Originally I was headed to Devils' Creek today - thanks for the heads up about the tournament being there! We turned off and headed towards Preston for some less crowded waters and ended up at Winder Reservoir. I had a couple of tips (you know who you are, thanks!) that there were plenty of perch to keep the kids busy - man was that ever the case!
We arrived pretty late in the afternoon with the intent to fish past dark. Our first pole was down 20 yards out from the dam at 4:00, and it never actually landed on the bottom before I had a ravenous little perch. I was lucky I ever got the shelter up! The ice is thick - somewhere over 16". We fished after dark in the shelter and stayed until 7:30, and everyone had a ball. Unfortunately the biggest perch was about the exact same size as the smallest one. A whopping 4 inches! Using a brown shrimp jig proved to be the best, but honestly they took anything - I'm sure those little guys were starving with as many of them as there were.
In any case, next time out I'm going to hit Twin Lakes - but this is a guarantee catch, and for kids it was great!
[signature]
Bummer on the size, but if you have kids fishing the action is great.
[signature]
What was the water level like? Last time I went by there was early October and it had risen 10-15' since the week before.
The good thing about the micro perch is that they're food for the bigger critters swimming in there [
]
[signature]
I wish I had better info for you on water level - this was my first trip ever to Winder so I had nothing to compare it against. The ice was solid right at the bank (10+ inches) so it hasn't changed anytime recently! I was fishing about 20 yards from the dam and the East bank, and I was in around 20 feet of water.
Wish I could be of more help!
[signature]
Hey no worries, thanks for replying. 20' is plenty to keep the fish alive this winter, so that's good.
[signature]
I would have to look at a map to be sure, but I think Winder is one of the reservoirs that is filled by the Twin Lakes canal from Mink Cr. If so, they won't start filling it again until spring. That canal goes through a pipe at the Bear R Narrows and it freezes in the winter.
[signature]
Yeah, I was just wondering if it had gotten any more water in the fall. The last time I went there around the first of October, it had just gotten a bunch. The water had come up a good 10-15' and was cold and murky. They must have just put a bunch in.
[signature]
I didn't know if any of the three on that canal got water before winter. It's good to hear that they did. The three that feed off of that canal are Winder, Condie, and Twin. Hopefully they put some in Condie too. Even the south lake of Twin was all the way down this fall.
I am impressed though that they didn't drain Winder all of the way this year. Since it doesn't have a minimum pool it can go all the way to the mud. Maybe their canal master is getting a little more fish conscious. I wonder who we could send a thank you card to??[cool]
[signature]
I was really pleased to see that water going into Winder. I drove past Condie around Halloween while on my way to another fishery, but from the fleeting glances I caught from the highway, it looked to have more water in it than it did. It was hard to tell for sure, but definitely an improvement. While it was surely too late to do much good for the fishery as it is, hopefully it will give a head start and it can fill this spring so they can replant it and get it on the road to recovery.
Speaking of Twin, with the south lake all the way down, does that lake need to fill all the way up before the north lake starts filling, or does water come into the north lake separately? I really love fishing all the flooded trees and brush on Twin in the spring, I would hate to miss out on that this year. I've been making a lot of plastics for spring fishing, and I am really anxious to put them to use.
[signature]
On Twin, the water comes in on the south end of the south lake.
Looking at the Sept 2012 sat picture on Google Earth it is way down. There are some pelicans munching out on it, but it isn't dry. The south lake has always been shallower, but this is the lowest I have ever seen it.
It also looks like they may have deepened the canal that is between the two lakes so that more would flow out of the south one. They may have tried to fill it some in Oct too. I haven't seen it yet this winter.
Hopefully there will be lots of water this spring and all three will be flooded into the trees. That way maybe the panfish and bass will have a good spawn and recover quickly.
[signature]
, actually at Twin Lakes they didn't dig the channel deeper they build a dam in the channel. To do repair work on the South Lake Dam, luckily they didn't have to drain it all the way and they did put more water back into it in the fall and early winter. It is not near as full as it has been but it's still fishable.
[signature]
So do they have water set up to go into the north lake separately now? So now boats can't go between the two? That might create a safe haven from the pleasure boaters, it could be good. I might actually fish there in the summer more if that's the case. Glad to hear they got more water in there. If they could put water in whenever they wanted, I wish they could have put more into Condie before all the fish died. Oh well, not much that can be done now except sit and wait for it to recover.
[signature]
The water still comes in the south and out the South. it was just a temporary solution for the time being. It will be the same as usual next year. I am with you hoping it is full to the trees. That's my boys favorite fishing wading the trees and spot and stock the bass Troy
[signature]
Mine too, it's just so stinking fun. I like to fish for the bass until it's almost time to go, then I break out the 10' crappie pole and dip jigs around the brush and catch some dinner.
[signature]
When i was there in early december the water was up into the tree's so it is within a few feet of being full
[signature]
That is awesome news. Thanks for letting us know. Hopefully all the snow we're getting right now will help the snow pack too.
[signature]