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Thanks for your support on signing the petition. I think what you were seeing on your sonar was whitefish, if they just hover around the bottom and don’t chase your bait then they are defiantly whitefish.
While I did Mark a few fish on the bottom most of them were between 6 and 10 feet up off the bottom.I got a few of them to follow it up two or three times a couple of feet each time but couldn't get them to commit.I did miss a couple of bites when I had my rod in a rod holder and was doing something else for a minute and didn't get to it in time.this spot was a really good fishing spot last spring in open water so we thought we would give it a try just to see what was there.I'll eventually be spending more time up there and we'll get this Lake figured out to where I can hopefully somewhat consistently catch some Lakers and burbot.
What kind of bait were you using? The right bait can make a big difference.
My new rattle tube jigs with white tubes.My dad was fishing with one with a glow tube.Good circular swimming action on those for sure.I also tried a herring head underspin with a grub tail, a freestyle jig with a grub tail, and a flutter Laker taker spoon.We did try tipping with a tail from some troll herring to no avail on the Lakers though.But since this was my second time fishing this lake and the first through the ice I'm not really disappointed.Besides the real goals were accomplished by getting the wood stove and building supplies delivered.Looking back on it it does make sense that the fish I was marking were not Lakers.But I'm sure you all know how it goes when you're marking fish and can't get them to bite your sometimes hesitant to move from those fish when really that's what you should be doing.
I'm not as experienced as Akhardwater or Kwakillinkrew when it comes to catching the big lakers, but I know from my own personal experience, that I've never even caught a laker using a fishing pole while using herring or hooligan for bait. I've caught them on my tip-ups accidentally, when fishing for burbot, but never while jigging for them when I'm using herring or hooligan for bait. Personally, whitefish seems to be the only thing that consistently produces lake trout through the ice for me. I'm sure others will disagree with me on this, but that has been my own personal experience. Burbot will eat just about anything you throw at them. But lakers can be very fussy through the ice.
Mother nature put the Kabash on the tournament. It has been officially cancelled.