Why You Should Fish for Whitefish

Trout get all the love here in the Rocky Mountains, and for good reason. It’s hard to beat the magic of catching a big trout on a tiny fly. But there’s another fish in this area that gets degraded to the point some folks call it a “sucker.”

That would be the mountain whitefish.

Whitefish are a native species that thrive in the same conditions trout demand—cool, clean water. In fact, whitefish are thought to be even more sensitive to water quality, and are often the first fish to disappear from rivers that are warming up or suffering from habitat degradation.

Whitefish are also an absolute blast to catch, and fight as good (or better) than any trout. These are just a few of the reasons the Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) recently put together a story about the value of catching these native critters.

“They’re plentiful, bag limits are high, and they’re found in rivers and streams (and some lakes) all over the state,” IDFG writes in the story. “You can pretty much see them shimmering when the water’s low. They are more aggressive than other fish during winter. And they slurp up a fly or bait just as readily as a trout would.”

Whitefish will eat dry flies as well, and setting the hook in their tiny mouths can be one of the more challenging aspects of chasing these fish.

You can learn more about whitefish, and some tips for targeting them, here.