Walleye (pickerel)
Good
Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
Lake Winnipeg Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Lake Winnipeg at Gimli: walleye and sauger in open water and through the ice on the world’s 10th largest freshwater lake by area, with a live level gauge.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
217.42 m
Air / High
3 °C / 12 °C
Wind
SSW 11 km/h
Sources: Water Survey of Canada station 05SB006, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Winnipeg is a cold-water proposition today: small baits, slow presentations and a long soak. The gauge reads 217.42 m, easing 0.29 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 11 km/h, steady pressure near 1005 hPa and a high of 12 °C. Water sits around 4 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 12:12 AM-2:12 AM and 12:31 PM-2:31 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Good
Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
Yellow perch
Good
The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 12:12 AM-2:12 AM, 12:31 PM-2:31 PM, 9:03 AM-10:03 AM. Cooler at 7 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Manitoba requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$13.65. Manitoba fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing walleye (pickerel) here? Check the size and bag limits with Manitoba before you keep anything; the Walleye (pickerel) page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake Winnipeg today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (08:33), sunset (17:49), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 12:12 AM-2:12 AM and 12:31 PM-2:31 PM; minor 9:03 AM-10:03 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Lake Winnipeg Water Level today, and the weather
Live readings from Water Survey of Canada station 05SB006 (LAKE WINNIPEG AT GIMLI).
Lake level, last 30 days
Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 05SB006. Latest reading 2026-11-09 03:20.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp3 °C
High / Low12 °C / 2 °C
WindSSW 11 km/h, gusts 23 km/h
Pressure100.50 kPa, steady
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset08:33 / 17:49
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~4 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Winnipeg
The best day on Lake Winnipeg this week looks like Wednesday Nov 11, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Wednesday, Nov 11 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Nov 9 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 12:12 AM-2:12 AM and 12:31 PM-2:31 PM
- Minor period
- 9:03 AM-10:03 AM
- Sun
- 08:33 to 17:49
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 27 km/h
- Rain chance
- 1%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Winnipeg: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
Open now Closes Apr 5, 2027. Walleye and sauger on Lake Winnipeg close with the Southern Division and reopen a week later; walleye and sauger under 35 cm are released. Limestone Bay is closed all year. Rule as read from Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures on 2026-09-27.
Called pickerel in much of Ontario and Manitoba. The fish of Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, Lake Diefenbaker, Tobin Lake, Lake Erie and the Bay of Quinte. Most zones close in spring for the spawn. Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Spring, fall and the ice
Open all year All species other than walleye, sauger, lake sturgeon and lake trout are open year-round in the Southern Division. Rule as read from Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures on 2026-09-27.
Called jackfish on the prairies. Found in almost every lake and slow river from Ontario to Alberta; big fish in the cold, deep lakes. Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
Open all year All species other than walleye, sauger, lake sturgeon and lake trout are open year-round in the Southern Division. Rule as read from Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures on 2026-09-27.
The ice-fishing fish of Lake Simcoe, Long Point Bay and Lake St. Clair, and a summer staple on every Great Lakes shore. Schools move constantly. The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
Closed parts of this water today: Limestone Bay, Lake Winnipeg (all year). Limestone Bay is closed to fishing all year. Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures.
When to come: the Lake Winnipeg calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye (pickerel)
Northern pike (jackfish)
Yellow perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 4 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Winnipeg today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 6 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 29 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at excellent. High of 3 °C, wind to 27 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Manitoba angling licence, from C$13.65 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by Manitoba and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Manitoba licence page before you keep anything. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on Manitoba fishing seasons.
Access
A Manitoba angling licence is needed, except for exempt Manitoba residents such as seniors and children, and the licence year starts on 1 May.
About this water
Lake Winnipeg is a lake in Manitoba, Canada, covered from the Manitoba reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Lake Winnipeg: the full guide
Lake Winnipeg
The Manitoba government describes Lake Winnipeg as the world’s 10th largest freshwater lake by surface area, and says about 650 commercial fishers work it each year for walleye, sauger, whitefish, goldeye and other species. Gimli, where this report is scored, sits on the west shore of the south basin, north of Winnipeg. The Water Survey of Canada gauge at Gimli, station 05SB006, supplies the lake level and the 30-day chart on this page; a lake gauge reports level, not flow.
Species and seasons
Walleye and sauger are the main sport fish, with northern pike and yellow perch, and Travel Manitoba promotes the lake’s ice fishery for what it calls its legendary greenback walleye, named for their colour. The 2026 Manitoba Anglers’ Guide closes the walleye and sauger season on Lake Winnipeg from 6 April to 15 May, a week longer than the rest of the Southern Division, and requires every walleye and sauger under 35 cm to be released on the lake and its tributaries up to the first barrier fish cannot pass.
Where to fish it
In winter, anglers head onto the south basin from the harbours and beaches along its shores; in open water the lake is fished from boats out of the harbours and near the river mouths. Keep clear of commercial gear: the anglers’ guide advises a safe distance from buoys and floats and warns against travelling between buoys, because nets can be set between them. Limestone Bay, on the lake, is closed to fishing all year.
Planning a visit
Gimli is a lakeside town with services on the west shore, within a day trip of Winnipeg. The lake is big and exposed, and wind raises steep waves quickly in open water, so watch the forecast before heading out in a small boat. On the ice, go with local knowledge or an outfitter, and plan to have any shelter off the lake by 31 March, the removal date for this part of the Southern Division.
Ice and seasons
The lake freezes in early winter and ice fishing runs into March; no agency certifies the ice, and pressure ridges and open leads form on a lake this size. Anglers may fish two lines through the ice but must stay within 50 metres of them, and every hook on every line, in use or not, must be barbless anywhere in Manitoba. Barbed hooks may stay in the tackle box.
Reading this report here
The gauge at Gimli shows the lake level, which moves with wind setup as well as with inflow; the province also notes that the lake serves as a reservoir for Manitoba Hydro. On the 30-day chart, a sudden rise or drop on a windy day is usually the wind piling water against one shore, not a change in the lake itself. The score reads the barometer and the sky over Gimli.
Licence, access and rules
A Manitoba angling licence is needed, except for exempt Manitoba residents such as seniors and children, and the licence year starts on 1 May. The general Manitoba limit is four walleye and sauger combined, none over 55 cm, on top of the lake’s under-35 cm release rule; the Anglers’ Guide is linked below, and our Manitoba licence page has the fees.
Common questions
What is a greenback walleye?
The name anglers and Travel Manitoba give Lake Winnipeg’s walleye, for their greenish colour.
When is walleye season closed on Lake Winnipeg?
In 2026 it closed from 6 April to 15 May; check the current Manitoba Anglers’ Guide for the next spring.
Can I use barbed hooks on Lake Winnipeg?
No, Manitoba requires barbless hooks on every line, open water and ice alike.
Is fishing good at Lake Winnipeg right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Water level and flow readings
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 05SB006 — LAKE WINNIPEG AT GIMLI
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Fish stocking
- Manitoba fish stocking report
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.