12-04-2014, 04:51 PM
[#0000FF]The Bonneville whitefish are definitely fun to catch. They are sometimes light biters and you have to be on your game to hook them before they slurp the crawler off your jig. Once hooked, they do fight hard. The way they vibrate the end of the rod rapidly is a quick indicator of what you have hooked. And they bulldog all the way to the net. No aerial antics but you don't need any.
A liberal limit of 10 provides enough both for a fish fry and a batch for the smoker. They are good both ways.
If you have fished for the mountain whitefish, in Utah's streams, you will find some differences in the Bonneville whitie. First of all, they feed on small fish and larger invertebrates...so they have a much bigger mouth than the stream raised whitefish. Second, they get about twice as big. An average male might be two pounds. Females can run from 3 to 6 pounds. And they definitely outpull a walleye of equal size...or even a cutthroat from most waters.
When they are in they are aggressive biters. Get in a hot school and you don't go long without a bite. And they hit a wide variety of jigs, spinners and even small crankbaits. Many "regulars" prefer little "pony jigs" with a small blade on it. The flash and vibration seems to call them in better. And whatever you serve will work better with a bit of sweetener...like a piece of crawler.
The whities can be found many places around the lake...depending on weather, water temperature, wind direction, etc. But the one thing that you should always look for are rocks on the bottom...in shallow water. Almost anywhere you find rocks on the shoreline you are likely to find suitable bottom structure in the 5-15 foot depths whitefish like for spawning. But some days they will favor certain areas over others...and might be gone the next day.
There can be some good fishing for whitefish and other species out along the rock dikes at the main marina. Some years they also show up well by the old marina near Gus Rich Point. Lake levels play a major role there. In low water years the rocky structure is too shallow.
Across the lake, on the east side, there are good whitefish spots all along the shoreline from First Point to the south...past Cisco Beach to the north. There are good launch ramps at first point and at Cisco Beach...with good fishing only a short distance from each.
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A liberal limit of 10 provides enough both for a fish fry and a batch for the smoker. They are good both ways.
If you have fished for the mountain whitefish, in Utah's streams, you will find some differences in the Bonneville whitie. First of all, they feed on small fish and larger invertebrates...so they have a much bigger mouth than the stream raised whitefish. Second, they get about twice as big. An average male might be two pounds. Females can run from 3 to 6 pounds. And they definitely outpull a walleye of equal size...or even a cutthroat from most waters.
When they are in they are aggressive biters. Get in a hot school and you don't go long without a bite. And they hit a wide variety of jigs, spinners and even small crankbaits. Many "regulars" prefer little "pony jigs" with a small blade on it. The flash and vibration seems to call them in better. And whatever you serve will work better with a bit of sweetener...like a piece of crawler.
The whities can be found many places around the lake...depending on weather, water temperature, wind direction, etc. But the one thing that you should always look for are rocks on the bottom...in shallow water. Almost anywhere you find rocks on the shoreline you are likely to find suitable bottom structure in the 5-15 foot depths whitefish like for spawning. But some days they will favor certain areas over others...and might be gone the next day.
There can be some good fishing for whitefish and other species out along the rock dikes at the main marina. Some years they also show up well by the old marina near Gus Rich Point. Lake levels play a major role there. In low water years the rocky structure is too shallow.
Across the lake, on the east side, there are good whitefish spots all along the shoreline from First Point to the south...past Cisco Beach to the north. There are good launch ramps at first point and at Cisco Beach...with good fishing only a short distance from each.
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