Lake Winnibigoshish Fishing Reports by HighBanks Resort

[Xplorer]

Just to clarify, crappie is not a 2 limit possession limit. Daily and possession limit for crappie is 10, (as well as daily/possession for walleye is 6).

Perch is 20/40 as stated above. Just didnt want you to get pinched if you happened into a nice bunch of crappies!

[Glockwinger]

Glockwinger, Did that bite pick up for you at prime time? Just wondering as I am heading up that way this weekend. Milacs had a bug hatch that don't normally happen until March and I wonder if that is a factor on Winni as well. The cold snap coming could also factor into how the bite will be. Hopefully you got into some fish. Take care.

Not a single fish during prime time...so we are moving today. Did get a nice c&r 22" walleye later in the eve. Caught 4 fat pout, one at 3am. Right now the wind is whipping and the temp is dropping. Hoping a new spot a little closer in will produce. It is fishing and not catching...lol! Still having fun regardless!

[CC Hurl]

Thanks Glockwinger, Wish you luck in your new spot. Do you keep them poor man's lobster's? I tried it a few years back and if I catch any I want to keep at least one. How deep of water were you in and how deep have you moved too? Yes, it is going to feel like winter up there for sure. I hope this helps the fishing and not turn it off completly.

Ya, some folks forget fishing is not called catching for a reason. Lol Take care and good luck.

[tcbrookston]

I got to High Banks at about 3:30 Saturday and dropped the house on 14' of water about 3/4 mile out. Drilled two hole and dropped lines. Had three eyes and two 11" perch by morning. Fairly slow through the day, but had 11 eyes between 4-5 pm on one line. All between 16.5 and 19.5. They were very agressive. Action was hot and fast for an hour and then it slowed down.

Went home with a nice batch of fish.

Not great, but very good.

[HIGHBANKS]

Ice conditions have held consistent through the warm spell with 16”-18” of good ice and minimal snow coverage 3 ½ miles NW of High Banks! Wheel houses and full-size trucks are welcome and able access most of the lake. The deep-water bite has not been producing and the best action is still in 15-17 FOW. There has been a good mid-day perch bite and some nice slot walleyes with occasional keepers. Picture worthy pike have been roaming the flats and break lines!

[CC Hurl]

Ran into Jigglestick Thursday morning right away and got some good tips from him. Fished way out at perch flat from Thursday morning until Friday night and ended up keeping some real nice jumbo's between two of us along with 6 nice eater walters. Got some nice Northerns as well for the camera. I caught a nice 26'' for the camera as well. Mr DNR guy stopped in and was surprised we were hitting them as good as we were as he was not seeing those numbers at places, but did mention most folkes were in closer to shore. Thanks for the tips Jigglestick and we hope to get up there again real soon.

[cps420us]

We were up from last Wed-Sat. Lots of little perch, 10", 21", and 25" eyes was all. One nice fat northern about 6 lbs. Marked a ton of fish but no takers. All eyes were on rattle reels and chartruse colors.

[Bryce]

Tough fishing. Out of High Banks loosely fishing with Camp Jigglestick. What little bit of road is actually needed is in good shape. They do have more snow up there so banking is easy but cross country travel is virtually unlimited as long as you stay out of the few random drifts and pick your way through the rough ice fields. Attribute tough fishing to the weather. Wind was constantly shifting direction and speed. Saw too much grouping and crowding for my liking. No need to set up so close with all the structure this lake affords and the current driving conditions. Don't be a sheaple. Wasn't able to make it up there last year and definitely noticed the walleyes are eating well. Very fat fish. Had my first experience taking our catch to Gosh Dam to be cooked up. $8/person and I waddled out full. Hope I didn't gain a pants size out of all that good food. Thanks to High Banks for access and beverages. Thanks to Camp Jigglestick for sharing knowledge. Hope to be back in a couple weeks.

[DRH1175]

Anything new? We are coming up this weekend to Highbanks for a 3 day weekend. how is the bite?

[pike2eye]

went up there monday just alot of small perch non keeper thouhgh. Fished in a bout 17 ft of water. Going out there tommorow the walleyes should be going into the deeper water from 20-30 ft. ill let u know how i did

[HIGHBANKS]

High Banks Resort now has scratched roads over five miles NW out of the resort to the Big Island and Zoomer’s, with nice plowed roads three miles out and to Perch Bar. Ice conditions are great for travel with full size trucks and wheel houses accessing through High Banks. With the cold weather fishing reports have varied. Some groups are finding fish in shallow, on the flats, and on the first deep water break line. The perch bite has held consistent and we are still finding nice sized walleyes working the break lines in deeper water being iced and released. Also, big pike are roaming the flats following bait balls of minnows and small perch and with a full snow cover on the lake start looking for the mid-lake structure for walleyes during prime time hours. Stop in the lodge for the latest fishing reports; we hope to see you on the ice!

[JBMasterAngler]

Highbanks, I'm hoping to get up there at the end of february, I seen your prices for sleeper shacks, is that price based per person or is it 1 lump sum?

[marcum12]

JB, we just got back from high banks useing one of their sleepers. The price is lump sum. We had high banks edition lodge fish house for 4 nights. 3 guys it was about 265.00 a person total. Had a great time even tho the temps were 20 below. Caught enough to keep us happy.Kim and Rick the owners are great people and do everything they can to get you on fish. Try fishing after dark too. I was the only one that did and Caught some nice walleyes and 1 nice northern at 7:30pm one night. Also be careful not to leave rod sitting on a chair with bait just under water. I lost a rod that way. Saw northerns cruising just under ice a couple times during the day. .

[JBMasterAngler]

Thanks for the info. It's been 6 years since I was last up there, so I'm pretty excited.

[buckpredator]

Was up there last friday. Per the instructions we received when we stopped in the mourning we started out in 17 feet for some perch we ended up with 27 nice ones. Later in the afternoon we set up on a mid lake hump in 23 fow ended up with a few more nice perch and we also landed 4 walleyes and also lost about as many on the way up. Being a greenhorn on that lake, the people were very helpful and kind. Also it was nice seeing the little pup that greats people as they walk in.

[Bryce]

Also it was nice seeing the little pup that greats people as they walk in.

Whittle is definitely stealing the show right now.

Tough fishing for us in wheelhouses out on midlake structure unless you count pout. Marking constantly but very few biters. Resort customers seem happy and personally saw cleaned fish when I showered this afternoon. Again white was the predominant color and jigging vs deadstick.

Just lost favorite hot tomale to pout. Grrrr.

[buckpredator]

For us the hot lure for walleyes was a orange macho minnow with a glow back.

[RangeFishing]

Ive never fished Winni and am looking for some real basic information. Wheres the best landing to go in through if i will be coming from Grand Rapids area on Hwy 2? Does it cost anything to use the accesses?

Looking for some daytime perch or walleye action as it would be after 9 am before Id be able to get to the lake.

I know the lake isnt a real deep lake but is huge, what kind of structure should i be looking for out there?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Edit: The DNR website shows no Crappie or Bluegill being present in the lake? Is this true or is it something they just passed up?

[two cups]

It kind of depends which part of the lake you want to fish. On the south end you can go out of Denny's ( $10 ) on the east shore you can go out of birches public landing for free. If you want easy access with plowed roads you can go out of High Banks resort ( $10 ) just down the road from Birches. Most sunfish and crappie fishing takes place in Cut Foot which is connected to Winni. I like to fish the humps in the winter, I find one that not to many people are fishing and set up on the edge of it. If you decide to go out of resort they will help you. Good luck Rick

[HIGHBANKS]

High Banks has nice plowed roads over 5 miles out of the lodge. With over 20” of ice full size pick-ups and wheel-houses are welcome! Roads plowed out to Big Island, Zoomers, and Perch Bar with scratched roads to the North shore and question mark. The perch bite has held consistent in 17 FOW and with the warm weather look to move around during the mid day to find active perch. We are starting to see a pick up in mid-lake structure for walleyes and perch; some groups are coming in with a nice pail of walleyes, jumbo perch and the occasional trophy pike; look for structure during prime time hours for walleyes. Stop in the lodge for the latest fishing reports. Good luck and we hope to see you on the ice!

[tcbrookston]

Out about 6 miles from high banks tonight. Great tullibee action today with a few 9-11" perch mixed in.

A couple of 16-17" eyes at dark with a couple of hours of silence after. Between 12 and 2,

Six eyes 20-22 and five nice pout.

[HIGHBANKS]

Ice conditions on Big Winnie are excellent! The travel conditions are also perfect ensuring great mobility for full sized trucks and wheelhouses. The perch bite has been a solid success for both fishermen on the move and for the guys staying hunkered down and fishing out of their fish houses. The perch are on the move and are being caught by both the “mobile” fishermen and those in the houses who are patient and wait for the schools to move through.

Out of High Banks Resort, we have still been finding a good, consistent perch bite in 17 FOW and on the front break lines off the flats, with some picture perfect walleyes and the occasional trophy pike being iced and released. The mid-lake bite has been a little spotty with some walleyes being caught here and there, followed with some nice perch, although in lesser numbers.

For those of you who are interested in the last few weeks of walleye season, continue to look at the mid-lake structure during morning and evening hours; and, when you do, you may come in with a nice mixed pail and some good stories and pics to go with it. Good luck, be safe, and remember to always have a cell phone (and don’t drop it down the hole, reception is poor there!). Stop in at the Lodge for the latest fishing reports or to have a bite to eat or a beverage and share some stories and tactics. We hope to see you either at the Lodge, on the ice, or both.

[FriendliestCatch]

Another perfect weekend headed in. Looking forward to a day on the big water tomorrow targeting jumbo's. I plan on working the North end over good. See you in the morning.

[FriendliestCatch]

Live from the lake ! A perfect day indeed !! Headed out of Highbanks at 8 AM. Was ready to head for home with 20 jumbo's by noon !! 18 FOW in NW area, South of Zoomers. Started off with lures tipped with a fathead, bit so good didn't need the fathead. Didn't seem to matter what the lure, forage minnow or grubworm jig. Pounded it !! Enjoy the rest of your day !!

[Bryce]

Tough going in three wheel houses. Fished mid lake structure Sat and Sun in two locations. Lots of marks but not aggressively biting. Moved in to first break Mon just in case weather got ugly. Reports were good in that area. Cat herding technique was not effective and missed most of prime perch time in the process of relocating. Did end up with some more pailers to end up with plenty for fish fry for three couples at GDP. Pull tabs were more cooperative than the fish. Fish were very aggressive in that area the short time we fished this morning. Lake travel still appeared to be unlimited after the overnight snow. Looked like plows were just firing up to touch up roads when we left. Heard many reports of fish over the weekend. We just didn't hit the spot.

[Jarrid Houston]

We will be there on Sunday on the way back from LOW, hopefully these falling temps they are callin for will not hurt the fish bite! It seems everytime we go on this trip the weather hurts us, and we catch poor results! Hopefully this is the year!

[gregg52]

I'm not sure if the season is still open

but if you are just stopping for day i dunno what kind of results you will get

but if you are staying out on the ice and can still fish for walleyes

find a hump that has no body on it and i bet you pound them over night

i've had the best luck up there this time of the year but i can't stress

getting away from those crowds and other houses

there all kinds of humps on the north end that havnt been touched all winter

[Fishalittle]

How are travel conditions on the lake for a truck and wheelhouse? Can you still get off roads or is it limited. Haven't been up this way yet this year and would like to try last weekend there? Is there still a decent bite on walleyes or all perch?

Thanks in advance for an update!

[jigglestick]

off road conditions weren't that good before the storm. now we have 7-8 more inches. spent the day plowing and rescuing people who seemed to forget there was a storm coming in.

perch and tulibees went goos this past weekend and found several walleyes in the slot.

most perch were still in that 17 fow range but I did catch a hog in 34 fow that went 12 inches and was puking up gobs of blood worms. I'm going back there with the right gear to se if I can get into more of them!

I have a house set on a tulibee spot and I'm going to get enough for my needs (pickling and smoking).

anybody interested in tulibees, c'mon up. they are agressive and plentiful!

keep your stick on the ice!

Jigglestick

[NewtotheNorth]

Jigglestick,

I was able to plan a trip of guys from the cities... After reading about Tullibees and no much luck on Mille lacs this year, can you share some light on where can a guy try on Big Winnie.. We plan to hit it this coming up weekend (March 3rd & 4th) in seek of some tullibee action from High Banks resort.

Any starting location on where we should check and what too look for. Most of the guys will have flasher but with no experiencing fishing Big Winnie and being such a big lake, just dont want to be shooting in the dark..

Thanks