to ice fishing even more than i was before. I hope some of this helps, you probably know all the knot stuff already as I’ve seen your posts before and you look quite the accomplished fisherman anyway.

 

 

In summary i would say...

 

1. Everything tackle wise that’s been posted on here by all the members works great, but obviously there will be some that work better on different lakes...or at differently times.

 

2. Use a light line...they are picky fish at times.

 

3. If you don’t have a fishfinder for the ice...GET ONE!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

HERE'S A FEW OF OUR FISH FROM LAST SEASON AT BIG SANDY LAKE.... Google Earth Co-ordinates: 49 48 43.38 N 92 21 42.37 W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Look forward to seeing your posts for whitefish

[Bluegill]

Heya limeyangler

 

Thank you so much for your great information and all the nice pics! You are a very successful angler.

 

After these great informations from all of you, now I know how to catch a Lake Whitefish

 

Sunday, in two weeks I'm back in Canada - first Frankfurt, then Toronto, Sudbury, then to Elliot Lake to my friends...

 

Best greetings to all of you from Germany

 

Bluegill

Edited February 3, 2012 by Bluegill

[Homer Is King]

I know this is an old post but I had to revive it!

 

This is one of the best posts I've read on whitefish. I'm a newbie to whitefish and this post was great. Thanks to everyone who shared and took the time to put together such detailed post.

[Rob]

This what makes the OFC what it is!

 

Great information for people who need!

 

Rob C

[sconceptor]

tip up with a 2 or 3 way spreader and live minnows just off bottom.....get it to balance with the front end pointed into the water, and the spreader a few inches off bottom.....just watch for the lifting action in the tip...set the hook when it goes up.....