Managing Changeability During Mid-Summer: Peak Production Time For Winnie and Cutfoot!

Most everyone agrees that the recent spell of hot weather was too hot for human comfort! But we do have to admit that the stability it provided was great for both Winnie and Cutfoot, not only in terms of fishing success, but also as it relates to fish growth over the long term.

In terms of fishing, massive hatches of Mayflies occurred as the water warmed and walleyes responded by moving toward expansive, semi-soft bottom flats. It’s not uncommon to hear about folks catching walleye in what appears to be “structureless” territory. Random schools of fish, some large and some small, roam the flats gobbling up Mayfly larvae before they can reach the lakes surface and emerge as adults.

On Winnie, the water depth in many of these areas runs from about 14 to 18 feet deep. But similar soft-bottom flats can be found both deeper and shallower, so be creative in your search. Finding fish and catching them during bug hatches on the flats is easier than many believe, but presentation methods do depart from typical early season walleye presentations.

Because fish are scattered across a wide swath of territory, jigging, Lindy Rigging and similar, finesse presentations provide only limited success in these scenarios, it takes too long to cover enough water to encounter many fish.

Trolling at speeds of 1.0 to 1.3 MPH is a better way to cover territory. A bottom bouncer and spinner is a trick that the walleye pros use and it works well. A 1-1/2-ounce bottom bouncer, paired with a gold, chartreuse/gold or perch pattern Little Joe Spinner and tipped with either night crawlers, leeches or fatheads is a good starting point. Overall, crawlers are preferred by the pros, but they’ll keep you busy because perch of all shapes and sizes will attack them. Leeches can be used effectively to help reduce the number of fly-by perch attacks. Inexpensive fathead minnows, used by many of Lake Winnie’s fishing guides are good too and they will also encourage more strikes from northern pike, considered by many to be a bonus.

Rip-jigging can also be used while trolling or drifting at fast speeds and covers even more ground than spinners do. Forget about minnows, use ¼ to 3/8 ounce jig head tipped with large plastic tails. Action on the fall is key, so use paddle tails, twirl tails or shad body imitations. While trolling, cast your lures out and way from the boat, then use an aggressive upward sweep-fall-sweep-fall motion to entice strikes. Walleyes will surprise you by striking these lures aggressively and you’ll catch plenty of bonus pike along the way.
Folks with a knack for running their electronics love power-corking too. Move the boat slowly and watch your graph for fish and once located, drop 1/16 ounce jig, tipped with either a lively leech or ½ night crawler suspended below a slip float. Allow the fish a few minutes to sport your bait and strike and then move on to continue your search.

Deep water structure, like bars and humps have been slow to “turn on” this summer. For many, a trip to the middle, armed with Lindy Rigs and live bait would produce great results during this part of the summer. There have been and still are isolated cases of good fishing on the humps, but larger, mid-lake bars connected to shore have been better so far. All of the lakes “main bars” have produced fish for anglers over the past couple of weeks.

Key depths on the bars range from 16 to 22 feet and the rule of thumb is that shallower fish strike better and are likely to be larger than fish found in deeper water.

Before the cold front arrived, algae blooms, another by-product of the warm weather were gaining strength. The water was developing some color as the particles crew but may have suffered a setback this week. In terms of walleye growth rates, the more plankton the lake provides, the better winter survival of small fish will be. In terms of fishing, algae blooms help shade fish’s eyes from intense sunlight. That encourages fish to move shallower and makes catching them on structure easier, especially during late summer. We will keep you posted about water clarity as conditions change.

Panfish action remains spotty, most anglers have found that crappie fishing is best during the evening, just before sunset. Weed structure is the best location for catching either crappie or sunfish, cabbage patches are great, so is coontail and narrow leaf pondweed.  When you find wild celery, expect perch to be nearby, especially when the vegetation is located near gravel or rock.

Pike are still being caught primarily as a bonus fish while in pursuit of walleyes. To target them, move toward steep, deep structure at mid lake. Warm water temperatures encourage them to move toward deeper, cooler water. Live bait rigs tipped with large minnows are good, so are spinners tipped with minnows and jigs with large plastic tails.

As we move toward the 4th of July, mid-summer patterns will intensify and we’ll be here to keep you posted on their progress. Stay safe on the lake and if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by for a chat, we’d love to see you!

Lake Winnibigoshish Receiving “Heat Dividend” Fishing Report June 6, 2021

As anglers, we don’t often think of hot, sunny weather as an advantage for fishing. And, truthfully, in the short run, the heat wave has caused some challenges for folks trying to catch walleye during the daytime. But for fish populations in Cutfoot, Winnie, and connected waters, there will be huge dividends paid in the form of stronger growth rates because of the above average temperatures we are experiencing right now.

Bowen Lodge Facing Lake Winnibigoshish

Over the past few days, surface water temperatures have been shooting up into the high 70- degree-range. In fact, on Saturday, the water on Winnie, out front of our resort reached above 79 degrees, nearly passing 80 during the late afternoon. Algae blooms are increasing, water clarity is decreasing and thanks to that, fish are finding their way into shallower water.

The benefit to our guests is that walleye are becoming easier to catch during bright conditions without having to fish deep water. Walleye are beginning to inhabit more traditional structures like rock piles, shoreline breaks, deep weed patches and even some of the mid-lake bars and humps.

Water Temperature On Bowen Flats 79 Degrees June 5, 2021

Key water depths are now in the 12-to-16-foot range and key locations are the lakes large, mid-depth flats. Large areas where water meanders from the shallow shoreline toward the lake’s deep-water basin. The more space there is between the shoreline and deep water breaklines, the more important “structure” becomes. Anything that gives fish a reason to pause and feed, could be considered structure.

Small rock piles or patches of gravel are scattered around on the flats and can hold fish, so can isolated patches of vegetation. Less obvious to anglers, but still especially important are areas that contain semi-soft, marl. Marl is that sticky stuff, a sand-clay mix that can cling to your anchor and be hard to wash off.

Fish love marl because it is where insect hatches occur. It can occur anywhere, so don’t get hung up on any particular location or water depth. Instead, use your electronics and your eyes to discover areas where insect hatches are occurring. Whenever there’s a good bug hatch, you can bet that fish will be nearby.

In a typical summer, insect hatches would trigger changes in feeding preferences and force anglers to use different presentations. While some of our guests have begun using Lindy Rigs and live bait, many continue to catch walleye on jig and minnow combinations. Although, shiner runs are pretty much over now, fish are still responsive to minnows as bait. This will last for a while but will vary day-by-day. Carry a little bit of everything instead of stocking up with a lot of a single bait.

Trolling with spinners is a mainstay presentation during the warm water period and some anglers report good results using spinners tipped with minnows right now. Shoreline breaks and structure on the flats are good locations to try setting up your spinner behind a simple bullet sinker. On deeper structures, bottom bouncers can be used to place your spinner in the strike zone more precisely.  

Panfish and bass have been active in shallow water, but are primarily in full-scale, nest protecting mode right now. There are few if any female fish milling around the spawning grounds. Male fish are glued to the nests, protecting them from invaders. Now, there’s no harm in keeping an occasional handful for supper, but as anglers, it’s up to us to help preserve enough of them to ensure good fishing into the future. Ethically, it’s a good idea to take a few of the smaller fish and release the larger, bulls.

In case you have not heard, the sunfish limit for Cutfoot Sioux has been reduced; anglers may now harvest a daily limit of 5 fish.

Crappies, for the most part have moved away from spawning structure and can be found on the weed flats adjacent to deeper water. Right now, early morning and late evening are key times for catching them. Once they are finished with their prime-time feeding runs, they are fickle and difficult to catch. If crappies are important to you, get up early and fish for them before you start looking for other species. If you don’t like to get up early, then plan on fishing later, during the evening twilight period.

Perch are inconsistent, most of the ones we see are being caught by anglers using jig and minnow presentations, incidental to walleye fishing. Lindy Rigs tipped with live minnows will work as an alternative and soon, using spinners will become key in terms of producing good perch catches.

Northern Pike have provided a lot of action this week and can be found in almost every water depth, on a variety of structures. Whether you are jigging, spinning, or Lindy Rigging with live minnows, pike will find you, so it isn’t necessary to go out of your way to setup for them. They have been running nice size too, with good numbers of fish in the high 20 to low 30-inch range being caught.

As the week unfolds, we’ll be watching conditions, so be sure to check back for updates about seasonal fishing patterns. In the meantime, good luck out there!  

Bowen Lodge Winnibigoshish - Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Report May 26, 2021

After a weeklong warm up, a slightly cold, cold front interrupted progress toward early summer walleye patterns on Sunday. Walleyes that had already moved onto deep water structure stayed where they were, but there was not much change in numbers. According to incoming reports, small, scattered packs of larger, mostly female fish were all that could be turned up out there.

Surface water temperatures rebounded nicely afterward, hitting the 65-degree mark on Monday. Walleyes resumed their migration, in fact picked up their pace, we believe. By late in the day, larger schools of smaller male fish started showing up on some of the prominent bars and deep-water points.  This is good news, because these migrating fish have been found in water depths of 15 to 22 feet.

Until now, many have relied on the most popular destinations for walleye action, the steep, shoreline breaks adjacent to the Mississippi River Channel. Because those fish have been holding in deeper water, 26 to 32 feet. Catching them with the expectation that they can be released unharmed, is not realistic and certainly not an ideal scenario for nurturing the maturing population of 2018 and 2019-year classes.

Warming water has helped in other ways too, insect hatches have started up and algae blooms are giving the lake a little extra color.

 There’s nothing better for starting up a mid-lake “structure bite” than a good bug hatch! Larvae, developing over the lakes soft-bottom flats, attract minnows and small fish. Those baitfish in turn, attract larger predator fish and before you know it, there is an entire food chain set up around the lakes numerous bars and humps.

 Focus primarily on fish using the upper edges of the structure. They are both easier to catch and easier to release. Easier to catch because aggressive, feeding fish typically move shallow to do so. Fish that you mark on your electronics in deeper water are more likely to be negative or neutral at best. And if they can be caught, releasing them safely is more difficult than it is to release fish caught in shallower water.

Algae blooms are critical in many ways, not the least of which is that they help darken Lake Winnie’s clear water.

One thing we learned in 2020 was that when the lake’s water darkened thanks to heavy algae blooms, fish behavior changed for the better. As if somebody flipped on a light switch, walleyes moved into “pre-Zebra Mussel”, shallow water haunts that were popular with Bowen Lodge guests 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Fishing shallow water bars, weed patches and the popular 8 to 10 shoreline sand breaks was as good as it ever was.

While the water is still much clearer than it was last summer, we have noticed this week, that certain areas of the lake do show signs of increasing algae blooms. We’re hoping for a nice long stretch of warm weather to help intensify both algae blooms and insect hatches. Which brings us to the last point about both, walleye growth rates.

Winnie is already known for having growth rates that are well above average when compared to other lakes in the region.  Algae is food (zooplankton) and the more of it there is in the water, the faster young fish grow. That faster growth rate is what we’re looking forward to more than ever this season. Soon, walleyes from the 2018-year class will begin crossing the 14-to-15-inch mark and that will be a fabulous development for visitors to the lake.

Planning a Memorial Weekend walleye fishing trip to Winnie won’t be difficult because fishing patterns remain simple.

The jig and minnow bite is still very reliable. Set up your 6 to 7 foot, light or medium-light fishing rods with 6 pound test line, 8 pound test at the heaviest. Pack a variety of jigs in the 1-8-to-1–4-ounce range. Shiners are widely available right now and they do work well, so if you like them, then use shiners. But, if you can find large fatheads or rainbows, they will perform equally well for walleyes.

Lindy Rigs are producing fish for folks too, so bringing an array of walking sinkers in the ¼ to ½ ounce size range, along with a few packs of Lindy Rigs, some in the #6 leech and night crawler size, some in the #4 or #2 minnow size will get you started.

Leeches and night crawlers have begun working on mid-lake structure but using larger than average minnows is still by far the best Lindy Rigging bait. This is especially true whenever the bite is “off”, negative, and neutral can watch your fast-moving jig and minnow slip by without flinching. But these fish have a much harder time snubbing a lively minnow moving s-l-o-w-l-y past their noses. So, if you’re at the bait shop and spot large shiners or rainbows, pick up a few, they might come in handy.

Perch are where you find them right now, most of them are being caught as a byproduct of walleye fishing. We have noticed that many of the larger perch are caught in areas where insect hatches are occurring. The relationship between perch and bloodworms is well-known. So, if you’re on the lake and experience a midge hatch, bugs that look like mosquitoes but don’t bite, you’re in the right neighborhood. Midge, is the adult version of the bloodworm and marl, a semi-soft clay-sand mix is where you’ll find them. This combination could be found in virtually any water depth.

Crappies are currently on either side of their spawning run right now. Some of them have already moved into shallow water, finished spawning, and have left the shallows, while others are still fanning beds. Shallow fish might be tricky to find this weekend, but some folks probably will. For Bowen Lodge guests though, staying right here in Cutfoot will probably be the best idea. The late evening bite should be reliable, fish the weed edges in 6 to 10 feet of water using slip floats, small jigs and crappie minnows. The fish move about an hour before sunset and the action could last for 45 minutes, give or take.

Northern pike are hitting, but they too are being caught by folks while they pursue walleye. But, if you were in the market for a larger pike, try rigging a large sucker minnow below a slip float. Position along cabbage patches, rock piles or neat the steep breaklines on shoreline related, main-lake bars like the Bena Bar, Horseshoe or Center Bars. Larger pike are loners right now but can be caught by anyone who’s persistent enough to look for them.

We’re looking forward to a classic Memorial Day Weekend with weather patterns all over the map but appear to be generally cool. Anything from cool, breezy, and grey, to sunny, but crisp. So, bring your rain suits, warm jackets and waterproof shoes.

Again, we love eating fish and we want you to enjoy a family fish fry whenever you can. But we also think it’s good not to go overboard on the 2018-year class of walleye. So, let us give you one more, “conservative minded” sales pitch about the class of 2018 walleyes.

We suggest helping them in their journey to adulthood by setting your own, voluntary size and bag limits and then sticking to them. Keep a few for a meal, release a few to provide seed for another season as we prepare for what will be an amazing few years of fishing on the big lake!

Cheers and happy fishing, we will be seeing you on the lake! And don’t forget, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop in and say hi, we’d love to chat and give you a tour!

Prelude To Fall Fishing Patterns On Lake Winnie

By now, most everybody knows that the fishing on Winnie has been good. Walleye, perch and pike have kept anglers busy for the better part of a month. Until late last week, catching fish has been a simple matter of finding a school, rigging up with your favored presentation and figuring out the right boat speed.

The late summer peak, we believe, coincided with the arrival of a full moon that occurred just yesterday, September 2nd. As the moon waxed toward maturity, not only did the fishing action intensify, but there was also a noticeable uptick in the size of fish that we saw anglers on the lake catching.

The accompanying image shows some of the larger walleyes that were active on Tuesday, the day of the full moon. The Armstrong crew caught a half dozen larger walleyes, along with dozens of smaller fish. It took some effort to catch fish over 14 inches, but the 3 man crew did report harvesting 12 fish in the 14 to 15 inch size range.

Key fishing depths ranged between 4 and 8 feet, with a few fish caught deeper. Wind swept shoreline points produced well, so did areas with shallow weed cover.

Phil & Jackie Goettl and family had a great day on the lake Saturday, returning to the dock with nice walleye and bonus perch. Goettl; “Our guide suggested 14 inches as the minimum size for keeper walleyes and 10 inches for perch. We had to do some sorting, but managed to catch 24 walleyes and 24 perch, all in the size ranges we targeted.” “There were 6 of us fishing, so we didn’t fill out, but the batch of fish we caught was really good,” they added.

Key fishing depths were 5 to 7 feet along the edges of shoreline breaks. Patches of weed, mixed with gravel produced the most fish. Points extending away from the shoreline produced few fish, but sharper breaks located on inside corners held large numbers of fish.

Lake Winnie Walleyes

Always a catalyst for change, the full moon intensified something besides the fishing action, it brought about major changes in the weather. Cooler weather arrived last Sunday and has persisted ever since. Surface water temperatures have now dropped from the mid-70s down to the mid-60s in less than a week.

Cooler water temperatures will force changes in fishing presentation. While most anglers are still fishing with spinners, the number of folks switching to jig and minnow presentations has increased. For now, both remain reliable, so you can go with your favorite method. But keep an eye on the thermometer and as waters cool into the low-60s, experiment more with jigging presentations.

Falling temperatures should trigger panfish migrations too, but we haven’t heard reports of any full-scale transformations yet. During fall, crappies have a way of showing up out of nowhere, so we’ll be paying close attention to them this week. From what we know today, trolling the weed edges with spinners is likely the best way to locate them. Once you’ve identified the location of a school, it may be better to switch gears and fish with small plastics and lightweight jigs.

The strong west winds that arrived with the cold front have also challenged the creativity of our guests. Knowing where the fish are and having access to them can sometimes be two different things. For those with larger boats, it has been manageable; guests with smaller rigs have chosen to focus on fishing in Cutfoot.

As we roll into the Labor Day weekend, the weather forecast calls for more moderate conditions. We’ll have better access to more fishing spots, and also have more reports from our guests. Be sure to join us for updates as we track the progression into fall fishing patterns.