WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
January 5, 2006

Happy New Year! I hope 2006 brings everyone the trophy fish and many memorable moments from those outdoor adventures. I find it hard to believe that the 2006 open water season is five months out and already my thoughts are focused on those great days of open water fishing. The warm weather has made for some great times on the lakes, but nothing beats those 80 degree days and those rods bent with active fish. So, as we head towards those fun-filled ddays, I hope I will keep you excited with the winter reports.

The fishing in the Grand lakes Area has hit the stage where one day the fish are active and the next they just want to look at that presentation. We continue to find good numbers of Walleyes on the mid-lake structure of Winnie. During this stage of Winter, many of the active fish come early and late in the day, but continuing to check the tops of structure will pay off from time to time. This last weekend, we hit the tail end of a mid-day bite from the top of a 22-foot hump. I always try to keep in mind that the fish need to eat, and they do not have a watch on their fin.

One of the keys that we have been watching for is getting away from the structure that is full of small baitfish. Many of the humps that we are trying are full of huge schools of small minnows. If you find a hump or bar that lights up the Vexiular on the bottom 4-6 feet, I would suggest looking for another hump. These minnow-infested structures are holding very few active fish, and when the fish get active, the chance of them picking your minnow is slim to none. So when getting out on Winnie, keep moving until you find that structure that shows very few minnows or small fish, these have been the spots that have produced the best numbers for us as of late.

The ice conditions on Winnie are improving and we did see a number of all-sized trucks out there. 15-16 inches of ice is the norm, but I would be very careful if you plan on doing much exploring, as a number of cracks and ice ridges continue to show up. There is a large ice ridge over on the Northwest side of the lake and there is a large stretch of very rough-wind blown ice 1 mile or so North of the Birches landing heading East and West.

The Winnie Perch...well as many have asked what perch? This seems to be a good question. This last weekend I spent the better part of one day looking deep for a good school of Perch, and we failed to come across anything deep. The Perch that we did find seem to be in groups of 1-2 fish. I would recommend looking in that shallower water if you are heading up there soon. We have heard that some anglers are finding Perch, but the numbers seem to be fairly slow for most.

With the recent tropical Winter weather, what a great time to be out there, and for the most part the fish seem to be in the eating mood once you find them. So as the fish call you, there is no better time then now. Tommy Howell, the fish are asking for you, are you ready yet?

Sean Colter
www.seancolter.com
member of the NMLOG's