Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Lake Winnibigoshish Fishing Reports


Recommended Posts

On certain spots this weekend I needed the extension on the Auger. No issues once your on the lake. Plenty of ice.

Thanks High Banks for another good winter season.

G.C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We fished Thursday 19th-Sunday 22nd. We went out from High Banks everyday and landing was still ok for trucks when we left Sunday. We found that off road travel was best. We broke through on the far west end of the road past zoomers Friday afternoon and that almost didnt end well. We hit a spot where there was probably a foot of water under 4-5 inches of ice and I was first and broke through. I knew I wouldnt be able to back out so just put the pedal to the floor. About 75 yards into it I was down to about 3 MPH and thought I was done, but I kept churning through and picked up speed again. Couldnt bail off the road due to deep banks on both sides! Well, after about 150 yards and a near heart attack I got up and out when the road got solid again. No clue how they would have gotten me out of that road had I stopped in the middle!!

Anyways, fishing report: Thursday pretty slow, fished edges of zoomers to the north and a little on top. Friday morning we started on the west dropoff of zoomers in 22-29 feet of water and hammered them for a good 2 hours. Had to pick through but ended up with maybe 35 nice perch. Saturday same spot same time in the morning--dead. We caught a few small one with a couple decent fish mixed in. We then tried the west shore, Salami, and ended in deep water--29-30 feet south east of salami and caught a few, ended the day with 30 eaters and a few nice ones. Sunday Am really windy. Fished around zoomers and again slow. Tried stony point but only little ones. We fished alot with swedish pimples tipped with grubs or minnows. also whole minnows on a flat jig worked sometimes. We did best on the big ones with the mayfly larvae the perch were puking up. Hook em on and they didnt last long down there. One weird thing, we just hammered the stink fish. I bet we caught 50 of them over the whole trip.

All in all a great trip. Weather could have been warmer but at least the wind wasnt bad except Sunday.

Tony

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AugieAngler - Are you saying that you couldn't even drive a truck down the long winding road to even get to the lake access?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On Friday we couldn't get through the long winding road on West Winnie - it was drifted shut about 2/3 of the way in. Someone had plowed the road during the winter but stopped there. Luckily we had 4-wheelers with and those were able to ride on top of the snowdrifts.

On Sunday when we hit Winnie on our way home from Blackduck we just went out of Trappers and took the wheelers across the river mouth to the area in front of West Winnie. We talked to some people that had been able to drive their truck all the way through to the West Winnie access and actually out onto the lake on Sunday. So things had melted down quite a bit over the weekend.

I just doubt that pickups will be an option come Friday-Saturday this weekend given how tough the ice looked along the shoreline.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the info AugieAngler! I was just hoping to drive to the lake access and then walk out from there so maybe I will be fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any reports from the South end of the lake? Can a guy still get on throught the Richards Townsite access? Are trucks still a possibility, or is it all wheeler traffic now? Any help is appreciated!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last weekend Richards was looking like it would have been 4-wheeler only. We decided to get on the lake elsewhere. Not sure if it has gotten worse or improved since Sunday though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Sat. Apr. 4, 2009 Fished in 6 to 8 ft. by Williams Narrows on Apr. 2nd. Informed that a week before they were doing good there. We did not drive out as we had a van with 2 wheel drive and did not want to take chance of being stuck in the fresh snow. Still have 30 inchs of good ice. Landing looked very good with some slush but I would check it before going out as the snow cover could hide possible bad spots. Wound up with about 15 perch, some rock bass from deeper water. Had several nice walleye and some northern. Had driving conditions been better I would have gone to other areas looking for more perch. Fished several years back in an area north of boomers in about 18 feet. Had our limits of 100 in less then 6 hr. 3 hr. first day and about the same the next morning. That time drove on from the west side and had good ice with no snow cover. the men from Hook & Horn Club near Rhinelander, Wi.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

right out in front of the summers homes landing, to the right. you'll see all the holes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Jigglestick, good day to you sir. Do you want to change your ice out prediction. I will stick with April 29th. maybe.

G.C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HA!!

I am so off track with that it's not even funny!

the lack of sun and the extra snow cover has given the two weeks back I thought we lost with the lack of ice thickness this year.

my new guess would be back in the average date of ice out.

we sure don't need a repeat of last year though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

any good spots to fish during opener. some on told me first river is a good spot to go during opener on little cut foot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with ya there Dave, last year was scary. It better warm up in a hurry. You all need a HOT 2-3 weeks. Maybe try boiling some water. gringringrin

G.C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are several area's of transition on Cut Foot, target the one that doesn't have 4 to 5 boats working it smile

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mind is changing i may go out to Middle Pigeon or Round lake for opener. Had good luck out there

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the best luck i had on the dead sea (winnie) was on a calm day in late summer. I was fishing out on the north shore on the humps. I was catching walleyes like crazy that was the best fishing on the lake in my life so far. i had 3 17 inch walleyes and 6 walleyes that were about 20-24 inches. The fastest i got one was like 5 sec after i got a walleye

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Winnie is far from a dead sea!! You must not be using the right rigs and presentation to them. Come opener, a fireball jig and minnow (shiner) work best. It has gotten so easy my 3 and 5 year old enjoy the opener with us now. We are all set up to stay at Highbanks and can't wait. Hope the ice co-operates this year and goes out sooner then it did last year!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya well pick another name. That one has already been used. Bad choice for WINNIE.

mad :mad

G.C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i know its been used but that what i like to call it for fun. so there is nothing wrong with that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just call it dead sea for fun and i use that kind of jig and it works really good

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How is the ice looking? I just happened to think about it. Like everyone is saying, we do not need a repeat of last year. We stay at McArdles. It was wild to come out of the gap and see that huge ice cube out there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pro V I have a feeling a repeat of last year is a comin. It has to warm and rain fast. Any set backs and OH OH. I will remain positive.

Pike2eye, what ever cranks your turn. Go ahead, but the Winnie Gods will hold it against you.

G.C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just heard, another major snowstorm is brewing in the rockies and expected to hit us by friday. twelve to 20 inches of new snow are expected across much of the northland.

this should put us back another week or two eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just heard, another major snowstorm is brewing in the rockies and expected to hit us by friday. twelve to 20 inches of new snow are expected across much of the northland.

this should put us back another week or two eh?

Dave are you trying to give me a heart attack?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gary and jiggle, I guess time will tell. I hear what lambjm is saying, I really enjoy opener. I come up for 11 days and really enjoy myself. I was just thinking about last year. Even with the ice cube floating around, we still did very well last year. This is of course just my two cents.

I will keep praying for rain and warm weather. Lets hang in there guys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • The title was changed to Lake Winnibigoshish Fishing Reports
  • The topic was unlocked

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Similar Content

  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.