Ice Fishing for Whitefish

Whitefish are a blast to catch on the ice, and while they are still overlooked by many ice anglers, they are growing in popularity due to having all the trademarks of any other popular sportfish. 

Where Can I Fish for Whitefish? 

Whitefish are widespread throughout Canada, Alaska, and the very northern regions of the Continental United States. 

One of the most prominent areas in the United States for whitefish is the Great Lakes, and every lake in the Great Lakes have very large populations of the fish. 

Minnesota is another state with large populations of whitefish and there are 100 lakes with the species being present. These fish are distributed in the northern reaches of the United States and Canada because the whitefish is a cool-water fish that lives predominantly in deep lakes with clean and clear water.

Whitefish will be found near the bottom, and will cruise areas like drop offs, deep points, rockpiles, and humps. Deep flats can also be home to large roving schools of whitefish. 

Whitefish can also be found at a variety of depths, and in the winter they will move up into shallower areas than they would inhabit in the summer due to colder water temperatures. 

While you can find them in shallower water, you will usually find them in deep water, and the deepest I have ever fished and caught them was in 70 feet of water. 

Lure Selection

Whitefish have a diet that is fairly wide and consist of snails, crayfish, baitfish, and invertebrates, but for fishing there are a few lure types that really shine. 

Baitfish imitations are the most popular lure type and lures like spoons, jigging lures like the jigging rap and puppet minnow, and soft plastics on jigs that imitate small baitfish can be deadly. 

Bucktail jigs and other jig types work as well, and many anglers will just single octopus hooks 

Another popular method is to use a spoon connected to a swivel with 12-14 inches of line, and to put a "sliding hook" above a barrel swivel and tip it with a waxworm, minnow head, or soft plastic. 

If the whitefish is in a neutral feeding mood it might not eat the spoon, only to up a foot and eat the single hook offering. 

Jigging tactics

One of the best tactics to trigger whitefish into eating your lure is to pound the lure on the bottom. 

Hitting the bottom of the lake with your lure stirs up a cloud of silt, and this silt cloud will drive the whitefish wild. 

It's also important to give adequate amounts of pauses when jigging to give the fish a chance to eat the lure, while this would seem obvious, it's actually a common mistake even a seasoned angler might make. 

Be sure to jig using different cadences and longer rips to see what the fish respond the best to on any given day. 

Final Thoughts 

Ice fishing for whitefish isn't a complicated form of fishing, and to top it off they put up a great fight and you can hammer on them all day long. They are also excellent table fare, so if you live near lakes with whitefish, be sure to give it a shot. 

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