Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Whitefish Chain Fishing Reports


Recommended Posts

Don't forget to try worms!  Last year we skipped the redtails and went worms for our fall trip and did excellent!!  Keep me updated as I won't be able to get up there until the last weekend of the month?  pretty sure temps were 65-67 over labor day.  GOOD LUCK!!!

  • I Like it 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I'm going up to the chain on the weekend of Sept 28th.  I've never really fished for eyes up there in the fall.  Any tips on what depths I should be targeting?  Is this a good time if year to rig big chubs?  What about trolling cranks or throwing soft plastic swim baits?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will also be on the water that weekend with a group of buddies.  At that time work the remaining weedlines and look at hump and breaks near the deep water.  I have not had great success on the big minnows out on WFC but I do know that crawlers (jig or rig) and rapala's and jigging raps all have been successful for me out there.  Just need to move and groove until you find some fish in the 15-40' of water range and start attacking them.  Good Luck

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

also shorten the amount of water you are looking at and work whitefish lakes and leave the rest alone.  Fish can be had in Trout and Cross but %'s improve in WF IMO

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone have a rough idea when the ciscos start their fall spawning run?  I've heard they spawn on sandy/gravely bottom and it can be a good pattern to target walleyes if you can time it right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe the run is dictated by water temp...seems to me I remember in the upper 40's lower 50's which usually is in November.  I was supposed to make it up there this weekend but my wife got a call back from her cancer removal and they need to take more tissue out as they didn't get all the cancer...#F@ckcancer  surgery is Thursday...hoping this time is the last time they need to open her up to deal with this sh!t

 

Edited by ozzie
  • l Love It 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ozzie prayers to your wife and yourself.   Cancer  seems to effect all families somewhere along the line.  Hope all goes well.   Far as fishing its been pretty hit and miss. Think the weather has something to do with it.   Fish think its still summer.  Now with more normal temps I think the fall bite will kick in.  We have caught walleyes from 12' to 25' with no real pattern.  Cranks have been dead,  trolling over deep water has been a dud,  best has been lindys with live bait .   Red tails are so $$$$ haven't tried them but our neighbor has and only got snakes. Far as the duck opener it was pretty slow from what I have heard.  Shooting died off by 8:30 on the weekend and none heard since.  All I see are wood ducks and the geese have vanished.  So enjoy the warm weather as old man winter will have his day soon.  Good Luck

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎9‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 3:04 PM, Robin B. said:

Oct. 31, 2018 saw young bull moose on State Highway 65. South of County Road 28 about 2 - 3 miles.

wrong forum topic and area (as in a ways from WFC) but cool none the less!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heading back to cabin on Monday for the last dance.  Pulling boat out the 17th so if I find any kind of a pattern I will post it. Pretty  chilly up there right now.  From the neighbors report its been pretty slow since it got cold.  Any news from the chain?

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was up last weekend to help dad put things away for the fall.  We got out for a few hours in the afternoon.  Nothing.  I got bit off (jigging rap) and that was it.  We were checked by the CO and he said everyone he encountered was not having any luck either.

  • Wow, ❤ 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually made it up for a day run on the 29th as I had some things to do...we caught 1 eye 17" over by Foleys and then missed a couple and got a couple bite offs.  I had one nice bite on a jigging rap and had about 4 cranks of the reel before it shook and spit the rap out...amazing that a lure like that can be bit by a fish and not get them hooked!!  Was beautiful out (prob too calm!) and we also got checked by the CO's...buddy forgot he bought his license online this year and kept the CO's around longer then they wanted to be but they let him go with the idea they would send him a ticket if he didn't have it.  Funny cuz it took him another hour or so before the light bulb went off and he remembered that he bought it online! HAHA  I sure hope to get out on the water fishing a couple more times before the ice locks the lakes up but the forecast has those plans looking bleak!  Good luck 

  • Wow, ❤ 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any recent reports from the last 2 weeks?  prob not much since the weather has been horrible but thought I would check as it looks like I will be up this weekend and will get out a time or 2 if all works out right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Ozzie you haven’t missed much.  The weather and the wind have been awful .  When we could get out it was slow. Nothing of any size and few and far between.  Taking the boat out tomorrow so maybe a couple hour shot before that. Been a crazy year weather wise and very puzzling far as fishing patterns. Time to think deer I guess. For all you die hards good luck. Stay warm and be safe the water is cold!   Go Vikes

  • I Like it 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got out Saturday and tried for some eyes and didn't find a one...barely graphed a fish in many areas!  We switched it up and went crappie fishing and found a school in deep water and caught enough for a meal.  We were using small jigging raps.  Great bait when trying to stay vertical in deeper water with a slight wind.  Hope to get out another time or 2 but we will see what ma nature has to say about that...Good Luck- Ozzie

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

spoke to a person that drove around the lake last week and said the snow pack went down but the shorelines looked still locked tight and with temps in the 20-30's they aren't losing ice too quickly. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last report I had from neighbors was upper was about half open. Snow pretty much gone.  This is from Wed. 4/15.  No walleye stripping this year. Need some wind and warm rain to open her up.  Stay safe all.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

received pics on Sunday from various accesses on the chain and water is starting to show up and deplete the ice sheet.  I would guess some fishing could be done this weekend on the chain...

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/28/2020 at 10:43 AM, rayguy said:

Official  ice out April 22.  

I'm not going to argue the Official Ice Out call of 4/22/2020. There was a good size sheet of ice in the main basin of Lower Whitefish on 4/23. It disappeared over night. Mike at Boyd Lodge call the Ice Out as of 4/24. To be clear, I'm not arguing one way or the other. Different people have different views (geographically) and different criteria.

 

All that said, my boat was lunched for the season on 4/25!!!

  • Yayyyy 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As of 4/27 there were no, zero, nadda crappies in the 'secret' bay just off Pig Lake. Need a few more days of warm Wx to bring them in.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

well got out on the chain Saturday and hit Clamshell and found nothing in the bay but small fish and bass and it was too windy to fish out of the bay so we snuck to the back areas behind the island and struck out there too.  In the evening we went to South Cross and searched that bay and didn't really find much for crappies.  we caught 4 that we kept for a meal that were 9.5-11.5' and those were caught around 8pm and no one else was catching much of anything either.  Hopefully the opener is better with more action than what we had!  Good Luck

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like bad weather coming for the weekend.  Water is still very cold.  It shows in the crappie fishing.  Hard to come by,  won't improve till it warms up a little.  Did see a 2-3 lb walleye in 3' of water off our dock.  Just swimming by.  Dress warm guys.  Rain and 35 on Sat morning.  

Edited by rayguy
  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks for the update rayguy! despite the weather I will be in the area hitting a lake hoping to find willing biters!  I don't think we will hit the chain for eyes as opener has never been kind to us out there.  Good luck to all this weekend and hope for tight lines and memorable catches!!

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Similar Content

  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.