Where did the WF go?

Made it out yesterday for 3 hours (it was calmer than expected and warm for this time of year) to some ice fishing spots to see if there were fish yet. Most spots, marked more or less nothing. Only at one spot did I mark 5 or 6 decent marks and got some to chase (others were pretty slow), Missed one light hit and got a decent hit and landed a small laker. I suspect most if not all of the marks were likely lakers given how they were moving (but one never knows for sure). Given the forecast, it's likely my last trip for this softwater season....good way to end the season. I think I hooked 40+ WF (and about a dozen lakers) since I met James at a boat launch and decided to figure out how to get fishing again. Took a few weeks to figure out the WF and locate some hungry ones. I think I kept a few more than half of the ones I had hooked (some were released by me and others released themselves). It's been the best WF fishing for me yet but of course, I was mainly focused on and targeting them this fall. Learned lots by trial and error and from others on this board.
What I still need to figure out is where do they go post-spawn and before they show up again at the ice fishing spots?
Looking forward to the ice and lakers opening up again on Jan. 1 (so I can get entries for the fishing derby as well as ice fishing at a couple of lakes I tried earlier this year).
Stay safe and good luck to others who are still fishing out there....it's getting colder!

You've done great scouting, lots of beautiful fish caught. Congrats on the good season finish!

Thanks. It's been fun learning to this stage. Lots more to learn about WF....then there are still all those other species I want to be able to catch on a pretty consistent basis. One of them is the smaller round whitefish that no one seems to be really catching or targeting...likely because there are so few lakes with them in central and southern Ontario. I tend to like the try for the less popular species.

That's the spirit, never give up. Fish until you can't fish. Stay safe.

I’ve really enjoyed your posts.Lots of info and some great pictures as well. It looks like you have the whitefish figured out.

Sounds like a great season. Too bad I don’t have info to share as I’ve never caught a whitefish in my life haha

I will chime in and say, in lakes with spiny water fleas and other crustaceans when the lake turns over you can often find whitefish suspended 2-3ft below the surface over deep water feeding on the crustaceans which have been propelled to the surface after turnover! Also something you most likely already know but others might find useful, whitefish like to feed on eggs for a short period, so you may also find them on lake trout spawning shoals! Maybe this will help!

Lots of time to still give WF a try. I kind of start as a kid and have always only really ice fished for them after they started to put a season on them (no boat fishing). This was the first year, I decided I was going to target them since there are lots of lakes in Muskoka with decent WF numbers and it's open year-round up here (they are tasty and a decently-sized fish) so it was a simple decision. But I also want to get back to fishing for the other species use to fish for more regularly.

..agree. I may get lucky and get to do a little shore fishing (daytime though) before there is enough ice to shut that down.

Thanks - hoping the sharing of info. will help others as well. Maybe I have figured out a part of the picture but I would feel more confident if next September-November, I can do the same again or even better (if so, then I may spend more time taking photos too rather than the dead fish-on-cardboard-at-home-before-being-cleaned). And of course there are still the ice and early ice-out periods to figure out ...I'll be leaving them alone for most of the summer when I don't usually get to fish too much anyway.

Thanks. That's interesting. Before the bite stopped, I did see a few WF at the surface (like what some of the other members had reported) so they were willing to come up into the warmer water but a decent number was still also on/near bottom where I was catching them.
Without side scan sonar, I won't be able to "see" those WF that are suspended so close to the surface, unless they are close to me (the water is pretty clear but a bit dark).
I did suspect they were likely to feed on eggs of multiple species but no idea where laker spawning shoals are in this lake (I am sure there are many such shoals but never really focused on lakers and got my lakers when fishing for WF). There are a couple of rivers I suspect are likely sites where the burbot may spawn (or at least near the mouths of these rivers) so the WF may also be in this area to feed on burbot eggs in the late winter/early spring. The lake should give up more of its secrets with more time on the water exploring (already looking at some new spots to scout out next year).