Whitefish

[Pat McGraw]

Has anyone targeted whitefish on Vermilion, specifically Frazer Bay? Any tips?

[OhioVike]

Hard to catch. Always been by accident for me.

[FowlSki]

I've fished tulibee in Frazer once and we caught a bunch.  Unfortunately they all had lots of nasty looking white worms and had to be tossed.  We did catch one whitefish and it was worm free and good eats.   Deep water mud out from Thirty Six is where we got them. 

[Pat McGraw]

Thank you.

[MN BassFisher]

I still have never seen a Whitefish from Vermilion yet. Hoping that changes one of these years. Multiple times I've been talking to people who were fishing near me who said they got some nice Whitefish - only to look at them and see that they were just large Tullibee.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Most people do mistake Vermilion tullibees for whitefish!

All of the tullibees are full of grubs! White fish are clean and large when you get one!

Cliff

[LBerquist]

I'm guilty.

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

I've got this bookmarked so I can pull it up when I'm trying to identify them. Even with this info I have trouble identifying what I've got on my hook. I pulled one through the hole last weekend that was almost 20" and I'm not confident in what it was. I have heard rumor of 5lbers coming out of vermilion. However, I have never caught any of these things that had any noticeable skin defects or abnormalities. 

Edited February 16, 2018 by LBerquist

[Wanderer]

My rule of thumb is if you can’t tell for sure, it’s a tullibee.  When you get an honest to goodness whitefish you’ll say, “Oh, so that’s what they look like”.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

LB,

The grubs are in the meat of the tullibees. They can not be seen until you cut them open. Otherwise they look very clean and healthy!

Almost all of the whitefish that I have caught on Vermilion have been at least 4# fish. I have seen a few that had to of been close to 7#!

Cliff

[eyeguy 54]

those grubs stretch out to about a foot long. yikes!  great smoked.  

[BrianF]

Not a cisco...

 

[JerkinLips]

I think that the 4 I caught this winter were tulibees, including this one yesterday.

I think that the 4 I caught this winter were tulibees, including this one yesterday.

[Wanderer]

Yep.

[Pat McGraw]

Tulibee? Last February on Frazer Bay

[BrianF]

The size and color says 'whitefish', but the only way to tell for sure is if it had an under-bite to it's jaw - and that just isn't something this photo allows us to see very clearly.  In any case, nice fish!  Nice photo!

Pat, question for you...ever 'bleed' your fish on the ice before bringing them in to fillet?  Make a world of difference in both the fillets you get and the mess the fish makes when cutting them up.  Maybe you bled this one in a different way from how I do it though.

[Pat McGraw]

Brian, Under-bite = whitefish?

I have not 'bled' my fish. What's your basic process?

Thank you.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

1 hour ago, Pat McGraw said:

Brian, Under-bite = whitefish?

I have not 'bled' my fish. What's your basic process?

Thank you.

Under bite jaw = whitefish!

Cliff

[Pat McGraw]

Thanks Cliff

[BrianF]

Cliff is right. If the upper jaw extends past the lower jaw or lip (aka an underbite), then it’s a whitefish. If the lower lip is even with or extends past the upper lip, then it’s a Cisco.  This according to the DNR website. Cisco’s also seem to have an irredescent hue to them vs. whitefish, which in Lake V have a slight brown/yellow hue to them. Hard to explain in words.

Bleeding fish...plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it.  I gill them. Leaves your fillets pearly white and creates way less blood and slime during the fillet process. Many say the fillet tastes better too. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by BrianF

[Pat McGraw]

Thanks guys.

[BrianF]

Mission accomplished...  

Folks who saw me on the ice this weekend - and there weren’t many of us - may have wondered what I was targeting.  This is it.  Released her and a bunch of perch and tullibees as well.  Would have made a fine meal, but this was her lucky day.  Thought I’d share the photo with others on here who think whitefish are an amazing and under-appreciated sport fish. .

Edited April 17, 2018 by BrianF

[eyeguy 54]

dandy! thx for sharing. 

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Nice! How deep?

[BrianF]

I was in 24 feet of water. She came in above my spoon and immediately engaged when I lifted to her.  

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Nice fish Brian! There are some real bruiser whitefish in Vermilion!

Mud bottom?

Cliff

[BrianF]

Interestingly, she was on the tip of a rock reef.  It drops into mud though. 

[Pat McGraw]

Thank you for sharing. Depending upon conditions maybe I'll give them a try this weekend.