As the wind dies and the waves start to dissipate, Lake of the Woods becomes a Rapala and Reef Runner fisherman’s dream come true. As the lake settles down, which doesn’t happen too often, but it does happen, you must troll to get the Lake of the Woods most prized Eye! I personally like to throw a little twist in there and troll the ROCKS, which has become my favorite way to pull plugs (rock rapping). When fishing the rocks, get ready to donate some tackle though, it happens, but as the old saying goes, “Risk and Reward”. Over the past year and half trolling with lead core and fire line, accompanied with an assortment of Rapalas and Reef Runners has become a proven method of fishing the mighty Walleye of Lake of the Woods for me. The fish consistently hunker around the rocks all year ... [ Read More ]

Lake of the Woods is known as the Walleye Capitol of the World, but the fact of the matter is, Lake of the Woods has an extremely wide diversity of species covering all the different nooks and crannies of our 997,000 acres of water. This diversity brings fishermen and fisherwomen alike to our tremendous fishery each and every day from all corners of the globe, and each fall they come in droves to search for our mighty Northern Pike. As the vibrant colorful October transformation begins in northern Minnesota the Northern Pike begin to feed a little bit more aggressively, and this is an excellent time to start pulling plugs across the rock/sand edges to find those big “slimmers”. At this time they are starting gorging themselves on their favorite foods before the ice covers them for the ... [ Read More ]

The day set up over this past weekend with Travis Sorokie from St.Cloud and my good friend Greg Clusiau from the Nashwuak area. We started on a lake in Aitkin County that normaly will produce,but as fishing goes we proved that once we located a few big schools the bite was not on. Those crappies did not want anything. They were not interested in minnows or wax worms or any other artificial lures like hair jigs and small plastics. After a few hours we decided to make a move to another lake. Upon arival the water temperarues looked perfect. We moved to the deep water and using our fish locator we found the schools of fish. Here again the bite was off. We went theough the progression from fast presntations on a drift to anchoring and slowing down the offerings. Here again nothing in ... [ Read More ]

by Greg Clusiau, video and pics by CrappieKeith Fall is officially here and fishing is good. The only problem is that it won’t last as long as I would like it to. This favorite time of the year, for most sportsmen, has the fish fattening up and on the bite. It also has many avid fishers out in the woods, small game hunting, which frees up a lot more room on the lakes. Last weekend, Crappie Keith Nelson drove up and joined me on a couple of my regular fall hotspots. One was for walleyes and the other was for crappies. The walleye fishing was started off early in the morning by trolling lead core and crank-baits. Fishing the 30-35’ depths is easily achieved when using a lead core line, which has a thin lead wire running through the middle of it. This allows the line to sink at a ... [ Read More ]

By Jean-Paul Tessier September and October make way for one of my favorite times on Lake of the Woods, our gorgeous fall. The transformation is absolutely beautiful to witness first hand, and I feel very blessed to be a part of it, in what I call “God’s Country”. Each and every year as the miraculous transformation takes place, Lake of the Woods becomes a jigging fisherman’s paradise. This past week I was able to partake in one of the best jigging event known to man, Walleye fishing on Lake of the Woods. I was out with a few of our guests, and let me tell you, the bite is on! We will be jigging on Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River until we get ice in either late November or early December this year, so buckle up and get ready. As the world famous Rainy River Shiner run ... [ Read More ]

by Darren Troseth When it comes to business these days, having the latest and greatest smartphone is a no brainer, but can these high tech gadgets really improve your fishing success? Well, I say yes, and you might be surprised at the multitude of things you can do with your smartphone as it relates to fishing. From contour maps to high definition GPS, to something as simple as taking a picture, the smartphone is one handy tool. I would like to highlight a handful of the most useful apps that I have found and tell you a little about them. For reference purposes, the smartphone that I am currently using these on is a Motorola Droid X though Verizon. Most, if not all, of these apps will work cross platform on devices such as the IPhone, Blackberry, as well as other Android based ... [ Read More ]

by Greg Schoneck of NDLive.com I’m blown away every trip. It has far exceeded my expectations. Don’t seem possible, this much change in one year. ND hospitality is what makes a resort a community. A place you can walk in a stranger and feel at ease. When we stopped, the lake store was closed. I was busy noting the hours of operation and didn’t notice Cal leaving his lawnmower to come over and see how he could help. Told you, ND hospitality, you’re gonna like it here. Brendles Bay is dead center of the hottest bite on Sakakawea. You will also like the fishing. Limits are normal right now. What is not normal is fish measuring just a bit less than 20 inches and weighing 3.4 pounds. What have these gals been eating? Other day I was out with some clients. It was suggested the small ... [ Read More ]

Keep your dog safe and prevent contact with Canadian Rye or Foxtail seeds. There are several species of Foxtail and also Canadian Rye, grassy weeds you need to be aware of if you are a dog owner. You may not know what Canadian Rye or foxtail is or be unaware of the danger they pose to dogs. Please be aware that these seeds do kill dogs and make many sick enough to require surgery. Canadian Rye image below: They grow rapidly during the winter/spring rains, and then dry out in the summer months. As these grasses mature, a seed forms at the top of the stalk. The foxtail seed resembles a fox's tail, hence the name given to the grass. Canadian Rye looks similar to foxtail with a more wheat head look. When dog owners talk about "foxtails or Canadian Rye," they are actually speaking ... [ Read More ]

by Travis Peterson Today’s angler can still find the old "Five-o-Diamonds" spoon that his grandfather stocked in his tackle box. Some things never change. Walk through a tackle shop today, though, and one sees pegs filled with a plethora of artificial lures that make sense. They are far better imitations of real forage than the lures Grandpa used. However, despite life-like shapes and scent-enhancement, artificials will never exactly replicate live-bait in terms of action. Action, the key characteristic of life, despite research and development in labs and lakes near you, has not been replicated to perfection. Sure, Shadlings catch limits of fish too and are convenient to use. The difference between these lures, however, and the bait in the tanks and in the refrigerators (over in ... [ Read More ]