Timmins area whitefish

[Pgidley]

I recently moved to Timmins (Schumacher) from Hamilton to take on a job with the MNR. The first few weeks here we found the fishing tough, but I think we've managed to figure out the walleye and pike and even managed to catch a feed of good sized perch. Lakers are closed until the 15th so we haven't bugged the trout yet other than some unproductive trips into splake and brookie lakes (too much slush with all the snow). I've been wanting to get out for whitefish, as they're a blast on Simcoe, but I'm not sure where to look for them. A fisheries buddy at work says there are lots in Papakomeka and some of the other lakes down Pine S, but so far we've only managed pike - mind you we were fishing fairly shallow, around 15-20 F.O.W. but I was kind of looking for a mixed bag type day as at that point we hadn't caught any walleye up here. Now I'm really itching to get some whities, so if anyone up here targets them and wouldn't mind some sharing some advice, that would be awesome. I have a Tundra LT and a clam portable shack, so I can go pretty well anywhere.

 

 

 

Thanks!

[pike slayer]

look around in your area on here http://www.web2.mnr.gov.on.ca/fish_online/fishing/fishingExplorer_en.html i've found inland lake whitefish are more agressive. ive got them jigging spoons and in the summer ive got them on rapalas. good luck!

[Rod Caster]

Dana lake seems like a good whitie candidate. Deep and cold with lakers in it.

[Tootsie II]

When I lived up there Nighthawk was good but watch for thin ice if ice fishing. That lake can be abrute because of its many shallow areas even in its wider expanses. I understand that the guys from Mattagami First Nation also get them from the bridge over the Grassy River on the Grassy River Road about 85 Km South West of town. You go out Pine Street South to get there. I believe they do it in the fall but they may be using seines.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Tootsie II

[kuhaman]

You work for the MNR and your asking us where to fish? Me thinks you can figure it out.

[Pgidley]

You work for the MNR and your asking us where to fish? Me thinks you can figure it out.

 

Moving to a new area is tough, as I knew the areas around where I grew up so well.

 

The guys here at the MNR know their stuff, but nobody here really targets whitefish, at least nobody I've met yet. And the stuff on fish on-line is good, but really its just based on presence/absence reporting from broad scale fisheries monitoring and stocking lists, so just because a species is present in a lake doesn't mean its a productive fishery. Obviously I wouldn't post on here looking for someones favourite speck lakes, and I can definitely find that stuff out on my own, but as whities are a less targeted species and those of us that fish them are "special" I thought there might be someone willing to trade tips or decent lakes. So far the best spots I've found for pickerel up here on paper through the MNR reports and other material I have access to don't look to be great, but a fellow fisherman at a bait shop suggested a spot and low and behold its been the most productive spot I've fished yet.

 

Also, I don't work in fisheries, those guys are upstairs. I work with First Nations communities in the Far North, although the fisheries techs are around a lot and I talk to most of them dealing with various issues through the day.

 

I think its a prerequisite to hunt/fish to work here, so far almost everyone I've met is a fanatic!

Edited February 7, 2012 by Brando

[Tootsie II]

Some of the best fishing spots around Timmins used to be around the dams and generating stations in the area and most were easy to get to. Now thanks to a royal screw-up by Ontario Hydro a few years ago, you can't even get near them at any time. Another way that the dirty word "liability" mixed with lawyers, judges and insurance companies have taken some of life's simple pleasures away not just for us but for our kids.