AJ's Dad
3/12/2017 9:20:00 AMI haven't fished Banks for whitefish for a number of years now but when we did, it was usually a very successful trip. We parked on the dam or whatever it's called at the end of the lake and walked onto the ice on the north side, opposite the Coulee playland. Hooks and bait were always the same. The old Glo Hooks with 2 maggots on them. and just enough weight to get the bait down just off the bottom. Nobody had ever heard of drop shotting back then.. We always had a camera flash along to light up the hooks. It seemed to make their light last longer. We always fished at night. Got there a couple hours after dark and fished till we had had enough, good or bad. The trick with the whiteys was always the same. Watch your rod tip as closely as possible because they didn't bite like any other fish. We had a better chance with a very flexible tip, or one of those little red bead bite indicators on a fine wire. A very small slip bobber about the size of one of those foam ear plugs worked great as well. They bite veeeerrrry, lite, but fought veeerrry hard. If we even saw the rod tip look like it was moving, the hook set was on. I remember the first one I ever caught. They guy teaching us how to do it was catching fish after fish, and my brother and I were getting nothing. Finally the guy says, your not catching fish because your not setting the hook when they bite. You're getting a bite right now. My rod tip was making the very slightest, very slow motion drop towards the hole that you can imagine. I thought it was the breeze that was blowing. The rod tip was only moving about a half inch. I grabbed the rod and set the hook. Fish on. OL Dave just sat there and laughed. "I could of watched you guys sit there getting bites all night. HAHAHA". We learned a lot from Dave, He passed away a few years ago. Good times. Stay after them. Once you get em figured out you can have some great fun with white fish.
cumminsbassguy
3/12/2017 10:10:00 AMI was trying to coax in the more aggressive fish. But this late in the season they were accustom to eating shrimp at least that's what I think. Or something with shrimp flavoring, I've caught them before in the rivers back in Michigan when they go up and spawn, and theyll eat a curly tail grub. This was a great learning experience though. I Had a little uv light for the jigs, that worked out pretty good surprisingly. I can imagine on first ice that they are aggressive and will eat a jig or a spoon
DavidA
3/13/2017 9:17:00 AMGreat report! Certainly no lack of determination!
I have a 4 day weekend trip planned there for early next month and am counting on the ice being well gone, but look forward to hearing about your trip out there again in a few days.
I have a 4 day weekend trip planned there for early next month and am counting on the ice being well gone, but look forward to hearing about your trip out there again in a few days.
tnga
3/13/2017 8:59:00 PMNice to see a fishing report on lake whitefish coming from Banks Lake. I applaud your efforts in chasing these fish, especially with kids in tow. I have fished that same area a few times during the winter from a boat targeting the whitefish and found the fish to be very finicky biters. I know alot of shore fishermen were using small salad shrimp and doing well. Two years ago, I fished next to two Russian men who put 30 whitefish in their 12 ft boat and had nowhere to stand on the floor board, it was an awesome sight! They were using small blade baits at the time and jigging aggressively and also catching quite a few burbot at the same time. Even this late in the season, I think you can be successful if you just tweak your bait, jigging technique or tackle just a bit . Good luck next time you get out and hope you report again. Thanks.