Lake whitefish, like other members of the whitefish clan, are cold-water fish. When surface temperatures rise into the mid-60F range, they move deep, staying below the thermocline much of the time. Researchers have collected them as deep as 420 feet.
Where is whitefish in summer?
Whitefish will move to the deep in the summer and can be suspended or lay right on the bottom. Chances are if you are going over a very deep spot in the lake and you pick up fish, it is probably Lake Whitefish. The season for Whitefish is open all year, the sport limit is 12 and conservation limit is 6.
How deep is a white fish?
Target the 30-50 foot range. Later in the season and during last ice, whitefish begin to venture shallow and can be found in the magical range of 30-50 feet. At times, it isn’t uncommon to catch whitefish in depths of less than 20 feet or as deep as 100 feet of water.
How do you catch Lake Whitefish in summer?
The best time to catch Lake whitefish is early morning, but they can be caught through out the day. A simple and effective way to catch Lake Whitefish is a blood worm fly/hook with a float. Try to keep the hook close (within a foot or two) to the lake bottom and as horizontal as possible to better mimic a blood worm.
What is the best bait to catch whitefish?
White jigging spoons are the most popular bait for catching whitefish, many people use live bait as well. Choose between salmon eggs, wigglers, maggots, and waxworms. Whitefish have small mouths, so you should use small eggs or worms when selecting live bait.
How deep are whitefish in the winter?
In whichever lake you’re targeting, focus your search for winter whitefish on the flat areas atop large, sunken shoals at least 10 to 15 feet deep, but preferably two to three times that depth.
What is the limit on whitefish?
Game fish possession limits and size limits.
| Species | Daily limit | Size limits |
|---|---|---|
| 8 from lakes, ponds, reservoirs. | 12-inch minimum size. Not more than 1 walleye greater than 22 inches in length may be retained. | |
| Whitefish | 15 | No size restriction. |
| All other game fish | No limit. | No size restriction. |
Are whitefish bottom feeders?
Feeding Ecology
Broad whitefish are bottom feeders. They eat snails, bivalves and other mollusks, as well as aquatic insect larvae.
How often do Lake Whitefish spawn?
Spawning usually occurs in November or December, when waters reach roughly 7.8oC. In very cold areas such as Labrador, these fish may only spawn once every two to three years. Spawning usually occurs in shallow waters at depths no greater then 25 feet. Spawning substrate is normally a rocky bottom or shoals.
How old do whitefish live?
Background Information: Lake whitefish can reach a size of more than 20 pounds and an age of over 25 years, although this was more commonplace 50 years ago.
What do white fish like to eat?
Lake whitefish have small mouths and eat mainly small prey, including aquatic insects (fly larvae caddisfly larvae, midge larvae, mayfly nymphs, and water boatmen), amphipods, snails and clams, and fish eggs and fry.
How do you catch the Great Lakes in whitefish?
Anglers catch it on a small hook usually baited with a fish egg. Michigan Sea Grant has worked with the commercial whitefish fisheries throughout the Great Lakes to help promote the native species.
What is a jigging spoon?
Jigging spoons are not search lures but are “location specific”. That is, you first locate the bass with your electronics, put your boat on top of them, then drop the spoon right into the middle of them. A jigging spoon is generally considered as “deep water” lures when it comes to fishing spoons for bass.
How deep do you ice fish for whitefish?
During the winter, however, they’ll visit various structures in the shallows to feed. “I never fish for them in more than 50 feet of water,” he says. “It’s easier to find them on structures in shallower water; there’s more food there in the winter than there is in deep water.”
Is whitefish good eating?
Whitefish is considered one of the best-eating freshwater fish there is. Because the fish lives in icy northern lakes, the meat has a high fat content, making it an excellent candidate for smoking. The mild flavor is more like salmon than trout. The meat is medium-firm with a large flake.
What kind of fish is whitefish?
Whitefish or white fish is a fisheries term for several species of demersal fish with fins, particularly Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), whiting (Merluccius bilinearis), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), hake (Urophycis), pollock (Pollachius), and others.
Where can you find whitefish in Michigan?
The 10 Best Places In Michigan To Get Delicious Great Lakes…
- Brown Fisheries Fish House, 32520 W M-123, Paradise, MI 49768, USA.
- Bortell’s Fisheries, 5510 S Lakeshore Dr, Ludington, MI 49431, USA.
- Apache Trout Grill, 13671 S W Bay Shore Dr, Traverse City, MI 49684, USA.
How do you catch whitefish in the fall?
Use a three-way swivel system with a Zero Mepps, or Blue Fox or small black and silver Rapala and troll very slow in about 35-55 feet of water. Whitefish spawn in the Fall. They migrate into rivers or near the shore that has a sandy base and basically spawn in the same spawning beds as the Walleyes.
How deep do perch go in the winter?
The typical depths are 19 to 36 feet. Shallower mudflats in 8 to 12 feet are used primarily when the vegetation is still green. If plants are dead, perch move to deeper flats.
Do perch go shallow in winter?
Perch will generally congregate in shallow water early in the season, and move deeper as the ice thickens. The movement of perch could be best summarized by: “shallow at first, then deep and then shallow again.” Meaning that at first ice, when shallow weeds are still alive, perch will be hovering just outside of them.
How many whitefish can you keep Lake Simcoe?
lake whitefish: 25. largemouth or smallmouth bass combined: 6. muskellunge: 1.