In Chumming Part One some of the history and practice of chumming was covered, so the next step is to explain some tackle and jigging techniques. 

Deep water jigging and shallow water jigging can both be highly productive but rarely during the same time period. During the winter, whitefish and lakers are mostly found in water deeper than 40 feet but like all fish, they sometimes ignore all the rules. If I had an opportunity to fish in February or March I would love to be sitting on safe ice over 80-100 feet of water on the south side of Colpoys Bay. 

After chumming, I would use either a light spinning reel with a nice soft drag or ideally, a small level wind reel with a selectable anti-reverse. With the level wind I would tighten the drag, turn off the anti-reverse and use my thumb for those very soft-mouthed whitefish that are so hard to reel up from the bottom without them getting off the hook. My rod would be three to five feet long and have a delicate tip to signal those tiny nibbles that you get with even nine pound whitefish.

For line I would use a non-stretch super line like Fireline or Fusion and I would tie a five to eight-foot leader of decent four-pound test monofilament on the business end. If you have some good fluorocarbon leader material like Seaguar, use it here. The non-stretch line is unbelievably good for transmitting delicate bites in deep water, also for setting the hook when 80 feet of straight monofilament simply stretches like a rubber band. 

Deep bay water often has strong currents so I would use a sliding or egg sinker (1/4-3/8 oz depending on current and depth) held back a foot to two feet from my hook by a plastic bead and a slip-float stopper. This would allow line to slide through the sinker when a fish picks up the bait but prevent it from sliding down to your hook. Tiny #14 or #16 trebles baited with a couple of single eggs or tiny rainbow bags would complete my tackle selection unless I chose to fish with spoons or jigs 

If I could get them, I would love to have some waxworms on a single hook but they are difficult to find this side of Lake Simcoe or Cambridge. With modifications the same rig would work just fine in much shallower water around Owen Sound, Meaford or the Nottawasaga river mouth in the spring. For sure though, I would NOT use trebles in shallow water where rainbows or little salmon are found, as they swallow the bait and you have the choice of losing a lot of expensive hooks or killing fish you don't really want. 

If the lack of ice doesn't allow for safe hard water fishing again this year, I hope to get my boat out once the weather allows and start some exciting spring jigging for whitefish, rainbows, brown trout, salmon and whatever else shows up off our productive river-mouths.