McGregor

[Evil69]

A good morning on McGregor:) went out early for Ling and stumbled upon a big school of whites in deep water. landed 8 and lost just as many. Glo in the dark Slender Spoon with wire worm combo did the trick. A slow presentation and setting the hook at any sign of resistance seemed to be the answer ( I don't own a flasher and the ibobber is useless in thick ice)http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attachment.php?attachmentid=129540&stc=1&d=1484002397

I caught a few small pike as well but they were very skinny. I'm starting to wonder if the Walleye are out competing them for food. http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attachment.php?attachmentid=129541&stc=1&d=1484002415

Never did catch a Ling:thinking-006:

[the local angler]

right on man those are some big hefty whites, don't worry about it i do it all the time. i target whitefish i end up getting big walleyes, go for big walleyes and i ended up with a huge perch, etc...

[dodger]

Good job !!

Dodger.

[livinstone]

Evil69 could you PM me a guick question

[Evil69]

I got a bunch of PM's about my last outing so to kill a few birds with one stone here's a bit more info....

The best piece of advise I can give...avoid the dam(North), it is by far the most targeted spot on the lake and I have never caught anything of size there. I find a lot of familys like to fish there and whites can be sensitive to noise. Not to say you can't catch fish there because you can and often do but the quality and quantity are better in other areas. There are many great spots for those willing to study the bathymetric maps and do a little walking.

http://aep.alberta.ca/forms-maps-services/maps/prairies-area-bathymetry-maps/documents/McGregorLakeColourBathymetryMap-2002.pdf

I also suggest taking a look at Zip's Post http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=274328&highlight=wire+worms on wire worms, there is some great info in there. Also check out Speckle55's posts on whites, IMO he is the master.

I found this school in 25-30 FOW at the base of a sharp drop off. Start by bumping the lure on the bottom to stir some mud then bring it up 10-12 inches. I do 5 short jigs followed by 5-10 seconds of deadstick and repeat. Once every couple minutes I jig up 5-10 feet in the water column and then drop it back down. I learned this from some youtube videos on Lake Simcoe whites and it seems to produce most days on McGregor. I didn't tip my hooks with bait this time but I usually use meal worms or wax worms.

In fairness and transparency I was not fishing with the intent of catching whites I was after my favorite food, Ling. I just happened to stumble onto a school of whites. To be honest I never would have looked there for whites till later in the month and spent the last 3 outings in the shallows with limited success chasing post spawners near weed beds where I caught multiple limits prior to New Years. All last year I never got a single white and then this year seemed to have hit the mother load, go figure.

I hope this helps some of you in your quest for whites and if you see my Tacoma parked at the tip of the park say Hi! I'm always happy to meet fellow AO members :)