Opener on Whitefish Chain

[anchor man]

The spots I usually try are Foley bar, the area near Rutgers point where all the boats usually are and the fingers. I don't have any secret hot spots (yet), just the common knowledge places that can produce from time to time.

[Moses2531]

Oh whitefish does take alot of work, but if ya put the time in it makes for a great time! Was out last nite and got my limit on Foley's... Small, but I was able to keep two 16" for breakfast!

[anchor man]

Moses,

Were on the shallower edges or down the slope a bit? The one 3.5lb I caught last weekend was in about 20fow.

[Moses2531]

I got all my fish shallow... On top of the bar around 14-12 FOW, but this was pretty late, around midnight so I was thinking that they were going to be up on top... Nothing but snakes there this morning of course, but gonna give it another whirl tonight probably... Good luck and dont give up on the chain too quick, there's good 'eyes to be had!!

[big musk411]

Thanks for all the info, I'll be heading up tomorrow night. If you see a 16ft alumacraft lunker with 25hp johnson catching em one after another that will be me.

[Jay -- WFC]

My few strokes of "brilliance" on Upper Whitefish have been on the finger-like bars out in the middle of the lake. Just try all over till you find them, vary your depth, typically 12' - 17' in my experiences this time of year (during the day).

I can't count all the times I made the trip from Little Pine to U or L Whitefish at 5 am (and some at around midnite, that's always an experience...). If nothing else, that early morning trip is usually beautiful, fish or no fish. Now that I'm on Cross I really don't miss the whole Dagget no wake experience one bit, though.

I'll be heading up Friday night, if you see a black Tyee with a 200 Merc Opti catching nothing, that will be me!

[OakdaleFMR]

I have been fishing the chain for 10 years now. I am lucky enough to have in-laws on the chain. For Cross I like trolling the western shore in 15 FOW, but you will catch pike 10 to 1 walleye. In a 3 hour period we caught 50 pike all between 14 and 26 inches, and only 4 Walleyes.

I have done the best for eyes trolling over the fingers in Middle Whitefish between the entrance to Trout lake and Foley's bar. Of course Upper whitefish is trolling paradise, but most overlook the bar around big island which is a good transition zone.

However my favorite is to troll Bertha. If you look at the creel survey from the DNR the walleyes are biggest in Bertha also.

Good luck it is a great chain with great people. If you want a local to give you pointers stop by Ideal Corners where some of the locals hang out.

[Redline]

Hey Oakdale, can you point out the spots you have fished between foley and trout on this map?

[slabslammer]

We have a place on Cross and fishing the chain can be a challange even for the locals. Fishing walleyes on the chain requires a lot of boat control and patience to stay on fish. Think humps and underwater points and you will find the fish. When you find them the rewards can be great, I have a 32 1/4 Walleye out of the chain and it did not come out of Whitefish. I also know of limits of nice size fish caught in 30 minutes, so it does happen.

Really the best attraction to the chain is the great crappie and Bass fishing. So when the walleyes are slow move on to another species, or you will be dissappointed.

Best advise keep moving, and do not just stick to Whitefish. this is a great multispecies body of water with everything from C to S and everything inbetween including some nice whitefish, Lake Trout and other odd stuff.

[slabslammer]

FYI the secret hot spot is off my dock, we have landed over 70 crappies in 2 weekends of dock fishing and some 10 inch or so sunfish. Good thing we practice catch and release. We will see what is left memorial dayweekend. Usually Memorial is the peak for crappies and it tails off from there.

That is the tip, sorry I can't tell where it is but if you fish every dock in the chain you will find it sooner or later

But really fish around deep water docks and boatlifts and also look for the small back areas off the main lake, the crappie fishing on the chain this weekend will be the highlight

[Walleye007]

I would have to agree with you on how challenging the WFC can be for walleyes. I have grown up and lived on the chain for my whole life and I fish for walleyes almost exclusively on the Chain. I have gone several weeks in a row without catching a walleye and I have gone about a month in the winter at times without catching a walleye, so hands down it is a tough lake to fish. I have solved this problem of not catching many fish by going to either Gull or Pelican where a limit of eater walleyes is almost expected. I have fished both Pelican and Gull this spring and have done very well and I have spend about triple the time on the WFC and I yet to catch a walleye...only a ton of small northerns. I think the bottom line is, if you want to catch and take home a couple of eaters, don't put all of your time/effort on the WFC or you might be very disapointed. Good Fishing!

[slabslammer]

I hear you on not catching a walleye for weeks.

Everyone else don't be discouraged, because some of the largest walleyes I have ever seen have been in this chain of lakes. The DNR actually harvest eggs out of the Pine River coming ito whitefish, and There are DNR reports (see this months voluteer) of fish exceeeding 17 lbs being farmed for eggs.

So I think the chain is your best chance for a lifetime walleye (Igot mine there), but boy it can be boring chasing it.

Cheers have a good weekend I am hitting the road, I have a Tyee (black/beige) with 150 Opti on it maybe we will see you on the water

[anchor man]

My bro-inlaw and I gave it a fairly decent effort Fri. evening and Sat. morning on WF. Landed 5+ pike, some rock bass, and 2 eyes. Water temps were still 57-59. Won't be back up for two weeks. Unless I hear of some good reports, I'm going to spend the next couple outings on Cross.

[Moses2531]

Not going to lie, enjoy hearing the disheartened talk about whitefish 'eyes.... Leaves more of the bounty for us guys that have put in the time and got quit a few honey holes now! It took me years of fruitless outings, but now having the cabin for 9 years, the past 3 have been a blast!! If we need a meal, I got it! I'm not trying to show anyone up, but its such a good fishing lake for 'eyes as well as other species, just gotta put the time in and reap the benefits in the long run! We got our limit last night in 45 minutes... Kept 2 each to eat and the rest are back on the bar to catch tonight! HInt = there's more to Foley's bar than meets the eye!

[walleye vision]

Moses,

I was out there last night as well (blue Lund tiller w/ a Yamaha). We did pretty good, but couldn't stay too long because my finace was with and had to pee. Ended up taking home 3 for the freezer. Have you found that being more aggressive gets more eyes in the boat? Because that's exactly what i've found. Give me a lindy rig on whitefish and it'll be a long day, but if I can rip a crank...fish on.

[anchor man]

I gave Cross an honest effort on Fri. morning and the panfish burned through my dozen leeches in about 30 minutes. Very frustrating. Sounds like I need to make a trip over to Whitefish.

[rbrellen]

Moses,

Been up on the Whitefish Chain for several years now fishing Walleye's off an on. Recently built a place on Little Pine and have been having difficulty picking up several fish in one outing however do have a few nice spots. Would you care to discuss tactics via email? [email protected]

[anchor man]

I just returned from 9 days on the chain. Gave the eyes a good try about 4 different outings and only ended up catching 4 eyes total. Tried Whitefish twice and got nothing and caught my fish on Cross. Also caught more bass than I could count on Cross (fishing for walleyes). I tried mostly leeches, Redtails onces, and caught a couple on cranks.

[MikeG3Boat]

Where on Cross were you getting the bass looking for Walleyes? I was up this weekend and didn't find any eye's on Whitefish, but I am still looking.

[ozzie]

the best time to catch the walleyes on the chain is 5-9 in the morn and hour before and after dark......they are hard to locate but when you do the reward is nice!!

[anchor man]

MikeG3,

I fished both the East and West shorelines in the main stretch of the lake. I was in 15-25fow and was finding bass in all depths. In some cases I'd drop a big dead redtail down on a jig and a 2-3lber would hit it before I had even reeled in the slack. Even caught bass on a spinner and Gulp crawler. I've never had that much bass action in the past. Mighta just been the day.