Lake Winnibigoshish and Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Report May 21, 2022

Cooperative Walleyes from Lake Winnie’s strong 2018 year class.

After our first full week of fishing for the 2022 season, we can honestly say that it’s been a wild ride. Despite the later than average ice-out, we managed to have all the docks in, and the chores finished in time for our fishing opener guests. And luckily, we did, because for our guests, the fishing opener was fantastic.

Typical of most openers, folks did not need to travel far to get in on good walleye action. In fact, several of our friends caught walleye limits within view of our marina on Saturday. Also typical of most seasons, from Sunday on, the epicenter of walleye fishing action has been on Lake Winnie.

“Post Spawn” accurately describes the timing for the walleye opener. Female fish, mostly spawned out, were already transitioning out of Cutfoot Sioux. Male fish, many of them still in “spawning mode” lingered in traditional breeding areas, hoping to catch the last wave action. By week’s end, 90% of the male fish we’re catching show no signs of milt, so they’re now focused on feeding rather than breeding.

So far, there hasn’t been any day that the fish weren’t biting, but honestly, there have been days when folks have had to battle tough fishing conditions to earn their catches. Strong Winds, mainly from the west, southwest, have whitened the surface water on the big lake and because of that, most folks are fishing within spotting scope view from the lodge. We’ve watched folks bobbing in the waves, but upon their returns, we’ve also watched them cleaning lots of fish.

Tamarack Point, The Three Sisters, Plughat Point, The River Channel and Bowen’s Flats have been good most days. The Rock Pile, The Dugouts, Farley Creek, and Pigeon River have been good on the days that those spots were within safe travel distances.

Surface water temperatures remain cool, ranging between 51 to 53 degrees on the big lake, somewhat cooler than that in Big Cutfoot, where we still find an occasional high 40 degree reading. The most common range is currently 50 to 52 degrees.

Jig and minnow combinations dominate the presentation, 1/8 to ¼ ounce weights have been most popular, when walleyes are located shallow, over weed stubble, 1/16-ounce jigs are used to keep the live bait running clear. Jig color preference is subjective and often more important to the angler than it is to the fish. Firetiger, watermelon, blue-glow, pink-glow, chartreuse yellow and Chartreuse Green have all been productive this week. Try your favorite color and it will probably work, but don’t be afraid to experiment, there are days when fish do show preferences.

Larger size minnows are working better than small ones, so pay attention to your offerings. Shiners have been available, but in very limited quantities and timing their availability has been sporadic, they sell as fast as they come in. Fatheads, rainbows and small “pike suckers” have been easier to come by, but even those supplies are sporadic. “Size of the bait is more important than minnow species,” one of our veteran fishing guides tells us. “A 3-to-4-inch chub will often out-perform shiners of the same size and are not only a lot more durable, but more available and affordable too. The same is true for other minnows, if it’s 3 to 4 inches long, healthy and has a little shine to attract attention, it will work.” He added.

Good fish management requires a certain level of flexibility on the part of anglers. So, we suggest paying close attention to the sizes of fish you catch. Walleye sizes have reflected the dominant year class populations in the lake. Folks are catching a lot of fish from the 2019-year class which are still small, we think, for harvest today, but will be attractive to anglers later this year. Late August and on through the fall should be good for timing for those 2019 fish, when almost all of them will exceed 14 inches and many will exceed 15 inches.

Fish from the strong 2018-year class are also being caught in good numbers, today, those fish range in size from 15 to 16 inches. While they don’t necessarily dominate the catch, they are available in numbers strong enough to suggest targeting them. We believe that this summer, willing anglers could participate in voluntary size boundaries for harvest. A minimum size of 15 inches, up to the legal maximum of 17.9 inches, would be a realistic goal for folks to set.

Nice walleye from Lake Winnie’s 2013 year class

Walleyes from the also strong 2013-year class are caught daily too and in good numbers. For a time, we were on board with encouraging anglers to harvest their legal possession limit of 1 walleye over 23 inches. Today, we’re taking a more conservative stance about that. While keeping that 1 fish over 23 inches is ultimately an angler’s choice, we are advising release rather than harvest. In our view, having more spawning size female fish in the system will become important in the future. Since good “eater size” fish are much available now than they were a few years back, we think it’s a reasonable suggestion.

Because walleye fishing always dominates the first week of every season, new about other species is limited.

Perch are either spawning now, or recovering from spawning and show up only sporadically at the fish cleaning tables.

Large Northern Pike have spawned already and moved away from shallow water. Anglers are picking up small ones while the fish for walleyes, if anyone is targeting them, we have not heard the news. I you like pike to eat, you’ll catch enough of the “eaters” while you’re jigging for walleyes.

Panfish haven’t shown up in shallow water locations yet and like the pike, if anyone is targeting them, we have not heard the news yet. Next week’s report could carry news along those lines, but it depends on what happens with the weather.

If you’re headed for the lake and don’t want to fight crowds at public landings, you can always launch your boat here at Bowen Lodge. It’s not free, but we think you night like what you get in return for your money.

Lake Winnibigoshish and Cutfoot Sioux 2022 Fishing Season Outlook

Lake Winnie - Cutfoot Sioux 2022 Fishing Outlook

Bowen Lodge guest Lonnie Mundt 2021 with beautiful Lake Winnie Walleye

Walleye anglers are sitting on the edge of their chairs, checking images of ice-out on Northern Minnesota lakes and searching for clues about where they’ll be able to fish on the upcoming opener.

 We’ve been watching too and have noticed that the origins of those image are creeping slowly, but steadily northward toward Lake Winnibigoshish and Cutfoot Sioux. With only 8 days remaining until the 2022 Minnesota Walleye opener, it’s going to be nip and tuck. Thanks though, to the arrival of this very much needed warm spell, we’ve become cautiously optimistic that our lakes, at least for the most part, will be open and accessible on May 14th!

This year, more than ever, there is good reason for anticipation of a great walleye fishing season to be high. Early data from MN DNR 2021 Fisheries surveys continue to support the widely held belief that 2, back-to-back, “dynamo year classes” of walleyes from both the 2018 and 2019 spawning seasons now dominate the population of walleyes in Winnie.

That means the population of “catchable” size fish in our system will be better in 2022, than it has been for several years. We think even better than it was when the very strong, 2013-year class reached maturity in the 2016-2017 seasons.

As the class of 2018 matures, the stage is set for our guests to enjoy not only good fishing for numbers of walleyes this summer, but also fish of desirable quality too. This will offer anglers a unique opportunity to be highly selective about which fish they harvest and which ones they release. And with a good population of the larger 2013-year class fish still in the system, anglers’ photo albums should be filling up with more images of big fish too.

Speaking of being selective, we’ll be encouraging folks to target fish from the 2018-year class for harvesting this summer. Now 4 years old, those fish will achieve sizes ranging from 15 to 17 inches throughout season. Grand Rapids Area Fisheries Dave Weitzel, told us in a recent conversation that a some of the 2018 fish may even graduate into the protected slot range, 18 to 23 inches, before next winter. So, it makes a lot more sense to allow the smaller, 2019 year class fish to reach maturity by releasing them now, so we can enjoy them later, most likely during the 2023 fishing season.

 We were already happy about the 2018 fish, but during the 2021 fall assessments, DNR fisheries staff recorded solid evidence that the 2019-year class could easily be larger than the 2018 class. A lot depends on survivals rates from last winter, so we won’t know that for sure until after spring and summer test results are in. But as shown in the accompanying chart above, 2019 could actually be Lake Winnie’s largest year class ever!

Magnum perch Lake Winnie fall 2021

All those hungry walleye mouths to feed could be responsible, in part, for lower-than-average perch numbers in Winnie and Cutfoot. At 8.3 fish per net, the fall survey recorded the lowest number of perch in recent history.

 As is often the case though, lower numbers of fish have resulted in more anglers catching perch of greater quality size. In 2021, 25% of perch recorded in angler surveys were over 9 inches. Fall fishing produced good numbers of quality fish, often mixed in with walleyes. Over the past winter, we observed firsthand, anglers with good catches of fish in the 10-to-11-inch range, with an occasional 12-inch bonus.

 Perch enthusiasts fishing the lake this summer will be well advised to cover lots of water, checking a variety of habitats. Perch, like most fish are highly adaptable and can be found feeding on anything. Crawfish, minnows, insects and young of the year gamefish are all on the menu. Habitat like gravel bars, weed beds and semi-soft, marl are likely feeding territory and could be found both shallow and deep.

Northern Pike, another popular species with anglers are well suited for Winnibigoshish and connected waters. The protected 22-to-26-inch slot seems to have resulted in some larger average size pike. We’ve seen more anglers catching fish within the protected slot sizes but have also noted more fish over 26 inches being caught too.

 DNR fall testing revealed a drop in the total number of pike caught in test nets in 2021. That, according to Grand Rapids Fisheries staff is good news. “Low to moderate pike numbers are desirable to maintain good growth rates and contribute to a desirable size quality.” Their spring assessment says.

 One thing we know is that anybody who wants to catch “eater” size pike on Winnie still can do it. According to the test net results, Lengths ranged from 15.1 to 30 inches with a mean length of 22.2 inches. With a bag limit of 10 fish under 22 inches, it doesn’t take long to gather enough fillets for fish fry, a plate of blackened pike or even better yet, coconut pike delight.

Panfish are important to our guests, especially during summer and fall. If you hadn’t already heard, Cutfoot Sioux made the list of lakes to receive protection under the “Quality Sunfish initiative.” The initiative, widely accepted by anglers, is aimed at helping restore larger panfish into systems where heavy harvest pressure has occurred.

 During recent years, sunfish numbers throughout the Cutfoot system have rebounded. We have noted though that many of them had not achieved larger sizes. So, for our guests, the 5 sunfish daily limit could be an exciting development. We’ll know more as time goes on, but we’re optimistic that once again, our guests can enjoy catching some of those “pie plate size” Bluegills that the Cutfoot and Winnie systems have been famous for.

 The late ice out affects us all, and like we said before, we’re just as anxious as you are to know how conditions will be for the opener. Keep your fingers crossed for more sunshine and breezy conditions and please do stay in touch; we’ll keep you posted about conditions every step of the way.

“Sweet 16 and Never Been … Fished” - Bowen Lodge Fishing Report 10-04-2021

About a year ago, retired DNR Big Lake Specialist and our friend, Gerry Albert, mentioned this in a casual conversation; “because of Lake Winnie’s rapid growth rate, walleyes from the 2018 will grow fast. Once they reach maturity, it won’t be much more than a couple of seasons before fish of that age will begin entering the protected slot, 18 to 23 inches.”

Lake Winnie “Class of 2018” Walleyes

Fish from that large year class have entered what we consider an “ideal size range”, 15 to 16 inches and are on the prowl in the big lake. As the accompanying photo shows, anglers who figure out where to look can gather a meal of fish from abundant supply of 2018 year class fish.

 So, where do they look, you may be thinking? The simple answer is by staying away from the crowds and away from wherever the “bite chasers” have proclaimed as the “best” fishing spots.

 Walleyes from the massive 2019-year class, and even some of the tiny 2020-year class fish now dominate the action in certain areas on Winnibigoshish. In some spots and when conditions are prime, catching doubles, even triples have been common, anglers have enjoyed a lot of action catching the 2019 class, 12-1/2 to 13-3/4 -inch fish. Some anglers are happily harvesting fish from the higher end of that year class already

 While it is true that anglers will harvest some larger size fish amidst the legions of smaller ones, most of the fish will be cookie cutter cousins from 2019, sticking together in huge schools. Even when there are larger fish present, they face extreme competition from the hungry little guys who will race them to your lure and most often, win.

Curt Black showing of a nice Winnie Walleye caught on “offbeat structure”.

Leaving the “hot bite” in search of smaller schools, of larger fish, can pay off big time because those fish, ones from the 2018-year class are both abundant and feeding, but often located on smaller, more isolated structures.

By searching out the smaller, more off-beat spots, not only will your catch more harvestable fish, but your chances of catching larger size, photo fish will go up too.

Shoreline related points, rock and gravel patches on the flats and small, more isolated patches of vegetation are all good places to look. Often, the spots are small, so food sources are more limited, enough to support small groups of fish, but not massive ones. The food sources may also be different, walleyes here may be feeding on “adult” perch rather than tiny, minnow size ones. Crawfish, larger minnows and even insect larvae can add to the attracting power of these spots.

 Key water depths are 10 to 12 feet, somewhat deeper than the shallow shoreline areas that have been providing the hot action recently. But, don’t overlook shallower water either, there are isolated structures there too and they will also hold smaller schools from the strong 2018 year class.

 Jig and minnow presentations now make up the lion’s share of anglers’ offerings. While there are a handful of anglers trolling spinners or crankbaits, their numbers are declining by the day.

 A handful of jigs in the 1/16, 1/8 and ¼ ounce sizes will cover you for most situations. Tipping them with larger minnows, ones in the 3-to-4-inch range will increase your chances of success. Fatheads, golden shiners, spottails, rainbows and “river mix” minnows will all produce good results. Just remember that fall is feeding time for these fish and the best fish, want the best food, so avoid any minnow species when they are too small.

 Perch, many of quality size are on the prowl these days too! Vegetation over shallow flats is the structure to look for. Massive schools of baitfish, along with schools of small young of the year gamefish dominate the food sources, but there are perch feeding on insects and crawfish too. So be on the lookout for gravel patches that lay adjacent to vegetation, these will be “premium” perch locations.

 Small, 1/16-ounce jigs tipped with medium fatheads are perfect. When there are strong winds, switch over to 1/8-ounce jigs to help maintain better contact with your lure to improve your sense of feel.

Panfish, particularly crappies, have taken a back seat to the walleyes this fall. Aficionados though, are sneaking around and finding them in both shallow weed growth and “classic fall spots” over deeper, open water.

 Without a lot of firsthand information coming in, its hard to offer solid advice for crappie anglers. So, let’s just say that if crappies are your passion and you spend some time prowling around, you will likely find enough of them to keep you satisfied.

Image of Bowen Lodge facing Lake Winnie October 3, 2021

 With surface temperatures still holding steady in the middle 60s, classic fall migrations into Cutfoot Sioux have been slow to start. According to the calendar, our fishing season should be winding down now. But according to the weather, we could easily imagine seeing anglers on the lake for a couple more weeks as more fish begin to migrate in from the big lake.

A More Colorful (and active) Lake Winnie and Cutfoot Sioux! Fishing Report September 22, 2021

The scene at our marina gave a sneak preview of what was in store for us as we headed out onto Cutfoot Sioux and eventually, Lake Winnie. Fall colors setting in along the tree line, a bright blue September sky and puffy “cotton ball clouds”. Now, if the fish would just happen to be biting, we’d be tempted to call this place paradise.

The scene at Bowen Lodge Marina Tuesday September 2021

Paradise it is!

 Walleyes were on the prowl this Tuesday, even on the heels of a major line of thunderstorms blew through the region on Monday. We had to do a little searching to find the right spot, but once we were in ‘em, the classic shallow water, jig and minnow bite kept us busy for the whole afternoon.

 Surface water temperatures did not fall as much as we expected, even after the cold air that settled in after Monday’s heavy rain. In Cutfoot, 63 to 64 degrees was the range we observed and on the big lake, 62 to 63 degrees was more typical. Water clarity was still fairly low, we could not see the bottom in 5 feet. We’re not sure if this is due to an “algae bloom” that’s hanging on, or residual cloudiness caused by the turbulent weather. Either way, the murky water conditions encouraged walleyes to continue prowling the shallows.

Walleye action on Winnie is fast and the scenery is beautiful; Paradise It Is! Photo courtesy Kyle Reynolds.

Key depths range from 4 to 6 feet of water, but in calm areas, fish could be located deeper. Reports of catching walleyes in 10 to 16 feet of water are not uncommon, so if the wind dies, or you’re fishing on the calm side of the lake, don’t be afraid to experiment.

 Key structures include both vegetation and rocks. The hard bottom, gravel and rock patches in shallow water are best during windy periods. Deep rocks are a better choice when it’s calm and so is any good patch of cabbage, coontail or eelgrass; they will hold fish even under sunny skies and flat-water conditions.

 Key presentations continue to be jig and minnow, spinners, and crankbaits. But it is worth noting that some of our friends were on the lake this Tuesday and reported that this was the first fishing trip of the season that required only 1 rod per person. A 1/8-ounce jig, tipped with large fatheads caught walleye, perch, rock bass and pike all day long. There was never a time when the crew felt any temptation to vary, or experiment with alternate presentations.

 For the moment, most of the walleye action continues to be on Lake Winnie. But some of our guests are catching fish on Cutfoot as well. Knowing the reputation for fall walleye fishing that Cutfoot has, it’s obvious that the best is yet to come. But every day, there are a few more walleyes wandering in from Winnie, along with resident fish moving out to the edges of heavy vegetation as it begins to die off and thin out.

Some Winnie Walleyes from the 2018 year class are stretching their way toward 16 inches.

Walleyes from the 2019-year class, 12-1/2 to 13-1/2-inch fish, still dominate the action. But there are more and more fish from the also strong, 2018-year class showing up every day and the size is become highly desirable. In fact, anyone with an extended time frame could easily set a bottom end size for “keeper walleyes” at 15 inches. For folks who are on a day trip, or in a pinch for time, a 14-inch minimum would be more realistic and fairly easy to accomplish. But even they will find a smattering of the larger, 2018-year class fish in the mix. Over the past week, some examples were observed that came close to already reaching the 16-inch mark!

Every fall we see an uptick in the number of large fish caught during the harvest moon. Last week was no exception, large walleyes, large pike, and even larger perch were reported by both guests and some of the local guides. There will be another “big fish boom” down the line and some of the larger fish will continue to run even now. But we think that most folks should expect to see the sizes trending back toward smaller fish as the true, fall walleye migrations progress over the next week.

Panfish, as we reported last week have taken a back seat to the walleye fishing. But there are folks seeking out and catching both crappies and sunfish. As of last week, there were still a lot of panfish located in shallow water vegetation. As the cooling trend continues, there will almost certainly be an uptick in panfish action. We’ll focus more on that for the next report.

If you’re on the way to the lake for this weekend, you should arrive just in time for the peak of fall colors and if trends continue their present course, the peak of fall walleye fishing too! When you’re in the area, stop in and say hello.

Lake Winnie Report Fall Walleye Migrations Intensify. Bowen Lodge Fishing Report 09-10-2021

Is this it, for real, have the fall walleye migrations on Lake Winnie begun?

It would certainly seem so, by all accounts, guests are returning to the marina with reports of good walleye fishing on the big lake. When we walk out to the fish cleaning station, we see even more evidence and hear more reports about good catches every evening.

The “Luscious Sisters” showing off nice walleye caught on Lake Winnie.

One true test occurred on Thursday (9-09), after a long stretch of breezy weather, the sun came out and the lake went flat. Most anglers know that flat, sunny conditions typically stop a great walleye bite in its tracks, but this did not happen. In fact, there were lots of folks who actually caught more walleyes during this period of calm, than they did on previous days when conditions were windy.

Boat control, in many cases is likely the main reason for an improvement. On of the local guides fished out of the resort on Thursday and said, “I think it was easy to get strikes on the windy days, but not as easy to get good hook sets. Walleyes need to be given time to fully inhale the lures, and when it’s too windy, boat speed works against us. The anglers are trying to wait for the fish to get the bait, but the fish often lose interest before they finish it off. When it calms down, the crew has more time to work each strike and the hook setting percentage goes way up.”

Boats on Lake Winnie

Ideal speeds for drifting or trolling while fishing with jig and minnow combinations are around .6 to .8 MPH. When anglers can hold within that range, the presentation just feels most comfortable. Not to mention that fish respond better to jigging presentations at these speeds.

Trolling with spinners is a different matter, faster speeds work better. Most folks shoot for 1.0 to 1.3 MPH. Until recently, spinners tipped with minnows is the only presentation anglers really needed. But this week, we’ve seen serious evidence of shifting preferences. Knowing when to switch between the 2 presentations is important. Trolling with spinners is still an effective search tool, but once you’ve located walleyes, slow down your boat and try jigging, you’re liable to do better.

In 6 to 8 feet of water, one of the key depth ranges, a 1/8-ounce jig tipped with large fatheads, golden shiners or “river mix” minnows with do the trick. Fishing deeper requires a little more weight, especially on breezy days. In most cases, deeper fish are holding in depths of 14 to 18 feet, on top of the edges on mid-lake bars. Using a ¼ ounce jig will cover you most of the time, but a handful of 3/8 to ½ ounce jigs would help on windier days or when fish slip out over the steep breaks in water depths of 22 to 26 feet.

Cooling water = decreasing vegetation and reduced algae blooms

Cooler water temperatures, now in the 65-to-66-degree range have triggered a lot of fish movement, but the calendar plays a role too. It’s obvious that days are becoming noticeably shorter and a trip around the lake will reveal that many patches of vegetation have matured. It is now common to see stalks of wild celery floating on the surface and many of least hardy submerged grasses are becoming sparse. Cabbage and coontail patches remain green though and these are fast becoming key fish holding areas, not only for walleyes, but for pike and perch too.

You could be reading this report and wondering where is “the hard news” about fish location? Now, we don’t believe that poses a problem because any angler with a creative mind and an adventurous spirit can find fish on Winnie. There are schools of fish located on all 4 sides of the lake, in the middle and on shoreline connected, main lake bars.

Troll or drift along any stretch of shoreline and you’re going to find fish eventually. When there’s no wind, finding vegetation is critical and is THE KEY to fish location. On breezy days, fish wander away from the heaviest grass, then, locating areas that provide “workable” drifting or trolling patterns is the secret to success.

Luscious Kelly Damon with chunky pike for the fish fry.

Locating multiple schools of fish over a variety of locations is the secret to finding some of Winnie’s most coveted, keeper size fish. Jeff Sundin, local fishing guide has been around the resort this week and says, “For me, moving from spot-to-spot, looking for various pods of fish has helped us catch more walleyes in the 14-to-16-inch range. It can be fun to stay in an area where there’s lots of action. But I believe that fish from individual year classes tend to stick together. If there’s a thousand small fish in an area, I find it more likely to locate “keepers” when I move away and fish more offbeat structures, often ones that hold fewer fish. Sometimes, cherry picking 2 or 3 15-inch walleyes from the 2018-year class is more rewarding than hanging around a school 0f 2019-year class fish that range from 11 to 13 inches.

I wouldn’t want to over-sell the notion that there are places where we only ever catch keepers, but certain areas do provide heightened odds of success and that’s what I’m looking for.”

By the way, we’d be remiss by not calling attention to Sundin’s reason for being here. The annual VA Nurses Club outing is another sure sign that fall is here. The event is a lot of fun, but don’t let the Luscious Sisters’ wacky outfits fool you, these girls (and guys) are here to fish too. And, as you can see by the accompanying images, they’ve had a good time in that regard.

Overshadowed by the walleye action, panfish and perch have been more of a side-pursuit this week. Some folks are catching panfish in both Cutfoot and Little Cutfoot, but it’s early fall and fish remain scattered. It is not unusual to hear that some folks are catching fish in shallow vegetation while others report finding them in open water. Soon, panfish will consume a greater portion of our report, the news will likely intensify over the next week.

Pike remain active and can be found anywhere that green vegetation provides cover. This week, we’ve noticed an uptick in the number of people who are casting for pike. Pike in the 26-to-30-inch range are becoming more plentiful again and are attracting folks with more passion for toothy critters. With an increasing average size, we’re guessing that the trend will continue.

Folks who just want to get some ”eater” size pike are in luck too, there are solid numbers of girthy fish in the 20 to 21 inch range, perfect for many of our favorite pike recipes.

Watch for more updates as the week ahead unfolds.