Six weeks ago, folks were speculating whether low water levels would be a drag on anglers accessing not only Winnie, but many other area lakes too. Since then, frequent rainfalls brought water levels up to normal, or in some regions, even above normal. Then on Tuesday, we received another rainfall, this time a big one! Now we’re looking at high, even flood-stage water levels and walleyes are using all that extra water to their advantage.
Most anglers know that walleyes like moving water and use terms like “walleye chop” to describe breezy times when conditions are favorable for catching them. The chop on top is what we see, and most folks understand that the whitecaps help diffuse daylight. The assumption is correct, and the lower visibility definitely is an advantage. But there’s more, under the surface, walleyes see, and respond not only to diffused light, but also to current that’s churned up by the whitecaps. A river fish by nature, walleyes have a natural tendency to move into the current, feeding as they swim upstream.
On Winnie, Cutfoot and connected waters, you’ll find lots of areas where incoming water is producing current. As a bonus, the water flowing in from low-lying areas is darker, and also warmer too. So, fishing in the darker, moving water is an attractive option for walleye anglers who prefer fishing shallow water. The larger flowages like the Mississippi, Third River and Raven’s Flowage are obvious choices, but keep an eye out for any small streams and creeks flowing into the lakes. For a time, they’ll offer attractive feeding opportunities for walleyes.
Fishing for walleyes on the flats continues to be productive option for some of our guests. Key depths range from 12 to 16 feet of water, and fish are scattered, roaming in small schools. For most folks, drifting or slow trolling and fan casting jigs with minnows is still a mainstay presentation. Some folks have had better success trolling with spinners tipped with either minnows, or ½ night crawlers. “The secret is to keep the spinners away from the boat,” advises one of our long-time guests. “Instead of using bottom bouncers or heavy weights to keep the offering under the boat, we’re using 3/16-ounce bullet sinkers, and letting out a lot of line;” he added.
Search baits, like ¼ ounce jigs tipped with large plastic swim baits, jigging Rapalas, or weight forward spinners tipped with night crawlers can also be used to catch walleyes over the flats. The most important factor is remembering that using search baits is it's own presentation, not a substitute for finesse presentations. Knowing that the idea is to trigger impulse strikes from the fish, and not attempting to emulate more subtle jig and minnow presentations. Making long casts and retrieving them using aggressive jigging cadences is the key to getting strikes when using search baits.
Some folks like to fish mid-lake structure at this time of the season and are finding fish on mid-lake bars and humps. The best ones are larger bars that connect directly to the shoreline. Small, isolated humps further out from shore have yet to attract fish on any large scale. On the bars, jig and minnow combinations are producing both walleye and pike. Lindy Rigging with leeches and crawlers is working too and minnow rigs tipped with creek chubs, redtails or other larger minnows have produced action for some as well.
Crappie, sunfish and perch action continues to be spotty, but some of our more adventurous guests are finding them.
Sunfish are reported by many to be scattered far and wide, making them difficult to pin down. Once located though, they are active and will bite willingly. As this photo reveals, heavy vegetation is one of the keys to locating them. Searching for bluegills, or any other panfish, can be done using spinners. Rig up a standard single hook spinner with a #2 or #3 Indiana blade behind a 3/16-ounce bullet sinker. Tip it with a ½ cut night crawler and troll in and around vegetation like cabbage and coontail. Slow speeds, .8 to 1.0 MPH are working best right now because water temperatures are cool and fish metabolism is not at it’s peak.
Once located, a more efficient presentation will be compact, but relatively heavy jigs tipped with cut pieces of night crawler, small leeches, waxworms or even with plastic tails. A 1/8-ounce live bait jig looks large for catching sunfish, but it’s not, not only will they grab lures with large hooks, but the larger offering will also help reduce deep hooking. Fish vertically, and hold your lure steady, you’ll catch more sunfish by using the subtle, steady action.
Largemouth bass have been active, and some folks are finding nice fish. Bass will be in a variety of habitats, but bulrushes are one of the best places to look for them. Lily pads, or heavy matted vegetation are good alternatives. Heavy or medium heavy action fishing rods, reels spooled with 20-to-30-pound braided line and weedless lures will get you into, and out of the best bass territory. Try slop-frogs over heavy matted vegetation or in lily pads. In the bulrushes, Texas rigged plastic worms, or other weedless lures will be best. Cast into the bulrushes, fish slowly and allow the fish plenty of time to find and strike your lure. The best presentation for crappies right now is to troll the cabbage beds using spinners tipped with small to medium size chubs. Small packs of active crappies are in the gaps and pockets found along the outer edges of the vegetation. Cabbage beds located near steeper breaklines are for now, the better areas to search for them.
Jumbo Perch are where you find them! Here today, gone tomorrow is the current rule of thumb, so when you locate some, catch them now rather than waiting to come back later. Heavier vegetation mixed with gravel or light rocks are the preferred habitat. As the waters warm, and conditions stabilize, we should see hatches of small crawfish and that will lure perch into more open territory. Typically, early July produces improvements in perch activity and we’ll let you know if and when this pattern begins to emerge.