Lake Winnibigoshish Fishing Reports

[Vikesfan]

Went out of Highbanks Friday through Monday. We had good luck up until the front came through the area. Overall fishing was steady and we picked up some pearch, walleyes (all in the slot), and 1 pout.

[mnhunter79]

Hey jigglestick, ben here, thanks again for a great wknd. the 4 of us had a blast. expect the mini van next year! keep in touch. The drive back to alex was good, however i got stuck stayin in alex til the next morning cause of the snow storm.

[jigglestick]

Ben, great to have you guys up!

got my truck put back together tonight finaly so I am going to give er heck tomorrow and look for one last walleye hot spot before the season ends sunday night.

glad you made it home ok.

thanks again,

Jiggle

[cribbageboy]

Rented one of Jiggle's houses this past weekend and had a blast. Fishing was a little on the slower side, but we still managed to ice a fair share of tulibees and perch. We did lose an eater walleye at the hole which was entirely our fault. As Jiggle said..."you can lead a horse to water...." haha.

All in all, the lack of eyes didn't hamper our trip as we caught our limit of memories. Not a place in the world I would have rather been.

Thanks again Dave for a fun trip. Look forward to seeing you again next year.

[FriendliestCatch]

Fished North of Sugar Humps last Friday and Saturday, about 1/2 mile or so off the road in 15-16 feet of water. Pretty steady action all day, about 15 perch caught for every 1 we kept, we ended up with 40 jumbos. We're picky on size !! 1 keeper walleye, 1 in the slot, 3 small northerns. Be prepared if you plan on traveling off road. 4x4 trucks can go most anywhere. Use common sense though, travel in pairs if you plan on breaking your own trail. There is 10-12" hardpack on top of the ice with some slush beneath, saw several breakthough and shovel sessions. Fishing is more fun than shoveling.

[F15H3RM4N]

I am planning a fishing trip to Lake Winnibigoshish for the 12th and 13th of March. I have never fished Lake Winni before and this is my first year that I have really gotten into ice fishing. I was wondering if anyone could give me any insight on the lake? I hear it's great for Jumbo Perch this time of year, but I am also interested in pursuing some Crappie and Tullibee as well.

I have a detailed map of the lake and will be using a GPS system with contour lines but the more help the better. So if anyone could help me out with where they might be biting and what bait/tackle they might be biting on that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

F15H3RM4N

[thatoneguy]

Anybody know how the road that McArdles/Beckers plow out from the Trappers Rd access is/where it goes? I peeked out there yesterday on the way back from some work in Grand Rapids, and I saw a barricade of some sort by where they usually plow a spur off to the south along the first shoreline break. Anyone know what's up with that? That's kinda where I wanted to fish some perch tomorrow! Can I get around ok with a 4x4 F150, or am I going to have to keep to the roads and then walk to spots?

[jigglestick]

best bet would be to call the resorts on the river and ask them directly.

[gregg52]

smart man woulda stopped and checked out first hand

as stated in the other thread Be PREPARED and think ahead !

[thatoneguy]

doesn't have much to do with being "smart" gregg, I didn't have time to take an on-ice tour of the lake, which is why I asked here. If nobody here has been on the west side, I'll call Craig or Paige at McArdles and ask them. I was just curious to see if any FM folks had been out there recently. Shame on me.

[gregg52]

ya shame on me to

guess that was alittle harsh...sorry

[FriendliestCatch]

That road McArdles/Beckers plows out from the Trappers Rd access goes out to Sugar Bar. From there you're on your own. A few trails have been broken to the North but nothing plowed. Not saying you can't get around on the lake with the proper vehicle and equipment. Go boy scout....be prepared.

[thatoneguy]

No worries, Gregg - I was just pokin ya back

With gas at $3.50 a gallon, I'm debating whether to drive to Winnie or to just head out my front door and try to find some perch on Leech. I haven't been out to Winnie all year, and I did great on jumbos last March...I'm itching to get out there!

[gregg52]

actually the nicest bunch of perch i ever caught were on big hardwood

point never ever been albe to repeat it though

but man we a good day up there caught everything in the lake but a muskie

we had a bunch of jumbos 7-8 walleyes 15-18inches couple of 4 lb northerns... but never could repeat it

[gregg52]

. Go boy scout....be prepared.

atta boy...good thinking!!!!

[tcbrookston]

We went out yesterday and stayed over night. We intended to go drill drill drill until we found fish, but the house was so nice an warm, we just stayed where we started. Wednesday we picked up 6 tulibees. But, this morning they started biting at about 7:30 and went strong until about 10. Ended up with 47. Some were 3-4 lbs.

It was a blast!! I should be done smoking by midnight.

[colt44]

Hopefully we will find some perch there this weekend.....we are staying At McArdle's. With the temps coming the roads should be OK.....I hope.

[FriendliestCatch]

Craig will get you headed in the right direction. The road will be in excellent shape... it was while we were there. Off road is no problem as long as you're prepared. I'm hoping to get back up again a little later in the month. Thanks again to Craig, Paige, and Nate at McArdles...we had a great time.

[colt44]

Thanks for the reply. Now I'm seriously pumped!

[The Prodigy]

Where do you guys set up for those tullibees? Edge of bars, over holes, near humps??? Just wondering, going up for the first time to target them and need a little guidance! Thanks, Prodigy.

[jigglestick]

look to deeper water.

28+ feet and dropping.

edge of a hump or bar, but i like pinch points like where two humps sit next to each other, bottom side of a saddle so to speak.

caught a hog tooly today on a rubber grub that looked like a helgamite.

they love waxies. use a flashy spoon, smallish in size with a dropper and a single hook a couple inches below the spoon. stack a couple waxies on the hook. jig till you see them on the flasher. they will chase you up-down, all the way around.

the bites can be from demanding to very subtle.

hope for aggressive fish.

mornings have been best times for the bite in my opinion.

have a ball!

[shrimpo]

Colt44 - Have you ever fished Lake Gogebic? I have heard there are some monster perch in there.

[colt44]

No, I read and hear that it has really gone downhill in the last few years.

[dmpalm]

Any word on the perch bite recently? My dad and I are thinking of heading up this weekend and could really use some advice. We used to fish Winni many years ago out of Denny's and had some great trips, but I havent heard anything recently and it's been years since we were there last. Any advice would be much appreciated!!

If you are willing to share but dont want to post for everyone and thier brother to see, my email is [email protected]. Thanks

[ylekiot]

was up over the weekend and killed them the weather was not too bad and travel was way good.

[motley man]

Did you go out south side or east side ?

[F15H3RM4N]

Thanks to Jigglestick and the hosts out at High Banks Resort we had a very successful fishing trip two weekends ago. Three limits both Saturday and Sunday made our trip very worth while and I think we are planning another trip up there this weekend.

We were catching the perch at around 18 feet of water, anyone know if they've moved to deeper or shallower waters for this coming weekend?

Thanks again,

F15H3RM4N

[email protected]

[dougger222]

They should be in shallow. I was up about a week ago and had no problem with limits for 3 in 6 hours. Had to sort them out as we found one in three to four fish were keepers. What we found odd though was in about twenty minutes about twenty nice ones were caught between two holes.

East side 8-11 ft of water. Gave the cordinance to a group who went up the next day and got 60 3 inch perch in the same area.

BTW, 1 out of every 10 fish had worms in the meat.

[bmc]

I made it out for a couple hours mid-day today. I was on the NE side of the lake in about 9-11' of water. Lots of sorting to get 12 nice keepers. Marmooska jig w/ a red euroalarve was best, although waxies did work too. Only a couple of nice walleyes on the spoon/minnow head combo, no perch on the spoon.

Access's off the Bowens road are getting getting a little soft and beat up.

Brian

[muskiesteve]

Can anyone tell me the water temps we are going up on the 28th of may.

I just hope the temps workout for us.

What do you guys think will they be on?

Thanks

steve fiorio