Whitefish Bust…Laker-Fest, The bug does not disappoint…

Played hooky today to sneak out for some whitefish up the road… unfortunately I couldn’t find any whitefish…. But did find some lakers! Tried jigging spoons and set line, and no action. I was marking plenty of bait… maybe too much baitfish, likely hanging out cause the big fish weren’t around. Since my shoal wasn’t producing I walked out further in about a foot and a half of snow, to a reef I fish in the spring/summer. Set up in about 48fow… marked some bait on the bottom, but some larger marks moving about. They wouldn’t pay any attention to spoons or the usual flashy baits, so I downsized and fired down the bug…. As soon as my lure smacks bottom, and I begin to lift, “tick”… hookset! What duel… 4lb fluoro and a 36” medium technica… holy moly this fish was fierce, I could barely move it most of the time without fear of line snapping… brought to the hole 3 times… and it fought its way back down… it moved significantly laterally and it was slanty fight to the finish. Must have missed the hole 10 times… my line sounded like violin string about to snap, more than once…. Long story short… I sacrificed my thumb and lipped it at my earliest opportunity, and yanked him out…. Man what a fight…. And what a beast on the bug. Quick camera shot then back down the hole… after performing a bit of impromptu dentistry. Had a quick puff to calm down, then tossed the bug back down as my graph showed more commotion on the bottom. Sure enough, another laker comes top side, maybe 18”? Managed to repeat the process, got a another 4, totalling 6, then packed up at 12:30 and headed home. The others were much smaller, kept 2 eaters for dinner. Hit the lake at 10am, off the ice by 12. Great solo day, windy, but it’s warm so who cares.

Killer shark!

Very Nice, Congrats

Nice catch but wow that laker so dark.

Wow!! So those homemade bugs are really working for you. I must have another try at making some---they look fairly easy. Any pix of the lethal weapon from yesterday?

It’s the Neptune version of the simcoe bug, my tied bugs also seem to do the trick, though I find myself using the simcoe bug more often.

That’s a cool looking dark laker…. Nice report 👍

a tank, a tiny and a smelt

beauty fish

Nicely done....you had a busy morning.

Arnie

That is some colour on that monster.

I didn't realize that one could buy those bugs. It so happens that 1 of the guys I know from another site is making up a few for sale. I am getting the ones in the pix. Any guesses as to which one catches the most lakers?

Those all look pretty good. Mine had a tungsten glow head and orange body with a wider gap hook, looks like some of those are similar.

The ones circled are Neptune. They come in 3 sizes. I got mine at Sail in Burlington. 2 for $10 I think. I too ordered some hand tied from Brian. Great guy...excellent craftsmen.

have you had much luck with these?

I've never tried them for lakers but the perch like them. I love those epoxy tungsten fiskas. And so do the jumbos!