Whitefish are a restaurant favorite. They are not only fun to catch; they are even more fun to eat! If you have never caught a whitefish you will be pleasantly surprised that a 20" whitefish with its thick muscular body will fight like a fish twice its size. Whitefish are one of the hardest fighting fish for their size and rival the fight of a Smallmouth Bass.

Lake Windermere has many deep areas, which hold massive schools of Whitefish during the summer. Whitefish actually spend the winter shallow and after ice-out, they stay shallow for a few weeks while anticipating the Mayfly hatch. At this time they can be caught with small lures in the same areas that you fish for Walleye. When the May Flies start to hatch, the flies float to the surface of the lake and the Whitefish stay just under the surface and gorge themselves on floating flies. This is a great time to use your fly rod and drag some flies across the surface. At the beginning of the Mayfly hatch they will hammer your fly and take off and are very easy to catch. As the fly hatch progresses, the Whitefish start to get full and slow down a bit. As soon as the Mayfly hatch is over, the Whitefish go deep and can be found down at the same levels as the Lake Trout.

We have had guests who have run into schools of Whitefish in the spring and fall. It's quite common for one boat to pull in over 20 Whitefish in just an hour or two. Since Whitefish tend to travel in schools with other Whitefish the same size, it's not uncommon to bring in a whole mess of 20-inch Whitefish, which would be around 3 to 5 pounds each. Whitefish do get up to 15 pounds but a fish that big is rare. Guests who do specifically fish for Whitefish have a great time and experience both high numbers and big sizes.

Promoted Whitefish Regulations: