stfcatfish, going fishing this weekend, wanna go?

[Guest]

Me and a buddy are probably going to make a trip over to Winnie. I know, it's the last weekend of Walleye season, but, I'm ready to do something different. I'm inviting you to head over there with me. If you don't go, he and I will travel together. If you do want to go, he will find a partner, and we will take two trucks. Lemme know new fishing bud.

Set the Hook, Hard!!

Lundman

[Guest]

Steve,
Actually, fishing Winnie for perch is a pretty straight forward deal. No need for a map. There are roads all over the place, we can pick up a road map at the resort when we go on. All the bars have names, but, we usually just look for the groups of trucks, then try to find a spot on the fringe. Travel shouldn't be a problem, the snow cover should be minimal. Probably be able to drive anywhere we want off the roads as well. Looking foward to getting out of town, and maybe even getting some tasty perch....Yummm!!

Lundman

P.S. Don't think I didn't catch that smart alec comment on the other post there "Mister"....hehehe

[Steve Foss]

Lundman:

Count me IN. Are we talking a day trip? Saturday or Sunday? I'd rather do a day trip, but am open to whatever.

Or are you thinking overnighter? If it is an overnighter, we could stay over at my family's cabin near Bemidji, which is probably 30-45 minutes from Winnie. The water's turned off, so we'd have to do what bears do where bears do it (plenty of woods around the cabin). But there's a wood stove and electric baseboard heat and four bedrooms.

Anyway, day trip is best or me this weekend.

Also, I've been looking at the Winnie fishing reports posted on the Winnie forum on this site. Never having fished Winnie, all the spots mentioned are strange to me. Do you know the lake or have a good map?

Let me know, Sir Lund.

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Steve ([email protected])

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 02-05-2002).]

[Steve Foss]

Hey Lundman:

What's a new fishing partner for, if not giving a little s---?

Well, good to know we don't need a map, but I'll get one anyway. Because, umm, I just like maps. We can play around a bit with the GPS, too.

We'll have to make a perch trip to Devils Lake, N.D., one of these days. Perhaps next winter. Fishing season never closes there, so you can fish it as long as there's ice. And, well, you've heard how big the perch get. I lived in Grand Forks, N.D., for years and years, and learned to catch perch on D.L. Nothing like a pail full of 14 to 16 inchers to get your blood pumping, not to mention the phenomenal populations of walleyes and big pike.

The perch fishing has been spotty the last few winters. Not because populations are down, Game and Fish says anything but, says they're high. But there are countless billions of freshwater shrimp in the 120,000-acre lake. They gush out of every hole when you pull out your auger. Speculation is the perch continually stuff themselves on the shrimp, so they're more inclined to igore angler's offerings. I've cleaned a bunch of them whose bellies were stuffed full of shrimp, so that makes sense.

And most people there use minnows under bobbers or minnow heads on small spoons or some other form of minnow bait. Had I stayed in G.F., I'd be using tiny jigs with plastic bodies that mimic shrimp this season. Can't remember what they're called, but I've got a bunch of them. If you put them on a dropper about 3 inches below a Kastmaster spoon (minus the spoon's hooks, of course), it should work good. The spoon attracts the perch, then they go for the shrimp imitation.

It'll be worth a try.

See you on the hardwater.

Also, in some of the perch I cleaned from the other day, some of the fillets had small soft, whitish things in them that looked like some kind of parasite larvae. I hadn't seen those before. Not knowing if they were safe after cooking, I tossed those fillets. Each fillet had maybe 10 to 12 in them, not just on top of the meat, but buried inside as well.

Any ideas what they are and if it's OK to eat them? I know the little black cysts you sometimes see in perch and other fish are OK when cooked.

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Steve ([email protected])

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 02-06-2002).]

[Guest]

Hi Steve,
It's ok, I'm used to getting s*** from my other fishin' buddies, I can take it, I have broad shoulders, and everything else for that matter...
I've always thought about going to Devils, but, it's such a darn long ways out there, 7 or 8 hour drive, I've heard, that I just couldn't bring myself to make that long of a trek for perch. Maybe I'll rethink that, now that I've got an ex-local guide to bring me around the place.
As far as the white things in the perch goes, the last time I kept perch from there, I found one fish that had them in it. I don't know what they are called, but, they are indeed a parasite, and although I've had people tell me they pick them out, and eat away, I just never could bring myself to do it. As a matter of fact, I usually don't bother to keep them if they have those in them. If you look the fish over real close, most of the time, you'll see a few, or maybe even just a couple, in just underneath the skin right at the base of the tail, or, at the base of the dorsal fin, or, right at the base of the pectoral fins as well. If I spot even one, I toss the fish back. Let the northerns, or walleyes eat them, which, I'm sure isn't a good idea, seeing as how the predator fish will probably get them then. Although, now that I think about it, I guess I've never caught a walleye with those in it either. At any rate, I just can't get myself to throw a fish out of the house and just leave it there either. So, there you have the dilema...hehehe.
Looking forward to this Saturday, plans are still on.

Set the Hook, Hard!!

Lundman

[Surface Tension]

If you cook your fish they wont harm you. LOL. Ive seen them in walleyes.

[Steve Foss]

Hey Mark:

Think I'll bring some waxies to Winnie. Might be interesting to try that dropper technique there. Most lakes have some form of small invertebrate that perch eat.

Surface Tension, thanks for the input. Still not sure if I want to munch those things, though.

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Steve ([email protected])

[Guest]

Hi Steve,
Actually, that's not a bad idea, I have caught perch out of Winnie that have been full of freshwater shrimp before. It might make a difference if the fish aren't real active. If they are, however, they'll bit on a whole fathead like a walleye will. Have to wait and see. I've had good luck with the northland rattle spoons, and small pimples there, usually with just the head of a minnow. Last time I was there, we tried some of those Rosy Reds. They didn't seem to make much difference though. We'll stop and get bait on the way, in Rapids, so, if you want, you can wait till then to pick them up. I'm gettin' pumped. I love road trips....hehehehe.

Mark

[Steve Foss]

Hey Mark:

I'm already packed. Your auger or mine?

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Steve ([email protected])

[Guest]

I'm mostly ready to go, just have to hit the grocery store, I'll do that tomorrow night. We can bring 'em both, no problem. If we don't use them both, it's ok too, but would rather have, than have not. I had the day off today, and went to London road to have the truck washed and hit Marine General. I finally broke down and bought a floating transducer for the Vex. I've been putting it off, but, finally got sick and tired of trying to keep the angle right when a fish bumps it on the way up the hole. Also picked up a trout rod, cheap one, and a couple lures for the trip to Canada the end of the month. I put one of my level winds on it, should work alright. I just hope I don't find out it won't when I've got a trout hooked...hehehe. I'll call you, or, you can call me, either way, tomorrow night fairly early in the evening, 4:30 comes pretty early. Talk later.

Mark

[Steve Foss]

Hey Mark:

Cool. The more augers the better. Never know when one of those Tecumsehs will break down. Actually, never had one break down yet.

I was at Marine General about 12:15 today, too. Picked up a Hot Spot Big Winnie map that has GPS coords for all the bars and good spots. That way, if we get a local report that a certain bar or other spot might be hot, we can break in my unit and not have to search for the other trucks. That might especially come in handy if we set up somewhere besides perch country for an evening walley bite. Moses Bar, which has been mentioned as a walleye hot spot in the last few Winnie fishing reports, slopes off into 70 feet or better, which could take us to perch in daylight and walleyes shallower in evening.

But playing it by ear is the best. We'll just see what the bait shops say.

I think those long fancy laker ice rods are overrated. Nice to have one that's stout, but I've picked up a couple for $15 each that are about 24 inches and stiff. Mounted my two Ambassadeur 5500Cs on them with 10 lb Trilene. Should be fine. If I can catch 10-lb lakers off the Two Harbors breakwater on 6 lb test, heavier stuff oughtta work just fine. I probably picked up and held in my hand the one you bought. You probably got it off the wall to the right of the stairway. Creepy.

Talk to you on the phone. At work, I'm at 723-5321. That's where I'll be tomorrow evening.

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Steve ([email protected])