WHITEFISH OPENER

Im glad it could spark a knowledge sharing conversation! I would argue thats even better than getting told “great video”. Looking forward to getting back out there asap!!!

Yep definitely miss fish with the vibrato! Alot of the time they just bump into your line and it feels like a hit so when you set the hook there is a chance of accidentally snagging them! Which is why you lose them often, I also know alot of guys rip the vibrato much higher and more aggressive than I do as a part of their cadence, I do not like this because alot of the fish get snagged. You can imagine ripping a vibrato with those extremely sharp hooks in a school of 100 whitefish, you are bound to snag one. So I keep my snaps short and close to bottom when the fish are on the screen just to get their attention and then I do my tap on bottom which is when they usually hit the vibrato or rise for the top hook bait. And yes its great you can tell its tangled! Saves you from wasting your time when working the bait and a quick snap to untangle is extremely helpful when you dont have to drop back down in 100+ FOW.

Sometimes, I do feel like they bump the line but other times, I think they may be hitting the lure in the middle of the body and so when you go to set the hook, the hook may not land on a good part of the mouth and only hook it for a short while before it pops out (I would love to see some video one day of missed hits and short hook ups to see if this is right).
I've never seen that many fish under me so have no idea. But videos of people fishing in the US on piers in the fall for WF running into the rivers show alot of snagged fish because of how they snap their lures (like what you have said) so for sure that happens. It was how some people snagged Simcoe WF during ice fishing using the William's half/half hammered jigging spoons with side hooks not removed...you can tell that was what they were trying to do. My best fishing for Simcoe WF using the same lure has always been very light taps after a few larger yo-yo-ing motions to draw them in. Like with the vibrado, they usually hit during the light taps or if I am slowly raising the spoon away from them. Saw many snagged fish with the violent snapping jiggers.
Top hook. I stopped using them - too much trouble. But now after seeing what you said in the video about having it much higher, I may try it again - I always had that issue of not knowing which bait the fish was interested and caused some problems with how I moved my line because I wasn't sure which bait it was looking at. So the larger separation makes sense so I may give it a try again.
So glad I don't have to fish in waters deeper than about 50 or 60' (takes far too long to get the lure down no spot lock....but my pedaling kayak doesn't do too badly if it's not too windy out there

I agree, they definitely miss the hooks alot! I just got an AquaVu but need to get it replaced because it doesnt work but I will see if I can get some footage of them this winter! And yes having the increased distance between rop hook and vibrato is great, if the 2 baits are too close they can get confused going top to bottom, it is a distraction for them if too close. This works real well in May when the midges hatch, you put a tiny tube on top and just wait for suspended marks to raise the tube up to or wait for one to come up off bottom for it, they smash it everytime!

Thanks for sharing this study Longshank! That is very interesting, seems targeting them shallow for catch and release will have to be the method moving forward. They need to perform more studies like this, even if some whitefish need to be sacrificed for it, it would help with implementation of safer regulations for not only this fishery but also those in the states like green bay where deep water WF is also very popular to target. Surely the number sacrificed in a study would not compare to the damage caused if potential deepwater catch and release effects are really that detrimental to whitefish.

I too appreciated your video and the members concerns and comments. Thanks for sharing your baits of choice and techniques. I fish the st Clair river for walleye a lot and will try the goby jig you use for vertical jigging in the river which is also very technique sensitive hence the term vertical jigging. I will say a prayer for your safety when fishing alone in December in 4 foot chop. You made me a bit nervous!

slssimcoe

Thanks for watching! I suspect the thingamajig would be good for preventing snags in the river! Its head is almost like a football head jig so should be good for bouncing off those rocks, and it works great as a goby imitator! Hahaha yea I’ve gone out solo so many times now its definitely second nature for me, what scares me is seeing guys do this in a kayak!!! I could never do something like that

I watched a video of this past opening day where the guy says he got over 50 white fish landed on the day . All those fish were caught deep. Lets hope longshanks study was due to season and not barometric pressure on those fish ..

That study went on for over 1 week and there were other anglers involved in it as well...We

all thought for sure something would come out of it, but sadly nothing has ever appeared.


keep in mind this was during open water and the surface temps were quite high, so another factor to consider vs ice fishingpossibly


It definately changed my mindset on C&R for whitefish

Yea temp definitely plays a big factor for catch and release especially when you’re pulling up a fish from over 100+ FOW, this completely drains the fish of energy, so for them to then have to go back down in extremely warm surface temps is very hard. Hence why some musky guys stop fishing for musky once surface temps hit a certain upper temp range threshold. Still the study is concerning, especially since I know there are guys catching and releasing 50+ in a day from these depths.

Yea there are guys catching 50+ in a day, it is definitely concerning.