Your 2026 Memorial Day Weekend Walleye Fishing Report for Cutfoot Sioux and Lake Winnibigoshish
Just in time for the Memorial Day weekend holiday, Mother Nature is providing us a break from the cold and blustery weather pattern. On Wednesday, the lake’s surface was calm, the sun was out and the stabilization began. Steadily rising air temperatures, predicted to last well into next week, should help trigger baitfish movements into shallow water. This in turn, will attract larger schools of walleye, perch and pike into the shallows.
Until now, breezy conditions, cold temperatures, and sluggish migration trends have created “spotty” fishing conditions. Whenever people located walleyes, they were able to catch them. The problem was that ever-changing wind directions, falling surface temperatures and clear water have created a puzzle with several missing pieces. Some days catches were good, some days, fishing was tough.
To date, the most consistent walleye fishing locations have been weed flats in back bays, incoming flowages and protected portions of the main lake. Water depths of 6 to 14 feet, semi-soft marl and sand bottom content covered with newly emerging vegetation provide cover for baitfish. Often, these regions have featured somewhat warmer surface temperatures; 53 degrees vs the 50 to 52 degrees found in main lake areas. Walleyes have roamed the flats, feeding on minnows holding tight to the sparse vegetation.
Typical of most early seasons on Cutfoot and Winnie, jigs and minnows dominate the presentation. Slow-trolling, controlled drifting and spot-locking have offered the best boat control for jigs and minnow presentations. Speed is important, in the cold water, .5 to .7 mph is ideal. Allow walleyes plenty of time to engulf the entire bait and lure combination. Be patient, steady pressure, leading into a firm, but smooth hookset will produce the most consistent hook-ups.
Alternately, slip floats, live bait rigs and “pitching” soft plastics or hair jigs have produced results for some anglers. Some of the better artificial lures include Eye Candy, Ripple Shads and Keitech minnow type plastics. For live bait rigging, larger, livelier minnows like big rainbows, golden shiners or even “pike suckers” in the 5-to-6-inch size range can be lightly hooked in the upper lip. Walleyes, especially larger fish, respond to the lively minnows when they allow jigging presentations to pass them by unmolested.
We’ve already reported that the strong, 2019-year class of walleyes have dominated the catch. Most of these 7-year-old fish have grown into the protected 18-to-23-inch slot size. Still, there are younger fish from other year’s classes in the lake, and some of our guests are finding them.
An advisory, offered at the docks, by the MN DNR large lake specialist Dan Schermerhorn gave us a clue for the successful pursuit of “keeper” size walleyes. “People get hung up on the larger fish when they begin to catch them. Moving away from biting fish isn’t easy, but it is the secret to finding smaller, “eating size” fish. From what we’ve seen in creel surveys is that populations of smaller fish are larger on the east side of the lake, vs many other regions.”
As the sunshine warms shallow water, baitfish migrations into the shallows will intensify. Spottail shiners, absent from minnow traps, began showing up in modest numbers on Wednesday. There will be more soon, and according to one of the better minnow dealers, anglers should have access to plenty of shiners for fishing this weekend. Walleyes too should have access to the shiners and anglers should be sure to check shallow water for schools of feeding fish.
Perch populations, also roaming the flats, are offering anglers some, but not a lot of action. For most folks, perch show up as a by-catch of their walleye fishing. For some, targeting perch has been successful when they concentrate on location, and tailor the presentation to trigger strikes. Watching our electronics, we look for tightly formed, small schools of fish. Once located, stopping the boat, dropping lures vertically over the side and using a super-slow “lift-drop-lift-hold” fishing style helps to trigger strikes. The slower, more vertical presentation is almost always better for catching perch, but it is especially important during periods of calm, bright weather.
Northern pike are showing up 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. We encourage you to eat some of the pike, they are excellent!
In case you haven’t already seen it, Outdoor Bound Television produced a program aimed at the pursuit, harvest and preparation of smaller size pike. In it, you’ll learn how to catch, clean, remove bones, and cook them using one simple, and excellent recipe. View the video here >> Outdoor Bound TV Bowen Lodge Northern Pike
Panfish haven’t been targeted by many so far this spring. With cold water and windy conditions, they have remained out in deep water. Memorial Day weekend often marks the start of our panfish season, and we’ll be keeping tabs on their progressions over the weekend. Watch a full report soon, as details become 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.