Walleye fishing on Lake Winnie generally remains good, but not always for everybody.

While the fish do bite when found, getting consistent results depends on a combination of weather conditions, location, angler skill, and determination. Among our guests who are doing the best are the early risers, evening anglers and ones who head out when conditions are windy and grey. Creativity comes into play too, presentations change, seemingly daily, so, folks who offer the fish several options get more “takers” than the folks who stick with any single presentation.

 Water clarity and temperature are contributing factors, surface temperatures have dropped out of the 70s, holding steady now at 68 to 69 degrees. Algae blooms have declined in response and the water has cleared noticeably. When the weather is rough, and the skies are dark, fishing is consistent. Sunshine, calm water and angler traffic move fish out of the easy to reach structures during the day.

 Walleyes have been fickle about food choices lately too. They like to eat leeches one day, worms the next day, and minnows the next. Sometimes their feeding preferences vary from spot-to-spot as well, and the better anglers switch their offerings frequently.

 “Sharp Shooting”, using high end electronics to locate fish and then targeting them with slip-floats or casting lures still works, fish have scattered into small packs, making this approach less effective than it was early this summer. On the lake this Tuesday, one angler, fishing with bobbers and leeches said, “they bite when we get the bait in front of them, which isn’t easy when we mark fish 1 or 2 at a time.” Jigging raps, another popular lure for this style of fishing, have had their ups and downs too. Advice offered by one of the pros who fished the recent AIM tournament on Winnie offered this, “It’s a presentation that works great one day, but won’t catch anything the next day, you just have to try it at each spot to find out if it’s an on, or off day.”

More of the most reliable presentations lately have been trolling spinners, jigs and minnows and wiggle worming; all presentations that keep baits moving through the small, scattered packs of fish. To an extent, the 3 presentations could be interchanged, but here a sonme quick rules of thumb to follow.

• Spinners have been most effective on the flats adjacent to larger, mid-lake bars, in water depths of 14 to 16 feet. Trolling the “top” typically means holding the upper edges of the bars, avoiding the steep breakline into deep water.

• Jig and minnow fishing has been reliable on most rocky structures. There may well be a similarity between the jig/minnow combos and live crawfish which inhabit the rocks. This week, walleyes caught on rocks coughed up crawfish remains in our live wells. Use an aggressive snap-glide-snap-drop presentation to emulate the crawdads and trigger strikes.

• “Wiggle Worming” has been effective on rocks too but is a very good approach when fishing in and around vegetation. The lightweight live bait jigs tipped with nightcrawlers dance and flutter, landing softly, and moving easily in heavy cover.  Walleyes love this presentation, but you’ll catch other species too, especially when fishing Cutfoot, or Little Cutfoot where the cabbage and coontail patches hold a wide variety of species, including crappies, bass, pike perch and sunfish.

Sunfish by the way have been on the prowl lately and offer families a fun alternative to walleye fishing, especially during the daytime. Panfish remain focused on shallow vegetation and can be in 6 to 8 feet of water. Cabbage patches, bulrush edges and gravel attract the most fish. Find a stretch of water that contains all 3 elements, and you will find the best action.

 Trolling spinners is a good way to search for them, but once located, switch to a more stationary presentation. Jigs, tipped with cut pieces of night crawler or small leeches will produce good results.

 Perch have begun to show up more frequently this week but are still not easy to pin down. There were random schools of perch on the mid-lake bars in 16 feet of water. And there were also some schools of them in 6 feet of water on shoreline breaks. Cabbage beds offered some perch action too and so did gravel and rock bars in 10 to 12 feet of water. Again, trolling spinners is a good way to find perch, but after that, switch to slower moving presentations like jig and minnow, jigging spoons, and Lindy Rigs. Tackle tip: Try a short, 10-to-12-inch Lindy Rig leader and lip hook larger, lively fatheads. Whether you fish them in shallow, deep, or mid-depth areas, perch will strike them.

 Crappies have been illusive this summer and remain hard to find. We’ve reported before that your best bet is to fish in the early mornings and follow the vegetation until you find the fish. This is still the best advice, cast small jigs tipped with plastics in the gaps and pockets between cabbage, coontail and flat-stemmed pondweed plants. Crappies, along with a mix of other fish species will pop out from their ambush spots to grab your lures. Once you catch the first crappie, stay nearby the spot because there will likely be more of them.

 Northern pike, especially quality size ones, are apparently feeding out in open water. Shoreline structures that typically produce well during late summer have few pike on them right now. Rocky structures on the flats are holding some nice ones, but even these spots offer relatively slow action right now.

 The two best ways to target better pike right now are trolling over crankbaits over open water, and using large lively minnows on steep, mid-lake bars adjacent to deep water. Lindy Rigging a 10-inch sucker minnow will produce some fish, but try adding a spinner blade and moving along the bar at 1.0 to 1.5 MPH. This allows better efficiency and allows you to cover more territory.

It’s a transitional time of year at Bowen’s. As we head toward Labor Day, families are wrapping up their summer vacations, kids are headed back for school and the “hard core” anglers are watching the reports for signals that fall fishing patterns are emerging. It won’t be long before fishing patterns change and the fall bite gets started. Check in again soon so we can keep you up to speed and help you prepare for your next trip to the lake. And to make planning the trip easier, here a few special offers, available for a limited time.