White Fish Bay lOW

[riverrat118]

I've read lots of info and stories regarding this location on LOW that most seem to avoid because of the clear water, On the other hand, I hear that many big girls swim these waters.
*Question, is there anyone op on whitefish trolling suspended bait or structure in the day or primarily at night? Not your trolling pass from on point to the next, but a good 10-12 hours for a solid week working the depths?
John Schardt

[dickpearson]

Hi John.Lately I haven't been there often so don't know as much as I used to.I do know 2 guys who troll it quite seriously,including 'open water'.Limited success at best.No biggies.Yet.
I know a few others that troll a little but are primarily trolling traditional structure or structure edges.Similar results.
I met two guys who have tried it for a few years that troll deep.(including downriggers)I met them because they came over to fish mesotrophic parts of the lake this year so suspect they hadn't been doing real well either.Definitely not a #'s game.
About all I can tell you.

[dougj]

Here's what I can tell you, and it's not real good. I really haven't tried trolling specifically for muskies, but I have spent countless hours trolling suppended lake trout. I have a cabin in whitefish, and spend almost an entire month trolling for lakers, mostly in the early spring of the year. I troll in an area of the lake that is probably about the best area of whitefish for muskies (southern whitefish in the Bell Island/Timber island areas). I usually troll with #9 Shad Raps, #9 Risto Raps, #9 Lindy Baitfish, and a little with little Earnies, and 8" Believers. These aren't all muskie plugs, but are fair sized lures (trout love them), and you would think a muskie would eat any of them on occasion. I also do much of this trolling at what would be considered pre-spawn (Ice out till spawning, and a little after spawning, early June). I would think that pre-spawn fish would be feeding pretty heavily.

I troll areas that have lots of bait fish, and have caught a number of whitefish, on a Shad Rap, plus an occasional sucker, as well as countless lake trout. Water depths vary from 20-50 feet, with most of my time in the 25-35 foot range. I troll mostly open water, with very little time trolling any kind of structure.

I have been doing this for about 30 years, and my total muskie count is three, one at 48", and two around 40". As Dick says it's not a numbers game.

There may be something I'm missing, but I've spent thousands of hours trolling open water in whitefish bay, and haven't caught very many muskies.

Here's another thing to think about, I'm a good friend of a former conservation officer who lived in Sioux Narrows, and worked the lake for about 30 years. He checked many boats over the years, including many people who downrigged for lake trout in whitefish bay. In the 30 years and countless boats that he checked in whitefish, he never found a downrigging trout fisherman who had caught a muskie. Makes you wonder if there are very many fish out there with the trout.

Doug Johnson

[riverrat118]

Dick and Doug,
I've thought of making a trip out west and LOW Whitefish was a spot I thought I coud try sometime in sept- oct when the big girls like to suspend chowing down on staging baitfish. Since this is a "tough" spot to fish, do you think these big fish migrate to darker water during the year? Is there a color difference between the Whitefish muskie and the darker water Muskie?


John Schardt

[darcyfish]

Hi John

Dick and Doug are bang on as far as results of trolling on Whitefish bay. I guide out of the area and have not had great success with trolling, most of the fish are caught casting.The structure that has been productive varies with time of year, weeds do hold fish in the early season and then they move to rock piles and points.I use a variety of techniques from surface baits to cranks to jigging big plastics on open water reefs (my deepest fish came out of 38ft of water on a 32ft reef.Have heard others catching them at these depths also.Whitefish is not a numbers area, but does hold some big fish. If you have any direct questions please feel free to ask.


D'arcy Finlan
darcy@darcyfish.com