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Just curious if anyone has been out the past week/weekend w any updates on whitefish? As a buddy and myself were out earlier in the week and we were hitless, seein if it's improved any? Appreciate any intel!

I was out Friday on the pier, I think there were about 5 whites and 1 steelhead that I saw or heard of caught.

Hi guys was always curious about the whitefish bite hopefully u guys can help me out where can you usually find em what do u use for bait morning or afternoon or even nights??? Thanks for any info

Fishing from shore, the mouth of the ditch, the Port's angler site, or the piers at East Chicago or Michigan City. or St. Joseph. They relate to rocks, you don't need to cast out very far.

Choppier water, wind, overcast is better. Can have an all-day bite when it's like that. Otherwise, mornings and evenings are both good.

single salmon eggs are best. I put 2, maybe 3 on a hook. Waxworms can work, so can small perch minnows, bits of worm, small chunks of skein. Big ones will bite bigger baits, but small is the name of the game. And on the bottom.

It's definitely something I am still trying to figure out. I fished from about 10am to 5pm yesterday at MC and caught one small steelhead and missed one other small bite. I have only caught about a dozen of them in my life, and at least half of those were accidents. I've got the bait on the bottom, small hooks part of the equation down. I can't figure out where to put them though. Yesterday I fished the elbow, the inside of the end of the pier and off the point, my only action was just before dark in the elbow. When I've gone to St Joe, everybody is fishing the lake side of the pier, on the rare occasion that I've talked to see anybody at MC fishing them it's generally been off the end of the pier, but i've seen them caught on the inside too all the way up to the marina entrance. I've never seen them on the beach side.

Rigging wise, most guys at St Joe are using sliding pyramids with an 18-30in leader and one samll hook. I've seen guys at MC using basicly a perch rig with two smaller hooks above the weight.

I've caught them in the spring at Portage fishing coho on the botttom with skein. Believe it or not, I've probably caught more at Gary light throwing jigs and squid than anywhere else, and they've all been bigger fish. In the past I've headed into the discharge to cast at night a few times in the late fall and early winter and come out with a couple bonus whites that hit the 3inch twister and squid.

Yeah, the ones you catch surf fishing, or casting jigs, are usually 3 lbs and up. I catch a couple 4-5 pounders on spawn bags every year it seems. Sometimes those bigger fish have shiners and gobies in them. They have transitioned to eating fish as a result of the lower food web getting blown up by mussels. Not as much diporeia and other traditional prey items that whitefish utilized

Near rocks, deeper water right now as they are relating to it to spawn. Later in winter and into early spring, they will be roaming around the harbor mouth areas feeding.

Seems like there is always a hot spot, and it almost is always where you are not fishing . And it changes daily or weekly at times. Off the end of MC pier is good, sometimes the elbow, sometimes the stairs. I haven't personally fished lakeside for them but past the elbow on the lake side surely holds fish, in St. Joe that's the best area

WOW !!!! Thanks for all the info guys hope I can make it out b for the runs over

Anybody ever get them by boat this time of year?

occasionally perch guys will get them by accident

I am not really sure that many people target them via boat. You could utilize your boat to get to a holding area, anchor up, and fish them like you would from the pier. I'd think you might do really well.

We go to Green Bay and ice fish for the whitefish every winter, we get them around 20 to 22 .
Its a blast pulling them up 60 or 70 ft with an ice rod. Whats the length on them big ones you get?
8 of us went last year, its a ball.

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