Lake Winnie’s reputation as a great early season walleye lake is proving to be well earned again this spring. Our guests have enjoyed both great action and good eating this week.
We’ve got a big group of fishermen here this week and they’ve had several guides fishing with them. It’s fair to say that between all of them, they’ve already covered about 2/3 of the fishing areas on both Winnie and Cutfoot. So far, none of them have been stumped; they’re catching fish in all 4 corners of the lake.
We asked another guest, Shawn Dewaard about his group’s experience on the lake. “Water conditions and clarity seemed to be pretty comparable to what we found last spring. The water has some clarity, but it isn’t super clear.
We’ve been catching a lot of nice fish, slot-fish dominated the catch on Tuesday, but we did get some keepers too.”
Reed Ylitalo, Wings and Walleyes Guide Service said; “We got a lot of slot-fish today too, but I had 10 keepers, a handful of really nice perch and a few good eating size northern pike too. That’s been about the normal day for me, 8 to 10 keeper walleyes, a lot of big ones and a few pike and perch mixed in.”
It’s no surprise that most everybody on the lake is fishing with jig and minnow combinations; that’s typical for Winnie this time of year. Most folks are using 1/8 ounce size jigs and the colors we hear mentioned are blue/glow, parrot, pink/glow and obviously chartreuse green.
Shiners have been terribly tough to come by, but the folks who find them say that they’re an advantage. Ylitalo; “I’ve fished with fatheads and rainbows, but I also got my hands on some shiners and I think that when we use them, we catch more fish.”
Key fishing depths vary with the weather, but focusing on the shoreline break in 10 to 12 feet of water is a great starting spot. If the clouds roll in and the wind blows, shift into shallower water, 7 to 9 feet has been good. When the sun comes out, or when the lake is calm, then slip out a little deeper. Dewaard; “We’ve had quite a few coming in from deeper water this spring, 14 to 16 feet is not a typical depth for us, but this spring it’s been productive.”
Pike are hungry right now, so folks who want to take advantage of the 10 fish limit can sure do it. You won’t have to go out of your way to catch them, they’re hitting on the jigs and minnows right along with the walleyes.
Since the walleyes are biting, panfish haven’t captured the attention of most anglers yet. We’ll probably hear more talk about them over the upcoming weekend and we’ll be sure to focus on that as soon as the news gets interesting.
In the meantime, we’re enjoying the kickoff of another great season.