A shorter day but got some WF

Decided to go back to the new spot where we got 2 WF yesterday since it's closer to where I live and it should be walkable with my kayak to the launch site if I get a better kayak cart (although the neighbours may give me strange looks). Took a while to find some consistent marks again but there was lots of baitfish around in large patches. Once we found frequent marks, the lures went down. Didn't take long. My wife got 2 WF and I got 3 WF but we both also missed a few softer bites or maybe even side swipes (one time my lure came back with 4 WF scales). We also got one small laker each (both easily released by the side of the canoe - barely hooked). 3 of the fish had lots of small smelt in their bellies (about 1-1.5" long) - I noticed this with the fish I caught yesterday from this location so I put a Buckshot spoon on my wife's line and I also used a smaller Swedish pimple (I attached it to a weighted swivel to get it down faster). Both of her fish came on the Buckshot and one of my 3 came on the Swedish pimple. Maybe taking a break from fishing for a few days to get some work around the house done, eat some fish and wait for more calm days for some more fishing. One (descaled and gutted) of the 5 went to some friends and will drop of a bag of boneless meat to some neighbours (and older couple who likes fish but have no idea how to clean a whole fish).

wow, beautiful whitefish

where I fished yesterday on the lake, I couldn't find any whitefish. all I got are lakers!:-)

Looking good. Swedish pimp and small buckshot are my second choices, but I was told they work a bit better in the fall than spring.

You and your wife making quick work of those whitefish John!

wow, beautiful whitefish

where I fished yesterday on the lake, I couldn't find any whitefish. all I got are lakers!:-)

I was thinking of texting you to see how you were doing and if I can "re-pay" you with a WF but then assumed you would be getting some as usual. Too bad the lakers got in the way

Good to know these are lures you use as well. I was taking some stuff I learned from fishing Simcoe in the past...the next thing I want to try is a smaller Williams (and marking it a bit with a green sharpie to give it a bit of a green sheen) but those spoons take forever to get down (I wonder if my weighted swivel will do the trick or if it will cause the action to change in a strange way). Haven't fished much for WF in the spring up here so hopefully will be able to learn a bit more next spring.

On her larger fish, she let out a couple of big screams of it being "very big" (if there were any cottagers on shore, I am sure they would have heard and maybe thought we were in trouble or something). It was about a 3 lb fish (not really that large for WF but a good one for this lake as far as we can tell so far - so maybe it put up more of a fight than the other fish?). Fun to watch her hook and fight the fish (epic battles). She was not too confident she was going to catch any WF after the first few trips since she was watching me catch fish and wasn't getting bites but a little coaching and after the first one, the confidence is right there now (maybe I need to start shutting up or I maybe reporting only her catches - we know how occasional fisher spouses often out fish and can "wreck" the fishing for us ). Just kiddin of course. Love that I can get the family out there and watch her catch fish (which means I am out there). In a few years, maybe my little guy will be reeling in his first laker or WF (right now, he is only reeling in his blue rubber stopper fish on his cartoon-character licensed fishing pole...and while we are trying to jig up some fish too (I'm sure it's a funny sight to see if anyone around was watching us).

Good job, John!
Curious: what size of buckshot and what colors you guys were using?
Nick, what would you advice about the same?

Wow, nice fish. Also nice of you to share. Best part was your son with his cartoon character fishing pole. Good job mom and dad. Don't forget about the minnow trapping and the worm digging.

Nice group of Whitefish......lil guy has a great start....the fish will come to him soon.

Arnie

Thanks. I don't know the Buckshot's weight (it's an old one I had at the bottom of the tackle box) but it is 2" long (silver holographic finish with a spot of red on the gills) and no longer has the rattle. Initially, I had tipped it with a minnow head to make things easier for my wife (that caught the laker) and then after losing the minnow head, she got the WF without bait. The buckshot goes down really fast so was also easier to feel the weight for her. Swedish pimple was a small one and all silver (but I had put a small reflective red dot sticker on the bottom (hook) end of the spoon mainly to help during ice fishing for perch but seems to have worked for WF too. Vibrado was a gold minnow colour with a black spot on the head side of the lure (no red on this one). I don't think it would have matter yesterday...anything that was a small fish-like bait was likely to have caught fish I think because they were clearly feeding on small smelt. I may try a small plastic minnow imitation next time to see if works (would be nice to be using a single hook jig to reduce injury and net entanglement issues - not that injury has been a real issue because most were hooked pretty lightly, except one that was not getting away even if I messed up alot).

For sure...he's grabbing grasshoppers and frogs already. No screens for him - lots of outdoor time.