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Opener on Whitefish Chain


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Looking for some solid advice for fishing the WFC for opener. With all that water to cover I am looking for some spots for Walleye and Northerns. Can anyone help me out? I am coming out of Dagget. Looking for spots on Cross and Whitefish. Thanks for any advise.

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Dont want to discourage you in ANY way cuz I love fishing WFC year round... Spent a couple openers up there and got only a few 'eyes but they were nice (18") I just pulled lindys up and down Father Foley's Bar for my catches... Tried the pine river with small rapalas and got some small northerns, but no walleyes however... Really would love to find a good spot though because the pressure aint bad out there and I know that they are in there!! Best of luck, if I wasnt down at school in Sioux Falls I'd probably be joinin you out there, again good luck and post results!

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Didn't catch any eyes on WF. Tried Foley Bar, Pine River mouth, Dagget channel.

Managed some pike and got some crappies in the back bays, but even they were spotty. I'll be out on WF the next two weekends trying for the eyes as usual. Hope it starts to pick up.

Did anyone manage to boat some eyes on the chain??????

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i was out most of the day saturday and only saw one eye boated.....although most of my time was spent running from bay to bay looking for crappies....very slow on the crappies.....they were in the shallows in some places but they were in the shade under docks and pontoons and if the bait wasn't in front of their face the sunnies would take it quicker than the crappies could react.....i will also be up this weekend chasing the eyes a little more this weekend but still won't give up on the crappies......I will be going from our new boat slip on Crosslake but have only fished the other side of the chain....always launch out of lower hay so this might be an adventure to try new things......Excited to explore this chain of lakes more and more as the year goes on as I now will have acess to a boat and a cabin to go to year round to fish!!!!! Thanks ma and pa for this purchase.....i think I am going to be the guest that never leaves!!!! grin.gif

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i am up here on whitefish for the week on vacation. we got out this am at 5:30am. did nto get a single walleye. lots of hammerhandles, they are not hard to find at all. got my first bluegill on a lindy-rig, and a nice one at that but we are lookin for the walleyes. anyone that can give tactile advice would be great. the other dificulty besides finding the walleyes is that when we left sothern minnesot it was 90 degrees, so i just through in a sweatshirt and jeans "just in case". at 5:30am, that just wasnt quite enough clothes for the weather. i saw a guy out with a blaze orange hunting snowsuit, and i havent been that jealous in a long time. fingers are just starting to work agian so i can type this. hope others are having better luck!

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i am not sure on locations but I have received a couple reports on walleyes biting on the chain from trusting people.....just don't know where until i meet with them this weekend and see it for myself!! Good Luck this week lookin4fish and let us know how you do and dress warmer for the water!!! grin.gif

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Ozzie,

I probably shared the same tiny bay on the So. side of WF this past weekend with you. I was in a black Lund w/ a couple other guys. We managed a few crapps out of there, but seemed to be thinning out a bit.

Lookin4fish,

I tried windswept in about 5-8ft, I tried 10-12ft on top of bars, dabbled a bit in 18fow, but didn't really mark very many fish at all. I'm just thinking that my spots weren't holding too many fish right now. I wish I would have tried the 24-32fow range a bit more, maybe this cold snap will push them down a bit.

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more than likely......I was with my father in a white starcraft fish/ski boat with a merc 115......we tried 2 bays in pig lake area then also tried one on whitefish (the one you speak of i believe) but that had alot of cotton in it that stuck to your lines so we didn't stay there much and then there are a few bays by the river north of lower hay that we tried but not as much action as the week before...... I went into the bay with cotton 2 times and there were boats in there both times (went back in there cause I forgot how frusterating the cotton was)......if you were in there we probably talked....

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i am on my way out right now to try pullin cranks. warmed up a bit so i think i am good to go weather wise. i will post later

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Yup, we didn't catch a single walleye either. The good news, didn't see any other boats catch one either...makes a guy feel a little better. I hate getting skunked cause when I head home everyone shakes their heads and says "you have all that tackle, all those lures, and you can't catch a walleye!" They just don't get it.

Did you guys notice all the Ranger Walleye boats out there! I think I saw more rangers than lunds...unreal.

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finally, a sliver of sucess! spent the evening trolling for lakers with only on miss to show for it. then after dark i was lindying, and the gf was tossing a crank. she got an 18 in walleye in about 4 feet of water. good to have at least one to come in the boat. we set her free so anyone heading out in the near future, there is one walleye lurkin the lake that is willing to take a bait. i will be back at it tommorow, but sleeping in this am. not enough fish today to motivate me out of bed at 5am

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Heading up there next week for a little vacation... I'll be out searching for the 'eyes too, hopefully they pick, last year I did really well the last week of May so I gotta think that I can get some again!

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What do you guys mean by cotton? Is it some kind of weed? What by on the s end of WF? Guys I need some specifics. It is such a large body of water to try to find fish.

Thanks for any advice you can give a newbie.

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tried the shallows for crappies on saturday and they weren't to be found....saw some under the lift next to ours a couple bigger ones but far and few between.....caught smaller ones and bass and sunnies all day......i tried walleye fishing the fingers area by pine ridge resort and nothing and tried tried foley bar shortly and 1 small thern....tried lindy riggin through the weeds in a bay in crosslake and thought I had a big walleye only to net it and find out it was a big 7-8 lb dogfish!! oh well try again next weekend!!

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Landed one nice eye on WF on Sat. morning and a couple pike. I seemed to be marking most fish in 18-22fow. Dropped the camera down to verify species, but the wind was blowing me all over the place at the time.

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I'll be staying on Big Trout this week.

Never fished the Whitefish chain.

I could use a point in the right direction too for walleyes..

Looking at the map I'm wondering about the mid lake reefs that come up to 10 feet?

What about weed lines?

Thanks

Kraig

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Koldfront,

The mid lake reefs are good spots to try. I might go a weekend and not have much luck on them, but the following weekend they'll be "on". At least for me, the spots I try don't always seem to be real consistent. There's a ton of structure to try which keeps it very interesting on WF. I know the weedlines are also very good areas. I don't spend enough time on them, but have heard good reports in the past. I like using a 1/4 oz (1/8 oz if it's too not windy) jig w/ a small shiner, chunky fathead, or a leech this time of year.

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Thanks Anchor Man.

Maybe I'll start out pulling cranks to cover water and scope out the areas first then maybe slow it down if I get any action or see fish on the graph.

Thanks again!

Good luck to you.

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anyone have any info on catching lake trout? will be up over memorial weekend. any tips appreciated!!

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Got 2 nice 'eyes tonight, but gotta save some energy for the rest of the week so called it an early nite... anyone else having any luck with the walters on WFC?? Gonna give it another whirl tomorrow morning!

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I'll be after the eyes this weekend, but since our place is on Little Pine, the trek over to Middle-Upper Whitefish gets long and burns a lot of gas round trip, but I'm sure I'll do it at least once. I hope to learn some decent walleye spots on Cross to shorten my outings. I tried a few of the sunken islands on Cross last year, in the late summer-early fall and only caught big panfish using leeches. Anyone been having any luck on Cross this spring for eyes? Between Little Pine and Dagget, I don't know if it's worth targeting eyes, but it sure would be nice to stay closer to the cabin and fine a couple little honey holes on those lakes.

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Quote:

I'll be after the eyes this weekend, but since our place is on Little Pine, the trek over to Middle-Upper Whitefish gets long and burns a lot of gas round trip, but I'm sure I'll do it at least once. I hope to learn some decent walleye spots on Cross to shorten my outings. I tried a few of the sunken islands on Cross last year, in the late summer-early fall and only caught big panfish using leeches. Anyone been having any luck on Cross this spring for eyes? Between Little Pine and Dagget, I don't know if it's worth targeting eyes, but it sure would be nice to stay closer to the cabin and fine a couple little honey holes on those lakes.


I am with you. My place is on Daggett and it's just too far to go to upper and middle that much. I'll be targeting Bass this weekend, mostly on Little Pine and some on Daggett and the channels. I have heard of some nice walleye being caught on the weedlines in Cross.

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Hey Redline, that nice walleye I got on the opener was on Cross. It was more of a fluke than anything, only got that one. My cabin is on Cross, but until a year and a half ago I was on Little Pine, long haul to Upper Whitefish like you say. This time of year I think it's worth it, though; last year I did good on Cross for the opener but couldn't find them again after that. Did OK on Upper Whitefish after that. I just can't figure Cross out. It's convenient but really hard to fish. I spent many hours out there last spring and summer on the humps in the middle with zero walleyes. The year before I caught several out there.

In my opinion, just about any knucklehead can catch a boat full of walleyes on Mille Lacs or Winnie but it takes a lot of practice, work, and even a little skill to catch them on the Whitefish Chain. Too many places to hide, too much structure, clear water. This is my 7th year up there & I'm just now starting to be confident that I'll find walleyes on any given weekend. I'm gonna give it another try this weekend, sounds like good fishing weather!

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Well put Jay, The WFC is one tough walleye lake deep, clear and lots of forage. I'll be staying on upper this weekend. After three years attempting I have yet to figure it out. Hopefully I can find some Eyes but at least the bass fishing isn't too difficult. All else fails I am going on a snakeathon!

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The chain is one of the best Bass and Northern fisheries around. I've never had success catching walleye on the chain. I usually do my 'eye fishing up in Canada on Lake of the Woods. Plus, as we have talked about, the trek from Daggett to Upper is too long. I really would like to find a hot spot for 'eyes on Cross, it's easy to get to, and I have to believe it holds lots of nice ones.

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well i am also out on cross and this will be my first year chasing eyes on cross......we made the trip across the chain the other weekend and those no wake zones make for a long trip!!! looks like i have a big task in front of me to catch walleye on cross!!

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for spring Cross lake walleyes, troll the shoreline in front of the channel going into Rush. During the day walleyes can be caught on the same shoreline, but you have to find little points on the break, and then you will find walleyes

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Since you guys seem to think that Upper Whitefish is best and don't want to boat that far from Cross, whant to share some spots/tips? The few Walleyes I get usually come off the dropoffs close to the Pine River and near the channel to Hay lake.

Thanks and Good to all this weekend!

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i have heard that some spots are foley's bar- the spots you have mentioned earlier and east of pine ridge(?) resort there is alot of structure that forms almost finger like shapes and there is good sucess there also...but this is all second hand info since I have yet to catch a walleye on the chain....but i have only fished them for maybe 3-4 hrs....

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