Just a quick update on Winnie. James and I spent a few days this week fishing Winnie looking for fish for an upcoming Indepth Outdoors TV shoot. To my suprise, there was very little ice when we arrived. We had planned to use the Dream Shak as a basecamp and fish the lake looking for several different bites. It didn’t take long to find the Giant Bluegill/Crappies that Winnie is known to produce like this 14 inch slab James caught.
Main lake Winnie seems to be in pretty good shape. We measured 10-12 solid inches with very little slush on the lake. We were able to get around very well with snowmobile and there were even a few driving on the lake. We opted for the sleds and left the Dream Shak on shore.
We attempted to fish areas back in the bays as well as Cut Foot and that is where the slush got REALLY bad. As you get into the back bays and lakes you can expect up to 8 inches of water in some spots as well as almost 12 inches of slush. It can be pretty ugly to say the least.
The back bays and Cut Foot seem to have about 12-14 inches of snow and about 8-9 inches of ice. Far different than the 10-12 inches of ice on the lake with 7-8 inches of snow.
We did not perch fish since we were looking for the big Bluegill and Crappies and found them instantly. We also did not take a lot of pictures since we were filming. James did put on a clinic with the big Crappies, so I took a couple quick pictures. Those huge slabs could not resist the big white Ratso he was using.
I stuck to fishing the giant Gills. Hopefully the footage for the show comes out, as always the trip was a lot of fun. Those Lake Winnie fish are always impressive. Now if we could just get some ice so I can get the Dream Shak out and put the sleds away for a month or so…that would be great!
Thanks for the report Scott, looking forward to that show
Nice slabs! can’t wait to see the footage!
Nice piggies! I remember those beasts from the GTG last march. Can’t wait to see the show. Did you get some good underwater footage?
Nice looking slabs guys!
Great fish, I can’t wait to see the show.
Thanks for the report!
Nice fish sounds like fun keep it up guys!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the report and pics. Sounds like a very good show coming up soon from the outting/filming. Any idea when this one will air?
Thanks, Bill
It will air in 3 weeks.
Great report and pics guys…. I just love fishing Lake Winnie and really need to get back up there soon!
Layne Monroe
Very nice!
Nice slab there James. Those lakes can be a LOT of fun. I will look forward to that show as it is so close to home.
holy crappie!!!!
Nice fish!!!
Sure gets me excited for the GTG at Winnie!! 
Ted
The largest size white ratso with a pink head was dynamite on the crappies. I would catch a gill here and there as well and when I did they were tankers. When the crappies would slow down I switched to a small ratso, black head and red body, and really did well midday on gills by watching the bite on the cameras. It was a fun day on the ice and I look forward to going back for the GTG later this winter.
Great report guys!
I’m looking forward to seeing the show! 
Wow nice fish. Are those Winnie crappies or Cutfoot crappies?
We never stepped foot out on the main lake.
Now there’s a loaded answer!!
I spoke with Jeff at Tamerack Lodge the day you guys headed up there. He was telling me that they were catching the same type of fish…very close to his resort….one could say that wasn’t on the
main lake either!
But, good fisherman never tell locations publicly.
Besides, at last years GTG, there was a group of folks having a discussion that we weren’t fishing out of Tamerack…we were actually on LOTWs! Or so they said.
Now it’s an inside joke with the guys that went up there in March…we refer to it as fishing for pannies on Green Lake.
I certainly didn’t mean for it to be loaded in any way. We were in Cutfoot.
Great Report Scott
Nice Fish James 
That looks like a blast 
The same and better fish are biting on the main lake. There is no reason to leave main lake Winnie if you are looking for Trophy Panfish
Scott,
What depths seem to be the best on the mainlake crappies/gills, also how is the weed growth on the mainlake in the winter?
Weeds are the key on the main lake. Early and late you can find a few giants up in the main lake weeds. Mid day, you will need to pull back to the deeper water, 18-24 feet is usually what I target mid day. The main lake fish are VERY impressive in Winnie
Great looking fish guys. It was great to see you at the Gosh Damn place. Scott your little girl is adorable. See you guys soon.
John
Nice talking with you John and thanks for the
Good times!
Oh, and my daughter says thanks for the Ice Cream
Great show last weekend guys looking forward to this one also.
Keep up the great work
Wow, i’ve fished Winnie a bunch in open water and never knew you could target those Winnie crappies outside of May. You guys think its possible to target those crappies in mid-summer out over open water in the main lake? Not that i don’t like smackin the walleyes around the week we go up there but crappies that big would be worth looking into.
Nice crappie’s !!!!! Supper !!
