Lake Simcoe Whitefish
Introduction
“I know they are out there.” I murmured to myself as the Lund boat slipped off the trailer and into the frigid waters of Lake Simcoe. I hooked the lanyard onto my life vest and with a turn of the key, the outboard immediately came to life, almost as if it too were excited. My stomach turned with the anticipation of the first battle this season. I looked out across the barren lake. It was like glass. I could not have asked for a more perfect day. I cinched down any loose clothing, peered around the boat to be sure that nothing had been forgotten and then pushed the throttle down. The boat literally jumped to life. It is May 15, season opener, and my quarry today – whitefish.
Anglers are catching on to the whitefish trend and for good reason. Lake Simcoe is a world-renowned fishery, less than an hour from Toronto and it certainly does not disappoint when it comes this species. Simcoe’s reputation is a direct result of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources stocking program that, on average, has stocked 140,000 whitefish into the lake each year for the past 20 years. The average catch is four pounds with plenty of fish hitting the double-digit mark thanks to the great forage base and intensive stocking program. The strikes can be aggressive, the species is an impressive fighter and they make for fantastic table fare.
While anglers jockey for walleye spots in the spring the whitefish scene is much more laid back. It is this very fact, in combination with the ease in which you can catch your limit, which compels most anglers to venture out on Lake Simcoe in the spring of the year.
Where to Begin
Small crustaceans and insects make up approximately eighty percent of a whitefish’s diet. This information is of particular importance in the spring. Mayfly nymphs spend the fall and winter months feeding on organic detritus found along the bottom. This congregates millions of nymphs over soft-bottom areas that can be located anywhere in the lake. In the spring of the year, the insects’ nymphal skin splits and within twenty-four hours, the mayfly rises to the top and begins the winged stage of its life. As both baitfish and many species of sportfish feed on mayflies these soft bottom areas are the beginning points of most perceptive anglers.
Local guide, Greg Klatt, of ProFISH’nt Angling services shares his knowledge, “When out on Lake Simcoe look for soft bottom to hard bottom transitions. Last year while fishing about 200 yards off a main lake shoal, I found a section of bottom that went from hard to soft in 55 feet of water then back to hard again in 60 feet. The whitefish will swim along these transitions and when you find a school it will often be a large one of a hundred or more fish.”
Simcoe is a massive lake that can be very intimidating to newcomers. You may spend the majority of your first day moving about at idling speed to find the fish or the proper bottom composition. If the water is calm, watch for hatching mayflies along the surface that can visually give away the spots you are searching for. Do not be misled by the millions of floating mayfly skins as they can drift around the lake in the currents. Rather, look closely for rising fish or the emerging insects themselves. Otherwise, you will have to depend on your electronics.
Electronics
High quality electronics are critical to a successful whitefish trip. This is a game of finding fish, forage or bottom composition. Without good quality electronics, you will be fishing blind. A graph with no less than 480x480 pixels will help you pick out the finest bottom details while fishing in as much as 80 feet of water. The new Lowrance LMS-522c is the ultimate finder for this style of fishing. This unit is affordable and powerful enough to provide excellent detail in deep water and the 16-bit colour screen, as you will see, is indispensable.
Zoom the unit to its maximum 4X to view as close to bottom as possible and set the transducer ping speed to its maximum. Turn off the auto sensitivity and the ASP (advanced signal processing) and crank the sensitivity up to 100%. Back the sensitivity off one percent at a time until the background noise almost disappears and you can see a defined bottom. The unit it now set for optimum bottom viewing.
Start your search in 30 to 40 feet of water, adjacent to a main lake hump or shoal, and slowly idle away from the structure. Finding main lake structure is as simple as turning on your graph when you utilize Navionics Gold map chips in your Lowrance. These chips give you a full set of customizable hydrographic maps at your fingertips. Lawren Wetzel of Lowrance Canada suggests, “Keep a close eye on your graph as you move away from this structure. Chances are you will begin over hard bottom. This will show up as a thick red or yellow line on the graph. As you get into a softer bottom, the colour will change to orange and finally to blue. The quicker the colour change happens the more predominant the transition is. When the bottom turns solid blue you have found a mud bottom.”
The majority of whitefish will be sitting right on the bottom. It would be difficult to seem them with traditional graphs but this is not the case with the colour unit, as the graph will distinguish the difference between bottom and the fish for you. The fish will show up as either a thin line of red or yellow, as they sit stationary below you or as traditional hooks in the same colour as you pass over them. If you are lucky enough to happen on a school of fish the majority of the marks will be no more than two feet off the bottom. Make full use of this units GPS capability. When you see one or more fish, be sure to hit the icon button to save their exact location should you be blown off them.
An underwater camera such as the Aqua-Vu SV-100 is also an incredible asset for any angler. They are of particular importance to anglers who lack the immediate confidence in using their graphs. After all, seeing is believing. This camera has a temperature gauge and is the only model in the Aqua-Vu lineup that will show the direction of the camera relative to your position. This will enable you to discern exactly where the fish are. Serious camera users have adopted the new Aqua-Vu Mav, which is a permanently mounted camera system that will stow or deploy using foot controls. Regardless of model, be sure to purchase the optional downviewing fin that will allow you to look straight down at the fish from above.
Techniques and Equipment
Finding fish is really the key factor in whitefish success. The baits and concepts used to catch the fish are relatively simple. The fish are on the bottom so that is where your bait needs to be. There are of course varying opinions amongst fishermen as to the most effective approaches though. Fanatic whitefish anglers such a Brechin native, Brian Greven, consider anchoring as the approach of choice. It would be hard to argue with his success rate.
“I like to anchor while fishing for whitefish. I use no less than 150’ of rope with five feet of heavy chain link between the rope and the anchor. The chain ensures that the anchor will bite into the bottom, holding the boat despite current conditions. Calm is great but we are talking Simcoe here, the lake can get rough.” shares Greven. He believes with boat positioning off his mind he can pay more attention to his presentation. “I throw a lot of heavy jigging spoons on spinning outfits spooled with 10lb fluorocarbon line. The low stretch line is good but you have to be sure that you do not set the hook too hard and pull the bait free of their soft mouths.” Greven also expresses interest in trying a dropshot rig complete with a 3” Berkley Gulp Minnow this year.
Like Greven, Greg Klatt also fishes heavy jigging spoons. Klatt throws these baits on 6’6” – 7’ spinning rods spooled with braided line. He ties a 10’ fluorocarbon leader onto the braid as he finds the whitefish to be extremely line shy. He also stresses that hooksets should be no more than a flick of the wrist with this low stretch gear. To be sure that he doesn’t pull too hard he will set his drag much lighter than he would with mono.
“I like to use a lot of lead darting baits. I modify them by removing the bottom treble and breaking the darter tail off the bait. I prefer to lift the bait and have it land on bottom with a thud. It will stir up silt and attract the attention of any fish in the vicinity,” Klatt continues, “ I also select colour according to conditions. If it is a bright day, I will use silver hued baits or gold when it is darker or overcast. I won’t rule out firetiger either.” Klatt also notes that while many boats anchor, he prefers to use his electric motor and roam about the soft bottom areas. He prefers to move to the fish rather than wait for them to come to him.
Finally, Lake Simcoe fishing guru, Wil Wegman, uses the same fish catching methods as both Greven and Klatt but he prefers baitcasting equipment spooled with fluorocarbon lines. Additionally he notes, “When whitefish are finicky I’ll throw a 3/8oz. white tube jig. I prefer a 7’ fishing medium action rod to give me the leverage I need to set the hook home in the deep water. The jig also works well as fish move deeper during the summer when the fish move to transitions from sand to mud or even hard bottom to sand.”
Conclusion
This spring, leave the hustle and bustle to the walleye guys. Throw tradition aside, take advantage of an incredible stocking program and wet a line for whitefish in Lake Simcoe. Do not be intimidated by the new species. Use these tips to help you find the fish. Once you see them on your graph, use the suggested baits to fill your well with what could arguably be one of the best tasting fresh water fish in North America.
Products and Services Suggested in this Article:
(www.profishntanglingservices.com)
Sidebars
Fishing for a Record?
Though Lake Simcoe is known for its healthy population of large Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), it certainly is not the only place to hook this incredible sport fish. In fact, Lake Whitefish inhabit deep, cold lakes across the nation from the North West Territories to Labrador and south to the Great Lakes.
Where to fish:
The Lake Whitefish is the largest of the whitefish family. The current world record whitefish as recorded by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) was caught in Meaford, Ontario on May 21, 1984 by Dennis Laycock and weighed an astounding 14lbs 6oz. The largest Lake Whitefish ever recorded tipped the scales at 41lbs 8oz. This fish was caught in commercial fishing nets from Lake Superior in 1918.
Where not to fish:
Though the average length at maturity is 17-21 inches, according to McClane’s Standard Fishing Encyclopedia, “The smallest mature whitefish were reported from Lake Openago in Algonquin Park, Ontario; this dwarf stock matures at a length of 4-5 inches.”
Soft Water Season
2nd weekend in May to September 30.
Catch limit of 2 on conservation or regular licenses.
Use with PDF
Anglers have always been a curious bunch and we often question the age of the fish that we catch. With such an incredible stocking program in place for Lake Simcoe the following graph will help you decipher just how old the fish are that you are bringing in the boat:
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Chris Hockley is a National Award Winning freelance writer, full time fishing guide and tournament angler. To find out more visit www.blitzcreek.com
Bass Wishes,
Chris Hockley
Copyright © 2006 Chris Hockley
It is illegal to reproduce or distribute this work in any manner or medium without written permission of the author, Chris Hockley c/o Blitzcreek Pro Fishing 47 Lorne St., Sunderland, Ontario, chris@blitzcreek.com