Catching Whitefish in VERY deep water in the summer

[OldTimer]

Hey,

While on vacation recently we were lucky enough to witness the MNRF pulling up their fish netting surveys in a Muskoka lake.

Water was 120 feet +- deep.

Amazingly their quite short gill net had many whitefish. Some were very good size.

I have seen the depth finder markings of "something" fishy at that level for years in the summer.

How exactly does one actually go about fishing that depth in the summer months - when wind and currents will move your boat about no matter how its anchored due to the draw. Its sure not like ice fishing.

Jigging lures wont work - you'll never get straight up and down.

I've tried minnows............ nada ... so far.

................ suggestions?

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MuskieBait]

I've pondered that myself for many years. Similar pattern in Simcoe...although not quite as deep, but still the same challenge. People who downrigger for Lake Trout in Simcoe do pick up Whitefish here and there. But for the number of Whitefish at that depth, the number caught are extremely low.

I also ponder how I can target Bloater and Kiyi on Lake Superior when they are most abundant in water over 100m. Good grief...10in fish, diet of mysis shrimp, and 300+ feet of line down.

[Eli]

I'm far from being an expert, but I think targeting the humps should be productive if you can time it properly. 120' is very tough but find a 60' hump and things get much easier. Water temps should be about the same between 60' and 120' (very cold) but the shallower humps is where they'd go to feed...or so I think. Of course that particular lake could just be a bowl with no humps of any kind in which case I'd just wait for fall when they should be nice and shallow.

[zippyFX]

(07-14-2015 11:41 PM)Eli Wrote:  I'm far from being an expert, but I think targeting the humps should be productive if you can time it properly. 120' is very tough but find a 60' hump and things get much easier. Water temps should be about the same between 60' and 120' (very cold) but the shallower humps is where they'd go to feed...or so I think. Of course that particular lake could just be a bowl with no humps of any kind in which case I'd just wait for fall when they should be nice and shallow.

How about the use of drift socks to slow your drift?

If the wind and current is not to bad I have seen boats with GPS on the electronics tie into the trolling motors that will keep you relatively pegged. But those options may not be available to you.

[OldTimer]

Thanks for the alternate ideas fellas............. will try versions of comments my next time up there.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[OldTimer]

(07-14-2015 03:47 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  Hey,

While on vacation recently we were lucky enough to witness the MNRF pulling up their fish netting surveys in a Muskoka lake.

Water was 120 feet +- deep.

Amazingly their quite short gill net had many whitefish. Some were very good size.

I have seen the depth finder markings of "something" fishy at that level for years in the summer.

How exactly does one actually go about fishing that depth in the summer months - when wind and currents will move your boat about no matter how its anchored due to the draw. Its sure not like ice fishing.

Jigging lures wont work - you'll never get straight up and down.

I've tried minnows............ nada ... so far.

................ suggestions?

Cheers,

OldTimer

I've been considering giving this another go.

There must be a way to do it. They must eat something sometime.

Any new thoughts or experience (good or bad) in same?

Cheers,

OldTimer

[NickP27]

120 feet of water ...

How far off the bottom were they holding?

[OldTimer]

Tight on slope.

[zippyFX]

Have you tried varying the size of the minnows? Have you tried using just the heads?

I saw a Fishing canada show on whitefish once (not when they are deep though) they had to vary jig size and colour significantly before the found the magic combination.

http://fishncanada.com/episode-426-getting_it_in_gear/

[zippyFX]

Have you also considered that the bottom of the cone for the fishfinder may be severely distorted due to how wide the cone is at that depth? Fish may look to be at the edge of the screen but may in reality be 50 ft over?

Unless it's right under the boat you may be too far off.

Do you have a sidescan feature to help dial it in?