Panfish Report Lake Winnie, Cutfoot Sioux, Grand Rapids Area
Our winter guided ice fishing trips are nearing an end. There is only a few weeks left and hopefully more bluegills like the one above continue to want to play. Lake Winnie, Cutfoot Sioux, and surrounding bodies of water have seen their fair share of fishing pressure this winter. Skittish schools of fish are becoming aware of the new technology that is facing them. Finding fish isn’t the tough part. Keeping them underneath you, now that's a whole different story.
One tactic that I have employed this winter is using more of my 1 man fish houses. I currently run the Clam Kenai because of the ease of use. Flip and go, no extending of poles. I also like the dark fabric on the inside of the house. It keeps everything dark, and I am noticing more and more how important that is to help keep spooky schools of crappies and bluegills below you.
Utilizing forward facing sonar this weekend to help us locate schools of bluegills and crappies definitely helped us find general areas that the fish were congregating. However, trying to get your house or yourself positioned right on top of these schools proved to be a difficult task. It was, find an area, move your 1 man there, not marking, don't move! Wait it out. It took on average 20-30 minutes for those schools of fish to move back into position. I am a firm believer that these fish are becoming accustomed to being drilled right on top of. This happens consistently now, over the course of the winter. It used to be kind of accidental when you would land on the large schools. Now targeted holes can be placed right on top of them each and every time. We are educating a lot of fish, and we as anglers will need to continue to adapt and educate ourselves. Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
As our winter guide season winds down, please continue to check each week for updated fishing reports from the Lake Winnie and Grand Rapids area. Eelpout and Tullibee season is upon us. Warm days on the ice, with family and friends sounds pretty exciting. I know my son Duncan is itching for some smoked fish soon.