Ice Conditions

[Andrew Klassen]

I've been getting a bunch of e-mails about the ice so I figured I'd respond to all of you on here. The rivers are all flowing and on lakes with current, those sections are wide open. You can boat from Kenora to Scotty Island at the moment so lots of areas to fish. Come the Manitoba opener, the water on the Red and Winnipeg Rivers will be high and fast, but the fish will be there.

As for Lake of the Woods, the shorelines are opening and it's losing ice daily. I bet within the next week it should be pretty much open if the temperatures stay high. Should make for some very nice lake trout and pike fishing very soon!

Feel free to post questions on the bulletin board here. Chances are if you're wondering about something, so are a few others!

In the meantime, what species will you be targeting come the opener next month?

[mofferman]

Ill be on the winnipeg river for the musky opener. What are your predictions as far as water level? water temps? Normal, Above or below?

[Andrew Klassen]

The water levels are pretty high right now but they do have all the dams wide open and quite a bit of water is going through. I would still expect higher water/current levels for the opener, but nothing too crazy as long as the dams stay open and we don't get any huge rainfalls.

Water temps will probably be a few degrees cooler as well. We just haven't had the warm weather to start heating things up, and the ice on LOTW is keeping things pretty cold. I'd start off the trip looking for the warmest water and not spending much time in an area unless you're moving fish right away.

Have you fished the Winnipeg River system before?

[mofferman]

Yes, i think this will be my 14th or 15th musky opener on the winnipeg river system. Love it, great body of water!

[Andrew Klassen]

Good stuff, sounds like you know your way around that system. Couldn't agree more, beautiful area and great fishing! Do you fish there other times of the year or always the opener?

[mofferman]

I have never been there at a different time than the opener. I have always wanted to come up in august or september or even october, but im from illinois and its not easy to get up there multiple times in a year. I go with my old man and my uncles and they have been going since the 70's, so breaking up that tradition just wouldnt be right. But hopefully one day i'll have the opportunity to fish the system in the fall. Where do you normally fish the winnipeg at? Minaki area?

[Andrew Klassen]

It's very different fishing later in the summer and into the fall. If you ever get a chance to come up again in the year, I think you'd like the experience. You'll find yourself fishing a lot more rock area and a bit less of the weeds. I've fished pretty much the entire river, but most of the time I launch in Minaki and head out from there. How have you guys done for size and numbers around opener?

Also, before we got this last snowfall, we had a couple warm days with some good wind mixed in and the ice has disappeared from many smaller lakes and is breaking up very fast on LOTW. Within the week it should be ice free!

[mofferman]

We have done well on all species. My biggest musky came 2 years ago-53.5". my dad got his first 50" last year. I lost a 50 plus last year on a top water(awesome strike and fight though). Lot of fish in the 43-47" range. The one thing ive noticed in the last probly 3-4 years is the size of the northern, lot in the 34-40 inch class with quite a few in the 40" range. Couple years back i got a 45" northern....freakin monster. We havent walleye fished to much in the past couple years but the guys that do walleye fish in our group have done really well especially last year. Hope its another good year especially weather wise. But all that said i could go up there and not catch a fish and still have a good time, fish are just a bonus. But thats good news on the ice situation, im sure you guys that live up there are pumped to get on the water, i know i would be!

[Andrew Klassen]

Very nice fish! The pike fishing has been getting better than better over the years. We're seeing the same thing on LOTW. I thank the slot size for that, it's really improved the fishery! Last year was amazing for walleye, and I typically do well for them in high water so I'm expecting good things again this season. After 6 months of ice on the lakes, you bet we're excited to get back out there! I'll be out in the boat this week!