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The
Season Begins in Early Winter when the Waterways Freeze
On
the first ice of late fall you should look for whitefish
around rocky submerged ridges where the spawning took
place. If you go there shortly after spawning, part of the
fish may still be staying there.
The
catch will be better as soon as there is a little snow on
the ice so that the fish can’t see the fisherman.
The
essential part is to locate the fish. You will have to
examine areas that look promising till you hit the shoal.
The quickest and most successful way of finding them is to
jig and at the same time lie down on one’s stomach
watching through the bore hole, if there are any
whitefish around the bait. The presence of the fish is by
no means a guarantee of good catch, they won’t
necessarily bite, but finding them is a good start.
In
turbid water you won’t locate the fish unless they are
close to the surface. In clearer water and when the ice is
not yet very thick you can see the fish at the depth of
1-2 meters and even deeper than that.
If
there is no fish in shallow water you may find the shoal
where the water deepens steeply around a small shallow
area. In these areas the depth varies from 1 to 10 meters.
Here, around the shallows, you should try to find the fish
at different depths. You can find a shoal also where the
bottom slopes more gently, like around an island or
straits, at the tip of a cape etc.
Midwinter
and Early Spring
In
midwinter, when the snow cover and the ice are thick the
whitefish don’t bite very well. Higher spots with deep
water around them may sometimes give some catch.
When
the snow cover and the ice gradually start melting, the
situation gets better. In most waters early spring is the
peak season for whitefish jigging.
The
shoals should be looked for around ranges of rocks, stony
shores, around islands and at river mouths and straits.
The most common advisable jigging depth is 0,5 to 4 meters,
but you can find the fish in even deeper places than that.
Refreshed
by the spring sun shoals of whitefish move a lot, but
finding them may require a lot of cruising on the ice.
On
the sea in the spring the whitefish are usually found in
rocky areas and near the shores exactly like in the inland.
At sea it is important to be out jigging, when the water
is rising. This change of water level you will learn about
by watching the daily reports on text TV. |
Equipment
and Technique
If
you are going to jig in shallow water where you can see
the fish, choose the Kuusamo jigging rod with plastic or
fiber glass tip. You won’t need the most sensitive tips
since you can see through the hole when the fish bites.
For a bait choose Kuusamo Kirppu, Timantti-kirppu or
Siipikirppu.
Once
you feel the whitefish biting pull it up without delay.
When you are jigging in shallow water, use a rod with
Kuusamo adjustable steel tip, adjustable telescopic tip,
or perhaps the Kuusamo adjustable wild boar bristle tip
would be the most suitable, for it shows best the cautious
bite of even a larger whitefish.
With Kirppus the best Siglon line diameters for whitefish
are 0,12 - 0,20 mm.
When
fishing in deep water use 0,20 - 0,25 mm line and fasten
to it Kuusamo Varma, Kilpa or Jazz. To the leader line of
0,16 - 0,18 mm below the jig fasten Kuusamo Kirppu,
Timanttikirppu, Siipi-kirppu or a single Kuusamo Color
Hook.
The
rod tip should be either Kuusamo adjustable steel tip or
telescopic tip, using them you will see the bite of the
fish clearly.
It is advisable to change your jigging technique to find
the most attractive movement.
If
the whitefish that you are jigging are using small
fingerlings as their food, you could use the tiny 25 mm
Kuusamo Sääski balance jig. You will notice that the
whitefish take it into their mouths almost without
exception with the head first.
When
the Whitefish Are Not Biting
Kirppu
is at its best in early fall and again in the spring. In
the spring there is much more light, and the whitefish see
even the smallest Kirppu.
In deep and dark water and during the darker time of the
year in general a vertical jig with leader line attracts
the whitefish with its movement and maybe even more with
the ”sound” it creates.
It
has been found out that sometimes it is a good way of
attracting the attention of the fish to make a few strong
tugs with a vertical jig or with a combination of Räsänen
and Kirppu at the end of a leader line.
When
jigging in shallow and clear water it has often happened
that the whitefish just swim around the bait but won’t
strike. Try at varying depths and quite close to the ice,
only 10-50 cm below it. Try also several colors of Kirppu,
it may work.
The live bait for the whitefish is most often a maggot.
And
when nothing seems to work, tie only a single Kuu-samo
Color Hook at the end of a line of
0,12 - 0,14 mm, a pellet not larger than the head
of a pin ca 30 cm above the hook and put the live bait
mentioned above to the hook. Let this set fall freely
about one meter below the ice. Pull away from the sight of
the fish and let go again. Soon the fish strikes.
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