New location, ...and found some WF

A bit windy today so couldn't fish the usual spot and I have been moving around a bit every now and then to see if I can find some new spots for WF. Went to a place that was sheltered from the ENE winds but maintaining position was a bit of a challenge still (I was not using the kayak but a canoe with a trolling motor so hands were not always both free - can't justify buying one with spot lock for me anyway so I really like fishing from my pedal drive kayak). Anyway, it took most of the three hours we had to fish to putter around to find the depth I was hoping to fish as well as of course some fish. I have tried fishing this spot a few times this year with nothing to show. Hooked up soon after I marked a fish and the baits went down...I actually did not see the bait or the fish on the screen when I hooked up (both just out of the sonar's cone I guess). Lost that just before I could get a look (saw the lure come up more or less as soon as the fish came off). Second fish came as I was coaching my wife on her lure's depth after I saw a mark and she landed her first WF ever. Third fish was larger but had a netting issue and lost it as well (I need to figure out my netting issues and stop losing fish )) Then I finally land two in a row...my wife is the type that will put down her fishing pole because it's time to eat even if it's the only fish school that we have seen all day. Good thing is that she doesn't get upset that I will catch fish during that time. Had two more bites but nothing hooked. What is interesting is that this spot is a very small spot and every time we drifted away too far, the screen goes blank....that's probably why the earlier trips were unsuccessful (today, just happen to find that spot and picked up a few fish). Hope the new sonar/GPS position saving worked or I will need to putter around more to find it. Gave one WF to a neighbour (he fishes as well but has never caught a WF). The two kept, one was a female (full of eggs).
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! No fishing for me tomorrow - too windy and the other stuff of course

took a photo of the eggs this time

and another one of the eggs

beautiful whitefish. Glad you found the fish on another lake.

Thanks!

Those eggs are looking ripe. Nice catch. What depth were they in? I will be out this coming weekend for them on a different lake further south.

Very nice fish. I hope I say this right, would not want to offend you or anyone else. I have heard whitefish are hard to keep on the hook. You said you were having netting issues. If you are having trouble at the net, watch xiaolu and how he nets a fish in his videos. It is one smooth motion, leading the fish into the net. I net the same way, and can't remember the last time a fish got off. But when it happens, that sinking feeling of "NOOOOOO, what did I do wrong" always gets me every time. Good luck out there.

Ha, thanks! :-)

For sure - no offense taken. It's just a lack of practice And the problems I am having are 1) brain fart...I assume the bag is hanging properly when I go to do the scooping but two times now, the bag was folded over itself (and with the rubberized net I have, the bag just doesn't slide off itself and open up so it stays folded) and when I slid the net under the fish, the fish lies on top of the materials and like a trampoline (and not a net now) bounces off and like you said, whitefish mouths are pretty thin so it doesn't take much unless they are hooked right into the nose). 2) the hooks still get tangled up in the rubberized net I have; it's a smaller mesh size and fine twine so even if the hook doesn't hook into the netting (it actually can hook into the seam and cause even more delays in getting back down), there is often some severe wrapping up of the hooks (esp. trebles) and the tension with the fish still hooked and flopping around and another hook tangled up in the net....well, that just causes problems. One of the other board members suggested a different silicon net with larger mesh and no cloth seams may do the trick with this last issue...but not the brain farts (that's all mine).

Yep, that was what I was thinking (so close). I haven't found anything in the stomachs of these fish so not sure if they are really eating, eating but clearly willing to hit some lures. Where we found them was in a small pocket between 45 and 55' Some marks in a bit deeper but none were interested and few marks. Shallower was the same. It seems to be a bit of a funnel up from deeper water and there is a sandy/rocky beach nearby so maybe they are preparing to spawn there?

Yep, that was what I was thinking (so close). I haven't found anything in the stomachs of these fish so not sure if they are really eating, eating but clearly willing to hit some lures. Where we found them was in a small pocket between 45 and 55' Some marks in a bit deeper but none were interested and few marks. Shallower was the same. It seems to be a bit of a funnel up from deeper water and there is a sandy/rocky beach nearby so maybe they are preparing to spawn there?

Spawn would be in 1-3fow up on the beaches and along the shoreline. There are a few inlets to bays that quite sandy and get really shallow, those are the spots usually where they spawn at night, then back to the deeper flat nearby during day.

Neat shot of the roe. That top female looks full of eggs.

Yep, that was what I was thinking (so close). I haven't found anything in the stomachs of these fish so not sure if they are really eating, eating but clearly willing to hit some lures. Where we found them was in a small pocket between 45 and 55' Some marks in a bit deeper but none were interested and few marks. Shallower was the same. It seems to be a bit of a funnel up from deeper water and there is a sandy/rocky beach nearby so maybe they are preparing to spawn there?

Spawn would be in 1-3fow up on the beaches and along the shoreline. There are a few inlets to bays that quite sandy and get really shallow, those are the spots usually where they spawn at night, then back to the deeper flat nearby during day.

I would love to be able to get out there at night with a spotlight to see if they are spawning but no easy access. Maybe I can try checking at a local beach area to see if I see anything near that spot at night. Would be very cool to see. Not sure if dip-netting for whitefish is allowed in our area like in some other areas.

Yup, that top female was the one with the eggs I photo'd. The other was a male (also getting pretty ripe too). Hopefully, I can keep fishing until post-spawn and up to just before ice-up to see what happens.

Yep, that was what I was thinking (so close). I haven't found anything in the stomachs of these fish so not sure if they are really eating, eating but clearly willing to hit some lures. Where we found them was in a small pocket between 45 and 55' Some marks in a bit deeper but none were interested and few marks. Shallower was the same. It seems to be a bit of a funnel up from deeper water and there is a sandy/rocky beach nearby so maybe they are preparing to spawn there?

Spawn would be in 1-3fow up on the beaches and along the shoreline. There are a few inlets to bays that quite sandy and get really shallow, those are the spots usually where they spawn at night, then back to the deeper flat nearby during day.

I would love to be able to get out there at night with a spotlight to see if they are spawning but no easy access. Maybe I can try checking at a local beach area to see if I see anything near that spot at night. Would be very cool to see. Not sure if dip-netting for whitefish is allowed in our area like in some other areas.

No there are only a handful of lakes that allow dip netting for spawning whitefish… your lake is not one of them. You can call your local MNR for a list of the lakes. Rumour is it’s going to stop entirely when regs change in the coming years.