Cisco and Whitefish ice fishing

Does anyone on here know about ice fishing for Cisco and Whitefish around the DL area? (or a bit further). I know nothing about fishing for them at all but they taste great and I’d like to give it a try.

I know Star has a decent population of Cisco ( more commonly know in Minnesota as Tullibee ) They catch a fair amount of them there near iceout time. I believe that Dead lake in the DL area also has a good population of them. They are normally found in deeper water (40+) often they suspend high off the bottom. I use to do real well fishing them on a Flash type of lure with a droper to a small teardrop. A larger glow sweedish pimple with about a 6″ drop to a teardrop was a killer on them. People often bleed the fish right away when catching them – So if you see spots on the lake with lots of blood – there was most likely tillibee caught there. They are a blast to catch and yummy when smoked – Good luck and hope you get into them !!!!

I took a drive last weekend up north of Minocqua to Trout Lake, lots of guys fishing for whitefish, brutal wind that day, glassed one guy sitting way out there on a bucket.

Not DL, but we target WF on Vermilion quite often since we have a cabin there.

We tend to find them on the deep tips of large, shoreline connected structures, which break off into the basin or a deep hole. Best depths for us tend to be 26-32’, though they often get shallower in low light.

From watching them on Livescope, I can tell you that they never stop swimming, patrolling the edges where harder bottom transitions to mud. They often are bottom related, but will ride high in the water column too. Last weekend, we were fishing 34’ of water and all the WF were moving thru about 10’ off the bottom.

For what it’s worth, the last two we kept were full of mayfly larvae. Sometimes we find their stomachs full of fish eggs, probably cisco. The two species are frequently found in the same areas. Interestingly, we almost never find walleyes with the WF. Not sure why.

WF can be persnickety. Our best bait year-in and year-out is a small flutter spoon, tipped with a couple of pink Gulp crappie nibbles. We’ve tried and caught them on tons of other presentations, but this always seems to produce best for us. Could be specific to our body of water though.

WF can be a ball to catch and they are tremendous table fare. Bring a knife on the ice to bleed them if you plan to harvest one or more. Really helps the final product. Oh, and be sure to cut off the red fatty layer off your fillets.

Good luck with your hunt!

Attachments:

1. 

   EF03E6C5-7269-4F6A-8707-BBBDDBDF53C2.jpeg
   

Great report-now take me-I’ll bring steaks, quality jerky, and premium wiskey.
Best fillets in the state IMO

Brian, kidding aside thinking of going up in late march-love catching tullies, never caught a Whitey but would love to-any lodging recomendations that are close to good fishing areas? (could rent us your place) Otherwise we would be happy to rent from a resort or VRBO
Thanks

Winnie’s are for the most part worm free but a few do have them. I go every late winter get them on crappie minnows. They hammer them

Not nearby but big sandy ever bounce back since the floods???

Tim, I’m most familiar with the West end fishery, so the advice offered above might not be as applicable to the East end. The two basins often fish quite differently.

If you stay west, the closest accommodation to that might be the motel in Cook. Can’t speak to the East end fishery, but the casino might be an option over there. Also can’t speak to the worms in the tullibee as we’ve never kept one. None of the WF we’ve harvested had worms.

It can happen, but don’t expect fast action on the WF at V. You’ll get opportunities though and the tullibees, smallies, Perch, and pike will keep you interested in between. The WF are big though. Four pounders are the norm and 6lbers are possible. A single fish that size will feed four people.

Not sure if worms are a issue for smoked fish (how I would eat a tullie)—Thanks for all the tips, hope it will happen thois March

Thanks for all the tips!

Feathers wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tim hurley wrote:</div>
Not sure if worms are a issue for smoked fish (how I would eat a tullie)—Thanks for all the tips, hope it will happen thois March

If you saw the worms in the tullies from the big V I can promise you wouldn’t be eating them whether they are safe or not. They were long white worms that came crawling out of the fillets. Straight nastiness.

Straight nastiness is a understatement. I’ve had a few perch with a few small white worms. We just cut those out and move on. Now long white worms that are crawling out of the fillets themselves – That a whole different matter !!!!

Recent video on fishing for whitefish from angling buzz:

WF in Chequamegon bay is best chance to get on them. Just came back from a trip there last weekend and caught many of them!!!!

That’s…that’s…Wisconsin!

we used to hit leech in march for tullies………what a blood bath that was. but man was it fun………I wanna go back!!!!!!!!!

CC wrote:

WF in Chequamegon bay is best chance to get on them. Just came back from a trip there last weekend and caught many of them!!!!

Do you have to travel far on the ice to locate WF on Chequamegon? I’ve always wanted to make a trip there but it seems like walking is not an option to target them? I have no sled or atv for mobility, just my legs haha

canoebasser wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CC wrote:</div>
WF in Chequamegon bay is best chance to get on them. Just came back from a trip there last weekend and caught many of them!!!!

Do you have to travel far on the ice to locate WF on Chequamegon? I’ve always wanted to make a trip there but it seems like walking is not an option to target them? I have no sled or atv for mobility, just my legs haha

Walking is optional as long as the snow fall is limited. I did not walk very far, fishing in 20ft of water and was hammering WF.