This weekend

Heading up to Winnie for the first time in over 15 years. Gonna chase eyes and perch. Was wondering how the bite has been and any hints that you have. Not looking for your honey hole but would like to know what colors and depths are working. We’ll be fishing out of the NE side. Also might hit bowstring if we need a change of scenery.

Hi 2127boss,

Sorry I couldn’t offer any advice as I never fished Winnie before. I will be heading up with a group of friends next weekend, fishing the NE side. What did you find out? Any depths work better than others for walleye/perch/ time of day/night.

Any advice is appreciated!

Perch bite was excellent in 12-15 fow, most of the time we were using just one pole because they were biting that well. A lot of smaller perch but we did keep about a dozen that were eater size. One thing we did figure out later in the day, thanks to the resort owner, was that if you kept your bait 1’-2’ above the fish you’d catch bigger ones. You wouldn’t catch as many doing this but the quality of fish was worth it. Temp was in the -20s that day. The second day we went for walleye and fished a random hump out in the middle of the lake. We drove about a mile off any plowed road just to get away from anyone and it payed off well. We caught 6 eyes with a size range of 16”-23”. Not a lot of fish but they were healthy. Also got into a few pout. When we went out of the NE we went out of The Pines Resort, awesome people. The day we went for eyes we went out of Denny’s on the south side, again awesome people. Denny’s were the ones that told us that we could make it across the lake. Granted of course watching for changes in ice conditions.

I forget to mention that perch were a day bite for us and the Wallace were from 1500-1900. Also Navionics was off a bit when we were out in the middle so we drilled probably 40 holes to mark the structure with our electronics. Hopefully this helps.

Thanks for the report, 2127Boss. We camp at Bowens once each year (in the summer) and the walleye fishing has definitely changed. They say it’s due to the water clarity improving, which may have played into your after-dark success.

Awesome report 2127Boss. Thank you.

Despite the brutal conditions it sounds like you were able to track down some fish. I am going up with a large group of friends for a “Walleye tournament” but I decided if the eyes aren’t biting in our sleeper shacks I am going on perch patrol. It sounds like Winnie is full of them. It sounds like shallower for perch during the day and a little deeper near dusk for the eyes…. a bonus eelpout would be great!

We are going out of High Banks. Their Facebook page is talking about the “best fishing the owners have seen in 15 years”. I take that with a grain of salt but it does get me a little excited. lol.

Fished Sat and Sunday. 4 feet of ice. Extension required. Moved around the lake to find decent fish. Plugged away Sat then Sun morning. Kept 85 between 4 people.
Hardly any true jumbos but mostly decent keepers. Hardly anyone on the lake.