Upcoming Winnie trip

Hey,

Me, along with 9 other guys are heading to Lake Winnibigoshish on Feb 24th. This will be are third year in a row heading up as a group. Everyone is really pumped to fish this year because we finally have 2 guys that have Lakemaster chips.

Well, how is the lake travel up there? I have been paying attention to what Matt Grow is saying about Leech lake. He has said there are slush pockets and truck travel off the plowed roads isn’t advised. Is this the case on Winnie? Most guys have truck chains. Should we be bringing snowmobiles and ATV’s if we want to be mobile?

We mainly just fish for perch. If we catch a walleye its just a bonus. Are the perch hanging in deep flats, drop offs, what should we be looking for on the Lakemaster chips?

One more thing….a little off topic….But do you guys have any good jokes/tricks that you pull on people you fish with? Last year the guys got me good, and I need some payback.

Feel free to PM me, thanks for any advice in advance.

-Woody

Hey Woody,

Not sure exactly how the ice travel is on Winnie, but our snow has settled down. We don’t have any slush pockets that I’ve found on Rainy, so my guess would be it might be the same on Winnie.

Good Luck!!

-Squid on someones hook when they arent looking, inside joke with us.
-put a fish somewhere inside someones truck they will find later, in plastic bag. -Grumpy old men-
-ask to borrow a forceps from a buddy, look at them and say, “hey these are nice where did u get these” he answers and you throw them down the hole. then just walk away, replace them later for him.
-lay a play girl and bottle of hand lotion by the first guy to pass out then take pics.
-or paint fingernails or mustache with perm marker
–oh i could go on all night, Mark
–

-lay a play girl and bottle of hand lotion by the first guy to pass out then take pics.

Why in the hell do you carry around play girls and hand lotion?

Woody,

I was up there 3 weeks ago and we were able to drive anywhere with 4 wheel drive. There were some large drifts that we avoided though. As far as the fishing, we did better on perch on top of the flat. We jumped around a lot just mainly looking for new places and we found one hump would have little to no fish and the next one over might be full of fish. There seems to be a lot of smaller fish in the system, so an underwater camera or increasing the size of your bait might help.

As far as pranks-
-permanent markers-although I’m usually the guy receiving it.
-Clip a depth bomb on your buddy’s bobber line while not looking and let it slide down to the hook
-Minnow in their cocktail

Hi Woody,
I have been staying up on Winnie every weekend of several weeks and you can get around fairly well. There are some drifts so keep an eye open. Those chains will help.
As far as the fishing goes, Northland Buck Shot rattle spoons in perch color with green chartreuse back have out produced any thing else we put down the hole. The camera makes a BIG difference. We have been fishing right on or very near the bottom. Bounce it off the bottom and they will come in. Sometimes I let the lure lay on the bottom and the perch suck it up. They would pick up the minnow by the tail, inhale it again and then on the third inhale, I set the hook. By the end of the weekend I have a silt free area under my hole. We usually clean and eat 30 to 40 perch on Friday night, depending on many of us there are and then keep a mess to take home on Sunday.
The walleyes hit the same lure. We usually bring home a mess of eyes also. Last weekend I caught a 23″ and a 19″ as bonuses. The perch we in the 10″ to 12″ range. Fresh fish from the lake to the frying pan can’t be beat in my book. Good luck to you guys.
Arnie

Woody. PM sent

Thanks for all the tips guys. It looks like I will leave the ATV at home and just use the truck to get around. It seems like the weather will be pretty nice also.