Where to get BIG frozen bait for pike?

[Mike Stark]

Planning a trip for late March/early April for big pike. Just wondering if any body up there has big frozen bait. Ciscos, smelt, herring. 7in+. We have ciscos here but they are smaller.

Thanks.

[Walleyehooker]

Bait shop/gas station in Warroad had a pretty good supply last year when I was there. Im sure others should have some to but would be a good idea to call around if no one chimes in.

[vman11]

I would agree, Riverside in Warroad had a good selection last season. Check with some of the Baudette bait shops as well.

[CANOPY SAM]

Here's a question I've been pondering in regard to big pike bait.

Would it be lawful to use a few chunks of LOTW caught Whitefish fillets for pike bait?

There's almost no question that these big, greasy, fragrant whitefish are a primary forage fish for our pike. I'd think a nice sized 10-12 inch fresh whitefish fillet hanging on a tip-up would be to a pike what a big juicy Porterhouse steak is us!?!?

Thoughts?

This time of year most of the bait shops around the lake truck in a good supply of great big sucker minnows, but be prepared to pay a handsome price for em'. I think I was dropping a buck and a half per minnow last March, but they are really the schnitzel for catching really big pike!

I like em' 9 inches and up. Don't even hesitate to tie on a 12-14 inch sucker minnow.

[maxpower17]

I assume you are referring to tullibees (ciscos) when you say whitefish? I don't doubt there are whitefish in LOTW, but on the south shore its mainly tullibees.

[JBMasterAngler]

There's actually a pretty good whitefish population in LOTW. But if you go by the numbers in the last DNR test net, the tullibee's outnumber whitefish 100 to 1.

[Mike Stark]

Thanks guys.

[vman11]

Here's a question I've been pondering in regard to big pike bait.

Would it be lawful to use a few chunks of LOTW caught Whitefish fillets for pike bait?

I can't 100% say I know the answer to this, but I think using bait that you caught is considered illegal. Even if it came from the same body of water.

The only reason I believe that is because a few years ago the rules changed that bait needs to be labeled/marked to confirm it has been treated to remove whatever the DNR is requiring bait to be rid of.

And without the marking from a registered bait shop, you could in theory be ticketed.

Again, this is only what I think I've captured from the rules. Maybe someone else out there has more insight.

[CANOPY SAM]

I was wondering the same thing VMan. That's kinda why I threw this out there. To see if someone would know for sure.

If I'm not mistaken, I think it's primarily whitefish we're seeing so much up on the lake right now. I don't think tullibee or cisco grow quite as big as these guys. What we're catching seem to average around 2-4 lbs, and even bigger from time to time. Ciscos are typically smaller and more slender, aren't they?

You know, in all the suckers I bought last year, I don't think I ever got any kind of sticker or certification. I know everyone was talking about it, but I don't recall ever seeing anything? Perhaps since they were locally purchased it's just assumed????

[pushbutton]

Too lazy to make some seemly informed response But here are the "rules" "

Where you fishing out of Sam? Would love to hit up the whitefish instead of tullibee….. In general whitefish are going to be bigger. There was a heckuva year class of tullies that started showing up about 3/4 years ago. 2 lbs possibly tullibee, 4 lbs highly doubt it. More "lazy" links.

[CANOPY SAM]

So if I'm reading this correctly, I could use chunks of fillet from these (whitefish?) as pike bait. Right?

They would be caught from LOTW and wouldn't leave the lake.

I'll probably give our local CO a call just to be sure.

pb. I'm just fishing the same areas most others are fishing. All my fish ID books really point toward Lake Whitefish. I don't think I've ever caught a Cisco up there.

Thanks for posting the link.

[curt quesnell]

If you are wondering if you are catching Whitefish or Tulibee here is the answer. If the mouth of the fish opens straight to the front you got a Whitefish, if it opens downward with an overhang on the snout it is a Tulibee.

What I want to know is why Whitefish are supposed to be so delicious while the Tulibee are smoker bound? The seem to be very close to the same fish.

I hope this is helpful

[SrBrits]

sam,

i would say most of these are tullibee(cisco), i've seen both caught in LOW, but 99% have been tullibee. quite a few years back i think i remember guys using tullibee as cut bait for tip up fishing northerns.

[pushbutton]

What I want to know is why Whitefish are supposed to be so delicious while the Tulibee are smoker bound? The seem to be very close to the same fish.

Me too! There is a small discussion in the cooking forum. Regardless, learned you can easily filet the bones out. If the tullibee are not as edible, at least you can have boneless smoked fish.

Sam, as far as the law, almost positive (hate to say for sure, because then for sure I will be wrong ) you can not use either whitefish or tullibee, even out of a non infected lake, unless it was treated/labeled by an DNR authorized entity. Found another link

[decoy]

Interesting,

I think these are whitefish, but I thought the two names were for the same fish. I have RARELY caught actual tullibees in that case… Mostly the whitefish pictured, and a lot of them lately.

I've never tried, but can you fry these up?

I've only smoked them, and they are good that way.

[JBMasterAngler]

Those are all tullibee. You can see that their mouths are slightly facing up. A whitefish is going to have a noticeably longer, overhanging upper lip. Tullibees will typically have a deeper body as well, while whitefish will be longer and somewhat slender.

[MN Mike]

Here's a side by side of a tullie and a whitefish we caught on Shoal Lake, north of the Northwest Angle a couple springs ago.

The Tullibee is the top fish, notice the over bite and under bite of the mouths, beside the size that is the tell tale between the 2.

Mike

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks guys, but I'm still seeing some conflicting advice here.

Curt, your saying a Tullies mouth faces downward, with an overhanging snout. Whitefish opposite.

While JB is saying the tullies mouth opens straight forward or "slightly upward", and a whitefish has an "overhanging upper lip".

Ken, those are the LOTW (whitefish/tullibee) I'm talking about.

All I know is, growing up my Dad used to always buy smoked fish at the store for us. The long slender fish (pictured above in the top of picture) were smoked and labeled as Tullibee. The fish (bottom of the picture above) were smoked and labeled as Whitefish. I'm absolutely certain this is the way they are still labeled in the grocery store today.

Are they wrong? I don't know. But I also know one more thing! They are both really, really good fresh off the smoker, or from the grocery store!

So I CAN'T use use a whitefish or tullibee for pike bait!?!? What a stupid rule!

[jerkbait]

So to answer Sam's question. I emailed the DNR a couple of years ago the same question and was told that whitefish not over 7" or chunks of white fish could be usde as bait for pike. Tullibies could not be used for bait unless the were certified from a certified bait dealer and labeled. Would be nice if the rule was you could use them in the same lake you caught them in. Would love to use some tullies for pike fishing.

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks JB! That's good news. Yea, I wish we could use them fresh outta LOTW. Seems like kind of a strange rule that you can't use bait caught right from the same lake you plan to use it in, but I suppose you'd have no way to prove your bait came from that particular lake.

I think what I'll do is simply use small thin strips of whitefish cutbait, like belly meat, attached to a few of the trebles along with a big lively sucker. Those little flaps of flesh will wave in the current and flip around with every movement of the sucker minnow, and the scent coming off this bait should drive pike crazy!

I'm getting really fired up about late ice pike again!

[Markerboy1]

This may help in the identification

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/baudette/whitefish.html

MB

[pushbutton]

Told you I would be wrong Sam Now you just got to figure out how to tell them apart

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks MarkerBoy. That's very helpful. So Curt, I think you and I had em' turned around backwards. I guess pb had em' backwards as well. And Ken, those are all Tullibee! I told you that! Geez....

[zero]

yup, the mouth is up on a tullibee/ciscos and down on a whitefish. I've got ten packages of ciscos from riverside in warroad, stocking up.

there is a label on the back of the package that has to stay with you, so don't throw the packaging away, I was checked last year three different times in three different places for the label.

ten feet of water, three feet off the bottom, deadly