Lake Winnie and Cutfoot Sioux did not disappoint walleye anglers hoping that the action would be great for the 2023 fishing opener. The weather was fabulous, there was a nice chop on the water and the walleyes were snapping. It’s fair to say that on opening day, there were more folks catching fish, even limits, than those who did not.
Cutfoot Sioux Opening Weekend Walleye
On Sunday, and each day since, the climate has been warm, bright, and calm. The water temperature is now in the 55-to-57-degree range and the water is clear. Walleyes continue to bite, but have been located spread out over the flats, along the shallow sides of steepest breaklines. Most fish are not on the steep edges, but rather on top of the flat areas that lead toward them. Key depths on calm days have ranged from about 15 feet down to 18 feet of water.
With the fish scattered, anglers are covering more territory between strikes, but are still catching good numbers of fish. Trolling with ¼ to 3/8-ounce jigs tipped with minnows has been the primary presentation. When better schools of fish are encountered, stopping the boat, anchoring and “pitching” jig and minnow combos has been effective too. So have Lindy Rigs tipped with larger, super-lively minnows.
Ashley Heigh with a hefty Lake Winnie Walleye
For our guests, travel times have been short because there are enough fish located along the north shore. We hear reports from friends who say that the west side of the lake was also good on the fishing opener. If the breeze picks up, shallow structures near Ravens Point, Mallard Point and Stony Point should be checked out too. With walleyes barely finished their spawning runs, mid-lake structures have yet to attract many walleyes.
Shiner minnows are available in our region, but the supplies are still spotty. They have not been mandatory for catching fish though, our guests are catching plenty of fish using fatheads and rainbows as well. Our suggestion would be to have a little bit of everything, rather than loading up on any one type of minnow.
At this point, walleye has been the primary focus on 98% of the anglers on the lake. Perch, pike and panfish, when caught, are the result of “good luck” encounters as folks pursue walleyes. If the weather stays on its present trajectory, shallow water will warm fast and panfish will st4art getting more attention. We’ll keep you posted about that in the upcoming days and weeks.
Let’s wrap the report with a note about walleye size structure. Anglers are noticing that quite a few walleyes from the strong 2018-year class have now crossed the line into their protected slot size. For one of the guides fishing the lake on Tuesday, fish in the 18.25-to-18.50-inch range represented about 10% of the total catch. Fish in the keeper range, 15 to 17 inches range made up about 60% of the catch. The remaining 40% were fish ranging from 13.75 inches, down to about 13 inches.
All that means is that with Lake Winnie’s fast growth rates, the summer of 2023 will likely be the one that offer anglers the perfect balance of excellent action, quality size and “keeper” size fish in the ideal size ranges. It should be a great summer at Bowen Lodge!