Lessure Slave Lake whitefish?

[vic1]

Can anyone share some knowledge how and where to catch whitefish in Slave lake. I have been fishing out by Canyon Creek at about 25 -35Ft and I saw some large whitefish but could not get to bite. I was using small spoons and wire worms.
Thanks
Vic

[Drewski Canuck]

Bud,

I feel your pain. A lot of northern lakes have a larvae stage of a mayfly or damsel fly, which looks like a 1/2 inch long blood worm. When you clean a whitefish caught in a commercial net in 50 FOW, it is packed full of these little blood worms. You rarely will see the whites in the shallows, so its clear they stay deep and feed on the bloodworms all winter.

Problem is getting the whitefish to bite on a wire worm at that depth. I am still trying to solve the puzzle at Calling Lake, and have not figured it out.

On Pigeon lake you can go to the middle and use a small gold Kastmaster and bounce it off the bottom and have some pretty good success. This has not worked for me at Calling Lake to date.

Drewski

[Kevwood]

Originally Posted by vic1

Can anyone share some knowledge how and where to catch whitefish in Slave lake. I have been fishing out by Canyon Creek at about 25 -35Ft and I saw some large whitefish but could not get to bite. I was using small spoons and wire worms.
Thanks
Vic

Saw some pics of Canyon Creek area ice heaves....getting out to the drop may prove to be more of a battle than catching those whites...😂

[ROA]

Originally Posted by vic1

Can anyone share some knowledge how and where to catch whitefish in Slave lake. I have been fishing out by Canyon Creek at about 25 -35Ft and I saw some large whitefish but could not get to bite. I was using small spoons and wire worms.
Thanks
Vic

I only ever caught one at Slave. It was on a tiny pink jig head (the smallest ones you can buy) with a little ball of power bait the size of a pea. I was trying to catch a perch. it was in 20 feet of water on the bottom at Jusard through the ice. Good luck.

[honker_clonker]

Try a slider rig out, get the attraction of the spoon with the ability to present a tiny bait really deep. I've used northland scud bugs, and a host of other plastics with this method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8gg0QM7vxo

[vic1]

Thank you all for response. I'll try my luck again this season.

[cschache]

I have never caught a whitefish either there but I was watching a friends underwater camera last year at about 18 feet and there were schools and schools of them swimming by with no interest in our hooks but we were not targeting them. This year though I am going to make it my mission to catch at least one!

[SteveY66]

I have not caught personally but been on trips with friends that catch the odd one on kastmasters

[Evil69]

Originally Posted by vic1

Can anyone share some knowledge how and where to catch whitefish in Slave lake. I have been fishing out by Canyon Creek at about 25 -35Ft and I saw some large whitefish but could not get to bite. I was using small spoons and wire worms.
Thanks
Vic

I can't comment on Slave but what I've noticed this season so far here in the south....and I'm no expert but I manage to catch them regularly this year.....when they are coming in stop moving your worm/jig. My first trip out this year(and almost all of last year) was super frustrating because I could see them come at my lure but then turn away at the last second. I discovered that when I stopped moving after getting their attention they would glide in and gently take the bait. Presentation seems to be key when they have lots of feed around, less is more. I like to jig a Deadly Dick or Swedish pimple to get their attention then when I sight them or mark them on the ibobber I switch to wire worms and meal worm tipped jigs. I found the slider rigs were spooking the bigger fish. This tactic works best when in shallow water and you can see them but it has worked for me at deeper depths 15+FOW as well.

I was fishing in 25FOW last night at sundown and put out a dead-stick wire worm while rigging up for ling and landed 2 nice whites using this same tactic, no movement at all.

I hope this helps, whites are truly an under appreciated species

[gube]

Originally Posted by cschache

I have never caught a whitefish either there but I was watching a friends underwater camera last year at about 18 feet and there were schools and schools of them swimming by with no interest in our hooks but we were not targeting them. This year though I am going to make it my mission to catch at least one!

What you probably saw were schools of Cisco (tullibee) and Slave is loaded with them. Unfortunately the flesh is usually full of parasitic worms.
http://aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/...orous-2004.pdf

[Dweb]

Originally Posted by Evil69

I can't comment on Slave but what I've noticed this season so far here in the south....and I'm no expert but I manage to catch them regularly this year.....when they are coming in stop moving your worm/jig. My first trip out this year(and almost all of last year) was super frustrating because I could see them come at my lure but then turn away at the last second. I discovered that when I stopped moving after getting their attention they would glide in and gently take the bait. Presentation seems to be key when they have lots of feed around, less is more. I like to jig a Deadly Dick or Swedish pimple to get their attention then when I sight them or mark them on the ibobber I switch to wire worms and meal worm tipped jigs. I found the slider rigs were spooking the bigger fish. This tactic works best when in shallow water and you can see them but it has worked for me at deeper depths 15+FOW as well.

I was fishing in 25FOW last night at sundown and put out a dead-stick wire worm while rigging up for ling and landed 2 nice whites using this same tactic, no movement at all.

I hope this helps, whites are truly an under appreciated species

^^ this guy knows what he's talking about spot on and good luck on the water brother !