# Michigan whitefish



## 7mmsendero (Dec 2, 2010)

LoBrass said:


> I rely on my ability to make a good clean fillet and take most fat and guts out of the edible remainder. Do what you can.
> 
> Whitefish are a RIOT when you figure them out. So much fun to catch and their trigger is as easy and predicable as any fish I have ever dropped a line after. All I really know is the goby inspired technique I was taught on Sturgeon Bay. It is DEADLY. If I had an extra day or 3 I would head back.
> 
> ...


You should try Au Gres this winter.


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## LoBrass (Oct 16, 2007)

Already know where I will start!!!!


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## Grinnell (Nov 20, 2019)

I’ve never caught one. I’m definitely interested.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

LoBrass said:


> Whitefish are a RIOT when you figure them out. So much fun to catch and their trigger is as easy and predicable as any fish I have ever dropped a line after. All I really know is the goby inspired technique I was taught on Sturgeon Bay. It is DEADLY. If I had an extra day or 3 I would head back.


Is this with a jig head and goby type plastic, tapping bottom like it is a feeding goby?


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## LoBrass (Oct 16, 2007)

Kinda!!
I will make a video!!








This particular bait caught me 38 whitefish. 
Just saying!!


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

LoBrass said:


> Kinda!!
> I will make a video!!
> View attachment 817304
> 
> ...


I think I know the technique. When I say tapping bottom I mean barely lifting the head if lifting it at all. That works at Simcoe too.


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## LoBrass (Oct 16, 2007)

My success is tied to about 3 things.

After my first trip to Sturgeon a better rod was clearly needed. Old broken rods are a common occurance at my house (a high school boy and a pond out back) but I never throw them away. I took the long handle from my very first noodle steelhead rod and the end of a cheap fly rod. I cut down the handle and made "Venom". Venom is 48" long.









Then, I watched a lot of videos of whitefish. They are sight feeders....big time. Therefore they will react, quite abruptly to movements of your bait. So, when no fish are around I raise my bait about 4 feet off the bottom with very quick flicks. Then I drop it to the bottom. If still no fish I will bounce it on the bottom on very short hops. Once a fish shows on the graph I make a shorter flickering rise of the bait then drop it quick to the bottom. I LEAVE IT THERE. This hold and pause while remaining in contact with the bottom is where I get most of my bites. Again, if you watch how they feed they like to use their mouth shape to trap and hold that bait to the bottom to engulf it. That constant tap is too much movement. Most of my fish and especially the bigger ones are hooked perfectly in the top of the snout. Now, if I don't get bit after about 5-7 seconds I will raise it up again with the quick flicker rise. Watch the graph, quick movements to attract and then pause and wait for the bite. I saw on the fish videos that most people move the bait too much.

I don't use sliders. They catch the smaller fish and I just don't think they are necessary. I want that fish keying on 1 bait, not 2.

3rd thing is the bait. The ned rig Shroomz head with Trick Shot Z-man baits rise off the bottom and keep visible for the fishes final approach. Weights will vary depending on depth. That bait I cleaned up on was 1/3 oz. and fished in 65 - 63' of water.

That's as well as I can describe it. If it wasn't so windy today I would be up there.


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## shannon391 (Feb 19, 2014)

LoBrass said:


> I would disagree with this. They have proven to be exceptional to my taste and in more ways than one.


I agree and they are still on the menu at some high end seafood venues.
Also tasty fair in the smoker.


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## 7mmsendero (Dec 2, 2010)

I tried Au Gres yesterday. Laid down minnows on the bottom and the whitefish had 0 interest. A couple of them chased a jigging rap 3-4 feet off the bottom. Those fish are hard to figure out.


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## Cork Dust (Nov 26, 2012)

o_mykiss said:


> I mean Green Bay supports 150 to 200K whitefish caught through the ice annually... nowhere else is touching that, your opinion not withstanding
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's nt just because of the Fox River that the southern Green Bay fishery produces so many whitefish, it's the combination of dolomite limestone substrate as well as the carbonate//bicarbonate hardness levels that are maintained in solution that can be used as a secondary carbon source by phytoplankton, enhancing productivity. This effect is readily evident when looking at the USFWS' Coded Wire Tag data that indicates that chinook salmon survival and concentration for yearling fish is highest along the Door Peninsula/Bank Reef area. Dave Warner ran several acoustic sampling transects north of Washington Island several falls back when they were doing their annual Forage Fish Abundance sampling on Lake Michigan. Warner's group found alewife abundance in all transects (4) were significantly higher than adjacent open lake transects values. Green Bay received its name because of how high primary production it is. Southern Green Bay waters are also heavily polluted, with highest levels of Hg and PCB's as well as dioxin-like PCB congeners in fish taken south of Oconto/Peshtigo.

There is currently a joint study that is ongoing in southern Green Bay and northern LBDN/BBDN waters that is tracking lake whitefish and walleye movements throughout the Bay as well as adjacent open Lake Michigan waters. They are using acoustic tags and a system of fixed receivers located throughout the bay. Early data indicate that there is extensive movement of whitefish from the southern Bay segment through the archipelago island gaps into Lake Michigan. Walleye and whitefish in BBDN move frequently back and forthe from Lake Michigan waters as well. 

IF you go back and inspect the 2017 fishery year catch data the OP posted from the Sustainable Fishery Model used to set catch quotas for the Consent Decree 2020 agreement, you will note a marked difference in the actual Lake Whitefish catch and the SFM set quota for M-1,M-2,M-3, M-4, and M-5, as well as M-6m and M-7 waters. This is just further evidence that the CORA overseen tribes are overfishing the resource. While not as marked a discrepancy in M-5, they still exceeded agreed upon catch quota set by CORA and the MDNR. When you tally-up the difference in yield (actual catch) versus SFM directed target quotas for Total Allowable Catch (TAC) that difference is just a piddling 507,149 lbs. from a fishery where growth and recruitment have declined for more than a decade per ALL assessments. That's right, the 2017 TAC value set via the Consent Decree Model for Lake Whitefish from these waters was exceeded by 253.6 TONS!!!! The incidental Lake Trout catch is essentially just as out-of-whack with the CD set TACs over a four-year interval. 

CORA overseen tribal fishers are now asking for access to Bay de Noc walleye stocks, as well as a portion of the chinook and coho sport fishery catch within Treaty of 1836 waters as well as continued access to fish Lake Whitefish and Lake Trout. The Federal Court ordered extension of the 2020 Consent Decree expired in December, 2021. Dan Eichinger, MDNR Director was just up here. Negotiations on the new Consent Decree are not going well...


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## hawgeye (Mar 3, 2011)

Nowhere compares to Wisconsin for whitefish. 

Sent from my SM-G781U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## LoBrass (Oct 16, 2007)

Cork Dust said:


> It's nt just because of the Fox River that the southern Green Bay fishery produces so many whitefish, it's the combination of dolomite limestone substrate as well as the carbonate//bicarbonate hardness levels that are maintained in solution that can be used as a secondary carbon source by phytoplankton, enhancing productivity. This effect is readily evident when looking at the USFWS' Coded Wire Tag data that indicates that chinook salmon survival and concentration for yearling fish is highest along the Door Peninsula/Bank Reef area. Dave Warner ran several acoustic sampling transects north of Washington Island several falls back when they were doing their annual Forage Fish Abundance sampling on Lake Michigan. Warner's group found alewife abundance in all transects (4) were significantly higher than adjacent open lake transects values. Green Bay received its name because of how high primary production it is. Southern Green Bay waters are also heavily polluted, with highest levels of Hg and PCB's as well as dioxin-like PCB congeners in fish taken south of Oconto/Peshtigo.
> 
> There is currently a joint study that is ongoing in southern Green Bay and northern LBDN/BBDN waters that is tracking lake whitefish and walleye movements throughout the Bay as well as adjacent open Lake Michigan waters. They are using acoustic tags and a system of fixed receivers located throughout the bay. Early data indicate that there is extensive movement of whitefish from the southern Bay segment through the archipelago island gaps into Lake Michigan. Walleye and whitefish in BBDN move frequently back and forthe from Lake Michigan waters as well.
> 
> ...


Well, that sucks.


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## LoBrass (Oct 16, 2007)

So, you are saying I need to keep driving to Door County......


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