Targetting Whities (and lakers), Inquiry - newbie

[Jstubbs]

Good morning ladies and gents,

Been a while since I've been up your way but Im bringing the wife up for the weekend on Family day weekend.

Bringing my snowmobile so will be able to move around on the lake.

We will be targetting perch on the Saturday - likely in cook's bay.

Was hoping to possibly try for whities/lakers now - we got our first ever ice fishing flasher yesterday and are excited to try it out in the deeper water.

Long story short, I have never caught a whitefish, and never a laker through the ice.

I've researched some things but just curious on some pointers, techniques and baits that might help us land a first!!

Sounds like meegs and white jigs are a good start in deeper water - beyond that I am all ears!!

Thanks folks!

J

[reelinginthebigone]

I could help you with soft water, but for hard water, the game works a bit differently. I'll defer to the hard water experts here. You've come to the right place for sure!

[VBB]

Goby pattern meegs in either the 1/4oz or 1/2oz tipped with a tube work well. I like to use similar color tube to the lure. Tap tap pause. Tap Tap Tap slow rise and keep an eye on that rod tip. If it moves even a little set the hook. Vibratos from 7g 10g and 14g I like in natural shiner color or holo green. Work them just enough to feel the vibration while also pausing. Don't overwork the lure. Minnows on a spreader also work. Good luck.

[Jstubbs]

Hey VBB thanks for the quick response and info!!

I was planning on getting a few more meegs so thanks for the colour tips.

And technique tips.

From your description it sounds like the bite can be super light so we will keep an eye open for that as well.

I've heard about them chasing the lure up even 50 feet before hitting. Is this common? Or just depends on the fish?

They typically near bottom or anywhere depending on the day? lol good ol' fishin...

Thanks!!

J

[Brooktrout]

Whities will typically be hugging the bottom, but lakers could potentially be anywhere in the water column.

If you're fishing deeper water, I'll fish a Meegs style on bottom (or vibrato). During mid-February, the fish seem to go into a bit of a lull. (They must be tired of winter too! LOL) As VVB said, the bite can be really light - especially in February. I lift the jig just enough off bottom to feel it's weight. If you life, and there's no weight - set the hook! Whities often come in and will lift the bait, rather than "hit" it.

For Lakers, I'll often dead stick a tube or swimbait 20-30 ft off bottom. I'll yo-yo periodically and then let it sit. This is when you'll see a mark shooting up to investigate. Resist the temptation to reel... wait for the mark to get right to it before you start reeling. Depending on how quickly the fish is rising will dictate how quickly you will want to real - the sharper the climb, the quicker you reel.

Good luck!!

[Dayfat]

Whities - Speader with minnows on the bottom with a small nymph fly tied on a dropper loop knot ~12in up is my confidence rig for em.

Lakers - Split your transducer screen so you have one side zoomed in on the bottom and the other side cover as much of the water collum as you can. Lakers can be suspended up high sometimes, you'll completely miss them if your screen on fixated on the bottom.


Goodluck!

[bassmasterrr]

Hard to beat a balanced tip up with spreader and high hook in the deeper waters , plus better chance at a laker. For the shallower bite vibrato and meegs can be good but it depends on their mood and location where as the tip up will work more often than not.

[Jstubbs]

Hey folks,

Thanks again for the tips!

Sounds like I will have to look into a spreader - never used one of those before.

We plan on having live bait as well so we can set 2 dead sticks - and work some meegs.

Will have to buy some vibratos as well by the sounds of it.

Again thanks a million for the help much appreciated.

Coming 4 hours for the trip so any help is amazing.

The split screen idea is wicked too - new to this unit so I will have to read the manual and see what's up for different settings but I love the split screen idea.

I will be checking the forum daily as well in preparation

Cheers,

J

[reelinginthebigone]

You might want to check out my fish finder setup video I created. It's made for a Humminbird, but I think the settings translate to most modern finders out there. It's very important to have your finder dialled in and understand the optimal settings if you want to catch lake trout. If you can't see them coming from the depths, you won't catch anything.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8O5UoM4o0s[/YOUTUBE]

If you're fishing in more than 50 feet, you need to really understand your settings. At a very minimum, make sure you have the medium frequency sonar setting on and not just high frequency if you have a dual-frequency transducer.

[linweir]

William spoon, one best ice fishing lure here..
Even don't need a fish finder. Keep jigging on bottom under different speed.
Work for whitie and laker

[Jstubbs]

Awesome!!!

Thanks again folks - all this info is very appreciated and I really hope to ice either species that weekend!!

I took a look at my fish finder and found the split screen setting - adjusted to zoom one side in on the bottom. The other side is the entire column.

Very cool and I can see how that would be useful.

Super psyched to test the flasher the next few weekends before coming down in February.

Appreciate the insight, any other tips I am all ears!!

Tight lines!

Cheers,

J