Help with whites

[bpoppa85]

Hi all. So I'm looking for a little help with the whitefish. I was at pigeon lake for 6 hours today. I saw tons of whitefish and two burbot on the camera. I might as well have been fishing without hooks because the whites couldn't have been less interested. I tried wire worms of all colors, small spoons, tiny jigs with little 2" minnows, wet fly leech pattern. I tried jogging right on the bottom, half way down, jigging aggressively, jigging passively. This is my first year trying for whites and I'm stumped. They wouldn't even sniff it.

[aulrich]

One thing the jumps out, is folks have reported whites are camera shy, my first year with a camera so I cannot say from personal experience.

Color seems to make a big difference, I was out last year and we were busting them on red then it dried up, another guy came into the tent and immediatly caught fish, he was using yellow, we swaped and started cathing again.

With the wrong color they would not even come by the hole.

I don't know if it was the day but once they came by the hook needed to be very still.

Can't wait for Saturday the boys and I are heading to Travers

[wwbirds]

Sems they are spawning right now if that might make a difference. We caught 8 last weekend and many of them were full of eggs.

[Tyangelo]

I've been in the exact same scenario at the provincial park last year. Tried everything, tons on the cam, no bites. And yet, even in the last 2 hours, I fished with no camera, I still didn't have any action.

[vital shok]

Try a royal coachman wet fly with wings pulled off with three maggots if legal works in the bow years ago when bait was allowed prob 30 to 40 fish a night

[bpoppa85]

I've heard that cameras can spook them, and that they are generally just skittish in general. I didn't seem like they were overly cameral shy though. Its not like they were coming in and then taking off right away, they simply had no interest it seemed like. They did they're slow cruise the whole time like they didn't have a care in the world.

[WayneChristie]

I've heard that cameras can spook them, and that they are generally just skittish in general. I didn't seem like they were overly cameral shy though. Its not like they were coming in and then taking off right away, they simply had no interest it seemed like. They did they're slow cruise the whole time like they didn't have a care in the world.

Ive watched them swim right up to my camera and look at the lens. If they see your face in the hole they get spooky, and wont bite. or maybe its just my ugly mug :sHa_sarcasticlol:

[drake]

try peeing in your hole....its something to do with ammonia in urine that encourages a bite

[bpoppa85]

Try a royal coachman wet fly with wings pulled off with three maggots if legal works in the bow years ago when bait was allowed prob 30 to 40 fish a night

Thanks I'll definitely give it a try. And pee down the hole? haha, that sounds rediculous. I'm good on that, but thanks for the advice.

[hit1987]

whites tend not to bite when in the peak spawning time. I had the same scenario on Mcgreger lake, saw couples of dozens, but no bite at all. But interesting thing is that whites bite pretty well one day after I went to Travers.

Hard to explain, it may be an issue of food abundance. Mcgreger whites have enough food ready for spawning, and focus more and ignore others. IMO.

Cheers

[Strikemaster]

Too heavy a line? Pigeon Whites see a lot of hooks....I have best success with 4lb test mono.....Fluorocarbon would probably be even better.

[Daceminnow]

Hi all. So I'm looking for a little help with the whitefish. I was at pigeon lake for 6 hours today. I saw tons of whitefish and two burbot on the camera. I might as well have been fishing without hooks because the whites couldn't have been less interested. I tried wire worms of all colors, small spoons, tiny jigs with little 2" minnows, wet fly leech pattern. I tried jogging right on the bottom, half way down, jigging aggressively, jigging passively. This is my first year trying for whites and I'm stumped. They wouldn't even sniff it.


brass and copper has always done well at pigeon. in the shallow water early, fish a small wetaskiwin special or take a small colorado spinner blade and wire a small treble to it. bounce it in the sand. experiment, and entice the bite. in the deeper water later on an aggressively jigged kastmaster does well. brass and copper.

Dace

[Red Bullets]

I have fished pigeon for 40 years.
Try wireworms wrapped on size 14 to 18 hooks. Very small. The creatures they are feeding on this time of year are smaller. The earlier in the season the smaller the hook for the whites. Later in the season use bigger hooks.

Another way I have had great success with on pigeon is having a small 1 inch flasher spoon (silver or copper or brass) inline. About 4 to 6 inches below the flasher have a plain size 8 or 10 hook filled with maggots. 1 inch minnows threaded to hang horizontally work good too. The big whitefish like to eat minnows up to 2 inches sometimes too. (I once caught a 8 pound whitefish trolling a 4 inch floating rapala behind a canoe on Fickle lake.)
You can try jigging longer jigs or just a very slight constant jig... up and down movement only 1/8 inch travel, fast and steady. Good for all types of fish. The norwegians fish this way. Just be sure to put an inline swivel above the flasher so your line does not get twisted.

Sometimes you will see fish on the bottom and they are not biting. Try coming up to a foot or two under the ice. Sometime the actively feeding fish are higher up in the water column.

Good luck.

[bpoppa85]

Thanks everyone for all the help. Will try out some of the tips next time.:sHa_shakeshout:

[Dust1n]

all good tips.
try watching where they are in the water colom and try fishing from dusk to dawn to find out what time they bite during there peak spawn it just might surprise you.I plan on getting my limit before sunrise.:sHa_shakeshout:
Good Luck.

[ROAD HAMMER]

The best way to get the Whites in Pigeon is with a net !

[buckmaster]

brass and copper has always done well at pigeon. in the shallow water early, fish a small wetaskiwin special or take a small colorado spinner blade and wire a small treble to it. bounce it in the sand. experiment, and entice the bite. in the deeper water later on an aggressively jigged kastmaster does well. brass and copper.

Dace

I have found that darker coloured lures work very good on whites in pigeon. kastmaster/wetaskiwin hooks work ok in deeper sandy bottom parts of the lake only.Give sanjuan worms a try;).

[WayneChristie]

try peeing in your hole....its something to do with ammonia in urine that encourages a bite

if that worked Ive have 7 or 8 freezers full of fish!!! :sHa_sarcasticlol::sHa_sarcasticlol:

[ak-71]

I spent 3 hours watching spawning whites which wouldn't bite. I mean whole bunch of them everywhere. Got only one to bite just before sunset - the stomach was spotlessly clean. I don't think they are into eating at daytime that much when spawn is really hot. Next week lake opened for after sunset fishing and I did OK though. Try tiny minnow with passive jigging IF bait fish allowed

[King Midas]

I also have been thinking about heading out to pigeon for some whites, but I've never fished the lake before and don't know where to start. Can anyone help me out with wheres the best place to fish them? Thanks alot in advance