We used to fish them in the Yellowstone near Livingston. We usually used a black wooly worm with a maggot on the tip of the hook. We would use a small split shot and drift them submerged through pools. There used to be a few guys around town who would fill their old refrigerator smokers in the winter. I don't know anyone who still does it.
Mountain Whitefish
- Thread starter mtmuley
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BuzzH
Well-known member
We used to fish them a lot when I lived in Montana.
Riffles were almost always best for me.
We fished them using bobbers rigged with split shot on the bottom and 2 whitefish flies above (on leaders). You want the split shot to touch the bottom every once in a while. The idea is that if the split shot hang the bottom they'll slip off the line and you'll recover your flies and bobber.
I usually used white or brown flies on the bottom hook and orange on the top hook (trout bit the orange flies better it seemed). Always tipped the flies with maggots.
Quite often if they were biting pretty good you would catch doubles, one on each of your flies.
I never did that well in the Bitterroot, did really good on the Blackfoot, upper and lower Clark Fork as well as lower Rock Creek. The biggest ones on average we caught in the lower Clark Fork, smallest on average in Rock Creek.
Hard to know how many thousands of them my family has caught...lots of 100+ fish days.
Riffles were almost always best for me.
We fished them using bobbers rigged with split shot on the bottom and 2 whitefish flies above (on leaders). You want the split shot to touch the bottom every once in a while. The idea is that if the split shot hang the bottom they'll slip off the line and you'll recover your flies and bobber.
I usually used white or brown flies on the bottom hook and orange on the top hook (trout bit the orange flies better it seemed). Always tipped the flies with maggots.
Quite often if they were biting pretty good you would catch doubles, one on each of your flies.
I never did that well in the Bitterroot, did really good on the Blackfoot, upper and lower Clark Fork as well as lower Rock Creek. The biggest ones on average we caught in the lower Clark Fork, smallest on average in Rock Creek.
Hard to know how many thousands of them my family has caught...lots of 100+ fish days.
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shoots-straight
Well-known member
My dad was the Bitterroot Whitefish guru. The last year(before he got cancer) I had him keep track of how many Whitefish he caught.
2400 was the count that year. People would ask for as many as he could catch at the beginning of Dec. Then by the end of January they would pull the shades and hide out in their own homes hoping he would leave.
He wouldn't go before Christmas and would fish until the water started to fluctuate to much.
I have a couple of the 20' long poles he used. I usually get out a few times a year.
2400 was the count that year. People would ask for as many as he could catch at the beginning of Dec. Then by the end of January they would pull the shades and hide out in their own homes hoping he would leave.
He wouldn't go before Christmas and would fish until the water started to fluctuate to much.
I have a couple of the 20' long poles he used. I usually get out a few times a year.
BuzzH
Well-known member
Funny stuff...about the same at our house.
Everyone wanted whitefish until they had to clean a hundred of them. Can't mistake the smell of a sink full of whitefish...and I'll never forget it either.
They are very good smoked though, well worth the effort.
Good chance your Dad ran into Jake and George Chaussee as well as the Knapp's (Harold and Bev) fishing the Bitterroot...miss those guys, all of them having passed away.
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Do mountain whitefish smell like cucumbers like ours do in the Midwest? A blast to catch, but tough to grab out of the hole and they do have a peculiar smell.
My favorite way to eat them is pickled, they hold up well and it takes care of the small bone problem.
Nameless Range
Well-known member
Limit was something like 50 in possession when I was a student in Missoula.
I’d skip class and spend many days on the Clark Fork upstream from Bonner when I lived there. Most of the time I was using worms with a sinker a few inches up and a small marshmallow on the tip of the hook to float it off the bottom. Usually in the deepest holes I could find.
Didn’t know what I was doing, but I worked with a fellow who made the absolute best smoked whitefish. He was an older fellow and he was named after the town he had been born in - which if I recall correctly, was Galen, MT. He would soak his whitefish in vinegar for a certain amount of time before smoking them to “get rid of their slime.” I tried it but could never make them as good as he did.
They are fun to catch and good smoked. Good luck.
I’d skip class and spend many days on the Clark Fork upstream from Bonner when I lived there. Most of the time I was using worms with a sinker a few inches up and a small marshmallow on the tip of the hook to float it off the bottom. Usually in the deepest holes I could find.
Didn’t know what I was doing, but I worked with a fellow who made the absolute best smoked whitefish. He was an older fellow and he was named after the town he had been born in - which if I recall correctly, was Galen, MT. He would soak his whitefish in vinegar for a certain amount of time before smoking them to “get rid of their slime.” I tried it but could never make them as good as he did.
They are fun to catch and good smoked. Good luck.
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D4570
Well-known member
Are "Mountian" white fish different than other whitefish?
Like the ones in Flathead?
Like the ones in Flathead?
peterk1234
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I have been on a quest to learn tightline nymphing this winter. Even though everything you read states that winter fishing in the Yellowstone is bad, I have committed to pull fish out of their since it is two minutes from the house. My quarry, basically whitefish. All I can say is, wow, they are a hoot to catch with a 3wt flyrod. Their hits may be subtle but when you set the hook its like hooking into truck. And the fight does not end there. Getting the hook out of its mouth is a battle in itself. Muscular little buggers. I started keeping some. Pan fried was okay. Smoked was good. Au gratin was excellent. But fileted and fried is a out of this world. Here is a batch that went from this ..............
To this (with some cauliflower mixed in)......................
Flyfishing for them is extremely fun. I think they are very underrated, mostly because they share space with trout. Mostly, people flyfish around here, and I believe flyfisherman look down on this wonderful species. It's interesting because I think the whitefish is actually native to the rivers around and trout are not, except for maybe the cutthroat. Try hooking up to an 18 inch whitie with a 3wt rod, then try to tell me you did not have fun.
To this (with some cauliflower mixed in)......................
Flyfishing for them is extremely fun. I think they are very underrated, mostly because they share space with trout. Mostly, people flyfish around here, and I believe flyfisherman look down on this wonderful species. It's interesting because I think the whitefish is actually native to the rivers around and trout are not, except for maybe the cutthroat. Try hooking up to an 18 inch whitie with a 3wt rod, then try to tell me you did not have fun.
BuzzH
Well-known member
Yes...the ones in Flathead Lake are Lake Superior whitefish, also fun to catch.
L
longbow51
Guest
I don't know how many times I have seen people hook a big whitey, and, as they tend to run deep, as do browns are all excited about the fight and how big it must be. Then, oh $%$#, it's a whitefish. Makes no sense. If you fry it though, don't you have a zillion little bones? If I want to eat trout, I go to small creeks and catch cutthroats. And there is no question they have an odd smell.
Hem
Well-known member
They are not in fast water in February.
Deep pools/eddys.
Not rocket science, bounce something on the bottom. If you aren't hanging up now and again, you aren't deep enough.
Deep pools/eddys.
Not rocket science, bounce something on the bottom. If you aren't hanging up now and again, you aren't deep enough.
peterk1234
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No bones. I cut out the Y bones. And zero odd smell. I bleed them right away. When I filet them at home they go in a strainer and get washed in cold water. Beautiful firm meat. If I told you it was fried crappie, you would believe me. It's that good.
Don Fischer
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I never realized people actually ate whitefish. Never have fished for them in fact I may have caught some in the past but looking at the photo's here I probably though they were suckers! Those fried filet's look good! When I lived in Montana all I'd fish for was trout, Kokanee and bass. Read that there were some Grayling out west of Kalispell but never went looking for them. Not sure where whitefish are around here. Are they white meat fish? maybe lack the oil of trout? Think I'm gonna have to check out if any are in Central Oregon. About all I fish for now is Catfish and Crappie and getting ready to try Walleye. Sounds like I'm missing a pretty good deal on Whitefish!
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Don Fischer
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Now there ya go. I was stationed in Lakeside for three years and all I fished for in Flathead were Bull trout and Kokanee. Didn't know there were Whitefish in there!
BuzzH
Well-known member
Sometimes we would get upstream of a hole, wade out kick up rocks to get the aquatic insects, stone fly nymph's, salmon fly nymph's etc. stirred up triggering them to start feeding. Also used stone fly nymph's for bait as well sometimes. Used a screen to catch them for bait.
Ever use maggots? I seem to remember my Father and Grandfather using them here on the Root. That was my plan today. Until the no license deal. mtmuley
Can’t you buy one online? I’ve bought them on the way at oh dark thirty couple of times.
OntarioHunter
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Some pretty big ones too! Years ago there were LS whitefish in Echo Lake too but some asshole(s) dumped pike in it and wrecked fishing for everything.
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