NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
We’re spoiled here in Sunset Country in that we have so many great options for fish to catch under the ice. Similar to Manitoba, walleye, lake trout, crappie, perch and pike get most of the attention but there are some other species out there that are great to eat, fun to catch and can save the day when our target species doesn’t cooperate.
WHITEFISH
The first thing you need to know about whitefish is they are plentiful in many of our lakes, especially the ones that are deeper than average, but maybe not quite as deep as the typical lake trout lake. For many anglers, they probably catch the odd whitefish incidentally but they are probably not looking where most of these fish are, just off the edge of the structure, in deeper water.
If I had to compare whitefish to another species under the ice, it’s lake trout for sure. They often suspend, they are aggressive in nature and they seem to be constantly on the move, looking for their next meal. They have a small mouth that is slightly downturned. This is important to remember when choosing a bait because while they will chase larger baits around, they might have a tough time getting them in their mouth. Often, when you get fish chasing your larger trout baits around on your electronics, they are actually whitefish.
KEY DEPTH TO FIND FISH
If I had to choose one depth to focus my efforts on, I would say around 50 feet, not too far away from some kind of structure, like a point or hump that dumps quickly into deep water. School of whitefish will patrol these areas looking for schools of smelt, at least where these baitfish are present. On waters without a lot of pelagic baitfish, whitefish will eat invertebrates that rise out of the mud bottom basin areas. Again, similar to lake trout, they’ll eat whatever they can find.
Knowing that whitefish suspend, electronics are mandatory if you want to have success. Being able to see if there is any life beneath your hole when you drop your bait down is important for figuring out quickly if an area is good or not. With the addition of live sonar like Humminbird Mega Live to the arsenal of many anglers and the much larger beam angle it has compared to regular sonar, we can cover a larger area while we look around.
LURE SELECTION
When it comes to choosing a bait, spoons and swimming jigs like a Puppet Minnow usually work great. I typically fish a ¼ oz Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon tipped with a minnow head but I have seen this same spoon with the treble hook removed and replaced with a six inch piece of 8lb fluorocarbon tied to a small fly or panfish jig work great as well. The spoon attracts the fish and they’ll eat the small jig or fly every time.
Whitefish are delicate fish, with a lot of soft tissue around their head and mouth so if you are catching and releasing them, care must be taken. Forceps are great for grabbing the baits out of their small mouths without harming the fish. They have a y-bone similar to pike and trout but if you can get around that, whitefish are fantastic to eat, however you prepare them.
BURBOT
There probably isn’t a freshwater fish species that has as many different names as the burbot. Known as a mariah by many in Manitoba, eelpout in Minnesota and lawyer by many anglers in Northwest Ontario, burbot are the only cod-like fish that we have in freshwater. In many places, lingcod is the accepted name as well.
Growing up, burbot were considered by many to be a trash fish. Even today, there are many walleye anglers who hook up with them in the winter only to be disappointed when they pop up the hole. We have them in many of our waterways but we seldom see them in open water because they are a cold water species who prefer deep water. Any of my burbot catches in the boat have been incidental while lake trout fishing. Burbot are one of the few species that spawn under the ice, on gravel shoals and humps, in February and March.
BURBOT OR EELPOUT ARE A BIG DEAL!
Minnesota anglers have helped to make burbot a big deal over the past decade. The annual Eelpout Festival in Brainerd attracts thousands of anglers every year and anglers today brag and share photos of trophy burbot from Lake of the Woods throughout the winter. Well known Saskatchewan angler Sean Conrad has the current world record, a 25 pound, 2 ounce monster.
When it comes to finding burbot under the ice, Lake of the Woods is a tough place to beat because they are widely distributed around the lake but the central area, south of Kenora is the best. Many of the best walleye humps in this part of the lake around Shammis, Crow Rock, Crescent and Oliver Islands, attract burbot to spawn later in the winter.
When burbot get on these humps, they are aggressive and relatively easy to catch. My other experiences catching them have come from inland trout lakes, where they will show up in large schools on main lake humps in the winter.
NIGHTIME IS THE RIGHT TIME!
You can catch burbot during the daylight when they are on these humps but if you really want to get your line stretched you could consider staying out on the ice, after the prime time walleye bite and fish at night. Burbot have small eyes, similar to a catfish and rely more on their sense of smell than anything to feed. Knowing that, aggressive baits, with some meat attached to them are tough to beat.
For years, I have used a ¾ oz Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon, which has proven very effective. I like to bounce the spoon off the bottom, kicking up silt, paying close attention to my flasher for signs of fish creeping along the bottom. Gob a couple of frozen shiners onto the treble hook and let it rip. The rattles in the spoon help the fish to hone in on it. A traditional jig and minnow will catch burbot as well.
GREAT EATING FISH
While more of you probably haven’t eaten burbot, you have probably heard that they are like “freshwater lobster” and I can tell you, it’s true. When you clean one, they have a backstrap of boneless flesh along the top of their body, that is the prime meat.
You can find a variety of ways to prepare them online but we once filmed a TV show, catching burbot on a nice March day. Not knowing how to cook them, we boiled chunks of burbot in 7UP, then dipped them in butter and they were actually pretty good, similar to lobster.
Burbot over ten pounds are common on Lake of the Woods and they provide a good fight. What more could you want? Give some of the less popular species a try this winter. Catching fish is fun and learning to find and catch a new species will make you a better overall angler. Stay safe on the ice.