NorthWest Kayak Anglers
Regional Discussions => Montana Kayak Fishing => Topic started by: pmmpete on July 24, 2016, 06:14:47 PM
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I love the stories which get posted on this forum about how a kayak angler amazed a crowd of motor boaters by catching big fish when they were getting skunked. Spoiler alert: this is not one of those stories.
Yesterday I went fishing for lake whitefish for the first time, in Flathead Lake. I ended up fishing near a motor boater who gave me a lot of useful advice. I was using the same lure as he was, I was doing the same things that he was, and I was fishing about 30 feet away from his boat. But he caught about a dozen big lake whitefish, and I got skunked. It was demoralizing. There were two other motor boats in the area, also all using the same lure, and they only caught one or two lake whitefish per boat. So this guy definitely had the touch.
A little background on lake whitefish in Flathead Lake: Fishery biologists say that lake whitefish are by far the most numerous fish in Flathead Lake, and the limit is ONE HUNDRED (100) LAKE WHITEFISH PER DAY. But for the past eight years or so, very few lake whitefish have been caught. You’ll hear a story: “so-and-so caught 50 lake whitefish in three hours at such-and-such a spot! The whitefish bite is on!” Everybody runs up to the lake, and gets skunked. The bite disappears as fast as it appeared. Because just about nobody was catching lake whitefish, I never bothered to try to catch them. But last week, after announcements of great success on lake whitefish in the Narrows, I headed up to Flathead Lake to see if I could catch some. But I couldn’t. A guy in one of the other motor boats reported that he and a friend caught 40 lake whitefish in the Narrows a week ago, and went back the next day and got skunked.
But I’m an optimistic guy. I’m going to go back up there and keep trying until I catch some of those dang lake whitefish.
Here’s the guy who caught all the whitefish.
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i444/pmmpete/P7223032a_zpscdmgrrbx.jpg) (http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/pmmpete/media/P7223032a_zpscdmgrrbx.jpg.html)
The guy doing catch and release fishing, into his cooler. This was a medium sized whitefish.
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i444/pmmpete/P7223037a_zpsfy4igyqm.jpg) (http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/pmmpete/media/P7223037a_zpsfy4igyqm.jpg.html)
Here’s the actual skunk, which I encountered today on a hike.
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i444/pmmpete/P7233049a_zps9skez8ik.jpg) (http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/pmmpete/media/P7233049a_zps9skez8ik.jpg.html)
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How big are those things? That looked pretty big.
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The big ones were almost as long as the inside of the cooler. And I have been told, by people who have been able to catch them, that they are very tasty.
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Hey Pete,
I am willing to bet that man has been fishing there for whitefish in that lake for 20+ years. There's something about that experience that simply works even when the lures and everything else are the same. I am certain given more time spent at that lake you will soon nail 'em!
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Bust out your Pro-Cure Pete. By my recollection they like anise.
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I love stories about being skunked and then showing a skunk!
Thanks for the great report!
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There is an interesting short article entitled “Long-Term Effects of Nonnative Species Introductions to Flathead Lake, Montana” available at http://mtprof.msun.edu/Fall2012/ellis.html . This article includes the following chart which shows the numbers of different fish species at various periods of time. The lower set of fish pictures represents current populations of fish. Notice that the “2X” next to the picture of a lake whitefish means that there is actually twice as many lake whitefish as is indicated by the size of the picture of that fish. Which means that there are vastly more lake whitefish in Flathead Lake than there are lake trout. But for the last 8 years or so, almost nobody has been able to catch any lake whitefish, and then only for short periods of time during the year. It’s very odd.
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i444/pmmpete/Flathead%20food%20web_zpsl311jwhe.jpeg) (http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/pmmpete/media/Flathead%20food%20web_zpsl311jwhe.jpeg.html)
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On my second day of fishing for lake whitefish, I caught an 18" whitefish. Just one, but it was a slow day. Motorboats in the area caught few or no whitefish, and the guy who caught a dozen last weekend only caught two.
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i444/pmmpete/P7273070a_zpsdjpu7hn8.jpg) (http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/pmmpete/media/P7273070a_zpsdjpu7hn8.jpg.html)
The wind came up and the waves got bouncy, so I spent a while catching northern pikeminnows to use for lake trout and pike bait, and then called it a day.
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Nice Pete, way to stick with it! Though I wish I could catch salmon every other trip out...
Sam
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Awesome! It's always fun to catch something different!
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love hearing of stories of catching lesser known species. I hope to be able to diversify more from my halibut and king salmon regiment
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The lake whitefish bite on Flathead Lake has continued to be active, and I’m slowly getting better at catching them. Not as good as some friends who have been catching around 20 a day, but that's OK, because I don't know what I'd do with that many whitefish. Most of the whitefish are 18-20 inches and put up a good fight, but some are a lot bigger – a friend caught a 6 pound whitefish last week. They’re tasty cooked. The meat is similar to northern pike but a bit denser. They’re also tasty smoked.
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i444/pmmpete/P8033129a_zpsklhx0gdd.jpg) (http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/pmmpete/media/P8033129a_zpsklhx0gdd.jpg.html)
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i444/pmmpete/P8043130a_zpsidxxiyqx.jpg) (http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/pmmpete/media/P8043130a_zpsidxxiyqx.jpg.html)
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Those look fun - thanks for the report/update.
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Being a fly fisherman before turning to kayak I've done quite well on whitefish. Seeing that the lake contains Copiopod and Mysis, a scud pattern would do well.
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Being a fly fisherman before turning to kayak I've done quite well on whitefish. Seeing that the lake contains Copiopod and Mysis, a scud pattern would do well.
Were you fishing for lake whitefish or mountain whitefish? And if you were fishing for lake whitefish, how did you get a scud pattern down to them? In Flathead Lake, the lake whitefish hang out right on the bottom, often at considerable depths. During the current bite period, the lake whitefish can be found on the bottom in 50-60 feet of water gobbling down baby perch about 3/4" long. We have been fishing for them with 3/8 oz. or 5/8 oz. vertical lead jigs, sometimes with a small fly attached above the jig.
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In Alaska it's Cisco and Humpback's. Definitely shallower water. But in summer when lake trout get selective I've slow trolled flies and picked up whitefish as well as Lakers. Sounds like your attaching a fly above the jig has it well covered.
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For several weeks in July and August, the lake whitefish were biting like crazy on Flathead Lake, for the first time in eight or ten years. I figured out how to catch them, and was doing pretty well. The number of fish I was bringing home was limited more by the number of fish I was interested in cleaning and the number of fish I thought I could unload on friends than it was by the number of fish which were willing to chomp on my lure. But on August 18, Flathead Lake was hit by a big windstorm, and the whitefish bite completely ended in Big Arm and Elmo Bay. I tried fishing for whitefish on August 23 in Elmo Bay, didn't get a single bite, didn't talk with anybody who had caught a single whitefish, and didn't even see anything which looked like a whitefish on my fish finder until noon. I hear the whitefish are still biting in Skidoo Bay, so I'll have to head over there and give it a try.
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Pete,
I used to catch Lakers off Bigfork bay this time of year, fishing off the beach. And the occasional whitefish. As the water cools the fish move shallower.
And the whitefish spawn in the Flathead river here. I will try to get out in the next week or so, and I can send you a fresh report.
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I was thinking of heading up to Flathead Lake for some lake trout fishing this weekend, but because I'm still learning the basics about whitefish, I didn't realize that they might be available as well. PM me if you want to hook up for some fishing.
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I would like that, but let me check out the bite beforehand.
I cannot fish the ÷reservation, as I don't have their licesense.
See that skunk picture? There is a. Dead one in my back pasture. And the dog stinks out loud! Are these two items related? Yes, they are!