Over the years I have been invited up to massive Lake Winnipeg to go walleye fishing several times and looking back now, I probably should have jumped on the bandwagon a little sooner. My problem is that I live minutes from Lake of the Woods and when I want to go catch some walleyes on the ice, it’s convenient to just head out there and catch a few. The fishing is always pretty good but we don’t see a lot of big fish, especially during the middle part of the winter.
Last week one of my best fishing buddies from Southern Ontario, Cory Johnston traveled up to the Big Windy with his young son Jack and friend Frank Janzen for a few days. It was their second time making the trip. After having a great time last year, they decided to come back and do it again.
Located less than an hour north of Winnipeg, the Big Windy is the nickname given to the walleye factory that is Lake Winnipeg. I follow a lot of fishing people on social media and throughout the winter months, we constantly see these anglers posting photos of the big walleyes and their unique colour, being caught from the lake. When Cory told me he was coming up and that I should come and join them, I didn’t have to think about it, I was in.
They spent four nights on the ice, renting a 29-foot sleeper shack on the lake that is operated by Kannuk Outfitters. Not exactly roughing it, but a fun getaway. I drove up and caught the afternoon bite, spent the night and came home the next day. I drove to the community of Matlock and accessed the ice there. It’s a little different than Lake of the Woods because it’s almost like heading out onto the ocean since are no islands. There were some snow drifts and rough spots to drive around but because it’s so exposed, most of the snow just blows off the lake so there were no actual ice roads to follow. There was nearly three feet of ice out there.
When I arrived, I stepped into the shack as Jack was reeling in a 27-inch walleye. I was quietly thinking to myself, wow, this could be legit. It was cold out so I was kind of excited to fish in a shelter, sitting on the couch. Around home I seldom fish if it’s so cold that I need to put up a shelter. I simply like fishing outside better, but this was a different experience. This shack had a double bed that popped out of the ceiling as well as a few single beds and couches. We had a stove, oven and microwave to cook food and two big screen TVs, both of which were hooked up to Cory’s Livescope machine so we could all watch our baits while we fished. It was a fun time.
As good of walleye fishing as we have in Northwest Ontario, I’m not sure that we have any waterbodies that compare to Lake Winnipeg for ice fishing. We caught a bunch of walleyes of all sizes without even moving around. It was a really fun experience. The walleyes in Big Windy are called “greenbacks” because of the unique emerald green colour on their backs. They have a different colour pattern than our walleyes do in Sunset Country, in that they are more pale. I do like our gold walleyes better, but these fish were really unique in person. The photos don’t really do them justice. Some anglers fish out there during the open water season but it’s such big water that regular fishing boats just aren’t big enough to battle the massive waves that build up out there.
The night was not uneventful. They use a generator to power these shacks and while everything was running when we went to bed, we woke at around 4 am to a cold trailer. It was cold last week and then we got hit with high winds during the night and evidently the exhaust of the generator got smothered by snow, knocking it out. We brought it inside and let it slowly thaw for a couple hours before we could finally start it up and get the power back on. The only downside that I saw out there is its rough country on that lake in the winter and you could get yourself into trouble in those big winds. When I first stepped outside during the night, the snow was blowing around so much, it was hard to see my truck 50 feet away from the door. If you’re looking for a good time, check out Kannuk Outfitters and they’ll get you on some amazing walleye fishing on the ice.
