Lake Simcoe Whitefish, NEED HELP

Also when making these quick short repetitive jigs with the vibrato will it be just like the jigging rap where on my next jerk up i hook into one? Or is there more to it. Thanks

Awesome thank you i’ll be checking the older posts out. Tight lines

If anyone would like to add any knowledge anything thats been missed it would be greatly appreciated!

Yes it is a bit of work to find the old posts.......going back a couple of years ago........but you can find them ......in the SEARCH bar.


As I said one of the important thing is your fishing rod. At the opener and in the Spring/ Summer when I do jigging for Whitefish I use a very sensitive jigging rod made by ....G-Loomis Walleye Series Extra fast action 7 feet long one piece. Extra sensitive for 1/4-1/2 oz spoon/ weights and I use 10lb Fireline with 10 feet long fluorocarbon leader.

This set up is so sensitive I know immediately when the fish is there and just touching or inhaling the bait. ( spoon)

Using braided fishing line ( Fireline for me) has many advantage over the Mono fishing lines!!!

But you must use a Mono ( Fluorocarbon ) leader at the end for shock absorbing and it's nearly invisible and no fish can see your fishing line. Fireline is black colour but your leader is invisible .

Also the braided lines got no stretch .......you need a shock absorber 10-15 feet long. Otherwise you could loose your whitefish........the fish got a very soft mouth ......take it easy as you fight with the fish. Bring up the fish slowly!!

Practice makes perfect.........you will be OK .......long time ago I was in the same situation as you.....but we must learn and practice.

Good luck!

(Don't quote me on this. Credit goes to someone else:-)

An open letter to Miss Whitefish -

Dear Miss Whitefish,

What gives? I know you are down there. I've seen the blips, streaks, and lines on my sonar and on my flasher. You can't pretend like you haven't seen my hooks, baits or lures. I can see you are looking at them. You come right up, stare them down, and then just swim right away. How rude. Was my dinner offer to you simply not generous nor delicious enough? Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something or anything to offend you? I'm a pretty good guy, you know. I like puppies and long walks on the beach... Why don't you want to meet me?

I've come to see you over 50 times and I'm starting to get the feeling like I'm the only one putting in an effort in this relationship. I bring you gifts of flashy silver and gold, tasty little morsels of rubbery goodness, and entertainment items of all shapes and sizes. I'm doing everything I can to make you happy, but all you do is turn your nose up and casually glide away. Come on... I have feelings too, you know.

Is it too much to ask that you just come up and say hi to me? And let's be realistic here, I'm not looking for those magazine cover models. I know those beauties are out of my league. And you know what? To the smaller and "ordinary" fish down there, while other fishermen constantly overlook you in search of the smokin' hottie in the middle of the school, I would gladly take your picture at the end of my arm and show you off to all of my friends. All I need is for you to give me a chance.

I'm not going to give up on you Miss Whitefish. My friends keep telling me there are plenty of fish in the lake and that one day I'll meet my first Miss Whitefish, but you know, it's getting harder and harder to keep my head up. The more I get shut down, the more I feel like there is something wrong with me. I'm a good guy. I have a good job. My rod is... well... I've been told by more than one walleye, that my rod is quite impressive and that I certainly know how to use it. I have a lot to offer. So please, Miss Whitefish, just give me a chance. We could be so good together.



The reply from Miss Whitefish -

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your heartfelt letter. I'm sorry that we hurt your feelings as this was not our intention, but unfortunately over this past winter we have caught on to your sneaky ways of the "fleeing bait fish retrieve" and our favourite, the jigging "stir up the sediment, hey! whats that? I think I should eat it" move.

Since we have an open conversation going, over the past month and a half a few of my friends have been mysteriously disappearing. No letters, no finmails, Nada! BUT I BET YOU WOULDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT! HUH? Samantha and Oscar were supposed to meet me after school and they never showed up? WTF! I was gonna ask Samantha to the Prom (if you saw the size of pectoral fins you would know why I picked her Grin). Let your buddies know I'm not pleased with them either.

Is it too much to say hi? Hell! Yes, it is! When you say "hi" by slamming a 1/0 weighted hook in to my face! Forgive me if get a little stand offish...What the hell! Say hi with a friggin card man! For the record we are not as dumb as you may think. you should know that I have a BA in Angler Avoidance and a Masters in Light Biting. There's a reason why we always are in schools... We are not like those dumb perch. Those guys couldn't tell the difference between a dew worm and a X-Rap. As for photos, just a suggestion. Why can't you do what other fisherman do? AND JUST LIE! Really! It would be in both of our best interest. You can tell all of your buddies about the 50" Slab you nailed, and your secrets will be safe with us. Photoshop works well, too.

So please don't be hurt.... I am really not a bad fish! Really!..... Listen.....I'll tell you what... I'll be at Big Bay Point this coming Saturday in 100 FOW with a "Friend". She is a real pain in my dorsal and is known to put anything in her mouth. (Wink! Wink! Nudge! Nudge!) Grin be persistent and stop saying that I don't do anything for you.

Sincerely,

Annie, Miss Whitefish

I think this will be the last day for the ...." Friend".....of Annie, Miss Whitefish.

John White lately posted couple of videos on his Youtube channel:

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9dGCP6txXQ[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkmkrYTHA6s[/YOUTUBE]

As you can see, he is big fan of vibrados...

This post has been edited by dmaster on Jan 12, 2023 - 11:48 am

Yes yes I have watched John Whytes videos and very much enjoyed them especially since you can actually see whats going on down below. Im pretty sure I have watched every single youtube video on catching whitefish and also went through every single post on this forum going all the way back to 2012 on catching whitefish, which took a very long time😂 i feel like I have a good grasp on the topic and will have to wait for the ice to show up so I can put everything i have learnt to use! Thank you for linking these videos! Im sure others who will join this thread who have the same struggle will find it as good a resource as I did.

I have done as you suggested, I’ve gone all the way back to 2012 and have gone through all posts relating to whitefish technique, I knew most of the tips but a couple things stuck to me for sure and I will have to try and catch these fish once the ice appears. I am wondering though, I have read and heard that gobys can be found up to 40 feet with an absolute MAX of 60ft but then I wonder why so many people still have success on the meegs in over 100ft when its primary imitation is that of a goby. Also I would like to know what you think i should do if i lift my jig and have a follow but the whitefish decides to go back down rather than keep following or inhaling the jig. Is this just a situation where I have to keep trying till she decides to bite? Or do you propose any other cadence that may work to catch a fish like this. Thank you!

Wow whoever wrote this really incorporated everyones struggles with the whitefish into this letter and made it funny😂 im going to have to send this to my Dad as we’re both going through this frustration😂

After doing the amount of research I’ve done I’ve decided I’ll be posting the things I found to be most interesting when learning about this topic so people like me dont have to scroll through 60 pages of threads to find answers. I’ve taken screenshots of the posts I have found on this forum to be informative and I’ll be including some videos I’ve watched that have also been helpful in learning the way of the whitefish. One thing I can say now is the whitefish is definitely the most picky freshwater fish in ontario, I’ve fished for carp, catfish, walleye, bass, pike, muskie, perch, lake trout, and theres no other like it. This is the challenge I have been looking for and I hope everyone can learn something from this forum!

the VIDEO above has a very good advice on about presentation , Technics using Vibrato.

About Gobies .......they ALWAYS stay on the bottom. And now many game fish are feeding on them. In my experience ..... I always caught whitefish within 1 feet from the bottom. That is where whitefish are feeding. Lake trout is different , they can chase your lure , and I caught lake trout further away from the bottom. But that is only my experience, other guys may have different experience.

Even if you are fishing in deep 100 ft of water and using Gobey artificial bait, I recommend fish very close to the bottom.

I like to use blades....spoons....and I fish right at the bottom. I keep my fishing line very tight and straight . With that very sensitive fishing rod .......I can feel when the fish even bump into the fishing line .
At jigging you have to FEEL everything . Sometimes I don't even see whitefish on my fish finder ....but I know they are there as their tail is touching my fishing line.

Thank you for your time and your input its very much appreciated! I’ll definitely have to get on the ice and put all the tips to work, will definitely keep the board updated on any success but for now I’ll attach a pic of the two whitefish my dad and I were lucky enough to catch on that first day out!

Here are some screenshots of posts I’ve found helpful while going through all the whitefish technique posts on this forum along with some links i’ve found helpful on how to fish the meegs/vibrato:

2.