Ice Fishing around Lake Winnibigoshish

I am going to be taking my dad on his first out-of-state ice fishing trip (as we are from Wisconsin) in a little over a month and staying near Lake Winnibigoshish. I am hoping to get my dad out on a few of the lakes around Lake Winnibigoshish to try for bluegill, crappie, perch, and walleye. I have a couple of questions in regards to making the trip.

What is the best way to travel on the lakes? Trucks? UTV? Snowmobile? Not sure of there will be too much snow for driving trucks. If we are bringing a UTV or snowmobile that is registered in Wisconsin, do we need to register it in Minnesota?

What are the ice depths like in that area right now? I am sure that things will thicken up in the next month (unless we receive a long streak of warm weather).

Any recommended lakes in this area? Also are there certain depths that are best for fishing in? Are there current areas on these lakes that need to be avoided?

Thanks (in advance) for the information!!!! My hope is to get my dad to catch a 13+ inch perch as that is his favorite species to fish.

I don’t know the ice thickness up there, but there are full size trucks driving on a lot of lakes near the twin cities so I would bet they are driving up there too.

Early February should have plenty of ice unless we get a really unusual sustained warm-up in late January.

Can’t speak to current areas though.

Where are you staying near Winnie? Winnie is a great perch lake, so that would be my first stop. Depending on where you are staying or wanting to fish I’d hire a guide like Phil Bauerly if you want to stick to the smaller lakes, even a half day can get you more info than you could learn in a weekend on your own. There’s a ton of ice on the lakes up there, but some of them have current coming thru so I’d still be cautious.

There will be many resorts with plowed roads on Winnie … that is a destination lake for perch and will be busy throughout the season. You could go out of any of the resorts and stick to the roads if desired.

Attached/north of Winnie is Cutfoot Sioux which is a good spot for Crappies/sunnies. An hour and half drive north is Upper Red lake if interested in walleyes and maybe a slab crappie.

There area a few local guides who know those lakes very well, plus some lakes they don’t tell others about. Look up Jeff Sundin from Grand rapids and read some of his reports … you’ll be tempted to hire him for a day and find out some good spots.

I was on winni last weekend. I didnt measure, but figure there was 20+ inches of ice. Snow cover was minimal so truck travel was not an issue. A lot can change in a few weeks. Perch fishing was non stop action. Lots of sorting but we kept 20.

Matt

Winnie is a great lake for perch and walleye as others have noted… However, there are literally hundreds of smaller lakes within about 25 miles that are great for other species, and without nearly the amount of traffic. PM me if interested in a couple lakes off the beaten path. And ice is anywhere from 14-22 inches on the lakes in that area, but as always be mindful of current / springs etc.

If we decide to get out on Lake Winnie is there areas to watch out for? We live near Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin and I know that large lakes can get hard to navigate in the winter with pressure cracks, slush pockets, springs, etc.

I have a cabin book at Cutfoot Sioux Resort on Little Cutfoot Sioux as they had some of the best pricing on cabins. Also from the reviews, the owners (even though they are new) are very helpful and do what they can to make your stay the best it can be.

Tony Marcoe wrote:

If we decide to get out on Lake Winnie is there areas to watch out for?

Sounds like there’s a decent amount of snow up there, so I’d just go thru Highbanks Resort if you go to Winnie. They have a road plowed and should point you in the right direction to catch some fish. Little Cutfoot is a supposedly a very good fishing lake, but I haven’t fished it myself so I’m no help there.

Being the resort you are staying at is on Cutfoot i would ask around the resort about possible sunfish/crappie spots in Cutfoot. a utv might be best form of travel thru cutfoot, it has current moving thru so the ice may vary in certain spots. As mentioned above for perch/walleye highbanks is a resort just down the road from cutfoot and they will have a road plowed out onto the big lake you can drive your vehicle on for a small fee (probably $10 a day).

NOTE: OHVs (off hwy vehicles) legally registered in another state or country, and not in Minnesota for more than 30 days, are NOT required to purchase a Minnesota registration. If your state does not require a registration, you will need a Minnesota registration.