This 67,000-acre lake in Northern Minnesota’s Itasca County offers clear and pristine waters with very little shoreline development. On average, there’s as much as 10 feet of water visibility!
Combine that with an average depth of 15 feet, a 70-foot maximum, and structure galore, and you start to see why the fourth largest lake in Minnesota is considered an angler’s paradise. Flats, points, sunken islands, bays, weedbeds… Winnie’s got it all.

Plus, it’s the kind of lake that’s just plain fun to fish, drawing anglers year after year to the same resorts spring, summer, fall, and winter. From primitive campgrounds to family-owned resorts with old-world charm, to hotels with all the amenities of home and then some, the Lake Winnie area’s got it — and all within three hours of the Minneapolis and Duluth airports.

What makes the lake so popular?

Winnie is the perfect destination for anglers looking for both quantity and quality the entire calendar year – the kind of lake where odds are good to put together a fish fry and catch a new personal best.
The lake’s walleye population is stable and healthy, with high numbers of many year classes present, and some really big fish, too. The hardwater jumbo perch fishery is on the upswing, and trophy pike, crappies and bluegills round out the bill no matter the season.

And the bass fishing? Let’s just say we know a lot of folks who’d prefer it remain a secret.
Winnie also attracts muskie hunters. After all, Winnie produced Minnesota’s long-standing state-record muskie, a 54-pound, 56-inch fish caught by Art Lyons in 1957. Although there’s a lot of water to cover, big fish still roam these waters.

Bordered by the Chippewa National Forest and other fish-filled waters like Little Winnie, Cut Foot Sioux, Little Cut Foot, and countless other lakes perfect for multi-species day trips, it would take a lifetime to explore this fishing paradise.

Sounds like a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!