Lake Winnibigoshish Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Report July 13, 2026

After several seasons of relatively easy walleye fishing, anglers are working harder, and smarter to capture “The Gold” on Lake Winnie this year. Declines in the population of fish from strong 2018- and 2019-year classes account for part of the struggle. This year though, unfavorable environmental conditions have accounted for more than the fish populations have.

Jake Premo, one of the better guides on Winnie said yesterday, “Right now, practically every piece of structure on that lake has at least some walleyes on it. It’s crazy, even when I stay 40 to 60 feet away from the fish, I can scan them and get about 1 out of 15 fish bite using jigging raps or using slip floats and live bait.” Premo went on to say that there are fish in shallow water too, they are visible, but like their deep-water cousins, are very difficult to catch.

Turning to advanced electronics to help solve the problem worked like a charm for several seasons. There’s no doubt that the proper use of forward-facing sonar will allow you to see fish before your boat passes over them and that is a big advantage. Still, seeing fish on your screen doesn’t mean that you can trigger them to strike. Anglers suggest that fish are conditioned to detect the “ping” of the powerful sonar beam which contributes to their “boat shyness.”

The most devoted walleye anglers use the cover of darkness to make catching finicky walleyes easier. Night anglers do report better success, and so do those who fish early in the morning or later in the evening. Fishing the crepuscular periods is important tip for folks searching for keeper size fish. Larger schools of smaller, more active fish seem to move during these early and late, low-light periods.

Feeding walleyes move along the mid-depth flats in water depths of 8 to 14 feet of water. Precise depths vary with locations on the lake, but any structures that connect shallow shoreline or mid-lake flats to the breakline into deeper, mid-lake basin areas are potential candidates. Covering water is one key to consistent success, so aggressive presentations are better here than slow moving, finesse style presentations.

Trolling with crankbaits gets a lot of attention from night and low-light fishing enthusiasts. But an exciting alternative is casting paddle baits, jigging raps and bucktail hair jigs. Position your boat along the edges where water depths transition from shallow to deep, and vice versa. Fan cast the area and retrieve your lures using an aggressive swim-drop-sweep-drop style retrieve. Experiment with jigging cadences, and fine tune your presentation for each lure.

This year, water clarity remains high, Secchi disk readings of 20 feet plus are common. The water clarity contributes to sluggish walleye action. So, for folks who insist on fishing during the daytime hours, finding vegetation, or areas of darker water will help. Warm weather and sunny conditions should encourage the development of algae blooms and that will help. It’s not at all uncommon for walleyes to go on intense feeding runs during the late summer, warm water period.

Perch, another fish species that undergo warm water feeding runs have already been showing up in shallow patches of eelgrass, and other submerged vegetation. Some anglers are finding them in water depths of 4 to 6 feet, others are reporting perch caught in deeper water, wherever mixed gravel and rock are present.

Jigs and minnows are most popular for catching perch. Trolling with spinners tipped with minnows or ½ night crawlers are an effective method of searching for them. Once located, stopping the boat, anchoring and fishing slowly, using vertical presentations will likely put the most fish in your boat.

Sunfish, rock bass and largemouth bass love the warm water and are very active. Folks looking for action should look to these species to keep the kids (of all ages) busy. Again, trolling over the tops of submerged vegetation is a great way to locate schools of fish. For sunfish, tipping your spinner with ½ night crawlers is going to get the most action. At times though, small perch will attack relentlessly and can become a nuisance. In situations like that, swap your worms for small to medium size leeches; they will help cut down on perch attacks and increase your productivity.

Northern pike get a little harder to catch when the water is warm. For the best action, search for them along deeper breaklines with fast breaking drop-offs into deep water. The presence of gravel or rock adds to the attractiveness of a spot. Deep growing vegetation like cabbage, coontail and others will gather baitfish which in turn, attracts northern pike too.

There are a lot of ways to catch pike, but probably the best presentations are jigging with heavy weight jigs and larger size paddle tails or live bait rigs tipped with large, lively minnows. Follow the steep breaklines in water depths of 14 to 24 feet of water. When casting jigs, use an aggressive drop-snap-drop-snap retrieve. When using live minnows, move slowly along the edges, and let the minnows do all the work.

The best minnows are lively creek chubs in the 7-to-12-inch size range. Alternatives are large golden shiners, or sucker minnows. Use 2-hook, quick strike style rigs to help avoid deep hooking the pike.

Remember, you’re always welcome to pay us a visit. We have a great boat ramp, live bait, boat fuel and tackle. And for folks in the market for quality cutlery, Bowen Lodge is a Benchmade dealer. The water series fillet knives, along with dozens of other Benchmade products, are available here, in our lodge. Whether e see you or not, we wish you good luck on the lake!

Lake Winnibigoshish Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Report June 15, 2026

The walleyes are trying to cooperate, they really are! Last week, they’ were “stacked up” along the upper edges of main lake breaklines as they migrate away from the shallows, toward deeper water. On a recent fishing trip, Larry Lashley and his crew reported, “We could see the fish swimming under the boat. Fishing at the Sugar Bar, 14 to 16 feet of water was full of fish. We caught some of them. But struggled to get most to bite, but they were definitely there, and one of these days, we’re going to figure out how to catch more of them”.

Seeing the fish, watching them swim around under the boat is exciting, and it helps boost confidence that an angler is fishing in “the right spot”. That’s one good thing, but that same ability to see the fish also points to a problem; ultra clear water. If we can see the fish, then they can see us too and when they’re alerted to our presence, they become more difficult to catch. So, if your goal is to catch walleyes, then working out how to present a lure to them before they detect your presence is the key.

Obviously, a lot of anglers have turned to advanced electronics to help solve the problem. The proper use of forward-facing sonar will allow you to see fish before your boat passes over them and that is a big advantage. Still, just seeing fish on your screen, as many pros report, doesn’t mean that you can trigger them to strike. Often, fish can detect the “ping” of the powerful sonar beam, and the effect is equal to them detecting you visually; they become alert and less likely to strike.

Remember our report last week? In it, we offered this, “An important lesson to remember is that despite being heavily pursued, those “boat shy” fish must still feed at some point on most days. So, the trick to success is to be the first, or among the first wave of anglers to discover any “fresh” school of fish.”

Despite what many will say, how you accomplish being the first, or in the first wave of anglers to discover “fresh schools of walleyes” is not dependent on having advanced electronics. There are several ways to present lures to fish before they become alerted to your presence. Probably the easiest “work-around” is to fish at night. One angler, checking in with us at the fish cleaning station said, “I don’t even go out during the daytime, I just wait for the sun to go down and start fishing then,”

Fishing in the dark is fine for the “hard core” walleye anglers. For them, catching fish is the highest goal and other parts of the fishing experience are less important. Not everyone enjoys fishing at night though, and we understand that. It can be cold and clammy in the dark, there can be more insects to fight off and there are additional safety considerations too. That’s not for everyone, is it? Discomfort and safety concerns are why we seldom encourage the more casual anglers to participate in night fishing.  

Daytime anglers who don’t have the tools for “scoping fish” should consider the advice of one veteran guide who fishes on Lake Winnie frequently. “Follow the breakline using your trolling motor, or a drift sock to make a slow, controlled drift. Cast your lures out and away from the path of your boats travel. Retrieve the lures along the upper edges of shoreline breaks, or the edges of main lake bars and humps. Known fish holding locations like rock piles and cabbage patches can be approached the same way. Be prepared before you approach structure, then sneak up on the structure, cast your lures toward it and retrieve along the edges, over the tops of vegetation or rocks or into the gaps between heavy patches of cabbage, coontail or other submerged plants.

One of the most reliable presentations last week was slip-floats and live bait. Small 1/32 ounce to 1/16-ounce jigs tipped with ½ night crawlers of large leeches have worked well. Jigs and minnows, or jigs tipped with plastics continue to be effective too, and so do 1/8-ounce jigs tip with night crawlers. On a recent trip, one group of anglers reported catching a few fish on every one of these presentations on the same day. So, avoid becoming dependent on any one presentation, and be willing to experiment with alternatives.

The advice we offered last week remains in effect. “Creeping along at slow speeds and casting lightweight jigs is still an effective search method. Retrieve the lures using a light hop-drop-drop-hop-drop retrieve until contact with fish is accomplished. Then stop the boat, anchor or spot-lock and switch over to one of the slip-bobber presentations. Other search baits, like in-line spinners tipped with trailing night crawlers, can be effective too. Experiment with suspending style crankbaits as well, make long casts, allow the baits to fall for several seconds and then retrieve using a twitch-stop-swim, twitch-stop-swim style retrieve. No matter which presentation you use, keep your lures out and away from the boat, concentrating on finding fish before they detect your presence.”

Northern pike have been on a rampage recently and anglers searching for walleyes are catching lots of them. The Larry Lashley group used northern pike to prepare several “shore dinners” last week. Fried, blackened, broiled, baked, smoked or pickled, pike are a delicious and useful source of protein that should not be overlooked.

Most of the northern pike caught recently have been the by-catch of walleye fishing. Probably the most exciting way to target them right now is to use 1/8 to ¼ ounce jigs tipped with large plastics. Lures in the 3-1/2 to 5 inch range are effective, and bright colors like yellow-orange, lime-yellow and orange-black are good combinations. Lures like Berkley’s Ripple Shad, Northland’s Eye Candy, Keitech Minnows, and others will produce good results. The jigs heads to use can be any of the longer shanked hooks in the 1/0 to 3/0 size range. Use an aggressive snap jigging presentation to trigger strikes.

Spinnerbaits, rattling style crankbaits or “Rippin’ Raps” can also be used, especially in patches of vegetation. Use steel leaders, or at least a leader made of 20-to-30-pound fluorocarbon to protect your expensive lures from “bite-offs”.

Finding vegetation is the secret to finding perch right now. Eelgrass beds are developing and perch love this type of cover. Other low-lying grasses, or even cabbage patches will hold perch as well. Once located, anchoring and still-fishing with tight lines are effective presentations. Trolling with spinners tipped with minnows is also a good presentation for perching, especially when used as a search method.

This weekend, cool and highly windy weather was a setback for many. The weather forecast going forward appears to be more moderate, and we’re looking forward to a re-start of early summer fishing patterns. Soon, insect hatches “should” begin occurring around the lake. That is typically the time when walleyes move toward deeper, mid-lake structures. When this happens, anglers will enjoy the benefits of fish holding in somewhat deeper water. Watch for updates and advisories as the conditions evolve.

Remember, you’re always welcome to pay us a visit. We have a great boat ramp, live bait, boat fuel and tackle. And for folks in the market for quality cutlery, Bowen Lodge is a Benchmade dealer. The water series fillet knives, along with dozens of other Benchmade products, are available here, in our lodge. Whether we see you or not, we wish you good luck on the lake!

Lake Winnibigoshish Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Report June 5, 2026

Walleye fishing on Lake Winnibigoshish has been a tale of heroes and zeros. Some days, yesterday’s zeros are today’s heroes, and other days, yesterday’s heroes are today’s zeros. Land at the right school of fish, at the right time, and you’ll score a great catch. Miss out on the timing, and it could be a struggle.

 There are a handful of areas that have, and continue to hold good schools of fish, that’s the good news. The trouble is that those areas are widely known, and the fish in these regions have been heavily pursued. With all that pressure, the term “boat shy”, pops up frequently when anglers talk about their fishing trips. Many boaters report finding and spotting fish on their electronics but then go on to say that they struggle to make those fish bite.

 An important lesson to remember is that despite being heavily pursued, those “boat shy” fish must still feed at some point on most days. So, the trick to success is to be the first, or among the first wave of anglers to discover any “fresh” school of fish. Starting early in the morning is one way to do that, constantly moving and searching for pods of fish is another way. Find some fish, target them for a few minutes, catch the ones that will respond to your presentations and then move on.

 The areas most likely to hold fish are semi-soft sand/marl flats with bottoms covered in vegetation. Back bays and flowages are the key locations, and key depths range from about 10 feet, down to about 14 feet of water. Shiners, small perch and other “baitfish” have moved onto these flats and hold in the green cover.  The better the growth, the more holding power it has, but any grass is good grass, even sparse, low-lying grasses will hold bait and that in turn, attracts feeding fish. Taller plants like cabbage provide even more cover, enough to hold gamefish too, and these areas become premium locations.

 Locating fish is the basis for success, but presentations are equally important and the best methods for catching them varies day-to-day. The most reliable approach this week has been using slip-floats. Some days small jigs tipped with ½ night crawlers have worked well. The same, 1/32 ounce to 1/16-ounce jigs tipped with lively leeches is another reliable presentation. Jigs and minnows, or jigs tipped with plastics have been less effective, but shouldn’t be overlooked, especially when searching for fish.

 Truthfully, the anglers who are doing best are the “sharpshooters”, anglers who use live sonar to locate fish. Scoping pods of fish far away from the boat, then stopping and casting to them helps cutdown on “boat shyness”. Still, anglers without advanced electronics can still catch fish provided you use presentations that allow you to reach out to the fish before your boat approaches them.

 Creeping along at slow speeds and casting lightweight jigs is still an effective search method. Retrieve the lures using a light hop-drop-drop-hop-drop retrieve until contact with fish is accomplished. Then stop the boat, anchor or spot-lock and switch over to one of the slip-bobber presentations. Other search baits, like in-line spinners tipped with trailing night crawlers, can be effective too. Experiment with suspending style crankbaits as well, make long casts, allow the baits to fall for several seconds and then retrieve using a twitch-stop-swim, twitch-stop-swim style retrieve. No matter which presentation you use, keep your lures out and away from the boat, concentrating on finding fish before they detect your presence.

 Last week’s warming trend encouraged panfish and bass to move into shallow water spawning areas. Surface water temperatures reached into the mid-60s and have remained there for over a week. Lilacs were in full bloom and the full moon occurred last Sunday. That perfect combination of temperature, timing and moon phase attracted crappies first and fast. Crappies, for the most part, have already completed their spawning ritual. We anticipate that crappies will now be found in cabbage, coontail, or other submerged vegetations.

 Bass and sunfish can still be found in the shallows. We advise against removing larger “bull bluegills” from spawning beds. Focus instead on roaming female sunfish, capturing them is far less detrimental to maintain quality bluegill fishing going forward.

 As we reported last week, perch populations are roaming the flats, along with walleyes. Not much has changed, most harvested perch are caught by walleye anglers. Few of our customers are intentionally targeting perch. The ones we are report finding them in cabbage, coontail or other mixed vegetation. If you’re searching for them, try areas like these first.

 Last week we wrote; “Northern pike continue to be found in good numbers along steep, shoreline-related bars. Focus on water depths of 10 to 18 feet, troll or drift the edges using 1/8 to ¼ ounce jigs tipped with larger minnows, 4-to-5-inch golden shiners are ideal, but most any minnow variety, if it’s on the larger side, will work. Use an aggressive snap jigging presentation to trigger strikes.”

 That advice still holds true, but this week, add another presentation to your list. Spinnerbaits, large and flashy 3/8 to ½ ounce sizes cast into healthy patches of cabbage will produce pike. Key colors for spinnerbaits are white, chartreuse, yellow, and black/orange combinations. Larger twin willow leaf blades, or single Colorado blade models are both good. Tipping the hook with 3-to-4-inch twirl tail plastics can add to the attracting power too.

 As the weather continues to warm, insect hatches “should” begin occurring around the lake. When this happens. Gamefish locations are likely to change. We’ll be keeping tabs on any news about bug hatches, and report to you as the information becomes available.

 Travel safely this weekend and remember, you’re always welcome to pay us a visit. We have a great boat ramp, live bait, boat fuel and tackle. And for folks in the market for quality cutlery, Bowen Lodge is a Benchmade dealer. The water series fillet knives, along with dozens of other Benchmade products, are available here, in our lodge.

Lake Winnibigoshish Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Report May 28, 2026

It is often said that history repeats itself, but seldom do 2 fishing seasons match as closely as we see this season. Remember our fishing report for this same week last year? In it, we offered, “Out are the cold and blustery conditions that tested guests who fished with us last week. In, are warmer air temperatures, sunshine and calmer breezes. Revealed are ultra-clear water, along with flighty walleyes.” For more, read the full Bowen Lodge Fishing Report May 25, 2025

 The temperatures, both water and air, are tracking closely with those we observed last year. This week, we’ve seen air temperatures rise into the mid-80s and under bright sunshine, surface temperatures increasing dramatically. On Tuesday, dark water areas on Little Cutfoot reached into the mid-70s. The clearer waters of Winnie and Cutfoot managed to reach the 66-to-68-degree range.

 Shiners, small perch and other “baitfish” were encouraged to move onto shallow water flats. Walleyes, larger perch and northern pike followed and could be seen without the aid of electronics. In the clear water though, most of those fish were un-approachable. Jake Premo, Jake’s Guide Service said, “There are big schools of walleyes in the shallows by us, on the west side of Winnie. It’s just so clear that all we can do is watch them swim away”.

 The phenomenon was echoed by others as well. Walleyes in the clear water can easily spot anglers attempting to get within fishing range. They slowly meander away whenever any boat approaches.

 Most attempts by anglers to get a look at the fish before presenting a lure will fail. But for folks willing to troll slowly near the shoreline breaks and make long casts, without first spotting fish, some success can be expected.

 Creeping along at boat speeds of .3 to .6 mph, cast lightweight jigs in the 1/16-to-3/16-ounce weight range toward the shallows. Retrieve the lures using a light hop-drop-hop-drop retrieve until contact is reached. On Tuesday, this approach helped our guests Fritz and Penny Becker catch some walleyes, and northern pike too. They were, at times, fishing within sight of our resort. They were fishing in about 5 feet of water, from a boat position held along the drop-off over depths of 8 to 9 feet of water.

 On that day, they used live bait, a combination of golden shiners and large fatheads on their jigs. Soft plastics can also be used and there are a variety of baits that will work. Ripple Shads, Mooch Minnows, Keitech Minnow, and Eye Candy are popular choices. The best sizes range from 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches, experiment with colors and sizes until to discover your own personal favorites.

 There are some alternative walleye locations over deeper weed flats located in back bays, incoming flowages and some isolated portions of Lake Winnie. In water depths of 9 to 12 feet, walleyes, along with a mix of perch, pike and rock bass have been somewhat easier to catch than those found in shallower water.

 The developing vegetation, growing over a semi-soft marl and sand mix provides cover for baitfish. Often, these patches of sparse vegetation can be fished using a presentation that one angler calls “mud-raking”. The term refers to casting lightweight jigs tipped with either a minnow or using leeches or night crawlers and using a super slow, hop-drag-hop-drag retrieve.

 Reed Ylitalo, one of our preferred fishing guides, used a similar approach to gather a mixed bag of northern pike, perch, rock bass and walleyes this week. “I just creep along watching for pods of fish on my side-imaging and stop when I see something. Then we cast and slowly hop the jigs back to the boat. We pick up a fish or two at each stop, and then move again, looking for more.” Ylitalo advised.

 The secret to using this approach is to move slowly and methodically. Boat speeds should be held to .5 mph or less, while searching for fish. Spot-locking, anchoring or deploying a talon is the best way to present your lures. It’s likely the best way to trigger strikes when the sunshine and calm water forces fish to hold tight to the bottom.

 Warmer water, baitfish migrations and developing vegetation will improve next week as warmer, stable weather persists. Walleye, perch and pike locations will broaden as their habitats expand. Panfish too, are likely to become easier to locate as water temperatures rise.

 Crappies, while not on a full-scale spawning run, are beginning to show up in areas adjacent to spawning territory. Earlier this week, some anglers fishing either Cutfoot or Little Cutfoot managed to catch a moderate number of them. When queried, the secretive fisherman said, “I wouldn’t say we got into ‘em, but we found a few. Some were in the shallows, but most were deeper, located in water depths of 10 to 14 feet along the break lines.”

 We expect to see more crappies moving toward the shallows soon, as surface temps approach the mid-60s, spawning activity will intensify and we’ll have a report again next week.

 As we reported last week, perch populations are roaming the flats. Not much has changed in that regard, and for most folks, perch continue to show up as a by-catch of their walleye fishing rather than through targeting them specifically. This is a period of the season when perch are notorious for being absent. But often, the ones we do find during early summer will be in cabbage, coontail or other mixed vegetation. If you’re searching for them, try areas like these first.

 Northern pike continue to be found in good numbers along steep, shoreline-related bars. Focus on water depths of 10 to 18 feet, troll or drift the edges using 1/8 to ¼ ounce jigs tipped with larger minnows, 4-to-5-inch golden shiners are ideal, but most any minnow variety, if it’s on the larger side, will work. Use an aggressive snap jigging presentation to trigger strikes.

 Already mentioned earlier in this report, northern pike are showing up over developing vegetation on the mid-depth flats too. Historically, this is a period of summer when locating baitfish almost always leads to finding hungry pike. Follow the ageless advice, “find the bait, and you’ll find the fish.” Paddle tails, 3-1/2 inch up to 4-1/2 inches on longer shank jigs area a good choice for targeting pike. Fan casting the flats, and retrieve using a fast snap-swim-snap-swim retrieve will put some pike in the boat.

 Travel safely this weekend and remember, you’re always welcome to pay us a visit. We have a great boat ramp, live bait, boat fuel and tackle. And for folks in the market for quality cutlery, Bowen Lodge is a Benchmade dealer. The water series fillet knives, along with dozens of other Benchmade products, are available here, in our lodge.