Water level
1297.94ft
-0.04 ft in 24h
USACE Lake Winnibigoshish Dam updated 2:30 PM
Waters · Lakes · MN · Mon, Aug 24
How's the bite at Lake Winnibigoshish today? Biting — mid-morning is your stretch.
Worth a cast.
Built from solunar, pressure, level, wind. This water has no live gauge for every reading — see the sources below.
7/10
Biting
Today's bite windows
12 AM6 AMNoon6 PM11 PM
10Peak 9 8Strong 7 6Good 5 4Slow 3 2 1Dead
Minor
1:42 AM–2:42 AM
Moonset
Major
9:38 AM–11:38 AM
Moon underfoot
Minor
6:21 PM–7:21 PM
Moonrise
Major
10:03 PM–12:03 AM
Moon overhead
Sunrise 6:24 AM · sunset 8:11 PM · tomorrow's first major 10:27 AM–12:27 PM · windows on every water
Solunar · computed updated 3:22 PM
Conditions right now
Pressure
30.06inHg
steady · -0.34 hPa/12h
NOAA KGPZ updated 3:10 PM
Wind
6mph SSE
NOAA KGPZ updated 3:10 PM
Moon
88% waxing
Solunar · computed updated 3:22 PM
What this means
Largemouth bass, Crappie, Catfish
This gauge reports level but no water temperature, so depth calls stay open. Read the windows and the pressure trend instead.
Lake Winnibigoshish water level today
1297.94 ft above NGVD-29 down 0.04 ft in 24 hours
That sits 27% of the way up the band it has held over the last 8 days, between 1297.8 and 1298.32 ft. Over the week it is down0.09ft.
08-16 1297.80–1298.32 ft 08-24
USACE Lake Winnibigoshish Dam updated 2:30 PM
The week ahead
| Tue | 6 | Biting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed | 6 | Biting | |
| Thu | 6 | Biting | |
| Fri | 6 | Biting | |
| Sat | 6 | Biting | |
| Sun | 6 | Biting | |
| Mon | 6 | Biting |
Forecast days carry solunar and the wind outlook. Pressure and gauge movement land the morning of.
Before you go
A Minnesota fishing license covers this water — $25 a year for residents. DNR sets the rules and is the one that counts.
What it costs, and who is exempt →Nearby waters today
- 7 Biting Leech Lake MN · 34 km
- 7 Biting Gull Lake MN · 116 km
- 7 Biting Mille Lacs Lake MN · 126 km
- 7 Biting Oologah Lake OK · 1231 km
- 5 Picky New Hogan Lake CA · 2399 km
Questions people ask about Lake Winnibigoshish
Answered from the same readings as the rest of this page. Where we have no basis for an answer, there is no entry — spot-by-spot local knowledge is not something we can claim for Lake Winnibigoshish.
- Is it worth fishing Lake Winnibigoshish today?
- 7 out of 10 — biting. Worth a cast. The strongest stretch is 9:38 AM–11:38 AM. That number is worked out fresh each morning from the solunar windows, the pressure trend, the water level.
- What time should you fish Lake Winnibigoshish?
- Today's major windows run 9:38 AM–11:38 AM and 10:03 PM–12:03 AM, with minor windows at 1:42 AM–2:42 AM and 6:21 PM–7:21 PM. Sunrise is 6:24 AM and sunset 8:11 PM. A major landing on first or last light is the stretch worth setting an alarm for.
- What is the water temperature at Lake Winnibigoshish?
- No gauge on Lake Winnibigoshish measures water temperature. US reservoir gauges report height, not temperature — so rather than estimate it, this page leaves it out and leans on the windows and the pressure trend instead.
- What is the water level at Lake Winnibigoshish right now?
- 1297.94 ft above NGVD-29, read at 2:30 PM from the Lake Winnibigoshish Dam gauge run by the USACE. Over 24 hours it is down 0.04 ft.
- Can you eat the fish you catch in Lake Winnibigoshish?
- That is a health question, and it is answered officially rather than by us. Minnesota Department of Health publishes the fish consumption advisory covering these waters, where updated in March 2026 with new length-based limits for walleye and northern pike. Read it before you keep a meal — we give no eating advice.
- Do you need a licence to fish Lake Winnibigoshish?
- Yes. A Minnesota fishing license covers this water, required from age 16. DNR sets the rules and is the one that counts.
- What size fish can you keep in Minnesota?
- It depends on the species, and several have slot limits rather than a simple minimum. Open to harvest today: walleye and sauger, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, muskellunge (muskie). Seasons here change mid-year by agency order, so the status is re-checked every morning.
Walleye and sauger limits · Largemouth and smallmouth bass limits · Northern pike limits · Muskellunge (muskie) limits · Check a length against the rules
Where these numbers come from
- Solunar computed 3:22 PM
- NOAA KGPZ Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids/Itasca County Airport-Gordon Newstrom Field 3:10 PM
- NOAA DLH gridded forecast 3:10 PM
- USACE Lake Winnibigoshish Dam Lake Winnibigoshish Dam at Mississippi River Headwaters Project 2:30 PM
A natural lake on the upper Mississippi with a low Corps dam at its outlet — "Big Winnie" to the people who fish it. Normal pool is 1,298 ft, and the lake sits within a foot or two of it most of the year. The Corps also gauges the tailwater below the dam; this page reads the lake.
No one types these in by hand. If a source goes quiet, the page says so instead of showing you yesterday.