Heavy lightning, booming thunder and torrential rain graced us with their presence on Sunday evening. The encore to that performance was a day of west winds at 25 plus MPH on Monday. The churning action caused by rolling whitecaps “turned over” the water over much of Winnie, and some of the most exposed areas of Cutfoot Sioux.
Image of Jared Saufferer netting walleye for guide customer
By Tuesday, surface water temperatures had fallen. Our 68-degree reading indicated a full 5 degree drop from the 73-degree readings viewed over the past weekend. As the sunshine returned and moderate winds allowed the lake to begin settling back down, walleyes continued to bite, but in a whole new array of locations.
The driving principal of fish location on Tuesday was food. Both during and after the turnover, huge pods of baitfish began turning up on deeper, but slow tapering shoreline breaks. At times, anglers spotted numerous small and scattered schools of walleye near the giant bait balls. “The fish seemed to keep moving all of the time”, said local guide Dale Anderson. Anderson was on the lake’s west side on Monday and reported catching fish at random intervals, in water depths anywhere from 10 to 13 feet.
Reed Ylitalo, another guide and close friend was on the west end of the lake too, “I spent most of my time fishing at 13 feet, but at days end, moved shallow and caught fish there as well.” Our own guide, Jared Saufferer avoided bouncing his guests across the lake on Monday but returned on Tuesday and found fish that were still lingering on “the flats” in water depths of 11 to 14 feet.
Around the lake, other anglers and guides also reported catching fish at both Mallard and Stony Points, as well as along the deeper breaklines on the north shore. The east side of Winnie, due to the strong winds were not fished by most of the guests staying here, so reports from those areas are minimal.
Trolling spinners tipped with fatheads is still the most widespread and effective method for catching walleyes. Jig and minnow presentations are working, but at a slower pace, at least for now. As water temperatures fall, jigging will become the mainstay presentation for most anglers. When water temperatures reach down into the low 60’s, we believe.
Northern pike are scattered, but biting. Most of the pike are also being caught by folks trolling for walleye, but we think that targeting them might be a good idea. Numerous reports of pike in the 27-to-33-inch range have come in. The protected slot appears to be having a positive effect too because many fish in the protected, 22-to-26-inch slot are being caught and released as well. For eating, there are reasonably good numbers of fat, 20-to-21-inch fish available also.
Image of Bowen Lodge guests with nice northern pike
Panfish, because of the wind on Monday became the target for some of our guests. Mike Nolan, his daughter Michelle and son-in-law Glen, reporting catching sunfish, rock bass, northern pike, largemouth bass, and a couple of crappies. Trolling spinners tipped with small leeches along the cabbage and coontail patches in both Cutfoot and Little Cutfoot Sioux produced those fish.
Crappies were found in very small, select areas of heavy cover. So far, there have not been any reports of widespread migrations toward any of the most popular fall fishing spots. Again, falling water temperatures will be the friend of anglers searching for crappies. We’ll let you know when that happens.
Yellow perch are where you find them and when located, are biting. Populations may be below historical averages, but the average size has been desirable. To date, nobody has returned to the docks with large numbers of them. But a dozen perch in the 10-to-12-inch range, caught in conjunction with a routine walleye fishing trip does make for a nice bonus.
The short-term forecast, warming air temperatures, sunshine and calmer seas appear to be setting the stage for a more summer-like Labor Day holiday. Many of you are already likely preparing to make the trip up already. Travel safely and have a good time when you get here. When you’re in the neighborhood, stop by for a chat, we’d love to see you.