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[Phronesis]

I caught a mountain whitefish ( not the northern pike ) 2 years ago and found it to be really good table fare. I am trying to fish for it again but have been unsuccessful - i tried vedder river, stave river. Used soft peach bead, pink worm, small vibrax spoon but got nothing - not even pike.

Maybe i am doing something wrong ? Is there a specific time they feed on or specific place they like to hang ( like tree structures or something?)

[RalphH]

they are tasty for sure, particularly this time of year. These fish are tough to catch. They have small sensitive mouths and are particular about what they eat. Use small hooks with bait or flies. You can fish a nymph with a float. Use a few split shot, a small float and lighter leader. Whitefish will often flash their sides as they grub for insects etc in the bottom gravel. Fish there. They are also schooling fish. They travel in groups so when you get one,you can hope to catch a few more.

[iblly]

Used to get them quite easily at that side channel/slough at the top of Thurston meadows campground years ago. Usually go for a hike to chipmunk caves every summer when we are at our place at cultus and we often go for a swim in the river at the deep pool at the end of the trail in. Brought a couple of snorkeling masks with us last year and that pool was loaded with them ! Closed to fishing up there unfortunately but amazed at how many were in there.

[Spoonman]

......stave.....april....rolled muddler minnow....

[BNF861]

Like Ralph posted, they have small mouths and can be picky. I can recall a few times seeing piles of them in shallow water near spawning chum, I assume looking to suck up some loose eggs, that weren’t interested in anything I put in front of them moving or stationary including beads. I have had other times when targeting cutthroat with fry patterns in the spring that I couldn’t keep them off and were attacking my sparse rolled meddlers and epoxy minnows regularly.

[Phronesis]

Really helpful and Excellent tips, thank you all. Will be going out and try these techniques out !

My dad introduced me to fishing and it was my first fish, so its special in a way.

Will keep you guys posted if I do manage to get one

[Tadpole]

 Right here in Okanagan  I catch them regularly in winter and spring in local rivers. Poor fisherman steelheads as they say. . I catch them in Shuswap, Similkamen, Okanagan and Cattle rives and expect Lower Mainland would be similar. Locally I have no difficulty to catch my daily limit of 15 as they are fantastic smoked. They are bottom dwellers and that is where you need to present your offering. They rather avoid fastest waters and not shy away from a deeper sections. Their favored item at this time is olive green or tan colour stone fly tied on a small hook as they have a small mouth. Riber ties a killer  stone fly imitation  . They like to be in a deeper sections of moving water. I have a dedicated super sensitive light drift rod(Abu 10' 4-10lb) and ABU 4600CL3 bait caster but regular 7ft light spining rod is fine. Main line about 8lb and a leader 5lb fluoro is what I use. Most success  catching them I have is bottom bouncing small piece of pencil lead with a side leader about a foot above the weight and a fly as a offering. As said before, stone fly or small halfback nymph is best. You will catch them faster on a same setup but small hook #8-10 and a pink maggot or hellgrammite (legal in Okanagan) but they are so easy to catch that flies are good enough. When you drift you have to be able to feel your led tumbling the botom. Slower the better. Try to slow down your drift without lifting your led up. Sometimes your led stop behind small rock so let it sit like that with a tight line, they will come to investigate and will tag your line repeatedly. It is a lot's of fun and usually solitary fishing for me as a very few people target them in winter and pre runoff spring time.

[Hike_and_fish]

The Harrison and Stave. Theyre everywhere. Chum fry fly pattern will do the job. I also agree they are the better tasting fresh water fish when caught in a river. They make great fish and chips. Very versatile flesh. It takes on whatever flavor you add or don't add. Theres really no opposing flavors

[spoiler]

Small hooks, small float, light leader and a 6mm bead should get them.
they are usually feeding near the bottom.
look for big deep pools.

[spoiler]

I used to fly fish the Stave River for them with a floating line, 4lb leader and a tied down minnow pattern to imitate the Chum fry.
Usually started anytime now, also used some small dark stonefly nymphs.
Managed to catch some decent cutthroat trout. My personal best trout for that river was around 4 1/2 lbs.

[Phronesis]

I used to fly fish the Stave River for them with a floating line, 4lb leader and a tied down minnow pattern to imitate the Chum fry.
Usually started anytime now, also used some small dark stonefly nymphs.
Managed to catch some decent cutthroat trout. My personal best trout for that river was around 4 1/2 lbs.

4 1/2 lbs wow !! thats a beast cutthroat !

So an update - I went to stave river and fished for 6 hours straight !! and got skunked
They were jumping from time to time, I tried everything I had in my tackle box, the only time I got couple of bites were on vibrax silver spinner on size 10 siwash hook. A guy next to me got some whitefish on small silver spoon

My setup was ultra light spinning rod, with 6 lb braid main line and 4 lb leader. Maybe I was doing the technique wrong, this is my first time using nymphs on spinning rod setup- I used rolled muddler and few split shots and a small float as suggested in this group, I tried floating it mid level and at the bottom but no bites, I then noticed two dead salmon fry and figured thats what they might want, I didnt have any minnow pattern but had few silver spoons and spinners, got couple of bites. Hell I even tried small shrimp.

Ralph was right, these fish are difficult - but thats what makes it even more exciting to catch. I plan on going next month - May, hopefully they will still stick around and will have worm as bait and some fry patterns

[Hike_and_fish]

X2 for the Harrison. Drift down between Morris and the hwy bridge and you'll see hundreds. I do agree, they are great to eat. Not that they taste good but that they have no real distinctive flavor like trout or salmon. They make a great fish and chips. Ive actually had some great days fishing for White fish in Chehalis lake.

[Phronesis]

X2 for the Harrison. Drift down between Morris and the hwy bridge and you'll see hundreds. I do agree, they are great to eat. Not that they taste good but that they have no real distinctive flavor like trout or salmon. They make a great fish and chips. Ive actually had some great days fishing for White fish in Chehalis lake.

Thats awesome! Thanks for the tip, will give it a try

[spoiler]

Phronesis,
 before I went to full time fly fishing on the Stave I used to use a light spinning outfit with a small silver Dick Knight spoon and a couple of split shots.
Casting slightly upstream and letting the spoon bump along the bottom was very effective.
Once after I got into fly fishing I took my wife there and set her up with that same spinning combo somewhat upstream for where I was fly fishing.
5 minutes later she starts hollering that she has a big fish and reeled in a 24 inch Whitefish which is the biggest I have ever seen!

[Phronesis]

Phronesis,
 before I went to full time fly fishing on the Stave I used to use a light spinning outfit with a small silver Dick Knight spoon and a couple of split shots.
Casting slightly upstream and letting the spoon bump along the bottom was very effective.
Once after I got into fly fishing I took my wife there and set her up with that same spinning combo somewhat upstream for where I was fly fishing.
5 minutes later she starts hollering that she has a big fish and reeled in a 24 inch Whitefish which is the biggest I have ever seen!

24 inches??? is that a typo ? did you mean cm? just kidding ......... but yea thats a beast mountain whitefish.....the biggest one I saw in BC was about 14 inches that some guy caught on vedder. Today I went to stave again and got skunked, I tried letting the spoon bump along the bottom, but couldnt tell if it was bites or snags that I was getting lol. Whitefish and Coastal cutthroat were jumping a lot and some really good sized ones. I saw a school of small fish (probably salmon fry/parr).

This reminds me of my first salmon fishing trip to vedder - got skunked straight 8 times and then got 2 coho on 9th trip.