Advice on whitefish tactics

[Raith]

Hello, I am looking for some advice on different ways to catch whitefish. I have fished full a couple of times with limited success and have a good supply of wire worms and a few wetaskawin specials. I was fishing Pegasus on the weekend and found the fish but could not get them interested. This has also happened to me on other lakes like whitefish and goodfish. I am wondering if there are other ways to fish for whites or if perhaps I am doing something wrong.

[Secret coulee]

Have you been using a camera to see the whites that you have been seeing,if so you need to sight fish them looking down the hole,they seem like a very shy fish and 9times out of 10 just keep rolling through when using a camera.they are not like most other fish species that come Rollin in to your setups

[Jamie Black R/T]

sight fishing is the best way....if you are using a camera for sure mount it in the top down view position and have it mostly up in the ice. ive fished whites for over 20 years and ive seen two take a bait with a camera dangling in front of them....caught hundreds without....ive watched guys get skunked camera fishing while 30 yards away we are stackin em up.

[Speckle55]

Hi Raith .. look at each new body of water you are going to fish as a game and divide it into zones of where your target fish will feed .. then spend time finding the right looking hook for what they are feeding on

here is a example ..just remember this is a huge lake but it talks of what Lake Whitefish feed on
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Task_rpts/2002/edynalepa09-4.html

on any given lake there are zones where the zoology/plankton
is the best for those food groups that your target fish is eating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_whitefish

other zones(bays) are empty because there is no food or very little and the fish just crosses there but on a low percentage ...you want to find your hotspots
http://www.ontariofishspecies.com/lake-whitefish.html

When your fishing get into your game mode and make your hook do the dance of death so to speak ....be the bug that is dying and trigger the hunter mode in the fish you are fishing and they will come in and inhale your offering

I fish my Lake Whitefish in water that I can see them so 10 fow or less and in shallower as needed for lake water clarity

But as in all fishing there are 3 key tips

Patience

Perseverance

Persistence

even the Pro have slow days just less

hope this helps and as always this is just

Food for Thought

David:)


Hello, I am looking for some advice on different ways to catch whitefish. I have fished full a couple of times with limited success and have a good supply of wire worms and a few wetaskawin specials. I was fishing Pegasus on the weekend and found the fish but could not get them interested. This has also happened to me on other lakes like whitefish and goodfish. I am wondering if there are other ways to fish for whites or if perhaps I am doing something wrong.

[Mike_W]

Whitefish are very shy. At the right time of year they are more aggressive and guy catch them with spoons or wetaskiwins but for the most part a wire worm with 4lb fluorocarbon will be your best bet. Sometimes tip the worm with a maggot or two. Also try to position your knot so that your wire worm sits as horizontal as possible.
I jig to bring whites in but let my wire worm sit perfectly still if they are coming in ... If they pass by jig again and let sit. Typically whitefish barley bite the hook so the second you see them inhale set the hook.
In march wetaskiwins bounced off the bottom can work great!!

[Secret coulee]

That's really funny I've only seen two as well take a bait in front of a camera and both times I did I was actually pike fishing and they were picking chunks of meat and scales from off the bottom from the smelts,so I rigged up a little j hook both times and iced both.but other then that actually targeting then with wire worms and jigs,not a chance,there eye sight is so superior I've fiscally watched them a few times roll up to my wire worm in 4 feet of water and see there eye rotate and look up the hole and carry on.

[Rabdo]

I thought the whole "whitefish are scared of cameras" thing was complete BS. But I haven't had a whitefish bite ANYTHING with a camera down in 2 years now. You'll see them, but they just cruise on by.

[ironbutterfly]

me and a friend use fire eyes tipped with a maggot or two. Jig it up in one long stroke (~70cm) and let drop again. They mostly took it at the drop. Also used nymph flies with success. Takes are never very aggressive.

[Speckle55]

This shows when a school of Lake Whitefish comes into a area .. you can see and catch lake whites using a camera just have the hook 10 to 15 ft away from your hole with camera

but then others are not camera shy
here is some video on Lake Whitefish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euFwCkV6kKo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w_zKwAETfs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovyn9Vft_YE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn0PcH9-NPE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD7XX0ctVgo

David:)

[Double-Eh]

I certainly do not mean to hijack a thread, but I am interested in trying for whites once or twice before the ice is gone. I have never done so and would likely join the masses at Gull to pick some brains. But any how, I'm curious if anyone is willing to post a picture or two of their go to lure. I've heard about making wireworms sit horizontal as well, but I'm not too familiar as to how I would do it.
All of that aside, this is an excellent information thread, thank you.

[elkoholik]

Bought a fishphone camera and had it set up about 10-15' from my hole and could see them come by which was great and caught 4 in less than a hour. Each time I saw one go by the cam it came by the hole and was able to catch 4 out 9 missed 3.

[warbridle]

Ok I had a heck of a time finding Wetaskewin Specials but finally found this. http://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cfm?action=product&se=23176

Now, how the heck do you rig/fish it?

[hennigzack]

wireworms have been working for me fairly well since christmas, been having all my luck in under 10 fow, without being able to see the fish the chance's of landing a white are slim, often i am not too active with my jigging and once i spot a fish i stop and keep the line still, often they come back if not interested at first. i have had success with maggets in the past but honestly dont find that i ever really need them. yellow wireworm was the hot color last week at wabuman caught ten in under a hour between one and two oclock, all catch and release of course. good luck!

[Hunter Trav]

Hi Raith .. look at each new body of water you are going to fish as a game and divide it into zones of where your target fish will feed .. then spend time finding the right looking hook for what they are feeding on

here is a example ..just remember this is a huge lake but it talks of what Lake Whitefish feed on
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Task_rpts/2002/edynalepa09-4.html

on any given lake there are zones where the zoology/plankton
is the best for those food groups that your target fish is eating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_whitefish

other zones(bays) are empty because there is no food or very little and the fish just crosses there but on a low percentage ...you want to find your hotspots
http://www.ontariofishspecies.com/lake-whitefish.html

When your fishing get into your game mode and make your hook do the dance of death so to speak ....be the bug that is dying and trigger the hunter mode in the fish you are fishing and they will come in and inhale your offering

I fish my Lake Whitefish in water that I can see them so 10 fow or less and in shallower as needed for lake water clarity

But as in all fishing there are 3 key tips

Patience

Perseverance

Persistence

even the Pro have slow days just less

hope this helps and as always this is just

Food for Thought

David:)

Thanks for the links David, good info right there...:cool:

[Speckle55]

Hope this helps

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=201305&highlight=whitefish+hooks&page=2


wire worm lays on back with hook up horizontal

I use this knot then turn the knot sitting up so hook in water will be horizontal

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a488/Speckle55/improved_clinch_step1_380_zpsc18b4179.gif


David:)


I certainly do not mean to hijack a thread, but I am interested in trying for whites once or twice before the ice is gone. I have never done so and would likely join the masses at Gull to pick some brains. But any how, I'm curious if anyone is willing to post a picture or two of their go to lure. I've heard about making wireworms sit horizontal as well, but I'm not too familiar as to how I would do it.
All of that aside, this is an excellent information thread, thank you.

[Mike_W]

Ok I had a heck of a time finding Wetaskewin Specials but finally found this. http://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cfm?action=product&se=23176

Now, how the heck do you rig/fish it?

I touched on this on my first post but I have found when fishing with wetaskiwins most strikes of pick ups come when the lure is on the bottom.
I will do two tactics let the lure to bottom and rap jig about two feet let the lure free fall to bottom sit for a second or two and rip jig two feet .... Repeat usually on the rip jig you will hook up.
Another tactic when the fish aren't as aggressive is similar let the lure to the bottom and continually do a little 1-2 inch flutter jig stirring up bottom.

These tactics are best on sandy bottom with no weeds and a wetaskiwin can be replaced with small spoons like kastmasters and Swedish pimples.

Good luck.

[Raith]

Thanks for all the useful information. I am thinking of tieing up some rigs of two or three wire worms/nymphs kind of like drop shot rigs but with one or two hooks and a final hook in the place of the weight. Has anyone tried this? Any foreseeable problems that this may cause with presentation. I want to do this to cycle through baits faster because I have noticed on gull that sometimes only one worm is hot. Thanks

[Rabdo]

Like other posters previously stated, make sure your wire worm sits horizontally.

You'll notice the wire worm sinks very slowly. Sometimes what I like to do is lift my wire worm 4-5 feet off bottom and just let it slowly sink back down near bottom. I'll do that once every 5 minutes if I'm not seeing any fish or if they're around but not biting. Sometimes they'll come in aggressively and take the hook as it's falling or when it reaches near bottom.

[cube]

Thanks for all the useful information. I am thinking of tieing up some rigs of two or three wire worms/nymphs kind of like drop shot rigs but with one or two hooks and a final hook in the place of the weight. Has anyone tried this? Any foreseeable problems that this may cause with presentation. I want to do this to cycle through baits faster because I have noticed on gull that sometimes only one worm is hot. Thanks

Yes this works. Depending how you do it you can get tangles sometimes though.

Good luck to you.

[Mike_W]

Yes this works. Depending how you do it you can get tangles sometimes though.

Good luck to you.

I have done this with a spoon and a single wire worm tied 16 inches above.

I have found the best way to make this work is to tie a really small split ring in and have a free sliding wire worm above it ....this help to keep a small profile and the worm horizontal.