Walleye Fishing Report Lake Winnie and Cutfoot Sioux May 19, 2025

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.

Lake Winnibigoshish Cutfoot Sioux 2025 Fishing Season Outlook

With only 1 week remaining before the Minnesota Fishing opener, we’re excited to share our optimism for a great fishing season on Cutfoot Sioux and Lake Winnie!

Bowen Lodge Lake Winnie and Cutfoot Sioux 2025 Fishing Outlook

 Survey data from MN DNR 2024 Fisheries assessments are in, and this week, Dan Schermerhorn, the large lake specialist for the MN DNR Grand Rapids, MN region, shared his insights into lake data for the Winnie-Cutfoot chain of lakes and flowages.

 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.

Walleyes from the 2019 year class are growing larger, about half will be in the protected slot on opening day

 In 2024, our guests, fishing guides and friends who fish Winnie a lot, reported catching fish from other year classes too. The strong, 2018-year class remains well represented, and there were numerous fish in the 20-to-22-inch size range caught last summer and fall. Those larger, 2018 fish, combined with females from the 2019-year class will offer “catch and release” anglers lots of chances for pretty pictures of mid-size walleyes.

 Summer and fall testing revealed that 2020 was not a successful spawning season for walleyes. The low success rate can be explained in part to spring weather conditions. But were also likely due in part to increased predation from the high 2018-2019 populations of hungry walleyes. Yes, walleyes eat walleyes, so fish that did hatch during spring 2020 were at higher-than-average risk of becoming a prime food source for their larger cousins.

 Walleyes spawning during 2021 fared somewhat better, but statistically, the capture rate of the 2021-year class was shown to be below average. Still, reports from anglers on the lake did indicate that fish from that size range were caught. We did observe “modest numbers” of fish in the 13-to-15-inch range showing up in the fish cleaning station. So, anglers can expect to catch at least some fish in what many consider to be the ideal eating size range.

 The 2022 season appears to have been another “bust” for walleye spawning. However, Schermerhorn is cautiously optimistic that walleyes hatched in more robust numbers during the spring of 2023. “It’s unlikely that the year class will be a strong as 2019, but so far, it looks good. We’ll know a lot more when summer testing begins this year, and we learn how those fish survived over this past winter.” Schermerhorn said.

In 2024, anglers reported catching good numbers of small walleye from the apparently good 2023 year class

 Anecdotally, our guests and some of the local guides did report catching lots of small walleyes last summer and full. Fish in the 8-to-11-inch size range were found in a variety of locations around the lakes, and were caught in large numbers. It’s unlikely that those 2023 walleyes will attract much attention during the upcoming season. They’ll be a welcome sight though for folks who plan on fishing Cutfoot Sioux and Winnibigoshish during 2026 and 2027 seasons.

 Winnibigoshish has historically been known for the fast growth rates of its walleyes, and other fish. Recently, there have been signals that growth rates have slowed on the big lake. The slower pace of fish growth is likely a sign of the impact of zebra mussels on the lake’s water.

Declines in zooplankton correspond to increasing water quality

 Zooplankton, the primary food source for tiny, newly hatched gamefish, are also the primary food source for the filter feeding zebra mussels. Zebra mussels, along with other filter feeders like faucet snails, which are in direct competition with gamefish and minnows, have reduced zooplankton by around 40%. Studies are ongoing to determine whether this is a long-term change, or if the balance of nature forces mussel populations downward.

 “Also related to declining zooplankton, we think, is a decline in the lake’s tullibee population.” Schermerhorn says. “There are other factors like warming water temperatures, strong populations of small minnow and gamefish species. A cool, cloudy summer causes some decline in zooplankton populations too, and all of these factors have to be considered.” He concludes.

 For our guests, and most fellow anglers, tullibees are not considered a target fish to catch. But to our lake’s gamefish, especially northern pike, they are an impressive source of nourishment. Lakes with strong tullibee populations consistently produce larger pike, musky and trophy size walleyes. The declines in tullibee may explain, in part why northern pike growth rates on Winnibigoshish have stalled.

 Today, Winnie has a strong population of small size northerns. Fish in the 18-to-24-inch size range, primarily, male fish, are the most plentiful. There are some larger female pike in the 24-to-30-inch size range, but trophy fish, over 30 inches are hard to come by. Expecting the lake to “come around” on its own is simply too much to ask. Even intervention by anglers is not likely to help solve the size issue.

 As conservation-minded anglers, we do know that the best thing we can do is to utilize the small pike under the 22-inch protected slot for eating. At the same time, we know that releasing larger pike, all of them, is the only practice that might lead to larger pike in the future. Fisheries biologists agree, the best way, perhaps the only way to control small, stunted pike populations is to allow larger pike to eat them. By releasing larger pike, you are at least giving Mother Nature a chance to work her magic.

 Be on the lookout for a feature article coming soon about northern pike, their growth rates and how we can help the lake produce more bruisers in the future.

 Yellow Perch, as many of our guests know has been an on-again, off-again story over the past few seasons. Beginning in 2018, there was an acceleration of perch growth rates. At the same time, there were declining capture rates during the summer fall testing. As a result, many anglers have enjoyed catching good size fish, often in the 10-to-11-inch size range, over these past few seasons. The problem is that locating them requires above average effort, and that’s resulted in hits and misses.

 Apparently, we’ll be seeing a reversal of that trend soon. During 2023 and 2024 testing, fisheries staff have seen increasing numbers of small perch. On the accompany chart, you can see the ‘catch per effort” or CPE of yellow perch increasing. Even though the news is already good, those test results are likely subject to revision. Schermerhorn, “At age 2, there are a lot of perch that remain too small for the test nets to capture. At age 3, many of those fish will have grown large enough to be captured in the mesh size of our test nets. Even though the age 2 perch population is already high, it’s logical to believe that we’ll see even higher numbers later this season when testing begins.”

Winnibigoshish yellow perch population is on the rise

 Even at age 3, perch from the strong 2022 year class won’t attract the attention of most anglers. But having them in the system, and seeing them throughout the summer will provide an optimistic image of what lies ahead for the 2027 and 2028 fishing seasons, when they will reach more attractive sizes.

 Panfish are important to our guests and become the primary focus for many during the mid-summer, “family fishing” period. Most of the DNR fisheries testing overlooks population assessments for crappies and sunfish. However observations provided by our guests, fishing guides and fellow anglers over the past couple of seasons have been consistent; crappies have mainly been elusive.

 Crappie populations do still exist, and there have been periods when fishing for them has been good. Still, there is an apparent “low ebb” now. The thing about crappies is that we seldom become aware of a new year class until they reach catchable size. There may well already be a strong, up-and-coming population present, and we just don’t know about them yet. We’ll be watching, and reporting about crappies all summer long, so be sure to stay tuned.

 Sunfish, on the other hand, have provided our guests with fantastic action in recent seasons. The bluegills, pumpkinseeds and other sunfish varieties have been both plentiful, and of quality size. We see no reason not to expect another season of good fishing for sunfish. Again, these fish often become the target of families vacationing during mid-summer. You can count on us to provide updates throughout the fishing season.

 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.

Lake Winnie and Cutfoot Sioux Fishing Report September 27, 2024

One thing is certain, walleyes are biting when we find them. The caveat, is finding them and the anglers who want to be most consistent, must fish a wider variety of structures and be willing to think about both fall, and summertime fishing patterns at the same time.

Gabriel, Kim and Nathan Milius walleye fishing on Lake Winnie September 24, 2024

According to the calendar, we should be experiencing solid fall walleye fishing patterns. And we almost are, we had a “spurt” of fall weather last week, and walleyes responded well, and in some areas of the lake, so did perch. Now, we’re back into a period of summer-like weather, Surface temperatures are in the 66-to-70-degree range, and there’s been lots of sunshine and calm weather. Daytime anglers may be working harder at producing consistent catches of walleyes, but folks who fish during prime time, twilight periods are having better luck.

On Big Winnie, there are two massive, mid-depth flats, one at the northwest corner, one at the southeast corner. On these flats, walleyes, perch and pike of all sizes can be viewed constantly on the screens of our electronics. Sometimes they bite, sometimes they don’t, but they have been located over the tops of low-lying vegetation for weeks now. According to our family friend Dusty Snyder, the magic water depth is 9 feet deep. “No matter where I go, it seems like the most active fish come out of that depth.”

Walleye, perch, pike and more holding above vegetation on large flat

Working over grass on the flats with jig and minnow presentations is effective but can also be tedious. Allowing the jigs to slip too low into the vegetation causes fouled hooks and reduces efficiency. Some of our guests are reporting more consistent catches by using trolling presentations. Whether they use spinners tipped with live bait, or shallow running crankbaits, they can spend more time fishing, and less time removing moss from their hooks. The best trolling speeds for spinners has been 1.1 to 1.3 MPH, and faster for crankbaits, 1.7 to 2,1 MPH.

 Timing the bite on the flats seems to be important, fishing early in the morning has been less productive than late afternoons and evening. We think it’s possible that many of the “flats fish” are feeding after dark, so folks find them less vulnerable during the morning. Later, they are hungrier and strike more often; you be the judge, give it a try and let us know what you think.

Crews like the Milius family (pictured throughout) who show lots of determination, are having good luck fishing on some of the lakes deeper bars. Key depths on the bars range from 16 to 22 feet of water, and walleyes in the higher range bite better than those in the lower range. Fish have been found in numerous areas such as the Bena Bar, Sugar Bar, Horseshoe, Moxies Hole and others. Moving often and checking out the “spot-on-a-spot” locations like inside corners, points and feeding shelves are a good strategy for locating pods of fish. Many of these fish are migrating from place to place, so don’t be concerned if it takes a few stops to find a group of active fish, just keep searching, and you will find some.

Nathan (L) and Gabriel (R) Milius showing off a nice Winnie Walleye mid-lake double September 24, 2024

Presentations vary, drop shots with night crawlers or large lively minnows is productive. Jigging baits like ripping raps or puppet minnows are working, slip floats with night crawlers have produced fish too. For our guests, jig and minnow presentations are most common, ¼ to 3/8 ounce live bait jigs tipped with golden shiners or large fatheads have been productive. There have been a lot of fish caught using gold jigs, but glow-perch, green-orange and green-chartreuse have also been productive.

Shoreline fishing for Walleyes has its good days, and its bad ones. When the wind blows and the skies are cloudy, walleyes have been active on the breaklines or shallow rocks. Key depths have ranged between 6 and 12 feet, with the shallow end of the spectrum often being best. There are walleyes on all 4 sides of the lake, so selecting the best spots depends entirely on the wind direction and speed. Look for areas where the wind is quartering into the shoreline, proving good opportunities for drift fishing. Avoid the calm shoreline, and avoid areas where the wind blows directly onto the breakline, either will cause difficulty in boat control.

Kim Milius with fat Winnie Walleye from the flats September 24, 2024

There have been some folks trolling the shoreline breaks, but jigging has been far better for most folks. Use 1/8 or ¼ ounce jigs tipped with minnows and use a vertical hop-drop-hop-drop motion to entice strikes.

Fishing the shoreline breaks, you’ll encounter scattered, nomadic schools of Jumbo Perch and some of them are running good size, 10 to 12 inches. It seems that every patch of vegetation, shallow rock, or depression has the potential to be productive. If you like perch, and want to harvest some, then don’t let any opportunity go to waste. They appear to be on the move constantly, and do not linger in any given area very long.

The best way to find them is probably to troll spinners or smaller crawfish pattern crankbaits. Once located, jig and minnow presentations will be more efficient. Hold your boat stationary, cast and retrieve, or jig vertically using small, 1/16 or 1/8 ounce jigs tipped with fatheads.

Crappies have teased us a few times, but folks have had trouble catching them consistently. It seems that every time we get a period of cold weather, some of the fish move away from the cabbage patches and into open water. When we can see them, they strike, most folks say. The trouble is that when the weather warms up, they move back into vegetation where they are more difficult to locate. They’ll eventually move into open water, but not before the shallow vegetation becomes uninhabitable, likely after we receive a hard frost. There is a good resource for folks who love fall crappie fishing, much of the formation of it occurred here, in Cutfoot Sioux. Learn more by reading the article “Following Out Fall Crappies”.

If you’re determined to locate crappies, use the early morning and late afternoon to search. That’s when they’re most active along the breaklines. Trolling spinners, jigging with soft plastic action tails, or beetle spins and small crankbaits are all good search lures.

Northern Pike fishing has been good, especially along the north shore. Trolling, casting or fishing with live minnows are all productive presentations. Key depths vary depending on where you’ve located healthy, green vegetation. Most consistent depths have ranged between 8 and 10 feet of water, but check both shallower and deeper too. If you have side imaging electronics, use it to see the patches of vegetation and fish all of them.

One group that fished for pike early this week reported great action for fish in the protected slot. There are numerous fish in the 23-to-25-inch range, with a smattering of larger, 27 to 28 fish showing up in the mix. Right now, smaller fish, below the protect slot are few and far between along the north side of the lake. To catch more eater size, 20-to-21-inch size fish, a better choice would be the west side of the lake, there are many more small pike along the 10 to 12 foot breakline between Sugar and Mallard Points.

We’ve really appreciated you taking the time to check out our fishing reports. We’ve done our best to keep them up-to-date and accurate. Looking at the weather, it doesn’t seem like it should be, but for us, the fishing season is winding down. For us, the hunting is winding up and soon, our cabins will host more grouse hunters than anglers. Fishing reports will be less frequent now, but we’re probably going to post an occasional update about any significant, new developments, check them out when you have time.

September 19, 2024 Lake Winnie, Cutfoot Sioux Fall Fishing Report: NOT!

It’s on the verge of changing, but until now, “FALL” is the furthest thing from describing the walleye fishing conditions on Lake Winnie and Cutfoot Sioux. Summer like water temperatures, strong algae blooms and warm southerly breezes are persistent this week. Walleye locations, also summer like, have been weedy flats, shoreline rocks and in some areas, mid-lake bars and humps. The weather dictates where, when and how to fish each type of structure.

Bowen Lodge guests enjoying “Fall” fishing weather on Lake Winnie

Surface temperatures remain warm but are again on the decline. Still rising early this week, they crossed above 70 degrees on Tuesday. By late Wednesday afternoon, cloudy conditions and windy conditions drove them back down, into the 68-to-69-degree range. Thunder is clapping this morning, and it’s raining now, so further declines in water temperatures are expected soon.

Until that happens, walleyes remain susceptible to summer trolling patterns. On weedy flats, baitfish and small gamefish are plentiful. Walleyes, perch and northern pike are there feeding heavily and trolling spinners is the most effective presentation for catching them. Timing your fishing trip appears to be important, some of our guests and friends report better catches during the late afternoon and early evening. Fish on the flats have been sluggish in the mornings, maybe because they fed heavily overnight and are gorged? If you see fish on your electronics, like the one pictured here, and they won’t bite, don’t get frustrated. It’s a good idea to make note of the area and return later in the day, that strategy has worked well for some guests this week.

On Lake Winnie, many walleyes are scattered across shallow flats

Some folks prefer searching for walleyes on mid-lake structures. If the breeze is light, and conditions are bright, this may be a better option. The only problem is that you’ll have to do some searching, walleyes are not everywhere. Smaller, isolated humps and bars don’t appear to be holding many fish. Larger bars, especially ones that connect to the shoreline, are more likely to hold fish. Key areas on the main bars, like inside corners, tapering points and feeding ledges hold more fish than long, straight stretches of breakline.

On the bars, there are several presentations that will work. Jigs and minnows, dropshot rigs with night crawlers, or leeches, Lindy Rigs with large minnows and slip floats are all producing some fish right now. Choose the presentation you like best, focus on water depths of 16 to 22 feet as you search for fish using your electronics. Don’t expect to find large schools of fish, singles, doubles and small packs are the rule, not the exception.

Strong wind isn’t a lot of fun for traveling on the big lake, but they are a blessing once you arrive at your destination. As the whitecaps, driven by strong south winds have rolled along the eastern shoreline, walleyes have been on the prowl. Key depths range from 10 to 16 feet and vary with the wind conditions. Jig and minnow combinations, for folks like our guest Hank Milius (pictured) have produced good action. He used ¼ ounce Live Bait Jigs tipped with small-medium golden shiners and fished using a steady hop-drop-hop-drop presentation. Walleyes, along with northern pike are roaming the breaklines all along the east side of the lake. Long drifts or trolling passes will work, just be persistent and keep fishing, you will encounter fish in random locations.

Bowen Lodge guest Hank Milius with nice Winnibigoshish Walleye

Fishing on the rocks is popular during fall, and for some, the north shore rocks have been productive. The south wind has kept folks away from the north shore recently, but when the opportunity presents itself, checking the north side will be a good idea.

Perch fishing has been spotty, but when located, there are some very nice size fish in the system. So far, locating weeds in shallow water has been the best pattern going. Trolling with spinners and minnows, follow the shallow breaklines in water depths of 5 to 8 feet until you locate fish.  When you encounter them, switching to jigs and minnows will probably be more efficient for catching fish.

Panfish got fired up for a while during the most recent cold snap. When the water warmed up again, they disappeared from open water territory. It is very likely that you can find sunfish and crappies in vegetation like cabbage, coontail and some pondweed varieties. Trip Tip: Crappies will hit both jigs and spinners, and willingly eat night crawlers. While trolling with spinners and minnows is a good pure play crappie strategy. Tipping your spinner with ½ night crawler will help find sunfish much better than using minnows. Once you locate either species, stop the boat and focus on your target species. Use plastic action tails for crappies, small jigs tipped with cut pieces of night crawlers for sunfish.

Northern pike are on the prowl too, and most folks are catching enough of them while they fish for walleyes. Trolling the shoreline breaks using rattle baits is effective though and is a good way to target larger fish. Focus on weed patches, rocks and steep shoreline breaks.

As you can see, there is a dose of fall weather on the way, and fishing patterns are likely to change. As water temperatures drop, and fish migrations intensify, larger schools of fish should begin building. In the meantime, follow this rule of thumb, there are small groups of fish everywhere, shallow, deep and in the middle. In the words of walleye fishing guide Jeff Sundin, “Be creative, cover water, and just keep fishing. Even when you can’t see it coming, you will eventually encounter a pack of fish in your path. At the end of the day, you will be happy!”

Walleye fishing guide Jeff Sundin with healthy Lake Winnie Walleye

One last thing, be sure to measure your walleyes carefully. There are lots of walleyes from the strong, 2018-year class that have crossed the line into the protected slot. Fish measuring 18.0 to 18.5 inches are plentiful, and not double checking every fish you catch might get you into a jam, and that’s the last thing we want to see happen to you!

Jeff Sundin, Guest Post "If You’re Happy and You Know It, … Stay Right There!" September 10, 2024

Since Labor Day, and the start of my customer’s more intense pursuit of walleyes, I’ve spent several days on Lake Winnie. The past couple of them have been with Scott and Owen Stemple, who were staying at Bowen Lodge. Scott Stemple won a recent Benchmade sweepstakes entry and the prize package included an all expense paid trip to Bowens, and two days of walleye fishing with yours truly, the Early Bird Fishing Guide.

Owen and Scott Stemple, Benchmade Sweepstakes Winners

Having a couple of days to fish with the same crew is nice for me, it allows extra time to experiment with locations and presentations. It allows more time too, for talking with folks around the resort, comparing notes about who’s doing what, and where. On these particular fishing trips, I also had a chance to learn how Winnie’s walleyes reacted to completely opposite weather conditions.

 One thing I’ve learned this week is that it would be easy, after a few hours of casual fishing, to conclude that the walleyes on Winnibigoshish are not biting. Unless you were to get stubborn, like I sometimes do, and keep covering the water until you find fish. If you did that, then you would figure out that the complete opposite is true; they actually are biting quite well.

What I believe is that there is so much food available, and good fish habitat is so widespread, walleyes are already happy wherever they are. Nature has given them no reason to begin migrating away from summer haunts toward fall feeding areas. The result is that we’re finding small numbers of fish everywhere, but no large schools of them anywhere. So, for me, the trick to success has been to try lots of spots, then when we hit a good one and have a successful drift, or trolling pass, I take the win and move along to another spot. The more spots we try, the better we wind up at the end of the day.

Owen Stemple with nice fat Lake Winnie Northern Pike

Saturday was an ideal day for fishing on Winnie, the skies were grey, there was a chop on the surface and fish were in an active mood. We started fishing on the north shore, trolling spinners along the weedline. The dark sky made the northern pike active; we caught lots of them in various places along the stretch of water between the gap and Stony point. The pike were fun, and there were some walleyes, but they were few and far between, so we moved further west. At every stop, there were a few fish and most of the time, species were mixed. Walleyes, pike and perch co-mingled in the shallows; 6 to 8 feet of water was where we did our best work.

 Also at every stop, we observed something that I think has been true for a month or more on Winnie; the fish were active for the first trolling pass, but rarely were there enough to produce good results on the second trolling pass. I noticed that almost every time I saw a fish on the screen of my graph, somebody caught it. That was true at every stop throughout the day, but like I said, weather conditions were ideal that day. I notice too that whenever we attempted to re-run a stretch of productive territory, sightings on my graph dropped exponentially. I think whatever fish were there bit the first time they saw our lures, so going back for more was usually time wasted.

Scott Stemple with nice Winnie Walleye

 For a time on Saturday, we experimented with jigs and minnows in deeper water. Fishing on mid-lake structure in 16 to 20 feet of water, we did find some walleyes. Like the fish we discovered in shallow water, one pass was all we could get. For me, jigging was rewarding because if offered a change of pace and was more productive for walleyes. For my crew, it lacked the fast pace of catching the mixed bag on the shoreline, so we returned to the weed edges to finish off the day.

 Sunday’s weather conditions were more challenging, and during the morning, Winnie was stingy. There was a strong west wind blowing, and that forced us to drive to Richard’s Townsite to launch the boat. That got us out of the wind, but with clear blue skies and no chop on the water, the activity level was low. Fishing the stretch of water between that landing and the Mississippi River mouth produced some perch, but not much else. There were places that I saw larger marks on my graph, but unlike our experience on Saturday, seeing fish did not mean that we cold catch them.

Scott and Owen Stemple, Benchmade Sweepstakes Winners

 Part of the problem on Sunday was my own fault, I knew that my crew preferred trolling the spinners, so I stuck with it longer than I should have. Around noon, it was clear that if we were going to catch fish, we’d need to try something else. At about that same time, the winds subsided, and travelling around the lake became a lot easier. “I know it’s not your first choice boys, but I think we’re going to have to try the jigs and minnows again,” I said. They agreed, and we headed back to the middle of the lake to try our luck.

Numerous walleyes from Lake Winnie’s 2018 year class have entered the protected slot

Like Saturday, there were fish on the bars, this time in water depths of 18 to 22 feet. They were still scattered, and we still had to follow the one pass and move spots rule, but at least now we were catching some walleyes. We were able to fsih effective using ¼ ounce Live Bait Jigs tipped with small to medium golden shiners. I won’t try to tell you that it was a “hot bite”, but we did manage to have some action and catch a half dozen “keeper” size fish in the 16 to 17 inch range, class of 2019 fish I think.

 There was also a half dozen fish in the protected slot, all from the 2018-year class and all just barely over 18 inches. That’s been happening to me a lot lately, and you can see by the accompanying photo that taking a quick and casual measurement could lead to trouble. I’d recommend taking plenty of time to measure extra carefully and be sure that your fish is legal before dropping it in the cooler.

A hopeful sign, lots of 8 t0 10 inch walleyes might mean a strong 2023 year class coming up

Another observation is that 2023 appears to have been a good year for walleye spawning. This week we’ve caught dozens of walleyes in the 8-to-10-inch size range. If these fish have good survival next winter, we should have something to look forward to after the 2019-year class population declines.

Secchi Disk reading on Lake Winnie 8 feet as of 9-8-2024

One more thing, I’ve added a tool to my arsenal, an official Cub Reporter, Staff Number 003, Secchi Disk. Now, instead of speculating about the water clarity on any given body of water, I can test it myself. Before we ledt the lake on Sunday, we dropped in into Lake Winnie and learned that the current water clarity is at about 8 feet. In future reports, I plan to offer this information regularly, so stay tuned.

 I’m thankful for the Benchmade company’s confidence in allowing me to handle the fishing end of their sweepstakes winners’ trip to Lake Winnie. I’m thankful too for the folks at Bowen Lodge, they’ve given me lots of support over the years, and it too is much appreciated. Finally, I’m thankful that Scott and Owen got in on some decent fishing. After spending two days in the boat with them, I can tell that these guys are like me, working class folks who probably would not have made this trip on their own. It’s gratifying to see somebody win something knowing that it truly is a “special treat” for them. Thanks everybody for a great experience!