Ice Fishing for Mountain Whitefish

[dave99]

Hey all, so i've been trying to figure out what bait/hook combination rocky mountain whitefish will hit, but have had little success. My maggot/wire worm combo was getting bumped, but they would not take the hook very well. A tiny jig that I use for perch wasn't producing either.

Any suggestions on what i could change to get them to actually take the hook? Was thinking of digging through my fly box and trying something like a bead-head nymph. Suggestions?

Good Fishin',
Dave99

[archercurt]

im in the same boat! ive been tryin evrything for them little buggers but they just wont take nothing! Ive been watching them sucking off ther bottom and have tryed bouncing small jigs off bottom or wire worms and have had no success. im going to try meal worms tomorrow and see if that works. let me know if you figure something out!

[the local angler]

in the one episode of fishing alberta the host used flies tipped with maggots. i have also had sucess with this method where bait is allowed of coarse. he was fishing ghost lake.

[chubbdarter]

beadhead black pheasant tail fly is what my fishin bud uses with a maggot

[walking buffalo]

I flyfish our open southern rivers in the winter, and usually catch quite a few whitefish. The two best flies for them are a clear beadhead pheasant tail nymph, and a hare's ear nymph. Keep the flies really small, size 14-20. The smaller the better.

[gonefishin]

I would go with a size 16 or 18 Bead-head nymph (prince, pheasant tail, copper john) just off the bottom.

[Tungsten,]

Small is the key,not only in size but also in diameter.Have a look at what there eating.Match that and you should be good.

Match the line to the hook also.I use 5x flouro when I'm fishing small.

[Dust1n]

6x is smaller diameter and that is what u wanna be getting away with. for flies i like use size 20 Bh scuds in olive and pink with flash back

[dave99]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'm off to Spray Lakes in the morning, and I'll let you know how it goes...

Dave99

[whitewolf]

let us know how it goes as i am looking at going to spray next weekend and i would love to catch a couple of white fish...never have had much luck with them...i wouldnt even know what what depth to fish them in that lake

[Christofficer]

if bait is legal try using those canned bright colored salmon eggs in orange or red. They love em.

[dave99]

Spray Whitefish Report:

The whitefishing was slow this morning. I tried several different spots and depths (8-15 fow) and only saw one whitefish. The good news is that I avoided getting totally skunked and caught it! (on a bead head #14 pheasant tail nymph). Thanks for the help everyone!

Good fishin',
Dave99

[Jimboy]

Originally Posted by archercurt

im in the same boat! ive been tryin evrything for them little buggers but they just wont take nothing! Ive been watching them sucking off ther bottom and have tryed bouncing small jigs off bottom or wire worms and have had no success. im going to try meal worms tomorrow and see if that works. let me know if you figure something out!

single Salmon egg on a hook

[Woolly Bugger]

Funny, Rockies are such a prevalent catch on the end of my fly line when nymphing in most southern Alberta streams yet the buggers seem a bit of a mystery through the ice. Any small nymph would probably do the trick, I catch many on San Juan Worms and Bead Head Prince nymphs.