Dialing in on whitefishes

[Eli]

Lake Whitefish are ghosts. Very hard to pattern and even when you find them, getting them to bite can be an exercise in frustration. This is why you're reading contradictory information online -- everyone's experience with them is completely different. When the water temp is essentially uniform (as it is in winter), they can appear anywhere in the water column and relating to specific structure or seemingly to nothing at all. There also are huge populations of Lake Whitefish in certain bodies of water that are essentially uncatchable as their diet consists exclusively of plankton.
It took me two years to catch a single specimen and not for lack of trying!

Round Whitefish are generally not sought after by anglers (except for a few diehard species hunters) so little information is available on them. I know a few folks who have caught them but always in open water. If you get one through the ice you'll be making some sort of angling history, so bring your camera. You'll also be making me super jealous.