Whitefish spawning yet ?

[GbayGiant]

Anyone see the whitefish spawning yet this year ?

 

They came in last year on the Bay at around 42-45 surface temp but haven't seen them yet this year and it was 45 last time I was out. I'm planing on trolling all around them for a big musky, I tried to catch the whitefish last year but they have lock jaw something serious, they won't eat anything while spawning but I know the muskies will be eating them.

 

I'll try to take a picture of the whitefish this year if I can, there must be thousands of them because it looks like it's raining real heavy in a full 300 yard area everywhere you look. I had no idea what they were 2 years ago when I first seen them, but accidentally snagged one while walleye fishing around them.

[solopaddler]

My personal rule of thumb has always been they start around the full moon in October regardless of water temps.

Anytime I've targeted them at that time they were always in thick...

[GbayGiant]

The November full moons coming up on the 13th I think, maybe that'll be a good day to check, in this particular spot the last two years it was 42-45 both years, but maybe the full moon phase is a key trigger as well.

 

You ever catch any while they were spawning ? I've tried everything and they won't even sniff it.

[cram]

do you match the hatch with muskies (BIG white/silver bait) or throw something different to stand out from the crowd?

[solopaddler]

Oh yeah, catch 'em like crazy!

On my lake in QC I've located one shoal in particular where the whitefish spawn.

They move up onto it at dusk and spawn at night.

We've caught tons on a 3" white grub tipped with a dead minnow. Hits are incredibly light and you miss a lot.

A small stinger helps a lot.

Also if you find a spawning shoal it's a fabulous pattern to use for other large predators.

My spawning shoal sees large smallmouth move in behind the whities to feed on the roe, and large esox prowling the fringes feeding on the whitefish .

[GbayGiant]

Cool thanks Solo, I'll have to bring a ultra light with me again and give it another shot this year. Yeah, I haven't seen one yet in this spot but I know the monster muskies will be close by whether they want to eat a crankbait over a whitefish buffet is in question.

 

do you match the hatch with muskies (BIG white/silver bait) or throw something different to stand out from the crowd?

 

Well I'm no pro at this, last year was the first attempt around the whitefish spawn and I had no match the hatch looking baits, tried tossing big bulldawgs and trolled some believers with no luck. They only stay there for a few days and come in just before night and stay active for around 3 hours after dark so this year I want to try a couple days and stay out past dark.

 

Think I'll go with big 14" Jake's this year and just keep trolling all around them, I got one whitefish pattern so I'll try that and then some brite and noisy baits at night to make them stand out.

 

From some articles I've read, some giant muskies have been caught around the whitefish spawn and I caught one in the same spot the other day even with no whitefish there yet so they could be staging getting ready for the buffet.

Edited November 5, 2008 by GbayGiant

[solopaddler]

Don't know if they still make them, but if you can find one try trolling a 10" silver Williams Whitefish with the white tag on the tail.

I've got 6 of them left from an original 20 that I bought over 20 years ago.

They're deadly .

[GbayGiant]

10" silver Williams Whitefish with the white tag on the tail.

 

Those would be nice, haven't seen any that big before. I got a few of the 6" ones that are deadly on everything, I'll take the back hook off a big crankbait and let one float off the back split ring and see what happens.

[solopaddler]

Those would be nice, haven't seen any that big before. I got a few of the 6" ones that are deadly on everything, I'll take the back hook off a big crankbait and let one float off the back split ring and see what happens.

 

Now that's thinking outside the box man. .

 

I run tandem rigs like that all the time especially fly fishing.

One of my favourite rigs is a small egg fly with about a 6" trailer and a small streamer.

In theory it's supposed to look like a fry chasing an egg.

Regardless it works. Sometimes they'll hit the egg, sometimes the streamer..

 

Also have run jigs under topwater baits, also very deadly .

[Bob]

Isn't the whitefish the one with double hooks on the sides of the spoon? If so, you'd best remove those too or you could be running too many hooks on your line. I take it the idea of removing the back hook was to keep the hook count legal so if you leave two hooks on the plug and have three on the spoon, it's still too many.

[solopaddler]

Isn't the whitefish the one with double hooks on the sides of the spoon? If so, you'd best remove those too or you could be running too many hooks on your line. I take it the idea of removing the back hook was to keep the hook count legal so if you leave two hooks on the plug and have three on the spoon, it's still too many.

 

Nope, that's the ice fishing version. These spoons have just the one large treble.

[irishfield]

[Raf]

i think it's still a bit early.. late nov. for the bay.

 

14" jake is the plan.

[Wild]

Timing should be important because it won't take long to fill up on a whitefish dinner

[Bob]

I stand corrected. Been years since I've used one. In this neck o' the woods, I've always had better luck with body baits. Mostly trout here with a few places for pike and bass. Never even thought of hooking up with a tandem rig, might be worth a shot.

[GbayGiant]

Raf, I'm betting by the 13th full moon they'll show up, calling for cold weather next week should drop it down to the 42 range by then.

 

I take it the idea of removing the back hook was to keep the hook count legal so if you leave two hooks on the plug and have three on the spoon, it's still too many.

 

Yeah it only has one hook, and yes remove it to keep the hook count but it also would get in the way if you left the back hook anyway. What I do is just attach a floro musky leader of 12-18" on the back ring and just hook the spoon on the other, it will run your bait higher a little bit with the lift from the spoon but not much. I've caught lot's of pike with this technique on both the spoon and the crankbait.

Edited November 5, 2008 by GbayGiant

[DRIFTER_016]

Anyone see the whitefish spawning yet this year ?

 

I tried to catch the whitefish last year but they have lock jaw something serious, they won't eat anything while spawning but I know the muskies will be eating them.

 

If you use the right technique you sure as heck can get 'em!!!!

Try fishing wire worms under a float.

I don't have a picture but the ones we use up here have a small red bead or two in the center of the fly.