Once overlooked, more fishermen are finding these fish in deep inland waters.

Dining in an old brewery converted to an upscale restaurant in Marquette, I had a choice of steak, chops, chicken and other entrees.

Final choice was no contest. On the menu was fresh-caught lake whitefish—an overlooked species for many Michigan anglers, but perhaps the tastiest fish to grace a dinner plate.

Lake whitefish are members of the larger Salmonidae family, which includes trout and salmon. This native fish is identified by two dorsal fins including one adipose fin, a short blunt nose, clear-appearing fins, and a body with a greenish-brown back and silver sides.

Whitefish are an economically important commercial catch in the Great Lakes. For good reason: They taste delicious and are in big demand by finer restaurants in the Great Lakes region.

Commercial fishermen find this deep-schooling fish a suitable target for their nets. It makes up one of the most important commercial species in Michigan waters. The nontribal market harvest in Michigan’s Great Lakes waters by state-licensed commercial fishermen was a total of 3,324,945 round pounds in 2007. (Tribal fishermen in treaty waters also account for an equally hefty catch per year.)

Whitefish are also popular among knowledgeable sports anglers for their fishing value, but they only harvest a fraction of what commercial fishermen do. Still, in deep inland lakes and Great Lakes bays where whitefishing opportunities are found, experienced anglers keep their appetites appeased with many delicious meals.

Statewide, many anglers have not really known whitefish as a suitable fishing target. The exception being those anglers living in areas where whitefish have long been sought in the deepwater interior lakes of northern Michigan, most often by ice fishing, or off piers or from boats in protected bays when fall-spawning whitefish deposit eggs in shallower waters.

‘Deep’ is the key word; most of the year these fish are found in the Great Lakes in depths of 200 feet or more, and deep in inland coldwater lakes.

“Whitefish really have been overlooked by general fishermen, but more anglers are beginning to discover these fish in the deepwater lakes like Elk Lake, Torch Lake, Crystal Lake and other inland waters that are deep and cold,” says Tom Rozich, DNR fisheries manager for northwest Lower Michigan.

Rozich practices what he preaches—as an angler who enjoys the rewards of his management efforts in his own off-time fishing.

“Whitefish should be eaten fresh—they don’t keep well and are best eaten as soon as you can get them to the kitchen,” he says.

Tom’s manner of preparing them is simple and tasty: “Just season the filets with paprika and broil them, basting with a little lemon and butter. Broil 7 minutes on one side, 5 on the other side. Then dig in.”

Fishing deep water requires getting the line down deep. One of the proven lures for this is the Swedish Pimple, a jigging spoon made in the U.P. Baited with a small minnow, salmon eggs, or wigglers (Hexagenia mayfly larvae), then jigged down near the bottom, it gets the lure and bait to deep-dwelling whitefish.

Be cautious when you feel the bite. Unlike their trout cousins, whitefish have smaller mouths, more tender and apt to tear if hit too hard. Use ‘steady as it goes’ in getting them up.

At certain times when whitefish spawn they come into shallower waters—about 25 feet down—to lay their spawn over sand and rocky lake bottoms.

“At such times they are more easily available to sports anglers who fish from small boats or off piers and breakwalls on the Lake Michigan side of Lower Michigan, down as far as South Haven and up to the Straights,” says Rozich.

The sports angler can also enjoy fishing for this tasty target on the Lake Huron side. Commercial fishermen there take big numbers of whitefish from the “tip of the mitt” down to Saginaw Bay. That provides a big hint that sportsmen can take whitefish when fishing the “Sunrise Side,” as well.

Whitefish grow fast from fingerling to adult. They have to, since many predators feast on small whitefish. But once they grow large enough to get past predation, they grow rapidly in size and weight. Some adults top 20 pounds.

The prime time for whitefish sports fishing is winter, when ice covers lake bays and deep inland waters. In both peninsulas, this is a time for spudding in some holes, putting in the shanties, dropping down some lines, and settling down for some serious ice fishing.

When winter whitefishing is at its best, the eating will be too, once catch meets kitchen.