Any muskoka area whitey tips?

Hi all,

Heading out tomorrow to a muskoka area lake. I've fished it a bunch in winter, but have never attempted it on a boat. I am primarily going to target lakers, as I know what I'm doing there, but wouldn't mind spending some time targeting whitefish. What structure, depth and lures should I focus on to give myself a fighting chance.

Thanks,

Winterfisher

There should be overlap with the structure the lake trout will be relating to- the whitefish may likely be closer to bottom but don’t rule out mid column. 40’-60’ is the depth I would focus on, flats and shelves/ledges nearby deeper water. 1/4oz or heavier to get down (sometimes you’ll need to downsize), not too large of a profile, blade baits (vibrato etc.) I like to rig a high hook about a full rod’s length above your bottom presentation with some kind of small soft plastic (micro tube or 1.5”-2” synthetic minnow).

Well, gave it an honest effort. Thanks for the tips Mike. Tried your method in a bunch of spots where I was marking fish, but I feel like I was marking schools of small lakers over whitefish. Ending up catching 2 lakers with this method on the high hook with small imitation minnow. Hard to locate the dam buggers. Anyways, still a good day. Boated 10 lakers, biggest was just under 28". 1 big smallie probably around the 4-5 lb mark. Fish were caught about 50/50 trolling and jigging. Miserable day weather wise. Rain wouldn't stop and wind was all over the place, but there was nowhere else I'd rather be.

Now the wait for hard water.

Winterfisher

10 lake trout is a great outing! Lake trout readily take the down-sized high hook presentation as well. Those stubborn marks that stick tight to bottom are often the whitefish. Good on you for sticking out the tough weather.