Lake Winnie Walleye Report June 13, 2024

There’s been a lot of wind lately, most of it blowing in from the west or northwest. While it’s made for generally good fishing conditions, not everybody has the equipment to take advantage of it. Because of that, not everybody has been fishing in their preferred early summer fishing areas. Folks that do get where they want to be, are reporting good success for walleyes. Folks that don’t are reporting mixed results, depending on the water and habitat conditions they encounter.

Surface water temperatures have been slow to rise, but this week they have advanced. It’s common to find temperatures ranging from 63 to 66 degrees in mid-lake areas on Winnie. Backwater areas in the flowages, shallow bays and isolated calm areas of the Cutfoot Sioux chain are warmer. On Wednesday, one group reported 69 degrees in a shallow bay, the warmest we’ve heard of so far this spring.

Water clarity caused problems for anglers earlier this season, but we notice that there is a slight, and welcome stain in the water now. Probably caused in part because of inflow from feeder creeks and flowages that were low, but are now filled, even overflowing in some areas, by recent rainfalls. The darker, faster warming water flowing into the lake has provided just enough “dinginess” to make walleyes move shallower and become more aggressive. When the wind blows, they can be found on shoreline breaks, and on the flats in water depths of 6 to 12 feet and can be caught relatively easily.

On Wednesday, one of the area’s top fishing pros provided this; “I’ve been able to do more drifting, and slow trolling recently. I’ve noticed that the water is darker, not much, but enough to allow me to fish over the top of the small schools I locate. That makes it easier for folks who don’t have the high-end electronics, the fish are staying put once they’re located.”

Walleye locations on calm days vs breezy days

While the water is somewhat more turbid, it is still clear though and on calmer days, walleyes still become flightier, and more difficult to pin down. On calm, or bright days, they move across the flats, into deeper water. Look for them in cuts, or inside corners located along the breaks into deeper water. Key depths range from 18 to 24 feet on the transition between sand, and softer bottom areas. There are also some fish moving off the flats and onto shoreline related, mid-lake structure.

Points and steeper breaklines that lead directly from shore, and into the deeper main lake basin are always the first to fill up with fish. Popular bars like the Bena Bar, Sugar Bar and Horseshoe are just a few examples. Look at your map and select locations like the one seen here, areas that offer walleyes a travel path between the shallows, and the deep basin. Later, fish will follow insect hatches, and migrate across the softer, marly bottom and begin inhabiting more isolated structures in the middle of the lake.

Along with varied locations comes varied presentations. Some of the more effective fishing presentations for walleyes right now include jig and minnow, trolling spinners, Lindy Rigging with live bait and slip-floats, where to use each depends on where you find fish. Walleyes on the shallow breaklines, and mid-depth flats are responding well to classic jig and minnow presentations.

Trolling spinners have worked best in areas where vegetation is growing, primarily in shallow areas of the flowages and back bays. Typically, spinners are tipped with medium size fatheads, but night crawlers can also be used effectively.

Lindy Rigging with leeches, night crawlers and large minnows has been effective along steep drop offs on “the bars”. Walleyes appear to be showing a preference for night crawlers today, but that can change periodically. It’s best to carry some crawlers and some leeches and switch them up until a preference is discovered. Most associated with targeting large fish, creek chubs or redtails in the 6-to-8-inch size range can be used on Lind Rigs too. At the moment, using minnows will trigger strikes from northern pike too. So, keep this in mind when you’re looking for a larger pike to put on the grill.

Slip-floating works best when walleyes are found on small rock rises, on larger mid-depth flats. The structures provide fish with a place to gather in tighter groups and that helps keep lures in the strike zone. Leeches are the most common bait for bobber fishing, but don’t overlook a night crawler. Using a 1/16-ounce jig, cut the night crawler in half and fish with larger, dark brown nose end; this method can be highly effective for walleyes.

Perch and panfish haven’t been making many headlines around here. When folks find them, perch of quality size are being caught, but they are nomadic and rarely show up twice in the same spots. The best bet for catching some jumbos is to wait for overcast days and fish in vegetation. Small packs of fish move through patches of emerging plants feeding on minnows. Trolling with spinners is a good search tool for locating them. Jigs tipped with medium size fatheads fished vertically is a reliable presentation for zeroing in on them.

Crappies have been illusive too! Apparently, they’ve decided not to spawn this spring, and when found, are located in classic post-spawn habitat like cabbage. The leafy vegetation offers good cover, where the fish can ambush schools of small minnows. Casting small jigs tipped with plastic action tails is reliable, and it’s best to fish either during the early morning, or late evening when the fish are most active.

All things considered; fishing has been good despite the somewhat turbulent conditions. It’s just a matter of time before weather patterns stabilize, and classic early summer patterns take hold. We’ll be watching, and reporting as the season progresses, please stay tuned.

Walleyes, Crappies, Perch and Pike On The Prowl Lake Winnie Report June 2, 2024

Early summer fishing patterns, when compared to most typical seasons, are running a bit behind schedule this year. Water temperatures remain cool, baitfish are moving in and out across the flats into and out of the shallows. Walleyes following their preferred food source, move in and out with them, appearing in a variety of depths, changing locations from one day to the next.

 For some, the nomadic behavior causes problems because the moving schools of fish are more difficult to “pattern”. There are some anglers taking advantage of it though, finding small schools of walleye in a wide range of locations, depth ranges and feeding moods.

 The best way to describe their method might be “stalk. locate and fish”. What that means is that they move along slowly, watching for fish on side-imaging sonar, locate schools of fish and then stopping to zero in on them. For some folks, advanced “forward facing sonar” is then used to pinpoint fish. Folks without the advanced electronics can still catch fish, they just have to make a few extra casts, and move a little bit more to do it.

 “For me, knowing the general territory fish inhabit is good enough,” Jeff Sundin says. I get a handle on the key depth, or structure that the fish are using and then ask my customers to cast in that direction. If anything, knowing the structures fish are using and following my Lakemaster chart to stay in position, is more important than being able to see individual schools of fish on my sonar screen.” The veteran fishing guide adds. “Being determined, following the contours, and casting deliberately toward potential fish holding structure will eventually lead us to new schools of fish.” He concludes.

 Structures most likely to hold fish right now are shoreline breaks in the 16-to-24-foot depth range. Often, walleyes during the daytime, are positioned along these breaklines. When conditions turn favorable for feeding, they begin moving across the mid-depth flats, heading for the shallower shoreline breaks adjacent to the shallow sand flats where minnows and small baitfish are plentiful. Key depths during the feeding spurts range between 4 and 8 feet of water.

 Jig and minnow combinations continue to be favored by most anglers on the big lake. There are some folks using slip bobbers and leeches, and a few more using live bait rigs and larger minnows, or night crawlers. Suring the evening, and just after dark, trolling the flats using crankbaits will produce not only walleyes, but some larger size northern pike too.  Tailor your lure weights to the depths you’re fishing, 1/8 ounce jigs are more common than anything and work well in shallow water, 6 to 12 feet. On the deeper breaklines, ¼ ounce jigs are better and at times, 1/16-ounce sizes should be used in extreme shallow water, 3 to 6 feet, for example.

 Crappie anglers, accustomed to finding fish in shallow water during late spring, are reporting mixed results. In certain, select areas, crappies have been found in patches of bulrush in water depths of 3 to 3 feet. There are more fish being found deeper though, located in patches of cabbage in water depths of 6 to 10 feet of water. The cabbage plants are often used as transition areas both before, and again, after spawning. Right now, we think they are still in a “pre-spawn”, but knowing for sure can be hard to pin down.

 Jig and minnow, jigs and plastics, and bobbers with live minnows are the most common presentations. Some crappie anglers troll the cabbage patches with spinners, or spin jigs too and this presentation can be effective, especially for locating small schools of fish. Troll at speeds of .9 to 1.3 MPH until fish are encountered, then stop and fancast the vegetation using jigs tipped with plastic tails.

 Perch anglers report finding low numbers of high-quality fish on the big lake. When you find them, they are nice, 11 to 12 perch are common: that’s the good news. The bad news is that finding them takes effort, populations are low, and key habitats vary wildly. Shallow vegetation in 3 to 5 feet of water is one key area, so are shallow patches of mixed gravel and light rock. Another key area to check is the deep, sand to mud transition along shoreline breaks.

 Marl, a semi soft mix of sand, clay and mud is where insect hatches occur and the bugs, especially bloodworms, are highly attractive to perch. Marl can be found anywhere, but on Lake Winnie, can be found easily in water depths of 24 to 30 feet along the shoreline breaks and even out on mid-lake bars and humps. There are reports of folks finding perch in these areas and catching them using live bait rigs with short, 2-to-4-foot leaders tipped with live minnows. The best minnows for this presentation are rainbows, larger fatheads and some of the “river-mix” varieties.

 Northern pike have been caught in good numbers ever since the fishing season opened in mid-May. This week though, there’s been an uptick in the number of larger pike being caught. Chunky fish in the 26 to 30 inch range have been reported daily, and occasionally, fish over 30 inches strike as well. Most of the pike have been caught are bonus fish that come along during the pursuit of walleyes. Pike striking on jig and minnow combinations is not breaking news. So, if you want to catch a few for dinner, you will probably get plenty of them while you fish for walleyes on your jigs and minnows.

 Catching larger pike may not be that simple, they like bigger meals than that. To target larger pike, try casting large spoons like Red Eye Wigglers, or big Daredevils. Jumbo size spinnerbaits are good too and so are crankbaits like magnum Rapalas. Fishing vegetation like cabbage is one good location, but rocks are another, sometimes overlooked pattern. Live bait rigs, tipped with larger, 6-to-10-inch size sucker minnows is a good presentation for deeper rocks, and along steep breaklines on mid-lake bars.

 Sunfish will become important soon, but so far haven’t appeared on the radar screens of our guests. As water temperatures warm, they’ll be getting more active, and a larger part of our daily conversations, we’ll ley you know when that happens.

 As we roll into summer, expectations for walleyes transitioning into summer feeding patterns are heightened. As a parting thought, we think this is a good time to start experimenting with alternative presentations. Even though jig and minnow presentations are still reliable, leeches, night crawlers and artificial lures will begin working better soon. Carrying a few of everything, rather than a lot of any one thing, is an idea that makes sense right now.

Lake Winnie Walleye Report May 21, 2024

With a full week of fishing now in the books, we’ve had a chance to compare real life experiences with recent DNR fisheries reports about Lake Winnie’s fish populations. So far, the key takeaway about this season is that the very large 2019-year class of walleyes have matured, and folks are catching lots of ideal eater size walleyes. The typical bag coming in includes most fish measuring 15 to 16-1/2 inches, with an occasional larger, 17-17 ½ inch fish from the 2018-year class. Not many, but some fish from the 2013-year class remain in the system too, and folks are reporting 23-to-26-inch walleyes striking from time-to-time.

Image of Rand Olson with beautiful walleye caught on Cutfoot Sioux

 A water quality assessment in 2023 revealed that Winnie’s water clarity measured 27 feet, an all-time record clarity for the lake. As we’ve discussed in past reports, the ultra-clear conditions have impacted how our guests’ fish for, and catch walleyes. Already nomadic by nature, walleyes have become “flighty”, moving quickly between shallow and deep water. This week walleyes have offered perfect examples of this behavior.

 A friend offered this; “We caught fish steadily for most of the morning on Wednesday, the walleyes were feeding around a patch of bulrushes surrounded by 6 to 7 feet of water. The walleyes were there feeding on schools small perch, and possibly shiners too. The skies were dark, there was a light chop on the water, and with all that food, they were reluctant to leave the area. We were happy with that spot, so we tried again the next day. But now, the water was flat and there was a little sunshine peeking through the clouds, and all those fish were gone.”

Screen View of key Lake Winnie walleye location on mid-depth flats

 Within hours, we’d heard from one of the area’s better fishing guides that those same fish had moved deeper, now inhabiting a flat in the 12-to-15-foot depth range. They were still active and they caught them by casting and retrieving ¼ ounce jigs tipped with either a shiner, rainbow or large fathead minnow.

At first glance, it could appear that the fish were not holding on any specific structures. Look closer at the screen shot of his graph, it shows that the walleyes were moving in and out of a depression within the flat. That hole, which may have been holding bait fish, seemed to be the center of activity on that fishing trip.

TRIP TIP: When you’re searching for fish on Lake Winnie’s sprawling flats, seek out and make note of any irregular features. Depressions like this one, gravel patches, vegetation and clam beds all offer habitat for bait, which in turn attracts gamefish.

 An alternative to locating fish in shallow water, or on the flats, is to search for small schools of walleyes holding along the steep breaklines. Key depths range from 18 to 18 feet of water and key locations are main lake bars, located near shore.

Ordinarily, we don’t suggest fishing in deep water because it’s hard on the fish, barotrauma is dangerous to them. There are some exceptions though, and because almost all of the fish being caught are of “keeper” size. An angler who needed to gather a few fish for a meal could likely get some by searching the deeper edges of shoreline related bars. Key depths are 22 to 28 feet, with an occasional small school of fish showing up in 30 feet of water. The schools of fish are not large but appear as scattered smaller packs of 6 to 10 fish. Inside corners have been more likely to hold fish that points or straight stretches of breakline.

Nice Lake Winnie Walleye

If you decide to fish the deeper spots, take a few fish for a meal and then move on to another location or search for alternative species. Catch and release fishing in deep water is not a good idea.

 Whether you fish shallow, deep or in the middle, be prepared to move. If you catch fish in an area, and they seem to suddenly disappear, they are likely to be nearby, using a deeper, or shallower portion of the same flat, or related structural features.

 So far, jigs and minnows are still the best bet for catching walleyes. Water temperatures remain cool, 56 to 59 degrees, so faster moving presentations have yet to become effective. It’s a good idea to have an assortment of 1/16, 1/8 and ¼ ounce sizes and swap them whenever your depth patterns change.

 Shiners are widely available now, so you caan buy them if you like. Fatheads and rainbows are working though, so if you want to save some of the expense, grab an assortment instead of insisting on having only shiner minnows.

 Panfish have not appeared in the shallows yet, but we are watching for them. Updates will be available as the conditions turn warmer, and they begin moving towards the shoreline.

Lake Winnie Walleye Fishing Report May 15, 2024

“Boat Shy” a term that some folks have used to describe walleyes, and other fish that disappear whenever an angler’s boat moves over the surface water above them. The greater a lakes water clarity is, the more “boat shyness” schools of fish tend to demonstrate. Heavy boat traffic heightens the effect even more; fish become jittery and move away from boats even more quickly than they would when the lake is quiet.

Clouds, wind, algae blooms, warm water temperatures, or strong currents all help to reduce the impact of water. But what happens when the sun shines, there’s no breeze, the water is cold,  and the algae bloom is non-existent?

Well, the simple answer is that fishing for walleyes gets tricky. For some experienced anglers, fishing is good because they are aware of stealthy techniques and use them to sneak up on unsuspecting schools of fish. For those less experienced, the mystery of where the walleyes are, and how to catch them becomes difficult to solve.

Jump to the conditions for our 2024 walleye fishing opener on Lake Winnie. Calm seas, bright sunshine, 54 to 56 degree water temperatures and robust crowds was the challenge. Hit or miss, was the best term we can use to describe the opening weekend results. Many of the more experienced anglers did very well. Many of the less technically oriented anglers struggled.

The good news is that walleyes which were caught tended to be high quality fish. Keepers from the large 2019-year class now range from 15-1/2 to 16-1/2 inches in length. The population remains strong too, so there’s an excellent chance of gathering fish for a meal. The also strong 2018-year class, and a smattering of remaining 2013 year class fish provided folks with opportunities to catch-photo-release some larger fish. Reports of fish from 18 to 22 inches were common, some larger fish in the 24-to-26-inch range were reported by especially lucky anglers.

The key depths tended to be deeper than typical for most. Most common were reports of folks catching fish in the 16-to-22-foot depth range. Fish were also located shallower, but only in areas where turbidity was greater. Flowages, like Third River, or the entrance of the Mississippi River provided inflow of darker water and that provided cover. In these areas, 6 to 8 feet of water provided good action. Particularly on Sunday, when winds were stronger, and smoke from Canadian wildfires darkened the sky.

Jigs tipped with minnows, like most years was the key presentation. Weights varied with the water depths, but 1/8 and ¼ ounce sizes are most often deployed. Minnows of all varieties are widely available, including spottail shiners, the most popular among early season anglers. Despite their popularity, shiners are not necessary, large fatheads and rainbow chubs produced good results as well.

We began the report with news about the clear water conditions anglers faced over the opening weekend. The clear conditions are likely to persist until water warms, algae blooms increase, or we receive an increased flow of water from low-lying areas. If you’re able, plan your daytrip fishing for breezy, cloudy days. If you’re staying for several days, enjoy the sunrises and sunsets on the lake; fishing will be easier during those twilight periods.