Whitefish

[gpc]

I was just wondering if any of you guys have ever targeted them before. I have never caught one or even fished for them. The season opened up on December 1st and there is a 15 fish limit for them. I heard they are in the green but have not been able to prove it, are they?. They Tye river is another place I am interested in fishing for them, but any river/ creek will work. Any info will be greatly appreciated.

[littleriver]

I've caught the odd one over the years. I'm forgetting my source but I read a few weeks back that WDFW is considering changing some rules around to encourage harvest of abundant whitefish stocks on the upper cowlitz and the cispus river. But, in my mind, whitefish have always been an eastern washington kind of fishery. Lots of them in the Yakima between selah and ellensburg and in the columbia below Priest Rapids dam. Enough, anyways, that they have attracted some sporties to work for them over the years and learn the best ways to catch them.

My conversations with some of these individuals would lead me to recommend "maggots" as the best bait. One sporty that I talked to even said that the maggots work best when they are warm and wiggly. He added that he keeps them warm by popping them behind his lower lip before putting them on the hook. Not sure if he was pulling my leg on that suggestion but it's definitely one that I will never follow.

Whitefish are good winter fish because they tend to school in the pools and slow water of the river when the water gets really cold. Just get the maggot down near the bottom of the pool and if there are any whitefish there you will catch one fairly quickly.

All the whitefish I've caught in this state were incidental and caught on worms. I've cooked a few up and though the meat has always been white I've also found it to be bony and to have kind of a "muddy" flavor to it.

If you go to any good fish market back east (i.e. New York State, Ohio, etc., etc.) you will always find a product called "smoked whitefish". These whitefish are related to our mountain whitefish but they are "lake whitefish", mostly from the hays river area south of Great Slave lake in the Northwest Territories. Lake whitefish can get up to 25 pounds. I've caught them out of great slave lake but the largest was about 4 pounds. Inuit and Cree tribal members there have learned how to catch them and smoke them very lightly so they are very marketable and tasty and the meat fetches a good price. They move tons of it every year into our nation's food distribution system.

Based on that knowledge, I think the next time I catch one I'm going to try brining and smoking it.

[tnj8222]

my buddy just caught one the green by flaming geyser drifting a corky and yarn. this was the weekend before the flooding.

[A9]

I've caught a ton of them in Wyoming when fishing with spinners/spoons for trout....

[jmay]

I used to catch them all the time as a kid on the East slopes of the Cascade. The best way to catch them is with Salmon eggs (or pattern if in a Fly ownly area) with a size 10 hook. They have a small mouth and don't bite like a trout. Its more of a sucking feeling. Give them a couple of tugs before trying to set the hook. It your bait/fly is not bounching off the bottom you need more weight.

Also if you catch one in a hole, there will be at least 3 more in there.

[michaelunbewust]

if it is big lake whitefish, a not so well known spot is the lower end of Scootney res. between othello and connell (wasteway spills into lower res.). tons of them in there. sometimes cant get the perch to bite because big school will just park right below spillway. i never did cook any of them. gave them to some asian co-workers (they loved them)!

[fisherhall]

I'm pretty sure I caught one in the Columbia River by Wenatchee....unless it was some type of carp.

[the1fishingpro]

Ive only caughten 1 in my life and it was in Alaska. Fishing for salmon and accidentally snagged it with a fly. Released barely harmed, snagged in tail.

[AdsBot [Google]]

If you want to catch white fish around here now the best time of the year. They seem to school up just below the rapids in a river during the cold winter days. I may be mistaken but I think they are in the “spawn.” In my younger years I would catch them consistently on the "Puyallup." When I grew tired of fishing for "Stealhead" I would finish my day catching white fish. Just find some backwater and fish them with maggots or eggs with a small hook just of the bottom. A good hole will hold a dozen or more. Good luck.

[Jake Dogfish]

I am also interested in trying for some Whitefish. I am curious if anyone has fished the White River for them, and if anyone knows where Weyerhaeuser 6000 rd. Bridge (bridge camp) is, the start of the open Whitefish water. Thanks!

[Derrick-k]

The green has, or at least used to have whitefish when my dad fished for steelhead their. Do whitefish eat salmon/trout/steelhead eggs and smolt? Are whitefish very good as far as eating quality? What about fighting ability? thanks

[Anonymous]

The Carbon river has whitefish. I took apicture of what was in the stomach so you know what to use.

[gpc]

All right thanks Toni. What are those little black things? I cant tell if they are a larva of some type or just little twigs. That is one ugly fish though lol. Maybe just because the mouth reminds me of a carp. But I never would have guessed that they are realated to trout/salmon, they look more like a trash fish than anything. Did you eat it? I heard they dont taste too bad

[Toni]

All right thanks Toni. What are those little black things? I cant tell if they are a larva of some type or just little twigs. That is one ugly fish though lol. Maybe just because the mouth reminds me of a carp. But I never would have guessed that they are realated to trout/salmon, they look more like a trash fish than anything. Did you eat it? I heard they dont taste too bad

I did eat it. Baked with lemon pepper and salt. It was alright, tasted like trout to me. I would rather eat it smoked. That is how I perfer trout. It has large scales.
I think the twig like things were small periwinkles. They had very small rocks and fir needles like things. The eggs were different sizes and all seperate. They were at different stages of hardness in the outer skin but liquid inside. I thought at first the eggs might be artifical but they weren't.

[Mike Carey]

IN the midwest they are quite popular smoked.

[panfisher]

i've done alot of snorkling on the natches, and yakima, looking at what fish ar holding where. the natches has a large pop. of whites the yakima has a good pop. but there are alot more pike minnows and peamouths in the selah to prosser in this part of the river, haven't looked at whats in the upper part but it should hold better numbers. i was amazed at how big the whites are in the natches many looked to be 20-24in. i,ve caught them 12-14in. in this system. and they can be hard to catch maggots help but perry winkles work great. haven't had any time to do any fishing yet but i do plan on seeing if those big white are in those holes i've been checking last summer. a few chowder recipies i'm want to check out. they taste better during the cold months. <'(//<

[FISHKILLER]

IN the midwest they are quite popular smoked.

That's the only way I would try them, I have heard they taste horrible.

[Toni]

The one I cooked up tasted like trout to me. I prefer trout smoked.

[mallard83]

I have caught a lot of pretty nice sized ones by accident from the Cle Elum River while fishing for trout in the summer time with a rooster tail spinner. I heard that the Wenatchee River is a productive place for them in the winter time. I tried fishing the Wenatchee for them last winter with my girlfriend and had no luck, I think partially because I had never targeted them before and didn't know the river and also half of the river was frozen over with big chunks of ice floating down the open areas.

Another spot to try closer to home may be the Snoqualmie River where the Tolt River runs in. I am not sure on the rules for whitefish here, but I used to fish for winter run steelhead there every once and awhile and there were always guys down there targeting whitefish. Every time I was there guys would have 5 gallon buckets full of them. They used what looked like maggots, mini jigs, and also small flies.

[racfish]

I target Whitefish when Steelheading slow down.They seem to like it where smaller streams dump into larger streams.I use maggots on small egg hooks.Also white rice (cooked )work ok.Smoked Whitefish are excellent.