Breaking Down the WhiteFish Chain

By David Cindrich

Many anglers across the United States may know Steve Quinn as editor of In-Fishermen Magazine, but if you fish bass tournaments in Minnesota you may know Steve as a bass tournament angler. Steve is a member of B.A.S.S Federation Nation and T.B.F. and fishes many other events. Steve really enjoys the T.B.F and Federation Nation and the opportunity’s that it presents to Minnesota anglers, especially the co-anglers level.    

When it comes to tournaments Steve primarily fishes bass tournaments.Steve and his brother taught themselves how to fish in the Adirondack Mountains of New York when he was young. Steve pointed out at the time there were only a couple of books about fishing and he remembers going into bait shops looking for information and new lures to improve his fishing skills. Steve said the lakes in Minnesota are very similar to the lakes he and his brother grew up fishing, his father was not an angler but the family did camp together so Steve and his brother always had to experience and seek out there own fishing knowledge.

   Steve is a Certified Fisheries Scientist with the American Fisheries Society. Steve’s intention was to become a fisheries manager.  When finishing his degree in fishery management, he was doing some freelance writing in Georgia and then the opportunity arose in about 1988 to work for the In-Fisherman magazine, then he moved to Minnesota.

Steve himself was a fan of what the In-Fisherman magazine did and was very excited to be a part of the team. In-Fisherman Magazine was doing some really exciting stuff and breakthrough material, Steve read it religiously at that time. To have an opportunity to work there was pretty exciting to him, but at the same time he sort of regretted leaving the scientific realm of his studies. Fisheries Scientist might spend years on a particular project, work on them very in-depth. Steve knew he would be leavening his fisheries studies behind to be editor of In- Fisherman magazine.

Breaking Down the Whitefish Chain:

I had a chance to talk with Steve about his approach and theory’s to tournament fishing the Whitefish Chain  Crowwing County Minnesota.

Whitefish Chain Details
Lake Area: 7,370 acres
Littoral Area: 2,713 acres
Maximum Depth: 138 ft.
Water Clarity 10-15 ft.

Steve believes the years that can bring some of the best bags of bass to the scales are the years that have a strong coon tail weed,  coontail  often develops particularly well on the Upper and Middle Whitefish Lakes.

  Lots of times when that weed is strong, some of those fish are suspending. When they are suspending the bass are out in deep, open water and not necessarily relating that much to the structure. This is an important detail for tournament anglers to stay aware of when you’re fishing after that post spawn period when the bass are focusing on deep cabbage edges.

Coontail can grow in deeper water, allowing it to spread throughout a lake. Coontail is a submerged  plant that forms dense under water mats and can be magnets for bass.

 The main forage in the Whitefish Chain definitely is a crayfish pattern,  the crayfish pattern starts early in the year and persist all year. Using the Aqua View under water fish camera you will see the crayfish on the lakes bottom and also tournament anglers see the bass pukeing up crayfish in live wells. Steve is also quick to point out that they bass opportunist feeders and are often feeding on blue gill.

The bass really go into a blue gill  pattern. When the blue gill are in the post spawn time and are week and sickly from there spawn is when the bass really start to pick them off.

 Steve does enjoy shallow fishing on the WhiteFish Chain as well as deep water structure fishing. In general he really likes to fish both ways, but overall he likes structure fishing. He will focus on deeper structure in the mid summer and into fall. In the deep structure, the bass will be found on deeper weed edges and key corners. This is where you can really find concentration of good size bass.  An angler can find one to two pound bass all over the WhiteFish Chain of Lakes, but to find the groups of bigger fish in one area, you’re going to find it off shore in general. Fishing docks will produce some nice big fish almost always as well, but you will have company and you better have a few areas.

 Whitefish Chain can be fabulous inside weed line fishing for the first 3-4 weeks of the Minnesota bass opener.  Fish the inside weed line in the early morning for the first 3-4 weeks.  The inside weed edge pattern will produce fish all day from Cross lake to the western edge of Whitefish lake. This pattern can reoccur later in the year when the large mouths are feeding on blue gill.

 Steve feels many of the bass are very much attuned to the boat traffic all over  the Whitefish Chain, if someone fires up there outboard in shallow water and leaves the area the fish will scatter and then return to there spot. Around the boat channels all the outboard motors are stirring things up and if there is access to deep water it creates a feeding opportunity. The slop bite has not been as good the last few years because of the low water, when the water level is normal there can be a vey good bite and nice bags of fish brought to the scales.

 The first 3 weeks of the season is also a time to think about smallmouth bass as a tournament technique. Steve says if you find the small mouths on the beds try a drop shot but if the fish are really tough a good old fashion Sluggo is hard to beat.

 Smallmouth’s on the White Fish Chain in the past where known to be caught on a few of the Chains Lakes, but now there range is expanding all over the chain. There is still some very dandy smallmouth, but not as many as when the smallmouth’s first came to light years ago.

Later in the year the smallmouths are suspending in deep water. The smallmouth’s will still be caught later in the year, but the bite usually is in the early morning or evening and shallow top water baits can be a great way to catch and locate these fish. Steve does point out largemouth still is the best tournament tactic all times of the year.

 Post spawn Steve is going to be looking for the bass near access to deep water, usually where the best vegetation is. Whitefish is typically the first lake with the cabbage weed Steve is looking for. The cabbage will start to grow in that four foot range and be sure to have access to 15 to 18 foot of water.  . You want to locate this type of weed before you’re going to fish it, your not going to want to run your big motor over it and use your electronics over these areas. The areas of cabbage can change from year to year and this is what can hurt some anglers who fish past areas and there cabbage weed is not there the next year. Stay persistent and keep looking for the cabbage, then later in the year you will have a good area with the shallow weeds going to deep water that should produce fish for the year. The bass might move into a bit deeper water but will also move up shallower. In these types of areas, check the deep and shallow water through out the year for bass.

 Fall time is crank bait time for Steve; this is when the bass are starting to come shallow. The 8 to 12 foot of water range is when you will usually start to encounter the good fall fish as they are coming shallow, this time we can also see the northern milfoil weed clumps that can bring the bass closer to the surface in some areas. Be sure to have a jig and pig tied on, but use a crank bait to locate these groups of fish and a jig to fish them slower.

 I as a tournament angler have heard some of the tournament weights have been down a bit from past years on the Whitefish Chain and asked Steve if he had an opinion on these statements.

Steve said nobody really knows why the weights have been down but says the fish are still in the chains lakes, we know this because we see them early in the year and late in the year. Steve says the tournaments that have there Championship on the Whitefish Chain late in the year have had very good weights of bass.

 Steve believes the Future of tournament Bass fishing looks very bright, especially with all the new waters being explored. Steve say’s there are many lakes in Minnesota that really aren’t being fished. Most of the bass tournaments in Minnesota are on average 35 to 40 boat tournaments and this makes for a great opportunity to hold tournaments on lakes that don’t get a lot of pressure, but have great fishing opportunities.

Steve also believes tournament anglers must become proactive in maintaining the habitat that bass live in. He knows shoreline development has sky rocketed, and unfortunately many changes are being made to the habitat of bass. It’s important to work on different lake issues and get involved and work with the Lake Associations. Steve points out, it is one thing for a home owner to use a pesticide on there shoreline, but when a whole row of houses wipe out all the weeds, we have now destroyed very crucial habitat.The bass will take care of themselves, if we take care of there habitat.

Steve Quinn is editor of www.In-Fisherman.com  magazine and host of In-Fisherman television show.

              Steve is also Pro Staff for www.ClassicBass.com and contributes written articles.