Whitefish!

I have been wanting to take a crack at these Green Bay whitefish for quite some time. We finally had a break in my son’s hockey schedule so with the weekend off we had our chance. Much of what I read beforehand suggested fishing with a guide for whitefish newbies and so after a bit of online research I booked with JJ’s Guide Service out of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Catching whitefish isn’t rocket science but it is different from most fishing I have done. The deep water and jigging techniques make for a bit of a learning curve. The guides work very hard to keep the shacks over fish, make sure you know what you are doing and even cooked us a hot lunch on the ice.

There may be something to the old adage “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and Saturday was a bit tough for me. I did manage to catch some fish but my son had it dialed in. At one point he went so far as to offer to hook one for me and let me reel it in. I told him that there are darn few people in this world that I enjoy getting outfished by but he is on that short list. Another comment like that and he may be stricken from the list.

Sunday started fast and it looked like the boy would be putting on a clinic once again! After a little study I was able to get in on the action and it was steady throughout the day. I would guess we caught around 100 whitefish on Sunday, even had two times with two at a time on the same line.

Last night we enjoyed a meal of fried white fish and it was a hit. Good thing too because we came home with a pile of ’em.

Attachments:

1. 

   Whitefish.jpg
   

Congrats on a great trip and putting the hurt on some whitefish! Fried whitefish…Lots of bones I would assume? RR

There was a fish processing company right on our way from the landing. We dropped off our fish and picked up fillets on our way home. The fillets had the skin on but scales removed. Also had trimmed out the line of bones. Before frying I trimmed off the skin and was left with 2 boneless pieces per side.

I wouldn’t normally have any interest in paying someone to clean my fish but this was just too convenient.

gonzo,

What was the name of the fish processor you used? I’m headed up next week. I normally just bring them home whole to smoke ’em but would like to try filets, however, I can never avoid the darn bones.

Sounds like an awesome trip.

gonzo50613 wrote:

I told him that there are darn few people in this world that I enjoy getting outfished by but he is on that short list. Another comment like that and he may be stricken from the list.

That’s funny!

WinnebagoViking wrote:

gonzo,

What was the name of the fish processor you used? I’m headed up next week. I normally just bring them home whole to smoke ’em but would like to try filets, however, I can never avoid the darn bones.

Lindal Fisheries
3805 County Rd M
Sturgeon Bay, WI
(920)743-4503

gonzo50613 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>WinnebagoViking wrote:</div>
gonzo,

What was the name of the fish processor you used? I’m headed up next week. I normally just bring them home whole to smoke ’em but would like to try filets, however, I can never avoid the darn bones.

Lindal Fisheries
3805 County Rd M
Sturgeon Bay, WI
(920)743-4503

cool. thx.

gonzo50613 wrote:

At one point he went so far as to offer to hook one for me and let me reel it in. I told him that there are darn few people in this world that I enjoy getting outfished by but he is on that short list. Another comment like that and he may be stricken from the list.

That is too funny. Thanks for the enjoyable report.
I too would consider that cleaning service if I make it up there… those can be a little tricky to clean right.

Some of the guides in this area offer fish cleaning as sn extra to the fishing package. . 1$ per fish gutted and heads off , 2$ per for fillets . Money well spent when your staying in a hotel and don’t want to deal with it.