Starting this season right at Pigeon. Fish were aggressive. Only saw whites. Lots of chances but only managed to land one:
Fat 5.3 lber
I was watching one come in to my jigging spoon with mouth open when `WHACK!`, the JawJacker goes off. Almost gave me a heart attack. The rod doubled and line peeled off like nothing. It was hard to get the rod out of the JJ holder the fish was pulling so hard. Pigeon whites sure fight friggin hard!
Looking forwards to more to this and some new waters this holiday season.
I'm your biggest fan snap.! Only gotta tangle with those tanks once and a guy is ruined for life. Any smaller whites around or just the piggies? Quietly hoping that one of these years they have a successful spawn and get a strong younger year class like the good old days. Good job bud. You sledding or quad? I'll be out soon just wondering what to bring to get around. I need a good 18 inches before I try to get to my favorite spot.
PikeMan, I had a skidoo but it was not the right choice. The flood water is in a lot of spots. Some you see as darker spots and some are under the snow and you can't tell. Quad is a better choice until this stuff freezes. Sounds like over the next week it will freeze and then we will be good with either. Ice is 7 inches and floods after punching a hole so I didn't clear the snow on top and that helped.
Mr. Snap, for your next Pigeon Monster would you kindly take a pic with Stanley, I'm curious what length they would measure out at with the tail pinched. That would be greatly appreciated.
Only been to pigeon for whites once before, we fished the humps I believe they called it. Are people finding them out there or more shallow this time year?
Mr. Snap, for your next Pigeon Monster would you kindly take a pic with Stanley, I'm curious what length they would measure out at with the tail pinched. That would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
David
You bet. I did but did not take a pic. This one was 2 ticks over 23 inches.
You bet. I did but did not take a pic. This one was 2 ticks over 23 inches.
That is a great fish, Snap!!!
Would that length be fork length or full (pinched) tail? Whitefish have a pretty deep fork, so there can be a significant difference between the two lengths.
It is interesting to follow your threads in the last couple years about the size of the Pigeon Lake jumbo whites you catch. Back in the 70's when we ice fished Pigeon several times a year, whitefish were pretty much the main game in town and it was common to limit out on 10 fish limits similar to the size Zip is now posting in the Sylvan Lake thread.
Of course with the walleye explosion in Pigeon (combined with years of high fishing pressure from both the nets and sport anglers) the whitefish fishery tanked,,, but as you have been showing us lately, whitefish angling appears to be making a comeback, and the size of the fish is very impressive.
Whether we care to admit it or not, it is likely the walleye are now having a positive impact on the size of the whitefish in Pigeon! Hopefully this a sign Pigeon is starting to become a more balanced fishery and the whitefish catch rates will continue to improve and perhaps Pigeon can become known as a quality "jumbo" whitefish lake!!!
Would that length be fork length or full (pinched) tail? Whitefish have a pretty deep fork, so there can be a significant difference between the two lengths.
It is interesting to follow your threads in the last couple years about the size of the Pigeon Lake jumbo whites you catch. Back in the 70's when we ice fished Pigeon several times a year, whitefish were pretty much the main game in town and it was common to limit out on 10 fish limits similar to the size Zip is now posting in the Sylvan Lake thread.
Of course with the walleye explosion in Pigeon (combined with years of high fishing pressure from both the nets and sport anglers) the whitefish fishery tanked,,, but as you have been showing us lately, whitefish angling appears to be making a comeback, and the size of the fish is very impressive.
Whether we care to admit it or not, it is likely the walleye are now having a positive impact on the size of the whitefish in Pigeon! Hopefully this a sign Pigeon is starting to become a more balanced fishery and the whitefish catch rates will continue to improve and perhaps Pigeon can become known as a quality "jumbo" whitefish lake!!!
Yep, pinched. It was more fat than long.
I'm not really sure about drawing a comparison between walleye and whitefish at Pigeon. If anything fishing for whites was better back when the walleye were taking Pigeon over. And they were big then. I find it way tougher now than say 4-5 years ago. I've just learned the ways of the wire worm
Of course with the walleye explosion in Pigeon (combined with years of high fishing pressure from both the nets and sport anglers) the whitefish fishery tanked
Just to educate you angling, netting, and or the Walleye are not the primary cause of the collapse of the Whitefish fishery in Pigeon. Successive massive summer kills due to warm water temps and low oxygen levels are to blame. Whitefish require cool water with plenty of dissolved oxygen. When you’re scooping Whitefish off the beach with a front-end loader… This is why Whitefish are only present primarily north of the 49th and thrive the further north you go. There are billions of Walleye in Lesser Slave and billions of Whitefish co-exist in that water body with little difficulty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pikebreath
But as you have been showing us lately, whitefish angling appears to be making a comeback, and the size of the fish is very impressive.
I might suggest that Walleye have likely reduced the numbers of Juvenile Whitefish but there is no Whitefish recovery until water quality can be improved and until catches like this can be had. These are some of my photos from 2007 thru 2011. There were way more and much larger Walleye in Pigeon back then there are in there today with tags and a managed harvest occurring. Catching a limit of Whites (if you broke the code and figured out the pattern) back then was not that difficult.
Snap is a hard-core, hardworking, dedicated fisherman. The success he is finding is based on him putting in the time, the effort, and his ability to figure out the pattern. You are not giving him enough and the Walleye far to much credit in my opinion.
I might suggest that Walleye have likely reduced the numbers of Juvenile Whitefish but there is no Whitefish recovery until water quality can be improved and until catches like this can be had. These are some of my photos from 2007 thru 2011. There were way more and much larger Walleye in Pigeon back then there are in there today with tags and a managed harvest occurring.
Now that is something I can believe. Great catches by the way!
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