Catching Whitefish From Shore

[mtnhunter]

Hey fellow AO,

Is it possible to catch lake whitefish from shore during open water? What sort of technique do you use?

Thanks!


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[pikergolf]

Late May and June they seem to favor the dams of the irrigation lakes. Wire worm under a boober will take them. Fly fishing choronomids under a boober works very well, as do caddis imitations if the caddis are coming off.

[mtnhunter]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Late May and June they seem to favor the dams of the irrigation lakes. Wire worm under a boober will take them. Fly fishing choronomids under a boober works very well, as do caddis imitations if the caddis are coming off.

Thanks piker! Just an ordinary slip bobber?


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[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by mtnhunter

Thanks piker! Just an ordinary slip bobber?


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Depends how deep you fish. Off of dams I fish 8 to 10 ft, under a bobber, this is manageable with a fixed bobber on a fly rod, but with a spinning set up a slip bobber would be better. Keep it small so they don't feel any resistance, sometimes the float goes under, sometimes it just tips over.

[pikeman06]

Painfully slow with bobber. More to keep tension on the line than anything. No more than 4 ft or so below I use the tiny bobbers and my favorite wire worm which is tough to cast. Sometimes put a tiny split shot just below my bobber just to give some weight to cast. Slip bobbers don't "slip" very well with little to no weight I just use the old red and white clip ons a little bigger than a dime in diameter. It's still tough tho from shore.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Painfully slow with bobber. More to keep tension on the line than anything. No more than 4 ft or so below I use the tiny bobbers and my favorite wire worm which is tough to cast. Sometimes put a tiny split shot just below my bobber just to give some weight to cast. Slip bobbers don't "slip" very well with little to no weight I just use the old red and white clip ons a little bigger than a dime in diameter. It's still tough tho from shore.

x2 on the first part, very similar to fishing nymphs under a bobber for trout, your hook set has got to be FAST. Keep your rod tip low, and that line tight, pretty much just a very slow retrieve.

[Fishingforjoy]

I have been shore fishing in Travers and McGregor(north and south side). Float with red wire worm. The keys are the time(early morning or late afternoon) and the depth of the float setting which you need to find out.

Good luck

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Fishingforjoy

I have been shore fishing in Travers and McGregor(north and south side). Float with red wire worm. The keys are the time(early morning or late afternoon) and the depth of the float setting which you need to find out.

Good luck

What kind of shore line are you fishing, dams etc?

[mtnhunter]

Originally Posted by Fishingforjoy

I have been shore fishing in Travers and McGregor(north and south side). Float with red wire worm. The keys are the time(early morning or late afternoon) and the depth of the float setting which you need to find out.

Good luck

Do you use a fixed bobber or slip bobber setup? I've always thought whitefish are feeding on the bottom and would not have imagined them coming up to 4 feet or so to pick up a nymph

[Smoky buck]

Not that I have put in much effort targeting them but I have caught a few with a fly rod from shore but only after seeing others do it with a float and wire worm

So it’s possible but can’t give much advice with my little experience doing so

[Zip-in-Z]

These mini-Mr. Twisters with a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jig head (Cdn Tire sell them) work on Sylvan.

Early Spring just after ice out & late Fall are the best times when Mr. White is in the shallows. Try to fish an area where there's lots of broken up rock with some depth, such as off the downtown main pier or around the Marina, Lighthouse Park area (old water slides), you'll still need to use a bobber to cast them out & work your jig back without getting snagged up. I've caught lots with no bait, but if you can find some pink mags, it would help.

Give them a try, wish you all the best.

Edit: The season opens here on May 15th.





D.









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[mtnhunter]

Originally Posted by Zip-in-Z

These mini-Mr. Twisters with a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jig head (Cdn Tire sell them) work on Sylvan.

Early Spring just after ice out & late Fall are the best times when Mr. White is in the shallows. Try to fish an area where there's lots of broken up rock with some depth, such as off the downtown main pier or around the Marina, Lighthouse Park area (old water slides), you'll still need to use a bobber to cast them out & work your jig back without getting snagged up. I've caught lots with no bait, but if you can find some pink mags, it would help.

Give them a try, wish you all the best.

Edit: Tthe season opens here on May 15th.





D.









.


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Thanks Zip!


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[pikeman06]

Tough to get a good hookset espicially from shore with a bobber of any sort. Best to do a super slow retrieve to keep the slack to a minimum and a long rod and quick set. Yer gonna miss a ton of them and get bites you don't know you even had but that's fishin whites for ya. Every lake is different and every day is different it seems.

[mtnhunter]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Tough to get a good hookset espicially from shore with a bobber of any sort. Best to do a super slow retrieve to keep the slack to a minimum and a long rod and quick set. Yer gonna miss a ton of them and get bites you don't know you even had but that's fishin whites for ya. Every lake is different and every day is different it seems.

Thanks pikeman. Slow retrieve with a bobber or without?


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[mtnhunter]

Thanks for all the tips to help a whitefish noobie!


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[mtnhunter]

Update on my quest for whitefish:

No luck so far despite a couple outings. I’ve tried tons of different worm/nymph setups and depths but not even a bite. Actually, I’ve caught two pike and one walleye on my setup oddly enough. I never would have imagined them taking a wireworm.

Any other tips to help up my odds of catching a whitefish from shore in southern Alberta?


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[Speckle55]

change where you are fishing lake Whitefish have areas of lake that they like

you will be able to see them rising

I like to sight fish them

or cast to a rise as I did for these

David

[mtnhunter]

Originally Posted by Speckle55

change where you are fishing lake Whitefish have areas of lake that they like

you will be able to see them rising

I like to sight fish them

or cast to a rise as I did for these

David

With the wind causing chop on the water I didn’t see any rises unfortunately. When you do find rising fish, do you find they take your wire worm under the surface? Like 3-5’ under the bobber?


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[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by mtnhunter

Update on my quest for whitefish:

No luck so far despite a couple outings. I’ve tried tons of different worm/nymph setups and depths but not even a bite. Actually, I’ve caught two pike and one walleye on my setup oddly enough. I never would have imagined them taking a wireworm.

Any other tips to help up my odds of catching a whitefish from shore in southern Alberta?


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Keep trying and move often, if they are around I usually get bit fast. It is still a little early for the dam faces, although they should be starting soon. With the massive choronomid hatches happening right now it can be a little daunting as there is so much food for them.

[mtnhunter]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Keep trying and move often, if they are around I usually get bit fast. It is still a little early for the dam faces, although they should be starting soon. With the massive choronomid hatches happening right now it can be a little daunting as there is so much food for them.

Thanks Piker. I’m keeping at it and hope to post some success soon!


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[mtnhunter]

Any suggestions on type of bottom to focus on? Sandy? Rocky? Weeds?

[Fishingforjoy]

Originally Posted by mtnhunter

Update on my quest for whitefish:

No luck so far despite a couple outings. I’ve tried tons of different worm/nymph setups and depths but not even a bite. Actually, I’ve caught two pike and one walleye on my setup oddly enough. I never would have imagined them taking a wireworm.

Any other tips to help up my odds of catching a whitefish from shore in southern Alberta?


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From now on till early June, it is golden time in McGregor for shore fishing white. Go North dam if wind blows from North, West, or East; go South bridge along the parking lot if wind blows from South, West or East. Set your depth to 2.2 meter for both locations. Usually early morning has more bites. Lots of my friends have the limit in couple hours if the time is right. One day the bits may be 30 meter away from shore, one day maybe just around 10 meter. The white is very big there, do not set the drag too tight!!! Try it out. Have fun!!

[mtnhunter]

Originally Posted by Fishingforjoy

From now on till early June, it is golden time in McGregor for shore fishing white. Go North dam if wind blows from North, West, or East; go South bridge along the parking lot if wind blows from South, West or East. Set your depth to 2.2 meter for both locations. Usually early morning has more bites. Lots of my friends have the limit in couple hours if the time is right. One day the bits may be 30 meter away from shore, one day maybe just around 10 meter. The white is very big there, do not set the drag too tight!!! Try it out. Have fun!!

Thanks FFJ! One other thing I’m wondering about is if the whities are line-why. I’m using 6lb fluoro and thought that would be fine but maybe it’s too thick??


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[Fishingforjoy]

Originally Posted by mtnhunter

Thanks FFJ! One other thing I’m wondering about is if the whities are line-why. I’m using 6lb fluoro and thought that would be fine but maybe it’s too thick??


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Should be no problem. If you worried about it, you could use Scientific Anglers Fresh water Tippet( I use 8.5lb 3X)

[slingshotz]

Does anyone have an image/link of the wireworms they have been using in Travers or MacGregor?

Spent the day at Mac and could not figure out how to catch the whites while people all around me were catching some. Pretty much went though all the nymphs I had all around 7-10 foot deep, just like what others were saying they were doing with the slip bobbers and as far out as they were as well. Frustrating to say the least.

Had both my fly and spin rod but I have no experience with slip bobbers on how they work with wireworms and how to weight them since the wireworms don't have enough weight. I put a couple split shot about 2 feet above the wireworm but it was hard to figure out how much weight to use..

I overhead one person saying red wireworms but I only had a few small red chironomid styles and really large SJW ones I use for the Bow. The other wireworms I had were either gold or orange and nothing hit on those.

I did manage a few pike and a walleye surprisingly on the nymphs, was amazing they didn't cut my line.

[Dielbo]

Originally Posted by Fishingforjoy

From now on till early June, it is golden time in McGregor for shore fishing white. Go North dam if wind blows from North, West, or East; go South bridge along the parking lot if wind blows from South, West or East. Set your depth to 2.2 meter for both locations. Usually early morning has more bites. Lots of my friends have the limit in couple hours if the time is right. One day the bits may be 30 meter away from shore, one day maybe just around 10 meter. The white is very big there, do not set the drag too tight!!! Try it out. Have fun!!

Great series of posts on this subject. I'm going to take my boys there and try a bit of fishing for whites. I've never been to McGregor before, looking at it on Google Earth I can see how to access North dam area but don't see any (easy) way to reach the South dam. Is there a road that gets close or ? Thanks.

[Fishingforjoy]

Originally Posted by Dielbo

Great series of posts on this subject. I'm going to take my boys there and try a bit of fishing for whites. I've never been to McGregor before, looking at it on Google Earth I can see how to access North dam area but don't see any (easy) way to reach the South dam. Is there a road that gets close or ? Thanks.

Very easy to go South Bridge parking lot.

Here is the GPS coordinates

50.351344,-112.835006

[Dielbo]

Originally Posted by Fishingforjoy

Very easy to go South Bridge parking lot.

Here is the GPS coordinates

50.351344,-112.835006

Cool, thanks bro. I'm going to set-up my boys spinning rods as you've shown and try nymphing with my fly-rod for me. Are there scuds (freshwater shrimp) in the reservoir? We caught some pike at Clear Lake whose stomachs were loaded with an olive~brown scud a couple of days ago.

[mtnhunter]

I wonder that too, but some guys I’ve talked to who have limited out on whities are using 1/2oz sinkers to cast further and cover more water. They were using 5-6” Thills and some of the 1-1/8” Thills modified with other floats on top (some foam, some corkies, some specialized floats).


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[Dielbo]

Hey Mtn, have you been tipping the w/w with maggots? In my experience, using bait is necessary for consistently catching whites. That said, my experience is mainly in rivers and creeks so ymmv.