It’s not too often you go to Winnie on a weekend toward the end of February or into March and the lake is this empty. That’s OK. More water for me to fish. On the first spot we went to, and actually the only spot we went all day, we had one other person about a quarter mile away and a few others about a mile away. Other than that we could see clusters of houses off in the distance set up near the plowed roads. In order to get away from the roads currently, a snowmobile or ATV is a necessity. Travel off plowed roads is very limited with a four wheel drive vehicle. The lake is covered with a mixture of crusted snow with powder or slush under it in many areas.
Enough about the lake; what about the fishing? We started fishing at about 8:30. The fish were very active from the time we started until about 11:00. The fishing slowed down and the wind started to blow pretty good so we decided to cook up some hot dogs and take a breather before we went searching for more fish. We searched a few hundred yards in every direction and caught some nice fish sporadically throughout midday, stopping back at the Polar every now and then to warm up and check to see if there were some active fish back at the house. By about 3:00 the activity started to pick up again.
When it was getting close to time to head out, we kept a few more nice ones to finish out our limit. Of the fish we kept, most were 10-11”. We kept a few fish pushing 12” and few under 10”. We caught eight walleyes and one northern also. We were fishing in twenty-eight to thirty-two feet of water using glow devil jigging spoons and primarily minnow heads vs. whole minnows. I like using just a minnow head over a whole minnow if the fish are willing to take that offering. You will have less bait stolen from the other little thieves down there. We probably threw back about four or five fish for every one that we kept.
I included a few pictures of some of the fish we kept. The bite will only get better as we get towards the end of the ice season. With the limited mobility with vehicles this year compared to previous years, there are many good areas receiving no pressure. Take out the ATV or snowmobile and take advantage of it.
They sure are some beauts Adam. It’s been years since I’ve had a platter of perch.
I hope you enjoyed them. 
Very nice report. Complete with travel conditions, etc…I like it! What ice depth are you seeing out on the lake?
Neglecting snow cover we found about 20-24 inches
Thanks….and yes they taste good. When I bring fish home they will usually disappear faster than I caught them.
It’s safe to say there isn’t a need for auger extensions right now?
Right now the need for an extension is questionable. We were mainly using a 6 inch bit, and it was almost to short. That was a strikemaster bit. the next trip this week I’m bringing my extension just to play it safe. The ice varies in thickness on winnie so better safe than sorry. I’d hate to drive that far and not have it.
I plan on fishing Winnie on March 19th. Hows the ice and how and where would you fish for jumbos? I usually try around bowens, but that’s open water. Thanks
Travel on the lake is better now so your possibilites are endless. These perch are on the move unless you find them feeding somewhere. If you encounter an area with lots of baitfish punch a few holes around the area. There’s Perch around. Keep moving, Stick to the deeper edges, You’ll find many dinks on the high sides of shlves. One weekend is nothing like the next. These fish are not concetrated to particular areas within the lake. They’re everywhere! Go out and give er hell! Saying for the day: “Keep moving”