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Old 12-11-2007, 07:50 PM
MuleyMonster MuleyMonster is offline
 
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Default Sherburne (Grassy) Lake

Don't tell my boss but I took the day off for ice fishing. First hard water of the season and had a good day. -16 with the wind but not too bad in the shelter that I bought from Crudedude thanks

Plan was to catch limit of perch and head to 40 mile to try and get White fish.

Ended up catching around 50-60 perch but it took us 2 hours to find them and deal with our auger. Ended up taking home 25 between the 2 of us. Started out using maggots but 2nd fish I caught coughed up a minnow so I switched and started catching bigger perch. We were in 20-30 feet of water and action stayed steady but not hot as it took us until 3 to not get our limit.

Great day of fishing as I was not working and the kids are excited to eat some fresh fish instead of deer for once

Any suggestions on catching Whitefish would be appreciated as I have never caught one but know that there are a lot to be caught. Thanks
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:05 PM
jrs
 
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For whites in the reservoirs a size 12-14 wireworm tipped with a maggot produces. My favorite "lure" is a size 12 gold ribbed hare ears nymph with a single maggot hanging off the back. Tie it to 4-6 lb line then have a small split shot 1 foot up the line to get it down. Jig lightly, use small bobber or strike indicator as the hits aren't always hard. I've also caught them by fishing wireworms on a pickerel rig instead of bait hooks. Can tip with maggots if needed. Pretty easy to catch if you can find them. I've already eaten enough whitefish this year, not really considering going for them unless a friend wants some for the smoker. Good luck to you and congrats on the successful outing.
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:07 PM
MuleyMonster MuleyMonster is offline
 
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How deep do you usually find them?
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:19 PM
jrs
 
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I have caught the vast majority of mine in 10-12 feet, not necessarily near the bottom though. They may cruise a foot below the ice, i generally go 12 feet of water and fish 2-2.5 feet from the bottom (if water is clear, murky water can make it difficult as them seeing the lure and cruising up to investigate results in most hits). If I'm using both rods i set up the wireworms on one and the hares ear on the other, rarely jigging the wireworms as sometimes a stationary hook seems to work better.

The one thing i recommend is limit your catch and release fishing for whites, recovery can be poor and the numbers of fish in the southern reservoirs is ridiculous, if your looking to keep a limit and fill the freezer that's the species to go with. Once you got ten you can keep going for them but I'd recommend starting to look for a few pike and burbot as they are much better candidates for release. Just some experience there, won't hurt the population any in the big lakes but you will see them stuck to the bottom of the ice come spring.
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:33 PM
MuleyMonster MuleyMonster is offline
 
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Thanks for the info jrs. Was looking to catch my limit as I hear that smoking them is amazing. My kids love fish so I thought a different presentation would make them love it even more.

Last few questions. How do you find them? Do you have to move around to locate them or do you just sit in one spot for an hour and wait for them? Do they travel in schools like perch and you can keep dropping bait to them and keep catching them? Any help is appreciated. Thanks
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Old 12-11-2007, 09:09 PM
jrs
 
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"How do you find them? Do you have to move around to locate them or do you just sit in one spot for an hour and wait for them? Do they travel in schools like perch and you can keep dropping bait to them and keep catching them?"

I found them over time by drilling lots of holes. I'd fish a set of holes 30-45minutes then try another spot (i normally drill a ton of extra holes to go back and forth between), once you catch one its a good bet you'll get a few. In the reservoirs some schools seem to have thousands of fish. If a spot is good one time it will normally be good in the future as well ( i return to same spots in the summer as well). Underwater camera could be useful, i haven't gone for whites with mine yet. If you catch one whitefish definitely try to get the hook back in quickly.
A favorite whitefish spot is almost always along the dam on the reservoirs, they cruise up and down along the shores feeding, always a good spot to start.
The schools of perch at Sherburn can be huge, i took my camera there a few times, wow!!, could see 10-15 at a time then they'd disappear for hours and you'd only see the odd one or a walleye cruise by, then they'd show up again.

Last edited by jrs; 12-11-2007 at 09:13 PM. Reason: wording
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Old 12-11-2007, 09:18 PM
MuleyMonster MuleyMonster is offline
 
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Thanks for all the info. Was at Sherburne last summer and same my first Whitefish in that lake. We were fishing the North shore for walleye and were heading back for another run when anothe boat was racing across the lake. We were just cruising and we see something floating about 100 yards behind the boat. Get up to it and it is a huge Whitefish (7.2 pounds as I had my electronic scale) and I thought way am I not fishing for these. Will be trying it this weekend. Thanks again and hope to see you out on the ice.
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