November, 2015. Durango, CO During my year on rivers, I had been told both that Whitefish were an insignificant catch and that they were a sign of a healthy river.
This month’s Hatch magazine has a great article on Whitefish and their importance. As they say in the article, ““If you don’t have a healthy population of whitefish, you don’t have a healthy population of trout.” They really are a rather “cute” fish with their puckered mouths. You can’t help but want to kiss them… kind of.
The one thing I really don’t like about catching Whitefish is how difficult it is to take the hook out of their very soft mouths. I’m not skilled enough or quick enough to avoid causing the fish to have a very bad day.
In the end, I’m just happy to catch a fish, and to be honest – I can’t really control what goes on under the surface of the water at this point in my fishing career.
