Whitefish

[WoolSocks]

Seeing if anybody wants to join me next weekend. Will be on the Yakima around Cle Elum trying for whitefish. Simple plan, just going to drive down the river and fish off the bank in a few spots.

If you don’t mind the cold, it’s fun and low-key. PM me if you want to join.

[WapitiTalk1]

Seeing if anybody wants to join me this weekend. Will be on the Yakima around Cle Elum trying for whitefish. Simple plan, just going to drive down the river and fish off the bank in a few spots.

If you don’t mind the cold, it’s fun and low-key. PM me if you want to join.

One of the best fish to smoke.

[Southpole]

Seeing if anybody wants to join me this weekend. Will be on the Yakima around Cle Elum trying for whitefish. Simple plan, just going to drive down the river and fish off the bank in a few spots.

If you don’t mind the cold, it’s fun and low-key. PM me if you want to join.

One of the best fish to smoke.

I hate to hijack but I caught a couple of whoppers this years and let them go because I didn’t know what to do with them and didn’t want to waste them trying to figure it out.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Seeing if anybody wants to join me this weekend. Will be on the Yakima around Cle Elum trying for whitefish. Simple plan, just going to drive down the river and fish off the bank in a few spots.

If you don’t mind the cold, it’s fun and low-key. PM me if you want to join.

One of the best fish to smoke.

I hate to hijack but I caught a couple of whoppers this years and let them go because I didn’t know what to do with them and didn’t want to waste them trying to figure it out.

Fishing fowl.🤯

[WoolSocks]

Seeing if anybody wants to join me this weekend. Will be on the Yakima around Cle Elum trying for whitefish. Simple plan, just going to drive down the river and fish off the bank in a few spots.

If you don’t mind the cold, it’s fun and low-key. PM me if you want to join.

One of the best fish to smoke.

I hate to hijack but I caught a couple of whoppers this years and let them go because I didn’t know what to do with them and didn’t want to waste them trying to figure it out.

Feel free to let me know where you caught em’ 😁 pretty sure the season is only in the winter though.

Smoking them is the way to go. They are kind of bony, but tasty. You wouldn’t believe what nice restaurants charge for whitefish pate’.

[Southpole]

Year around in a section of upper Columbia where I fish.

[DeerThug]

I know everyone says smoke them...  BUT if you take the time to double fillet go down the ribs first to get the cross bones then work out the top and bottom pieces  then get the meat out then skin the fillet - batter the resulting pieces and fry in hot oil.   Better than Skippers fish  by far

Or rough fillet and pressure can.  Makes a great sandwhich!

[Southpole]

I know everyone says smoke them...  BUT if you take the time to double fillet go down the ribs first to get the cross bones then work out the top and bottom pieces  then get the meat out then skin the fillet - batter the resulting pieces and fry in hot oil.   Better than Skippers fish  by far

Or rough fillet and pressure can.  Makes a great sandwhich!

I was wondering about canning, makes sense.

[lewy]

Never really targeted whitefish, whats the best way to catch em?

[Timberstalker]

Pink fly!

[Timberstalker]

Tipped with a maggot

[Skyvalhunter]

A maggot, grub or my favorite hellgrammite was always a sure fire way to catch them for me.

[Parasite]

Never really targeted whitefish, whats the best way to catch em?

Ice fishing, jigging from a boat, pier fishing surf casting  ... done all these methods back in Michigan. Surf casting was in the late fall during the spawn was while I was targeting steelhead using a slip sinker rig and spawn. Pier fishing was a hi-lo rig near the bottom using waxworms or maggots, ice fishing was on the bottom in 90 FOW using a slip sinker rig again but jigs also work, and jigs also from a boat.

[Southpole]

Banks lake is a very popular place to catch them, lots of Russians targeting them there. You’ll get the big fat whitefish in the 2-4 pound range out there too.

[Bullkllr]

We're talking two different kinds of whitefish here. Lake whitefish and Mountain whitefish which are smaller and found in western streams.

Mountain whitefish are in about every stream in the state. Some eastside streams have special winter whitefish seasons with special gear rules. When streams are open during 'regular' seasons, whitefish are typically legal under "other gamefish" rules. Daily limit is 15. You can catch them all year, but in winter they school up and are probably easier to catch in numbers.

They can be caught incidentally on about everything you can throw in a river, but small flies tipped with maggots is the standard when targeting them. 'Hellgrammites' ie stonefly larva are probably the ultimate effective bait.

[7mmfan]

One of my favorite whitefish flies. Fished below a stonefly nymph. They are really drawn to shiny things so I always try to fish a fly with a brass or gold bead head. When I guided fly fishing trips on the Yakima, the winter time trips were often comprised of large amounts of whitefish.

[MeepDog]

Anyone have advice on targeting Lake Whitefish on the Columbia? I pick them up sometimes walleye fishing, but their mouths are so small. They'll hit spinner rigs that they have zero chance of being able to eat. You could barely fit a pea in their mouth, yet they're like 3+ lbs.

Is there even a viable fishery to target on the mid Columbia? I've never caught more than 2 in a day.

[Southpole]

We're talking two different kinds of whitefish here. Lake whitefish and Mountain whitefish which are smaller and found in western streams.

Mountain whitefish are in about every stream in the state. Some eastside streams have special winter whitefish seasons with special gear rules. When streams are open during 'regular' seasons, whitefish are typically legal under "other gamefish" rules. Daily limit is 15. You can catch them all year, but in winter they school up and are probably easier to catch in numbers.

They can be caught incidentally on about everything you can throw in a river, but small flies tipped with maggots is the standard when targeting them. 'Hellgrammites' ie stonefly larva are probably the ultimate effective bait.

Thanks for pointing this out. The lake whitefish are bigger, easier to catch and the mountain whitefish are a bit smaller and might be a bit more challenging to catch… from what I read anyways. I fished for the mountain whitefish a million years ago in kettle river out of Curlew. Excellent eating from what I recall. To the original poster, did you get any takers to go on the fishing trip?

[Southpole]

Anyone have advice on targeting Lake Whitefish on the Columbia? I pick them up sometimes walleye fishing, but their mouths are so small. They'll hit spinner rigs that they have zero chance of being able to eat. You could barely fit a pea in their mouth, yet they're like 3+ lbs.

Is there even a viable fishery to target on the mid Columbia? I've never caught more than 2 in a day.

Same experience for me as well. There’s a few videos on YouTube from wdfw that explain where and how to catch lake whitefish. Another one on YouTube Tyler Hicks is catching them on different sizes of blade baits.

[boneaddict]

I used to catch the hell out of them on the Methow this time of year.   No idea if that is still a thing.  I used flies.   Friends liked maggots

[metlhead]

Moses and Potholes have great numbers of the larger lake variety. WDFW made a YouTube video on it to get more folks out there.

[Ridgeratt]

I fished for the mountain whitefish a million years ago in kettle river out of Curlew. Excellent eating from what I recall. To the original poster, did you get any takers to go on the fishing trip?

A million years ago? 

Back when I was in my youtf and the Orient Bridge was a wooden structure we fished for them with a single hook and a red salmon egg.

I have not seen anyone fish them since walleyes were introduced into Roosevelt at the bridge.

[Big6bull]

Steelhead beads work well for these too

[addicted1]

Banks lake is a very popular place to catch them, lots of Russians targeting them there. You’ll get the big fat whitefish in the 2-4 pound range out there too.

I believe they’re Ukrainian, but yeah they love Banks.

[Skyvalhunter]

Anyone have a good canned pickled whitefish recipe?

[nwwanderer]

Any good pics of the two species?  Have not seen any for years.  Thanks

[Bullkllr]

Any good pics of the two species?  Have not seen any for years.  Thanks

Interesting article on the differences.

http://northwestfishingreports.com/Articles/Details/769

 Lake variety

[Bullkllr]

Mountain

[GWP]

For any smoked fish with many small bones;

Clean or fillet. Brine for 24 hours. Pressure cook for 45 min using high pressure. Remove from cooker (carefully) and put on smoker racks. Smoke normally, drop temp and dry for a few hours, or to your preference.
The small bones will dissolve.

[nwwanderer]

Thanks Bullkllr, perfect!!

[bearpaw]

For any smoked fish with many small bones;

Clean or fillet. Brine for 24 hours. Pressure cook for 45 min using high pressure. Remove from cooker (carefully) and put on smoker racks. Smoke normally, drop temp and dry for a few hours, or to your preference.
The small bones will dissolve.

That sounds like worth trying on shad too.

[metlhead]

Soak shad in saltwater for 4 hours. Tastes just like Dungeness crab.

[Alchase]

For any smoked fish with many small bones;

Clean or fillet. Brine for 24 hours. Pressure cook for 45 min using high pressure. Remove from cooker (carefully) and put on smoker racks. Smoke normally, drop temp and dry for a few hours, or to your preference.
The small bones will dissolve.

I have never eaten White Fish, so bare with me.

Pressure cooking for 45 minutes 

Wouldn't that take all flavor out of the fish 

I was always taught to cook fish 10 minutes per inch of thickness, in a pressure cooker that drops to about 3-4 minutes per inch. 

I know some fish are not that palatable, so adding flavor in the process, gives a source of editable protein. It seems that is what is happening when you cook fish for 45 minutes in a pressure cooker.
 

[GWP]

I do all the bony fish that way if I am smoking them.

Including Carp.

Yes, I will eat Carp prepped this way. That was how I discovered it in the first place. It was hard for me to toss 5 lb each fillets from a big carp.
They take smoke well and are quite tasty. There are still an occasional bigger bone that does not dissolve.

I usually put a 1/2'' of water in the pressure cooker bottom and elevate the fish above the water on a low rack. The fillets are stacked on top of each other.
The dogs LOVE the water poured on their food, but it also makes a great flavored fish stock. I have not noticed any dryness or lack of fish (which I like) flavor.