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Are white fish and white perch the same thing or not?
I highly doubt that what people have been catching so regularly are whitefish, especially when talking about being suspended in the water column or getting into clouds of them. Rarely will an angler actually be able to catch a lake whitefish. In most of the cases listed below, I could bet either cisco or white perch were being caught. Lake whitefish used to be highly prevalent in Lake Champlain and were commercially fished until the turn of the century. Stock depletion caused the state to close this fishery and the species has since fallen into obscurity here even though its one of the most commercially valuable fish in the Great Lakes. Whitefish are deep, coldwater benthic fish that feed off the bottom on various mussels, amphipods, various other invertebrates, and even fish eggs. Thus, running spoons 40 feet down in 100+ feet of water is pretty much a guarantee that you aren't catching whitefish. The mouth is the key characteristic difference against our cisco, but the whitefish's mouth is actually slightly inferior allowing it to feed off the bottom. Since it is inferior, and is actually pretty small, the only real way you could potentially catch one is to be using a tiny jig right on the bottom in pretty deep water. A recent UVM master's student just completed great research project on lake whitefish. There is a lot to it, but his thesis is definitely worth at least a glance through if you are interested in knowing pretty much all there is to know currently about whitefish in the lake! If anyone does catch one angling or icefishing, pass along the information. UVM researchers would be ecstatic to hear where and how!https://library.uvm.edu/jspui/bitstream/123456789/305/1/Seth%20Herbst.pdf
Whitefish can be a challenge to catch. Usually deep, light biters, soft mouth. They had quite a following back pre 1970s, at one time a market fish. Had a couple old guys show me the basics back in the '80s. Yea, they've gone unnoticed for a while. Deep water, I've found them in Champlain out from Georgia shore access, eagle mt harbor, and east of Buttler Island. Light setup, small offerings, usually on/near bottom. It was common to attract them with decoys and an skilled angler can bring them up like smelt. I CAN"T, but I sat and watched a guy do it! This guy fished them with a small red bead on a # 8 or 10 treble hook. His buddy used a small silver willow leaf spoon 5/6 inchs drop line and a small treble tipped with tiny piece of cut bait. It takes some persistence to get the hang of it, you often think you're dealing with smelt or sm perch. Lot of lip sticks and tear offs within the 1st few feet, they need a soft hook set and gentle lift. Worth the effort if just for the challenge. They are exceptional eating, lite flakey flesh. Definitely not the Cisco, cat food often in the shallows. I've had my best luck with 2 lines. One, the willow spoon/cutbait. The other a heavy lead sinker tapping/"puffing" the bottom ocassionaly. Draw back is that seems to attract Burbot that can raise hell with a light 6# setup.
Last year at the Cow banks. By the buckets
I think there are a lot of fish in Champlain we don't think we have. I personally saw one I could not believe. Call me a liar and a nut but I have seen a Striper caught in a creek mouth that went 25 pounds! Called the state biologist and he said not that he knew of. There were more there as they were busting bait. I wish I had a camera in my phone then.
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Topic: Whitefish in Champlain? (Read 9532 times)
