Traveling to Lake Winnipeg

[Fishfreak53]

Hey everyone,

A few buddies and I will be traveling about 20hrs to fish Lake Winnipeg for the first time this weekend and are looking for a few pointers to help make it the trip of a lifetime. We are recent college grads scattered all around the lower 48, using this trip to meet up and keep in touch. We plan to stay in Gimli Thursday through Sunday, and launch out of Chalet Rd. What we know so far is that we need to have barbless hooks, no alcohol, 2 rod limit, possible auger extensions, and to be prepared for harsh weather/rough ice. We plan on bringing a UTV to get us out on the ice. A few questions we had were... Are we allowed live bait?..... What are the current conditions like?.... Is our launch site appropriate?.... Where would you go to find some fish?.... When guys say they are fishing 10FOW, is that ice included?.... In what general direction should we head out of Chalet?.... Where I'm from Sweedish Pimples and Do-Jiggers are popular for walleyes, any recommendations on generally hot lures would be great. Also, with the limit being 6, does this mean we are only allowed to bring 6 fish a piece back over to the states? Any other advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[reel]

Everything you said, and yes live bait is allowed. Access is good now even by trucks, but that can change quickly with a decent dump of snow.....You'll  be fine with UTV's.  Anywhere out from Chalet road could be good fishing. Ppl mostly  head E, SE. Pimples are ok, so are jigs with a saltie, jigging spoons,  and different lipless hard baits (live targets, rapalas etc) Normally we mean the depth of water  below the ice excluding the ice thickness.

[avidangler]

Ive always thought the depth  included  the ice  ..

[reel]

Ive always thought the depth  included  the ice  ..

Why? why guess....? Never know the exact ice thickness....especiall y in cloudy water.  Isn't it simpler just go with the depth what the flasher indicates.

[carcus1]

Got some bad weather coming this weekend, up to 25 cm of snow, you should be ok with a utv as long as you dodge the drifts, fishing has really slowed down on LW, typical for this time of year, if I were you and if its possible, re-book for mid to late March, with the forecast and the bite being slow could make for a long trip! 

[Steven_Polaris]

^agreed, we need some snow so in happy. Finally can take out my sleds

[Doug1980]

We had good luck last year with Pink/White's Blade Baits from BfishN tackle, and live targets.   I agree on the mid to late March timing.   That's when we go, and it was a real nice trip last year, and that is when we are heading up again this year.   Good Luck!   

[Doug1980]

I should also mention, that you should prepare to be mobile.   The more mobile you are the more fish you will probably catch.   If you pick one spot and sit there all day, you will probably pick up some fish, but you will have better luck moving around to find and stay on top of the schools.   

[avidangler]

Where does the water come up to in the hole ? top of the ice so if u just put your transducer into the water the reading includes the ice..and that is the depth of the water..never understood why anyone would deduct the ice for a depth reading

[Scoutn]

Bottom of the ice is the accepted method everywhere.

[avidangler]

well ,  I prefer it on top 

[Steven_Polaris]

Well your doing it wrong, if you put it at the bottom of the hole you get more valid information off your flasher. What happens is the transducer waves bound back off the ice and with this you don't get the full potential out of your flasher.

I know everyone has there own things and tricks they like to do but you should try your transducer at the bottom of the hole and maybe you might notice a difference!

Fish On

[CILRedRIVER]

Well your doing it wrong, if you put it at the bottom of the hole you get more valid information off your flasher. What happens is the transducer waves bound back off the ice and with this you don't get the full potential out of your flasher.

I know everyone has there own things and tricks they like to do but you should try your transducer at the bottom of the hole and maybe you might notice a difference!

Fish On

I never go to the bottom of the ice, no reason to. Never had an issue and my line never tangles with the transducer landing a fish. I bet you pull yours out landing a fish. I also have increased bottom coverage.

[Steven_Polaris]

Yes I pull my transducor out when I hook a fish, takes 1 second too not a big deal. And you say you cover more depth yet the ice is reflecting the waves from your transducor making it not as effective in my opinion.

Everyone has there own ways and tricks they like to use and that's what makes ice fishing a great sport

[reel]

"Sounds" like the flasher manufacturer got it all wrong... lol ?!...

[avidangler]

Thx for the tips on placement of ducer while fishing ( explains why I get such a large double reading ) , but we were just talking about getting the depth of water..... so you have ducer below ice, reads 10 ft say, do you bring out a tape measure to get the ice thickness and add to the 10 feet to get the true depth ? A spot that reads 10 ft below the ice  in Dec might read 8 ft in march  Im sure the ice is different thicknesses wherever you go...Just touch the water in your hole with the ducer gives the depth..so much easier.. I think those that want to give the depth below the ice are just trying to be difficult  lol 

[reel]

Thx for the tips on placement of ducer while fishing..

Welcome, and that's what we were talking about depth of the water when, or while fishing. Not when checking the depth out of curiosity or doing depth charts...etc.

[Drift Dodger]

Welcome, and that's what we were talking about depth of the water when, or while fishing. Not when checking the depth out of curiosity or doing depth charts...etc.

I'm really not trying to be sarcastic or petty here but the depth of water when, or while ice fishing, actually does include the depth of water in the hole! You can't ice fish without utilizing that part of the water column.

Regardless what anyone prefers, it's quite easy and helpful to just qualify the pertinent details ... for example there may be 15 FOW below 3 ft of ice for total 18 ft depth.

I apologize for contributing to this somewhat off-topic part of the thread. Good and safe fishing everyone!

[clawj]

I always include the ice thickness when saying what FOW I was in.

[Fish Camp 24-7]

Water is water! Why would you include ice thickness? Water column starts below the ice .

[blue igloo]

If I say it's 14 FOW……that's EXACTLY what I mean….WATER! To get my reading of WATER depth, I simply lift my transducer to the top of the water and take a reading. After that, I lower the transducer to the bottom of the water column so that it just clears the bottom of the ice hole. Works for me 
Blue Igloo 

[cropdude]

Water is water! Why would you include ice thickness? Water column starts below the ice .

The water column is from surface to bottom. The water does not sit at the bottom of a hole drilled in 3 feet of ice.....  From the surface of the ice to the bottom of the lake is the depth I use because that's how much line it will take me to reach the bottom.

[reel]

The "water column" WHILE I ice fish is the depth what my flasher indicates with the transducer in place just below the ice.