Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! > Whitefish

They Would Not bite

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cousin eddie:
How are you guys jigging?  Subtle?  Aggressive?  I don't know if the whites over in MI are anything like the whites on Green Bay, but I've had the most luck on aggressive jigging patterns with #2 Raps tipped with single wax worm.  They strike and miss a lot, but I just keep popping it 18-36 inches at a time and let it swing back down.  They will be chasing it like crazy on the flasher.  It seems like the moment I slow down and go to a subtle bluegill-like presentation the whites lose interest fast.  Seems like most will grab it (or strike at it) when the rap is gliding back down.  We did have one day though where the best presentation of a slow rise with subtle pulsing/jiggling was the ticket.  Our fishing this year has been mostly in 4-15 feet of water, better luck up shallow in the 4-6 foot range.  Haven't hit any of the deep water spots further north yet.

fisheyefool:
whitefish act different in almost every body of water. it has to do with their diet. if they are feeding on gobies/ other fish, spoons and jiggin raps should work. where i fish i have to use eggs on the bottom. i can jig all i want with no matter what it is, i can watch them on the camera and they wont even look at it. find out what they are eating.

Yooper77:
Going to try wigglers the next time I go out. I figured since they are feeding on them and ignoring the spikes and waxworms I'll give them what they want.

dirtman:
This sounds like a lot of my experiences too!  I fish BBDN quite often and the whitefish there feed almost totally on gobies.  I use the "double trouble jig" from Walleyes Choice http://www.walleyeschoice.com/catalog/index.php?categoryID=14  since it imitates gobies bouncing around the bottom.  I think the trouble I'm having this year is every time I get a whitefish it's stomach is stuffed full of gobies so they are eating the real thing and not falling for my fake one.  I have found you have to move it all the time to get a whitefsih to bite.  In other bodies of water this would not work well if they are feeding on something different.

Here is a vid from 2-16-13 of the typical whitefish action that day.
http://youtu.be/Yv1KENulDOU

Here is one from last year when I finally got one to bite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEHCe0GlD5E

cousin eddie:

--- Quote from: dirtman on Feb 19, 2013, 09:07 AM ---I fish BBDN quite often and the whitefish there feed almost totally on gobies.
--- End quote ---

If they are feeding on gobies, try the size 2 jigging raps, tip with a waxie or piece of gulp on the bottom treble.    Pound bottom, pump them hard 2-3 feet, short 1-2" pumps to swim the rap in a circle.  Gotta try something different when they aren't even looking.  Had a few "drive by's" on Green Bay this weekend but for the most part, any fish that swam through the hole, if you could get it to look at your lure it went into frenzy mode and continued to circle and swipe at the bait until you got a hook in their lip.  I know it can vary by location, but what worked for a buddy and I on sunday was pumping the raps 18-24 inches pretty much constantly until fish showed up then just swimming the rap in a circle or jiggling the rap in place.  If they fish looking like they were losing interest, pump it again a few times and they almost always came back. Once you got them in that frenzy mode, 9 times out of 10 they ended up with a new lip piercing.  A couple of our 30-some fish did puke up gobies while reeling them in and judging by the amount of excrement they were leaving on my tent and the ice, they are eating well.  We were fishing over mussel beds, tried some sandy flats but nothing there.  (Slider rig may also work well since it looks like you are fishing over a sand bottom and you could use the spoon to stir bottom and attract fish)

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