Rocky Mountain White Fish.

[The fly fisher]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if you guy have ever fished rocky mountain white fish before, there is lots in alberta and I want to know how to catch them. I am good at catching the lake white fish on a fly rod with a little yellow buzzer like the new caddis lava on the TPO fly of the month.(Exactly it just i use a floss body and coat it in epoxy).
I dont even know if they are in the U.S.A.

[Magnet]

In the Madison, you catch them like trout They seem to feed in the water column the same way. When we got one we would move on cuz trout was our quarry and the whites seemed to bunch up in a particular spot.

[AaronJasper]

Tie on any nymph with a gold bead! Sizes 12-18 are best. Don't go too big or they won't be able to fit it in their mouth. On rivers like the South Fork of the Snake and the Yellowstone, where they can be a nuissance, I fish large rubberlegs in hopes that the damn whitefish can't fit them in their mouths! If you get into the whiteys good, space your flies further apart and you should double up!

[Davyfly]

The eat the same food sources as trout. Aside from nymphs they will take dries, wet fly and soft hackles fish in the surface film.
Remember they were there before the trout and char were introduced, with the exception of the waters that the indigenous Cutthroats were known.

DW

[The fly fisher]

Aaron
You seem against them. I still like trout better but when the trout arent biting they would pass time.

I didnt know that Davy? I will look at them a different way now.

[Troutastic]

I caught a few last summer on the Roaring Fork here in Colorado. One of them was relatively big, about 21", I thought I had a big boy trout on, but w/e, still put up a great fight.

[pete erickson]

Ahh Whiteys!

I'm not "against" them per say, because they are great practice for European Greyling...but let's just put it this way. If you are a guide on the South Fork and you have a day where you catch a ton of whitefish, and not very many trout, your clients will probably be a little grumbly.

that said, many years back, I guided Charles Jardin and his mates on an overnight on the South Fork, and all of them were just tickled to be catching whitefish all day long! When I told them that they could catch them so easily, they started to target them over the trout!

Here on the Boise River, sometimes it is the only fish that Bret and I can catch...which is fine..

They are pretty easy to catch, just use shiny nymphs with gold beads...they usually feed on the bottom (but will take dries as Davy said). a size 14 bead head lighting bug is deadly...


cheers
Pete

[Magnet]

I'm not against them either. They are good practice for Euro nymphing trout. Just like suckers are.....!

[Davyfly]

I think they are a fun fish also, very similar to the EU grayling. They are a fish at the end of the day and one you can catch with a fly rod.

I had a day on the Big Hole one time when 100s of whites were rising and taking micro midge and baetis, that was a fun day fishing 6x a 22 dry, with a 16 dry as dropper indicator, often as not they took that also.

Nail a big White and they will put up a great fight more so in fast water.

DW

[AaronJasper]

It's tough to not catch them on the South Fork!

I'm not really against them per se, however, if given the choice between a whitey and a trout, I will go with a trout 100 percent of the time