Moore is a longtime pier angler and has his whitefish program dialed in. For casting, use a 8-9' medium rod and 8-10lb line. Check back regularly to learn about the latest tackle, tips and techniques for icing more walleye, perch, northern pike, lake trout, crappies and whitefish. While pier-bound anglers may watch rods for hours between bites, schools of fish can move in and heat up the action in a hurry. Rig is mainline with a sliding pyramid sinker then a bead, and a swivel. Live Bait. Like most whitefish anglers, Moore likes long rods with limber tips that show bites, but with enough backbone to toss a two-ounce pyramid sinker. Whitefish Ice Fishing Rigs Here’s a couple rigs you can try next time you visit Green Bay to fish for Whitefish. Pier Fishing Rigs. The rig can be tipped with wax worms, Gulp Alive bait, or live crappie minnows. Often times you never feel the bite at all, but rather just the weight of the fish … To catch Rockies, as they often called, the thing to remember is that they are extreme bottom feeders. Fishing with live bait gives you a huge advantage when fishing off the pier. Sometimes live bait is the best choice for catching whitefish or any other fish for that matter. Oscoda: Anglers fishing off the end of the pier have caught steelhead, whitefish and walleye. Other bass rigs are for presentation. At … Some are weedless, which means you can throw them near or in heavy cover, and you won’t pull back a ton of green. You can run 4-5inch shiners, grays or blues (I like blues) under a bobber or on a slip-rig for browns, walleyes and lakers. watch john whyte’s whitefish tips in action on youtube. Around 1/16 ounce will work fine. Make sure that you’re ready to make adjustments to your rig to suit tide and wind, and target. However, the 4 pier fishing rigs mentioned above will be your go-to rigs for just about any type of fish you’re likely to encounter from a pier. The sinker is clipped to a sinker holder that slides on the main line. One of the more unique fishing opportunities that occurs in west Michigan is the lake whitefish spawning run. When they’re ready, I drain ‘em and put them in cold water to stop cooking.”. We started fishing well before daylight, rigging rods and baiting up with the help of headlamps. In many areas, pier fishing doesn’t require a fishing license. This will suspend the treble just above the bottom. Copyright © 2021 Bait Rigs. Use a slip bobber with a split shot and a couple feet below that attach a small wireworm in any color. Whitefish can be very light biters. In Southern California, you can easily catch smelt, mackerel and sardines with a Sabiki rig. When ice fishing for White Fish fisherman have a 10/angler bag limit and there is no size requirements, or slot limits for Whitefish. Note: This rig is equivalent to using 2 rods with single hooks. “Start testing after about two minutes. The sinker is rigged to slide on the main line so a fish can swim a bit with the bait. The best presentation is to vertical jig 12" to 15" once or twice just off bottom, then hold the rod steady while jiggling the rod tip. Distance is rarely important so the two hook flapping rig is a good all round choice which can catch a variety of species. Al Lutz, one of Moore’s pier friends, was set up on the shore side of our nine rods and wrangled a nice fish of about three pounds. While the fishing had been hot for the past several days, the curse of an outdoor writer with a camera went into effect—we only caught one small one, and action wasn’t a whole lot better for the other anglers on the pier. If the bite was slow, I'd bring the hook in … For more information on Michigan fishing go to michigan.org. The Whitefish are very active and bite throughout the day, every day. Virtuous twin-rig whitefish trawling in the holes and on the plateaux 20th December 2020 . Whitefish can be very light biters. Ultra-light tippets are usually unnecessary. Every year towards the end of November, they crash the pier heads in full force. Whitefish continue to move in closer to shore and along the reefs. Let’s jump into why pier fishing is fun and how you can catch more fish with these pier fishing tips! Some piers don’t have such holes, and anglers must attach rod holders to the carts and seats they bring out with them. Moore points out that most of the time, whitefish swallow the hook, and are difficult to release alive; anglers generally keep their catch. Use waxes or spikes on the Slo-Poke jig. Right now is just the beginning of prime time to catch these fish, as they foray into shallower water after living all summer in the dark depths of the big lake—200 feet and deeper. When fishing for whitefish, stir up the bottom, rest the spoon and jig it off bottom. For more information on Michigan fishing go to michigan.org, Pier Fishing for Peerless Michigan Whitefish, Bouncing along the Slackline with Melissa Bowe. Often times you never feel the bite at all, but rather just the weight of the fish holding the bait in its mouth on the "Lift". You don’t want a rod that will completely double over and bounce around when you’re trying to bring a fish out of the water. And right now, almost any Lake Michigan pier offers a chance to grapple with these small-mouthed relatives of trout and salmon. The Sabiki Rig would actually work well ice fishing for other species like perch or crappies. 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