I will be heading up past Cutfoot and Winnie this afternoon and will check the lake and its ice and will keep everyone posted as things are getting real close to being time to hit those first ice spots for eyes and slab crappies.
Winnie now is ice covered as of this weekend. Most area are seeing 3-5 inches of pretty good ice. Areas where we had ice before the big snow now has ice and slush. We were looking at 3-5 below zero last night with calm winds. By the looks of the forcast this week, we should be making ice almost 24/7, which should make for some safer fishable ice by the weekend. I think I will be getting out on some smaller lakes this weekend, will keep ya posted. 
Well with some cool overnight temps here the last few days, we are seeing ice conditions improving daily. The flats of Bowens have 6-10 inches of great ice. The mid-lake ice continues to thicken as this weekend it was consistently pushing the 6-8 inch mark. With the highs in the single digits forcasted for the next day or two, we should have much safer ice by the weekend.
Be careful as Winnie has many areas of moving water, so the early ice is ever-so-changing.
The walleyes and perch are somewhat slow and as we head into better ice we should see another great year for perchin and those eyes.
Sean,
I know last year was great for the jumbo perch. We didn’t seem to catch as many this summer as the past 2. Do you think the jumbos will be as good this year compared to last?
Most certainly the numbers are there, in fact the DNR netting reports showed us that the numbers of 8-10 inch perch are up 45 percent from last falls nettings. This summer was odd, meaning there was very little action the entire season on the mid-lake structure making those jumbo’s very hard to find because of the vast shoreline structure that they were using. It should be a great year fishing those jumbo’s and walleyes out in the mid-lake. At this rate we may topple the four feet plus of ice we had last year as well. Last night she was 10-15 below zero and with no snow on the ice….we are looking at some great ice conditions if this keeps up.
The ice continues to improve. MOst areas of the lake are seeing 12 to 18 inches of ice. There are some large vehicles driving on the ice, but caution should be used when driving on Winnie and Cutfoot.
The Walleye bite is heating up each day. Little Musky along with the Mid-lake humps are showing some good numbers of Walleyes along with those perch. Cutfoot has been awesome this last week for Walleyes. The bite is mainly occuring in the afternoon from 3-7 pm. So if your not headed to Lake of the Woods, Winnie and Cutfoot are worth fishing right now.
Hi Sean,
Has the bite still been good on Winnie and Cutfoot?
I may be heading that way this coming weekend, we have a place in Longville.
Any info you could provide on where and how deep for Cutfoot would be great. I know it well from a boat….not from the ice. 
Do the spots on Cutfoot that work well in the late fall typically work in the winter as well??
Thanks in advance.
John
John
Winnie and Cutfoot are both producing decent numbers as of this last week. The mid-lake humps and bars on Winnie are producing some nice perch and walleyes. This is a deeper water bite. Staying off the edge during most of the day will increase your numbers. Best depths are that 20-30 feet.
Cutfoot is more of a early and late day bite, but productive. Cutfoots late fall spots are where most anglers are set-up during the primetime, like bobs bar, the clam beds, battle point. Most of the structure that holds fish in the fall will have some activity during the early and late parts of the day. Reports are good to great right now, with the 2001 class fish in that 14 inch range being the better part of most catches.
The perch are pretty active on the south end of the lake, that would be something to think about. Good luck if you make it out.
Sean,
Thanks for the info, I hope I can get up there and check it out this weekend. I’ve been on pool 4 getting good numbers of sauger and a few walleyes but the few I have kept just didn’t taste the same as a good Winnie walleye so I am strictly catch and release on the river now.
Thanks
John
Sean,
What is going on up there? Have you been going out lately?
bass423,
Things were going great until this last weekend as far as the perchin and walleyes go. But it slowed some this weekend. I think numbers of perch are making a move out into the deeper water and this bite should become consistent again by this weekend at the lastest. WE are seeing numbers of 9-10 inch perch with some bigger fish showing up in numbers at times as well. This weekend the most consistent bite for perch was near the Center bar area of the lake.
As for the walleyes, its been one of the best years many of us have seen. Numbers of walleyes, mainly 14 inchers, are being caught during the entire day, which is pretty uncommon for Winnie. We are finding eyes almost everywhere, from the mid-lake humps to the shallower shoreline structure.
Techniques that have been working. Day in and out it is pretty tough to argue with tipping a minnow head on a Northland Buckshot Rattle Spoon. Both the walleyes and perch are jumping on this presentation. If your not seeing much action just getting a foot deeper or shallower may help.
The ice conditions are great. We have a good 20-24 inches of ice. Very little snow cover. Most anglers are entering the ice from Nodaks, or Denny’s resort on the Southend of the lake.
Sean,
Thanks for the great report. I hope to heading up there in Feb. with a few friends. I will contact you closer to our trip. Good luck and stay warm. 
Great day yesterday, even with the super cold weather the fish wanted to eat. I will post a detailed report tonight.
MId-lake humps seem to be the best option for limits of walleyes.
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