Anyone know Inconnu?

[alacringa]

Looking for advice from anyone who has taken Inconnu on the fly. I'm figuring streamers are the best bet, but I'll be in their range in a week, and would like to try for them. I'm comfortable with the trout, etc., but Inconnu seem to be a bit of an enigma.

[Iceman4]

Use big heavy streamers and fish them just like a pike. I've never caught them on the fly, but I've caught them fishing big spoons and other "pikeish" lures. They're quite aggressive, if you're in the right water just fish as though you're going after pike. We kept an 8 pounder for eating once and found 10 little pike in it's belly.

[KegRiver]

Quiet a coincidence that you would ask about Coony's now.
I hope to head north tomorrow to do some fishing and was thinking about trying for Coony's while up there.

But, I've never targeted Coony's before.

Anyone know what sort of depths they would be at this time of year, what sort of structure they prefer, where do they hang out, near shore or in deep water?

Pike will be my main goal but I would like to take a few Coony's just for the experience.

I will be fishing off shore in Great Slave and my boat is a 18 ft deep V so I can handle some rough water to get what I'm after. If that is required.

A little advice would be appreciated.
I am familiar with the Lake and the Pike, I've fished there many times before. But only for Pike and Walleye. I'll be East of Hay River, in the Fort Res area.

[Iceman4]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

Quiet a coincidence that you would ask about Coony's now.
I hope to head north tomorrow to do some fishing and was thinking about trying for Coony's while up there.

But, I've never targeted Coony's before.

Anyone know what sort of depths they would be at this time of year, what sort of structure they prefer, where do they hang out, near shore or in deep water?

Pike will be my main goal but I would like to take a few Coony's just for the experience.

I will be fishing off shore in Great Slave and my boat is a 18 ft deep V so I can handle some rough water to get what I'm after. If that is required.

A little advice would be appreciated.
I am familiar with the Lake and the Pike, I've fished there many times before. But only for Pike and Walleye. I'll be East of Hay River, in the Fort Res area.

I've caught them in that area before, at the mouth of the little buffalo about 20 minutes before Fort Res, it was in spring though. We were 200-300 yards from shore in 4-8 feet of water, casting and trolling spoons. I would guess they would be farther out now though, but I would imagine they would still be in that area, would just have to get the depth right. The locals we talked to were very helpful and there were usually a few boats out on the water.

[bobbypetrolia]

Fished for these guys for two years up there. Good ol' Tundra Tarpon!!
Best luck we had was fall. Best gear we used was streamers and double bunnys on a full sink line (a must). Spinning gear was a white grub/jig. Find where a stream runs into a lake and then drops off immediately. Cast from shore out into the lake and let it sink. When you think you've let it sink enough, let it sink some more. Strip (or retrieve) back to you uphill (up the dropoff), if this makes sense. This was the only technique that produced results consistently. We tried everything! Trolling the mouths of these little feeder creeks/streams was a close second.
Hope this helps, they are elusive, to put it mildly!! Best of luck!!
Any questions I will try my best to help!

[yetiseeker]

I lived in Whitehorse for a few years and were able to hook into a number of Inconnu (Shee fish) in the time we lived there.

We found most of the Inconnu right on the mudline - the part where the river would dump into a lake where the mud and fresh water meet. We found that most of our catches were a by-catch while fishing for lakers. In the mud line, we found that downriggers, down to flashers, and teasers were the ticket. However, we also found that in Lake Laberge, one or two feet off bottom up on top of a shelf (this time of year up north - target 40 to 50 feet is as deep as you need to go) - again on the flashers/teaser combo.

As these fish can be big and aggressive (up to 25lbs or so), match the available forage and and you should have luck. Herring up to 8" inches seemed to attract them best IMO.

Good luck!

[alacringa]

Thanks for all the replies, guys...so inflows to lakes, and not the rivers themselves, huh? Will have too keep an eye open for such spots, with rapid drop-offs.

[Speckle55]

Fyi all but one of the World records(line Class) came from rivers ,, the one came from Great Slave Lake .. also most are from the Kobuk River Alaska and are over 30# ..Lawrence Hudnall (53# WR from Pah River Alaska) and Daniel Hudnall hold most and were caught in Aug




David

[bobbypetrolia]

Fair enough, but I don't think he was asking where most of the world records came from. He was wondering what the best tactics were to locate and land Inconnu. I would be willing to bet most of these rivers that the records came from were big rivers. I would fish a big river the same way I would fish a lake; looking for structure/changes. I would also bet those rivers all had feeders/streams flowing into them, and this would be a great starting point for Inconnu.

[KegRiver]

Thanks guys. That is what I needed, a place to start.

I will be close to one river mouth and two streams. And I have no particular schedule. I have fished the area many times before, from the shoreline and from a small boat, on the Little Buffalo but this tip I have a boat capable of big water. So if the pike action is slow I may head further out and try for Coonies.

Dropoffs and river mouths, sounds good to me. I don't have a fish sonar but i do have depth sonar, i should be able to spot dropoffs.

Thanks again guys. I'll post a photo or two when I get back, if everything works out as I hope it will.

Everything is ready, I'll just finish this cup of Joe and then I'm of like a herd of dirty turtles.

Jim

[Speckle55]

Here is a read(quote) ... remember its pre-spawn they will be leaving the lakes the big one's and entering the rivers

Food for Thought
David

Inconnu, Stenodus leucichthys

The inconnu is a large fish that can grow to a length of 1.5 metres! Its head is long and shallow, and its lower jaw projects beyond the upper, giving the fish a curious appearance. Both a dorsal and adipose fin are present, but, unlike other species in the family, the inconnu's dorsal fin is situated two-thirds of the way down its back. Its anal fin is located directly below the adipose fin, its small pelvic fins are located on the underbelly, below the dorsal fin and slightly behind the gill opening, and its caudal fin is distinctly forked. Overall, the body color is silvery with pale green or brown on the back. Dorsal and caudal fins are tipped with dark pigment, but the remaining fins are unmarked.





A large inconnu, Stenodus leucichthys, from western NWT. Photo: Kim Howland.


The inconnu occurs in northwestern North America and in the arctic drainages of northern Asia. In Canada, it is found in the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and northern British Columbia.



Very little work has been done on the biology of the inconnu in North America, but there have been extensive studies of this fish in Siberia. Spawning is thought to take place in late summer or early autumn, but there have been no direct observations of mating behavior or descriptions of its spawning grounds. It is also suspected that individual fish spawn every 2 to 4 years. In coastal areas, the inconnu is an anadromous species (it lives in the ocean and swims up freshwater rivers to spawn). However, fish that inhabit inland lakes remain in fresh water all their lives, ascending tributary rivers to spawn.

Young inconnu are thought to remain in their spawning rivers for at least 2 years before descending to larger lakes. According to estimates from Great Slave Lake, inconnu reach maturity in 7 to 10 years and few live longer than 11 years. However, Siberian researchers have recorded fish up to 21 years of age. Inconnu are very large when full grown; although the average size ranges from 45 to 75 cm, one fish caught at the mouth of the Mackenzie River was 1.5 m long and weighed over 28 kg.

The body size of the inconnu dictates the food items that it consumes. In Great Slave Lake, adults eat smaller fish, mainly other whitefishes, but also pike, sticklebacks, minnows, arctic lamprey, and the occasional inconnu. Young inconnu eat insect larvae and planktonic crustaceans. It is most likely that the transition from an invertebrate to a fish diet occurs when the young inconnu migrate into the large lakes to begin the adult phase of their lives. At this point, they are so large that they have no predators. Young inconnu, however, are eaten by northern pike, burbot, and larger inconnu.

There has been little commercial interest in this fish, but the inconnu has been used as a food source for humans and their dogs for many years. Locally, they are caught by gillnet during the downstream runs in late summer, and then split and hung in the open air to dry, or are smoked. Commercial markets in Canada and the United States have not been developed to any great extent, but the oily flesh is more suitable for the smoke fish trade rather than fresh.