There are whitefish in Lakes Erie and Ontario. They spawn in the fall and are generally a cold water habitant. Gill nets were used for years to catch them, as there were over 200 fish tugs in Dunkirk at one time targeting them. The smelt killed off the majority of them, but recent years have shown a return of them. They feed on bottom insects mainly. Emerald shiners will work, they have soft mouths that tear if you pull very hard on your line. In the summer look for them in the deeper, colder and oxygenated water. They disappeared with the blue pike and lake trout.