smallmouth on whitefish lake

[Guest]

I am new to the Whitefish chain of lakes and am looking for spots to fish smallmouth on Whitefish.

[Guest]

I have fished Whitefish on three different week long stays and never caught a smallmouth yet. Plenty of largemouths and nice ones too.I really don't bass fish much because their not in season for the walleye opener when I go. I hear smallies are there so you never know. Good luck

[Toad]

Quite a few years ago, Big Trout on the chain once hosted a pretty fair population of smallmouths. As the lake become overdeveloped, critical spawning areas were erased-- as were most of the smallmouths.

Don't get me wrong, there's still a remnant population out there (as well as spread throughout the rest of the Whitefish Chain). Every spring I make a point of checking known spawning areas for activity. And this year I spotted about a dozen active nests, as well as a good many smaller male smallmouths. Maybe they're making a comeback. Sure hope so.

Certainly, I'd concentrate on Big Trout if you wanna get a few smallmouth bass. Start by checking some of the deeper rock humps and shelves in the lake. Should find a few fish that way. Please put 'em back.

-a friend called Toad