Whitefish are annoying

[Ceviche]

First whites I ever caught were on dry flies in the Deschutes river just north of Bend, Or
They were a bit tricky to hook.

But once you got them…

 

[Dave G]

Whitefish have very small mouths. Increase the size of your nymph and you disqualify them based on that alone.

My typical Deschutes dropper setup is something small under a Pat's stone (mostly for its weight). I've encountered Senor Blanco many times, but never on the Pat's.

 

[GAT]

Ah yes, smallmouth trout. Usually you can move up or downstream from where the whitefish are holding to locate the trout. They don't prefer the same water flow as the whitefish.

During the winter months I'll target whitefish when nothing else will play the game.

 

[Sam Roffe]

Every steelhead I have ever caught












turned out to be a whitefish.

I had one whitefish that actually was a steelhead.

 

[GAT]

I remember one steelhead I caught magically changed into a heck of a large sucker by the time I could see what I hooked.

 

[PhilR]

I remember one steelhead I caught magically changed into a heck of a large sucker by the time I could see what I hooked.

One?

Just about every steelhead I've caught turned out to be a foul hooked sucker

 

[Sam Roffe]

Whitefish have very small mouths. Increase the size of your nymph and you disqualify them based on that alone.

You get some very persistent white fish that will get hooked on big hooks.

 

[Brute]

 

[skyriver]

Like everyone else is saying...change your setup and you won't catch so many whitefish and possibly more trout. If you're rolling a small nymph on the bottom you're gonna catch whitefish if they're present.
Just curious...did you try any other methods besides nymphing? Cuz nearly all other methods are way more fun and may have produced a better trout to whitey ratio.

And just a little about whitefish- They're native and they're the canary in the coal mine. If they are present, that river is healthy.

Hopefully everyone is respectful of whitey.
There is a certain YouTuber that seems like a really nice guy and a decent fisherman (better video creator), but his disdain and lack of respect for whitefish turned me off. Downright cringy actually. Or, as some kids say these days...he goofy. And no, it's not the Huge guy.