fishing reports 2020 Lake of the Woods Fishing Reports & Info

[fishwater]

We fished off Night reef both Saturday and Sunday. Both days the fishing was good. Saturday we got a bunch of decent eater walleye and no sauger sitting in 30'. Sunday in 32' we got mostly all sauger, nice 14"-17" ones. We did manage to get a couple of eyes, and one 25" slot fish. The fish were active all day Sunday and bit hard when you got them to go. I pretty much used the same glow white jigging rap and glow pink jigging shad all day, switching back and forth.

[Double A]

Is there a "Night" reef or is it Knight near the Canadian border.

[fishwater]

Yeah, Knight is the right one.. My bad.

[Buckshot25]

What are the current snow/ice depths on the lake? How much is all this snow going to affect the ice out? I know there's a lot of winter left (good month, or more) but any projections compared to last year? I looked back and roughly March 12 most of the roads closed and by March 20 some of you guys were in your boats. I'm trying to plan a late season ice trip with my house, but don't want to be too late!

[maxpower17]

What are the current snow/ice depths on the lake? How much is all this snow going to affect the ice out? I know there's a lot of winter left (good month, or more) but any projections compared to last year? I looked back and roughly March 12 most of the roads closed and by March 20 some of you guys were in your boats. I'm trying to plan a late season ice trip with my house, but don't want to be too late!

You must be looking back 2 years. No one was in a boat in March last year. Mid May is when the ice went out last year.

[foottoolow]

coming up in Mid March..... Question.... does an underwater camera work on LOW or is it too stained?

[Buckshot25]

That's right, there was ice on most lakes for MN opener. Oops. My march 8-10 trip should be safe haha. Although a good warm up will cause heck of a mess until it all refreezes.

[CANOPY SAM]

I'd wager we'll see thicker ice in March then we've seen in many, many years. There are already reports of extensions needed, and it's only Feb. 3rd!

Farmers Almanac reads that we'll have cold weather all the way thru Feb and March!

I think you're trip will still be safe on April 8th - 10th!

[bigsam]

This is one heck of a winter we are having this year! I have fished in So. MN all my life and can't recall a winter where we needed the extensions, but, we do this year! Can only imagine what the big lake is doing! Can't wait to get up there in a couple of weeks!

[jerkbait]

The ice thicknes really varies then. The most i have found yet is 24" of ice. That is away from the roads also with snow cover.

[Hammertime0802]

How has the bite been in the Zipper Bay area? Looking to try a new place on the big water this weekend and have not tried that area for the past few years. Any tips or reports are very appreciated.

[eyeowegian]

Fished out of Lake of the Woods Outdoorsman's Sleeper's Jan 30 to Feb 2. JP is a class act and put us on what little bit of fishing was out there. I think it was fairly slow all weekend. We probably ended up with close to 100 fish with 3 guys in 3 days of fishing. We had 4 slot fish, 25.5, 25, 21.5 and 20. I think we kept a total of 26 all weekend and ended up taking like 9 or 10 home. Lot of tiny, tiny walleyes and saugers. If those fish grow in the next few years, there will be a heck of class in there. We did catch a couple of saugs pushing 18" and a ton of tullibee. We had a great weekend with some decent fishing. In 5 years of going up there, thats the most slot fish our group has caught. Im certainly not disappointed. Good luck the rest of the year!!

We were in 36' of water out in the mud. I think we started on Adrian's road and went out past that. We were about 15 miles out.

[walleye guy99]

going up there to fish LOTW Friday through sunday, just wondering what area of the lake is better this time of year. haven't been up there this year. my buddy has a house on whisky flat but im bring up my portable up and planning on fishing hard. just wondering how the bite has been out of cyrus, zippel, or morris point.

[jtvikes32]

Taking the little lady up to lake of the woods for her first time over Valentines day and going off of Babblers point. Does any one have the exact address so I can put it in my GPS? As was wondering of a near by hotel to stay at if anyone recommends one. Thanks

[vman11]

Taking the little lady up to lake of the woods for her first time over Valentines day and going off of Babblers point. Does any one have the exact address so I can put it in my GPS? As was wondering of a near by hotel to stay at if anyone recommends one. Thanks

If you search for Arneson's Resort or Rocky Point that will take you exactly where you need to go. Babbler's Road is about 1/2 mile East of Arneson's. You can't miss it - there is a big sign and his driveway is on the north side of the curve.

[only ice]

Fished out of RiverBend Monday and Tuesday. Went 25 miles or so across and fishing was not to bad. Big group of us and everyone got close to if not there limits. Lots of nice slot fish were caught in the two days.Some really nice big Perch like 15 inches. Bigest Eye caught in the group was 27 1/2 and Sauger was 17 1/2. Most fish came off the bottom, was jigging a foot if not two up. Best colors were Pink, Red, Orange,and white GLOW and any Gold. Had some frozen shiners with but the chubs worked just fine. Thanks Guides, for all the work you did for us on our trip to make it work!!!

[jtvikes32]

thanks

[jtvikes32]

Is an extension need for my auger when I head up there next weekend?

[2thepointsetters]

Is an extension need for my auger when I head up there next weekend?

Yes

[vman11]

Tried some new, deep water out from Gull Rock on Saturday afternoon and did well with the Sauger - many fish and nice size. Walleye were small, no slots. 29" of ice. If you're looking to fish off the beaten path bring a snowmoble or tracked machine, otherwise you're limited to the road, and that sounds hit or miss recently.

Fishing seemed to slow considerably after the wind picked up out of the NW. When the canvas started flapping on the house the fishing pretty much ended.

[stealth3350]

fished adrians sat morn to mon morn.. end of adrians road 35ft no one around.. lots of little little saugers and eyes.. caught 4 slots 22,24,26,and 27.. the 27 was caught at 12.30am and the 26 was 9pm.. who sais eyes dont bite at night lol.. the tulibees were off the hook crazy!! caught tullibees all day all night.. probabbly caught at least 60 kept a handfull for the smoker.. the tullibees made the trip with being able to catch fish around the clock... big tullibbess

[RIPN LIPS]

We got back yesterday from are fri.- mon. sportsman sleeper trip and it was very slow and the bite was super light. Pink/glow seemed to do the best for us and the smaller minnows seemed to work best for getting bites but the rainbows caught the bigger fish. 25 was the biggest with some 22,21,19's and alot of little guys. The guying checking on up said knight island area was doing alot better. Tupiee were biting as well. Good luck.

[aczr2k]

What is it with all the tulibee this year? Seems like that is all I hear about being caught lately and also experienced it. Best place for those stinky things is in the road ditch.

[Walleyehooker]

We catch a lot of them on the north end when we go up in March but they have been real wormy and I have been putting them back. If you don't like them at least put them back as that is some of the best forage in the lake to fatten up other fish.

[aczr2k]

Would they not be in competition with the walleye?

[pushbutton]

They mainly eat zooplankton and bugs. Sure, some bigger ones eat some minnows though, but not as many as walleyes eat of tullibee minnows. Suppose you could also correlate a line of reasoning down to competition for young walleye that also feed on plankton, and the minnow the walleye eat that feed on it….oh wait, again though, walleyes feed on small tullibee as well as…...the perch that also feed on the small tullibee. These pesky ecosystem thingies can get complicated. Ma nature never got the memo that all she ever needed to make is walleyes. and big crappies and gills…...

[kfk]

All the tulibee in Lake of the Woods right now is an indication of great water quality and lots of food for walleyes.

I'm pretty excited about the Tulibee explosion myself as I fish Lake of the Woods alot and plan to in the future as well. The tulibee and the large amount of small walleyes points at great things ahead for the big lake.

From Canaries of Deep Water

By Darby Nelson

Tullibee (Coregonus artedi) -- also known as cisco or lake herring -- are silvery-sided, iridescent fishes of the open water beyond the shore. With dainty mouths that feed on small crustaceans and aquatic insect larvae, tullibee don't often end up on the ends of anglers' hooks because they don't typically eat bait-sized prey. These members of the salmon family can weigh up to several pounds in inland lakes. Rare 5 pounders have been caught, but they typically weigh less than a pound.

Tullibee are a great 'canary in the mineshaft' species," says Jacobson. "If you have tullibee in a lake, you know things are pretty good.

[Hoey]

...and I am thinking the population explosion is also due to one to three strong class years. Did not see that many going back 4 or more years ago.

[Big A]

"Tullibee dont often end up on the end of anglers' hooks" ??!!??

Dang.. I must have turned into a pro Tullibee fisherman and didnt even realize it

Cuz these things have been attaching themselves to my line by the dozen every trip this year! lol

I never return one I catch to the lake. Figure they are hitting my line - thus they are in direct competition for food with my walleye / sauger. Suppose the local fox and crows are very happy with my reasoning

[birchbranch]

That might just be the same logic that has helped lead to the demise of eelpout......