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Old 02-19-2019, 08:13 AM
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aulrich aulrich is offline
 
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Default Ignored by feeding whitefish

So we spent family day on Sylvan chasing whitefish, I have never been so ignored we cycled through the 10 or so different WW and yet the fish cruised by digging something out of the mud . the day started good with a hookup in the first minute though we lost that one in the hole but we spent the rest of the day watching them dig food out of the mud. We spent the day thinking OK at sunset they will turn back on we did catch one at the end of the day, I had though about taking it home and checking out the stomach contents but it went back down the hole, I hate cleaning just one fish.

But how do you get the attention of these actively feeding fish and would there be any guesses on what they were digging out of the mud. We did get some reactions from a red/gold wire version that was hung vertically but no real hard takes.

And as close as we can tell on this day the fish did not seem camera shy, we spent a couple of hours with it out with no increase in sounder marks

We were fishing in 13' mixed mud, some rock and the beginning of weeds
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Old 02-19-2019, 11:27 AM
slingshotz slingshotz is offline
 
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If they were digging around in the mud, most likely they are after the burbot eggs during the spawn. When this happens you can try using a bottom bouncer, wetaskiwin or len thompson 5 of diamonds and bounce it into the mud to stir it up a bit and the whites sometimes will come in to have a look.

I learned this from an old timer many years ago on Sylvan. He only used small LT No. 6 or 7 ones bouncing on the bottom. The bonus is that you might be able to get a pike, perch or walleye using them as well.
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Old 02-19-2019, 11:35 AM
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pikergolf pikergolf is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aulrich View Post
So we spent family day on Sylvan chasing whitefish, I have never been so ignored we cycled through the 10 or so different WW and yet the fish cruised by digging something out of the mud . the day started good with a hookup in the first minute though we lost that one in the hole but we spent the rest of the day watching them dig food out of the mud. We spent the day thinking OK at sunset they will turn back on we did catch one at the end of the day, I had though about taking it home and checking out the stomach contents but it went back down the hole, I hate cleaning just one fish.

But how do you get the attention of these actively feeding fish and would there be any guesses on what they were digging out of the mud. We did get some reactions from a red/gold wire version that was hung vertically but no real hard takes.

And as close as we can tell on this day the fish did not seem camera shy, we spent a couple of hours with it out with no increase in sounder marks

We were fishing in 13' mixed mud, some rock and the beginning of weeds
Chironomid larva. Red is good.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chir...w=1920&bih=937
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Old 02-19-2019, 12:41 PM
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aulrich aulrich is offline
 
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Hey as a side question , I saw a wireworm variant at TFH this one was a triple hook wrapped in wire with a bead hanging underneath it.

has anyone used it an had success.
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Old 02-19-2019, 09:28 PM
pikeman06 pikeman06 is offline
 
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Yes sounds like a blood worm thing...see it deep up north too. They sucking up mud and spitting it out like a herd of pigs kinda tilted the whole time. Tough to catch for sure .lac st anne they do it too. Pound the bottom with a small spoon and drill a hole a foot away and fish a wire worm with a nice fresh red maggot just barely hooked about a foot off the bottom and you might get the odd one. I don't know what to say. It's nice to be on the fish but you might have better luck fishing the ones over the weeds with your traditional whitefish tactics if it's fish in the paIL you are after. Day to day as always with those dang whites. That's why I love em.
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Old 02-19-2019, 09:35 PM
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Talking moose Talking moose is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aulrich View Post
Hey as a side question , I saw a wireworm variant at TFH this one was a triple hook wrapped in wire with a bead hanging underneath it.

has anyone used it an had success.
Great for snagging! Almost as good as a Wetaskiwin special!
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Old 02-20-2019, 06:31 AM
TimboLefty TimboLefty is offline
 
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I thought snagging was illegal
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Old 02-20-2019, 07:08 AM
A.DENG A.DENG is offline
 
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Was on the lake on the family day, limited out in just an hour or so. only 2 marked did not bite. drilled holes from 8 to 20 FOW.
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