Lake Winona Fishing Reports

[itchmesir]

Bass have moved into the edge of the beds.. not nearly ready for spawn yet it seemed.. but that's all i was catching while spinning for crappies today.. including a hawg that was over 4lbs... After about two dozen bass and nothing else.. seeing as its not open season yet and realizing I wouldn't keep them off my line i retired for the day... saw a couple boats.. but they didn't seem to be pulling anything out.. water temp were in the 60s along the shore at 11am..

[oleWalter]

went to the small lake tonight and caught two crappies and a few bass. verrry happy to see the crappies out finally

[oleWalter]

Anyone been out on Lake Winona lately? Coming back to Winona State for second semester tomorrow and would like to get out on the big lake and catch some fish through the ice!

Any reports or ice conditions would be greatly appreciated!

[itchmesir]

I have seen a few shacks on the lake... but not the numbers im use to seeing.... think a lot of folks are sketchy of the ice

[oleWalter]

I see, I'll probably go check out the ice tonight when I get back.

[1moreandwe'llallgohome.]

Was out on the south end of the lake around the first of January and had about 8 inches of clear ice. Not sure what the rest of the lake is like now.

[lispeej]

How are folks doing on winona lake through the ice now days? Are any decent sized crappies being caught? I have fished the lake mainly in the summer many years ago, and they were smaller ones.

[JIvers]

I went past Lake Winona today; I saw one perm and a couple portables on the east lake, and one perm, oddly enough, on the west lake very near the north shore.

It did not look like there had been a lot of traffic on the lake since it last snowed, either.

[ted4887]

That perm on the west last has been there for the better half of two weeks now. Seems the east lake is seeing it's share of traffic though. Most of the traffic has been in the backwater areas though, from what I can tell.

[oleWalter]

Hit the big lake on Friday and Sunday. Friday produced two nice striped bass and a 10" crappie in 28 fow. Got skunked on Sunday and barely even marked any fish. Still trying to find the elusive walleye out there...

[JIvers]

From now on, I'd like to keep fishing reports and questions about the Winona area backwaters in the new thread I created for that topic. Reports and questions about Lake Winona can continue going here.

[oleWalter]

The Winona State Fishing Club would like to invite everyone to their Ice Fishing Derby!

It will be held this Saturday, February 18th at Lake Winona at the Franklin Street Boat Ramp. Registration begins at 7 a.m. followed by the weigh-in at 2 p.m. The cost to register is $25 and $20 to all students with a school ID. Cash prizes will be awarded to those with the biggest crappie, bluegill and perch. A $10 raffle ticket will also give you the chance to win many great prizes including gift cards to various merchants, 2 Rods valued at over $100, a baitcasting combo valued at $75+, a Penn Spinning reel, tackle box from Plano, fly rod case from plano, tackle arrangements from Lethal Weapon Lures, Bizzbaits and more. We are very excited to host this ice fishing extravaganza and we hope you can come out and enjoy this experience with us!

**Proceeds and donations will go towards the Winona State Fishing Club, who has been proud to send teams to the Regional Championships the past two years! Come on out and support your local college fishermen and women!

[JIvers]

There wasn't much action on Lake Winona when I went past earlier this afternoon. Two or three houses just east of the inlet on Huff Street, one or two perms towards the hospital, and a couple people sitting out in the open.

When I went by again at about 6:00 PM, there looked to be a small town of portables straight south of the the hockey rink (what was the swimming beach when I lived there).

[itchmesir]

so Walter how did the ice fishing derby go? what were the sizes on the biggest fish?

[oleWalter]

It went okay, turnout could have been much better but for the people who did show, most of them walked away with cash or a raffle prize. Once again, a big thank you to all of our sponsors and those who supported us. Hopefully some more HSO members can get out there and join in the fun next year!

Largest Perch: .38 lbs Colin Mynoth

Largest Bluegill: .64 lbs Greg Kramer

Largest Crappie: .7 lbs Greg Kramer

[ThunderLund78]

oleWater,

Good work organizing that, sorry the turnout wasn't better. How long has that club been in existence? I'm a WSU Alum--graduated in 2001. While I was in school I was on Student Senate and reviewed club budgets, etc. I don't recall there being a WSU Fishing Club. If I knew of one, I would've been on it

I've got great fishing stories and memories from living in that area during my college days and for a few years after. Lake Winona, Bartlett, Mississippi and all the backwaters. What a great place to be a fisherman!

[itchmesir]

I tried emailing the wsu fishing club when I went back... Never heard back from them.. one day a customer at my bar said he was the old president of the club and said I possibly emailed to the old address... I think the club has been around for about 4-6yrs now.. I remember seeing an article a couple years back about how they had put together a ncaa b.a.s.s. team

Btw... I like the sizes of fish caught... People will continue to believe winona is full of dinky fish.. no one needs to know there's some lunkers in there .... Been fishing this lake since I was born and you have no idea how many people still tell me there's nothing worth catching in there

[JIvers]

I graduated from WSU in 1998; if there was a fishing club back then, I never heard of it...

The University of Iowa here has, or had, a bass-fishing club/team. They had their own boat, sponsors, and uniforms, and competed in tournaments.

As for Lake Winona, when I lived in Winona (most of the 1990s) the lake was considered good only for bass, and the occasional large pike or walleye. The panfish quality has really improved since the dredging project.

[ThunderLund78]

My personal best Northern came from Lake Winona while bass fishing in 2000. 15lb'er hit a buzz bait on the edge of the pondweed. Have caught some good bass in there as well as crappies. Never tried but heard there's walleye and even some big flatheads that were either stocked or somehow got in from the river. People that say there's not quality fish there don't know what they're talking about. But there's tons of options for bigger fish in the bottoms, sloughs and old quarrys, etc. It's a great place to be a sportsman.

[itchmesir]

I've only caught a few eyes in lake winona.. but i know they are in there.. a couple years back some guy pulled out a monster flat while jigging for eyes.. think it was 45lbs??.. believe they were stocked in there to deal with the stunted panfish.. i've never caught a cat in there.. but then again never targeted them either

[JIvers]

The DNR stocks Lake Winona with walleye fingerlings: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/showreport.html?downum=85001100

In the past, the DNR also stocked Lake Winona with channel cat, flathead, and dogfish--yes, dogfish--in an effort to control the bluegill numbers and improve their average size; none of these efforts were successful. The big flathead and channel cat occasionally caught in there may be the remnants or descendants of those efforts or the products of bucket biologists. These fish may also have come in the drainage ditch that connects to the Mississippi on the east end of the lake. Carp and shad have found their way to the lake by this route.

The Lake Winona Bluegill Study found that the bluegill's reproductive habits were to blame for the potato chip-sized sunnies that I remember from the '90s. The dredging eliminated a lot of weed cover in Lake Winona, which reduced the number of bluegill spawning and increased the predation on bluegill, crappie, and perch fry. The growth rates for the remaining panfish improved as a result of having less competition for food. Eradicating carp and gizzard shad from the lake would help as well, but it may not be possible to do so.

[itchmesir]

Man those dogfish in lake winona are huge! You'll see them in the summer all over the east side of the east lake.. crusing through those shallow weed beds

[ThunderLund78]

I caught a big dogfish in the lake just past the hangars on the minimum maintenance road that goes past the airport. Not Bartlett Lake, but the one that's on your right as you're driving back that way. Fun stuff.

[ted4887]

I got out late last week for about an hour looking for some panfish action. The fishing was pretty slow for me, but the fish were starting to move in shallow. I spent a good majority of my time helping a grandmother get her granddaughter the first fish of her life. Judging from what I saw last week though, the fish should start bedding down later this week after water temps start moving up with the 75+ degree forecast we have all week.

[ted4887]

Just as predicted, the fish are shallow and are super agressive. Was out this afternoon chasing gills and had a blast. We caught fish by the truckload today, and wet waded to boot. Good times.

[JIvers]

Thanks for the report--there are some nice fish in the backwaters around Winona.

[itchmesir]

Panfish are plenty on Lake Winona right now... Lot of big guys out there... And they are not shy by any means.. Small buggers or poppers working for the fly guys.. I'd imagine a micro jig tipped with a power maggot would land you sunfish all day long too for the conventional angler

[sheepheadking]

used a fly that looked like a leech i made and got sum of the hogs over the weekend all hunchbacks bigger than me hand fun but super strong winds but still managed

[ted4887]

Those winds were pretty tough this weekend. I was tricked on Monday when I took the kayak out and was promptly blown off the lake. Calm when I launched, 30mph gusts an hour later.

[lispeej]

anyone know what kind of fish this is? this was caught at a lake in the winona area. Looks like a sunny but has a longer body than the normal sunny. Thanks.