TOPIC:

Every winter, I tell myself I'm going to try to get some lake whitefish. I grew up snacking on smoked whitefish from the numerous smokehouses along Lake Superior's North Shore and I've had some dishes throughout Michigan at local restaraunts.

Can anyone point to a primer or info on targeting Whitefish on The South End? I'm guessing Michigan City pier and riverfront would be prime. salmon egg or piece of crawler on a small hook on/near the bottom?

Thanks!

Does anyone shout out whitefish catches anywhere?

J-

Starting right now is prime time. They will be spawning soon, and are also in feeding on lake trout eggs heavily.

Boiled single chinook eggs, with some anise or herring oil scent. Or small chunks of skein (many say uncured is best, but it is hard to keep on a hook). Cured works fine too. 

Run a sinker slide, 18 inch leader, and a size 10 octopus hook. 1.5 to 3 oz pyramid sinker depending on current/waves. Often the choppier the waves, the better. They'll usually swallow the hook before you notice your rod is bouncing. No huge hookset is needed, they have delicate mouths

You can also use a size 8 aberdeen with perch minnows on the bottom. 

Mouth of Burns Ditch and Trail Creek, on the pier/lake side. They rarely come into the tribs themselves - hardly ever see any caught in the turning basin in Michigan City, almost all are at the high wall by the marina and lighthouse pier. 

 

When you say boiled u mean cooked all the way through? Thanks

Basically you add single eggs to boiling water, for about 2-3 minutes. Put in strainer and run cold water on them. Then you can add cures, scents, whatever. The boiling makes it so they stay on a hook. Kinda like a peanut butter consistency inside the egg harder exterior once it's boiled

Awesome! This is great news! Thank you so much for this information!

Hey Trent...Just curious did you get a chance to fish for some white fish.If so how did you do,,,,Gordy

Hi Ben,

Read through this and some of your older posts on whites - really good info.

Do you (or anyone else) ever target them around rocky shorelines not near a tributary inlet? I am in St Joe area and I like to avoid the crowds. I have some beaches I frequent in spring for coho, wondering if they'd hold any whites.

I have caught them on the beach before but it's not as reliable as deeper, off piers. The couple times i have caught them in tight they have been feeding on schools of shiners. Even on the pier it seems like the farther out the better, generally

Thankfully the whitefish crowds are not anything compared to the spring coho crowds, so I personally don't mind the pier. Last couple times I have been out the pier has been mostly empty out in whitefish land

Sorry for the delay! I haven't been out yet. Our focus has been deer hunting but I fell a month ago and messed up my right shoulder. Actually I just heard that they are starting to catch whitefish off the pier at Michigan City. I'm hoping I can get out there but not sure I'll be able to walk that far since I fell but sure going to try!

There's a photo on the main page of a stringer of whitefish, but I can't find an associated post. Does anyone know where/when those were caught?