Greenbay/sturgeon bay white fish

[Le Barbra Rouge]

Hey guys, I just completed my last trip of the year out on frozen water. And fortunately it went out with a bang! We booked a trip with Trophy Ice Fish out of sturgeon bay, and let me tell you, they were absolutely great! They were very accommodating, friendly, transportation was fantastic (6 seater utv's), and as many guides out on the ice helping/relocating guys if necessary as I have ever seen. They offered fish cleaning right there on the ice, and all for about $80/ day! I have chased whitefish for the last 5 yrs from Dyksville up to sister bay, and used a total of 7 different guides, and hands down these guys are the best. I've commented on a few strands this year in regards to guides and whitefish in the area this year, and these guys get my nod over any other. If you guys are looking for whites or Walleyes for next yr, these are your guys

[gutshot_again]

Thanks for the post.  My wife & I will be going again next year.  I'll keep these guys in mind - not that I had any complaints with the guide service we went with. 

Appreciate the tips you gave me back in January when I was setting up the trip.

Thanks again.

[Le Barbra Rouge]

No problem gunshot! I used FinQuest twice, no bad review from me. The convenience and price they offer is good. Our party was booked with them this year, and unfortunately the ice opened right off of the launch, and for safety reasons they cancelled the trip. So plan B was trophy ice, and to no fault of FinQuest we just found a much better option. Maybe we'll c ya up that way next year!

[gutshot_again]

Heading over to Green Bay the weekend of 2/18.  Wondering how the bite's been.

[DaleL57]

Gutshot_again,
Going out Feb. 5th with the wife.
She got a Groupon deal with Trophy Ice guides.
Since she doesn't trust me, she figured that going with pros was her best bet.
I'll give you a report when I get back.

[gutshot_again]

Thanks DaleL57.  Most just curious as we're going either way.  Good luck this weekend.  I'll update when I get back also.

[buck05]

Can anyone tell me if u need a four wheel or sled to get to the whitefish or walleye grounds. We have both but from what I read people are driving trucks or walking out. Also is this a trip we should get a guide or if we have all the gear just go and figure it out. Thinking of coming February 18.  Thanks Mark

[Ice Surveyor]

If I were you buck05, I would at least rent a shanty from a guide.  That way, you will at least be on fish.  My group rented one a few years back for $40/person, which is very reasonable.  Catching whitefish can be easy or it can be tricky.  We had poor luck, and found a technique later in the day that worked.  I would watch as many you tube videos as you can, especially the ones that use underwater camera to catch them. 

Here's a really clear video I found recently.   Good luck when you're out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_uoGzMsRpU

This guy has a few different videos on whitefish, watch them all.  The one video, he was using a small treble hook as his slider, loaded with waxworms.  The whitefish were inhaling it. 

[blitzfish]

Once you get a technique down, it all comes to finding what depth of water the fish are cruising at. They can be super shallow (less than 10 feet) or deep (50 to 70 feet or more). Also, currents under the ice play a big role in how aggressive the fish are and how quick the fish are moving. I personally have never rented a shack or gotten a guide, but had friends who had done it. If it is a nice day, I pick an area with a good drop off, like off Henderson Point or Larson's Reef, and hole hop my way out deeper, because most of the time the fish start really shallow and work their way out. Those deepwater bites tend to be a bit better/quicker for me than the shallow bites and I tend to get bigger fish, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes I occasionally do well in the shallow areas like Red River/Dykesville/Bayshore where you can get good numbers even in less than 5 feet of water, but you still have to find areas with a rocky bottom. If you have a camera, that will be the most beneficial to you as you can see how fish are reacting to your baits and see some light bites, but at least have one guy with a fish finder so you know you are marking fish so you know if you are in the right depth where the fish are.

Now for gear.

I like to use a few different techniques. First is a simple drop shot rig with 2 or 3 small gold hooks, panfish jigs (listed in my techniques below), or a sabiki rig spaced out 6 to 10 inches apart and tipped with spikes or waxies. Pound the weight on the bottom and stir up some muck/make some noise and with this rig you can also rest the weight on the bottom and lightly jig those hooks/let them fall very slowly. Whitefish LOVE this and not many people actually use this technique and will out fish most other techniques 2 to 1 many times!

Second technique uses either a black and gold or perch colored #5 Jigging rap or flat rap, or a #3 sweedish pimple either silver, gold, orange, or sometimes purple depending on what they want. This is tied to the bottom with a tiny swivel above it and either a single hook on the line that isn't tied OR personally, I like to use a small fast knot (this is the only time you will ever see me use these, for reasons I wont delve into here) put directly on the line to slide above that barrel swivel. This lets you switch colored panfish jigs out fast to find a color without retying the whole rig. Whitefish really seem to like a certain color most of the winter up there for some reason and it seems to be similar or slightly change year to year, but my best baits tend to be gold, purple, orange, green, sometimes red. I use Shrimpos, ratzos, and stuff of that sort, but a good gold rocker definitely shows it's worth many times. The Clam Maggot drop in gold has caught MANY MANY fish for me!

As for jigging these set ups, pound bottom occasionally, otherwise most of the time do a steady rock up and down up and down or a steady jig lift where you lift it up a foot, back down and hold for a second. Both techniques, in deep water, you just feel weight there on the lift upwards. In shallow water you can actually feel the bite. Before I forget, I also use 4 lb test with a fluorocarbon leader. The rod doesn't matter too much, but I use a longer 32" medium rod or medium light rod.

I've never gotten skunked going up there and typically make 2 to 8 trips up there a year, most of the time getting an easy limit. I have a few buddies that live up that way and know several guides as well. I hope to finally make a trip up there myself soon!

Edit:

As far as a report, I've been hearing of good catches down in the shallows recently bayshore to red river and also good numbers of fish to the north. They are around, just have to find them.
Good Luck and Tight Lines!

Blitz

[DaleL57]

gutshot_again,
Just got back from Sturgeon Bay. Caught 5 whitefish. All between 9:00am and 12:00. Was told by abunch of guys out on Saturday that the bite was slow. Everything was caught from 8:00am to noon.
Buck05,
My wife and I used Trophy Ice Fishing. They were awesome. Drove us out. And set us up in a permanent shanty. Showed us how to fish white fish. I never fished for them before. Everyone around us were using ATV's.
We also were fishing in 74 feet of water.

[gutshot_again]

Thanks for the report Dale.  Getting excited to head out in a couple weeks.  I'll update you when I get back on the 21st.