To say that it’s been a week of weather extremes, is putting it mildly.
Judy Carlson with a 25-1/2 inch opening weekend walleye.
Over the Walleye fishing opener weekend, guests like Judy Carlson, pictured, enjoyed mid-summer-like weather on the big lake. Cold fingers and rain suits were the least of concerns on our guests’ minds. The air temperatures were warm, ranging into the mid-80s during the daytime. On the lake, surface water temperatures rose into the low-to-mid 60s, tipping the scale at 66 degrees in some of the back bays and darker water flowages.
At mid-week, the scenario changed; cold northwest winds blew as daytime high temperatures dropped as much as 40 degrees. Rainy, windy conditions became the new normal and on Sunday, guests even enjoyed snow squalls blustering across the lake. Most popular fishing gear included hand warmers, mittens and parkas. Surface water temperatures plummeted, settling into the 53 to 55 degree range by Sunday afternoon.
As inconsistent as the weather has been, walleye fishing has been the complete opposite. Our guests and visiting anglers have consistently located and caught good numbers of walleye. There are schools of fish on all 4 sides of the lake, and while there is no “hot bite” going on anywhere, there is a steady bite going on everywhere.
For most folks, fishing shoreline breaks and flats in water depths of 9 to 12 feet have been a good starting point. Occasionally, walleyes are found deeper, in water depths of 18 to 24 feet, also along the shoreline drop-offs. Shallow water, 6 to 8 feet has produced some fish too, especially in areas of the lake where shiner minnows and other small gamefish roam the sand flats during spring. For now, there are still shiner traps in the lake, and these provide clues about where some of the better shallow water spots are located.
Shiner minnow trap in Lake Winnibigoshish
For walleyes, jig and minnow presentations are the most consistent. Standard operating procedure is to use ¼ ounce jigs tipped with minnows in water depths of 10 to 20 feet. In shallower water, 1/8-ounce jigs tipped with minnows will perform better. Shiners, by far the most popular minnow have worked well, but as the water gets colder, smaller minnows have been better in terms of getting good hook sets. So, if you’re headed for the lake, bring along a variety of minnow species and sizes.
Using plastic tails, gaining in popularity, has produced some walleyes, but the artificial lures have not been competitive with live bait so far. Experiment with both, and likely the action oriented artificial jigging baits will become more consistent as water temperatures warm back up.
In our 2025 pre-season fishing outlook, we reported, “walleye anglers will most likely notice a change in the average size of the fish they catch this season. Walleyes from the strong, 2019-year class remain plentiful, and have grown! After analyzing 2024 data, Schermerhorn estimates that the average length of female walleyes will be about 19 inches during spring. Their 2019 male counterparts should measure somewhere between 17-1/2 and 18 inches on opening day.”
Today, we know for sure, our guests are catching a lot of the 2019-year class walleyes. Right now, the ratio is about 50-50 of “keepers” (under 18 inches) vs fish in the protected slot (18-23 inches) and that means 2 things. First, there are fewer “limits” of keepers coming into the fish cleaning station compared to the 2023 and 2024 seasons. However, the size of most fish anglers are harvesting have been very desirable. Male walleye ranging in size from 17 to 17-1/2 inches dominate their creels.
Today, not many Winnie anglers are targeting northern pike specifically but are catching some as they fish for walleyes. Most fish have been on the smaller side, “eaters” in the 19-to-21-inch range which are available, in good numbers for folks who are willing to harvest them. We encourage folks to eat some of the pike, not only as a form of management, but because they are delicious. In case you’ve missed it, we have an excellent video that will teach you how to clean them, and share one of the better recipes for cooking them too.
Yellow Perch action has been an on-again, off-again. Most of the perch coming in right now are caught by anglers fishing for walleyes. If you want to target them, look in shallow, back bays and flowages where there are bulrushes, or other standing vegetation. Use lighter jigs, 1-16- or 1-8-ounce weights, tipped with medium to large size fathead minnows.
Photo courtesy Travis Krug, Cutfoot Sioux crappies May 18, 2025
Panfish are important to our guests but won’t become the primary focus for many until the water warms up. Still, there are some folks targeting crappies, and they catch them during the evening. Finding patches of cabbage, adjacent to steep breaklines is a good location. Most often, anchoring the boat and fishing with small, live minnows suspended below slip-floats is the best presentation. The “bite-window” is short, often lasting for 30 to 45 minutes just before dark.
Whether you’ll be staying at Bowen Lodge, or not, we’d like to invite you to take advantage of our boat landing over the fishing opener. The cost is affordable, and we can help you avoid large crowds that will gather at the public boat ramps, especially during the early season. We’ve got live bait, gas, and refreshments too, so be sure to stop in when you’re in the neighborhood.