fishing reports 2020 Lake of the Woods Fishing Reports & Info

[IceHawk]

55 minutes ago, jigginjim said:

Lake of the woods first time with a wheel house.  I would like to fish the east side, but Zipple bay looks interesting for the igloo bar, for New years week. Anybody fish this with a wheelhouse and what resorts would give a good report. Open to ideas, have not been there in the winter for 5 years.

Jim fished Zipple bay a few times. From my experiences  you will get a decent mixed bag in the basin. There always seems to be enough good sauger and eye action to keep you content with a occasional jumbo or tullibee thrown in. We always fished the basin area during the day and moved up in the shallower breaklines for the prime time bites  strictly for the eye action.  This could be a option if using your permanent for base camp day fish basin and using a hub or flip over for early or late shallow bite. Otherwise there should be steady action to keep you busy in the basin all day if you want to just sit back and enjoy the comforts of the house. Zipple Bay resort is well run and they have beautifull cabins and grub to boot. 

[Joshua Estreen]

57 minutes ago, IceHawk said:

Jim fished Zipple bay a few times. From my experiences  you will get a decent mixed bag in the basin. There always seems to be enough good sauger and eye action to keep you content with a occasional jumbo or tullibee thrown in. We always fished the basin area during the day and moved up in the shallower breaklines for the prime time bites  strictly for the eye action.  This could be a option if using your permanent for base camp day fish basin and using a hub or flip over for early or late shallow bite. Otherwise there should be steady action to keep you busy in the basin all day if you want to just sit back and enjoy the comforts of the house. Zipple Bay resort is well run and they have beautifull cabins and grub to boot. 

What times of day and depth of water would you consider for the early and late bite?  Thanks!

[Sunset Lodge]

Up in the Northwest Angle we are throwing back the 16s to keep the 18s! We have our houses in 16-24 feet, mostly on the bottom of the break. Twilight bites are fast and furious with some aggressive jigging. The ice road is not quite to us, currently ends on the North end of Flag island where we have a staked snowmobile trail and groomed runway straight to us. Happy Holidays!!

[IceHawk]

Joshua Welcome to the site. A lot depends on clarity. I Like to be set up rather early shallow, as these fish  can be  noise sensitive at times especially if there's no snowpack to insulate noise and prevent shadowing. . Preferably a hour before bite time holes are cut gear setup  and all movement comes to a halt. If there is a snowpack you can get away with a little more noise, But on glare ice  I've witnessed fish spooking from as much as a cleat scrapeing the ice. For LOW I like to fish the first breaklines from 10-20 foot but normally  15 foot  will be my starting point. Prime times are daybreak into first hour and a hour or so before sundown so I would consider being setup a hour before each of these bite windows to capitalize on any early action and holding in there until you quit marking or catching fish at closeing each time. 

[jigginjim]

Thanks for the information, in past years wife and I would stay at a lodge resort to sleep go out each day.  I am thinking of setting up in 27-30 ft of water. Then bring my flip house for evening fishing, I may keep only two lines down between 8 pm and 5 am. Not need to just feed the pout.  Would like to get wife on a good sauger and walleye bite again.

[Ten point]

Fished in 30ft it was not fast but steady caught a lot of small ones. But did catch some nice 14&15 a inch saugers and a 16 inch walleye. There was 18 inches of ice.

[LakeofthewoodsMN]

On the south end...  Fishing reports are good.  A nice mix of saugers and walleyes, with some trophy walleyes, jumbo perch, eelpout, pike, tullibees and a lot of sturgeon being caught.  During a typical day, there are flurries of activity mixed with some slower time.  It helps to put in a full day, keep your lines active and use electronics. Watch for suspended fish coming through on your electronics, often nice walleyes.  Most resorts have fish houses out in 25- 32 feet of water.  Best colors gold, pink, glow red and UV glow colors.  Use combo jigging line and deadstick with a live minnow.  Numerous ice roads are open, many allowing 3/4 ton trucks with wheel houses.  Every ice road is different, check ahead as ice road limits vary.  

On the Rainy River...   The river is frozen over but little traffic with higher than usual current.    Extra caution is always needed on the river, most sticking to lake so far.  No snowmobile trail on Rainy River as of yet with thin ice areas due to current.

Up at the NW Angle...  Fishing is excellent with a mix of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike and eelpout.  With over a foot of snow, snowmobile trails from south end to Angle are being groomed and will be in good shape.  Stay on trails as current is high and there are still some areas needing more inches of ice.  Fish houses on LOW on the ice through March. 

[Hoey]

I fished 8 days with my wife and many friends over the past 10.  Some days, we were only out for 3 or 4 hours and some up to 6.  Where we fished, we found 19 to 22 inches of ice.  The resort was still reporting finding areas of only 7 inches.  The toughest challenges remain with heaves and cracks.  Navigating around the heaves and bad ice dictates the travel path.  The cracks are issues for wheeled vehicles and tracked SUVs and SxS, as the cracks grow wider than the length of the track.  Some bridges are in place.  Other crack areas are covered by snow.  We were out on snowmobiles.  

The bite was generally good.  We fished edges of reefs, 26 to 29 foot of water.  We even fished on Sunday during the blizzard.  Some of our guests left Saturday morning to beat the storm and the others left afterward.  Sounded like the best travel was on Saturday versus Monday after the storm. 

I had been out in bad weather before, but nothing like Sunday.  Heavy snow and wind made it necessary for double-teaming clam type shelters.  We were thankful that the temps were in the 20s generally and not -30 like prior years.  

Overall a great time during the Holidays.  This was a first for us.  We fished on Christmas Eve and Christmas Days.  We attended a local church on Christmas Eve and joined locals for appetizers and a gift exchange.  We did New Years at the resort with friends.  

Now back to more normal life for the next 10 days or so until the next trip.

[Sunset Lodge]

Happy New Year from all of us here at Sunset Lodge! You can now follow the signs on the ice road right to our front door. Drive the center of the road as ice is thinner on the edges.
We continue to fish shallower (16-20’) houses early and late in the day with good success. Shacks at the bottom of the break are producing a more consistent bite through out the day. It has been a great two weeks for big fish with many Walleyes over 26”, a couple of 29” and a massive 31”. Rippin Raps and Buckshot are being used to attract active fish to the houses. Gold is a staple up here on a sunny day, glow red, pink or white work better for an overcast day.
Strong currents and mild weather make it important to stay to marked trails. The forecast looks good for ice making 

Sunset Lodge

[PRO-V]

Staying at Bugsy's on Bostic. Fished their house in 32', 2 guys. Kept a 17" walleye and 11 sauger 14"-16". Threw back at least 25. Red buckshot, bare hook, gold jig-a-bit. Only slow time a little bit at noon. Filled out and quit at 2:45pm. Started at 8am. Lodge cooked some of our fish and it was great.

[LoonASea]

Good Info,,, We leave for Cyrus wed morning ,,, Hope they are still biting ,,, There will be 10 of us 

[LakeofthewoodsMN]

On the south end...  Lots of ice fishing happening on the big lake this week.  Overall, good reports with a mix of saugers and walleyes.  Some very small fish, lots of eaters, some huge fish.  Most common depths 28-31 feet of water.  Best colors gold, pink, glow red and UV glow colors.  Use combo jigging line and deadstick with a live minnow.  Electronics very helpful.  Watch for suspended walleyes.  Rattles and noise within lures can be effective.

On the Rainy River...   The river is frozen over but little traffic overall.  We encourage working through a resort on river if ice fishing.  Current has dropped some, but still strong.  Extra caution is always needed on the river, most sticking to lake so far.  The snowmobile trail on the river was marked this week for snowmobiles, nothing heavier.  Stay on trail, still areas of thinner ice on parts of the river.

Up at the NW Angle...  Fishing remains excellent with a mix of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike and eelpout.  Snowmobile trails from south end to Angle are being groomed and in good shape.  Stay on trails as current is high and there are still some areas needing more inches of ice.  Fish houses on LOW on the ice through March.  

[PRO-V]

Today was worse with the drastic weather change. Caught a bunch under 13" and only one slightly over. Didn't keep any. Cold and strong NW wind. We were on a newly plowed road last two days and I measured the ice at 18". Was good clear ice. Yesterday was 50/50 jigging vs deadstick. Today was about 75% deadstick. 

Edited January 7, 2020 by PRO-V

[Ten point]

Fished yesterday 1/3 in 31 feet off the edge of a reef. Was slow in the morning with a lot of small fish. The afternoon was much better with more quality fish between 1:00 & 3:30 one slot fish 23 inch. Time to go back to work for a while.

[Hoey]

18 hours ago, Ten point said:

The afternoon was much better with more quality fish

That was a pattern we were seeing as well.  Although, one day, we did get out on the lake earlier, i.e. fishing by 930/10am, and I popped 2x16, a 17, and an 18 within the first 30 minutes.  It slowed for me after that.  

[opsirc]

In the past we have always stopped at the log cabin shop on the way out,

 Is there a better place to get bait in the area? 

[Bass Thumb]

Group of 8 guys just came back, myself included. 4 of us are avid ice anglers. Adrian's road. Day houses. 10-14 miles out in deep water. 31-34' deep. Also tried a dusk run to 17' and that was a bust too. 

 

Very poor fishing. Occasional cigars, with the exception of one 26 and a 23" walleye in the group. Next largest fish was a 17", and those were few and far between. Average size fish was about 12". Caught about 5 dink saugers for every walleye.

 

Dawn and dusk bite was a waste of time. 'Best' bite was 12-2pm.

 

Worst bite any of us has ever had up there. I'm sure someone was nailing them, but it wasn't us. We'll be back.

[IceHawk]

Been hearing quite a few slow reports from up there so your group isn't alone . 

[IceHawk]

I've always loaded up at Steve's Lucky Bait when fishing up there. 

[tacklejunkie]

Went out of Sportsman’s Lodge Sat am and nothing. Then from 930 to after lunch, a flurry of small saugers and a few keeper walleye. And one big perch. Kept the walleye and perch and 8 keeper saugers. We put chubs on jigs that rattled and those what caught most of the fish. The walleye were caught on a jigging spoon baited with a chub head.

 

Nothing after 230 pm. Sunday Started out ok then dead. 

[IceHawk]

Thanks hopefully things get going up there soon hearing some slow reports from anglers who have or are fishing up there. 

[Knowknot]

Do you know if Steve's Lucky Bait has golden shiners??

[Knowknot]

Thursday was pretty good out of Zipple Bay. 2 of us caught and kept 1 short of a limit mostly sauger and only 2 16 inch walleye. Friday was pretty dead though.

[IceHawk]

Not sure haven't been up there yet this year but I would give him a call. We always used emerald shiners  and fatheads  and did well. If he doesn't have them the bait sore in Blackduck might be worth a shot to stop there also. 

[LakeofthewoodsMN]

On the south end...  Ice conditions on LOW are excellent.  Some great walleyes and saugers caught this week.  Fishing was up and down with cold fronts, -31 air temps, etc.  Plenty of fish for fish frys, some trophy walleyes, big sturgeon, some jumbo perch, an occasional pike, crappie or tulibee and plenty of sauger in the mix.  Most anglers fishing 25 - 30' if on structure, 30' - 36' over mud.  Resort houses continue to follow fish and are moving constantly.   Best colors gold, pink, glow red and UV glow colors.  Both jigging line and deadstick with a live minnow producing based on mood of walleyes.  Electronics very helpful.  Watch for suspended walleyes.  Rattles and noise effective.

On the Rainy River...   The river is frozen over with some snowmobile traffic on marked trail.  Current has dropped some, but still strong.  Extra caution is always needed on the river.  Thin ice near International Bridge in Baudette and thinner ice on stretches of the river.  Work through resort if ice fishing for safety.

Up at the NW Angle...  Good fishing continues with a mix of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike and eelpout.  Cold fronts can affect bite from day to day, adjust to mood of fish.  Downsize if finicky, keep minnow active on deadstick.  Snowmobile trails from south end to Angle groomed and in good shape.  Stay on trails as there are ice chunks on lake.  Fish houses on LOW on the ice through March.  

[LoonASea]

Lucky's Bait gave us a bunch of large dog fish minnows just before xmas ,,, Wont buy bait there again ,,, There is a sporting store right in Baudette on the left hand side that should have bait ,,, Look for enclosed blinds by the road ,,, Good Luck when you go up there 

[Rick]

From Mitch Bradshaw Outdoors

We started the Annual Lake of the Woods trip off with a half day at Zippel yesterday. It didn't produce much for the group but small Saugers except for the 21.5" Walleye caught by the reigning "Mr. Walleye"!

 

[Rick]

Mitch Bradshaw Outdoors

 

Yesterday was our first day out with Ballards Resort. We got out about 12 miles It started really slow for everyone until Mr. Walleye upgraded his fish (21.5") from the day before with a beauty 25.75" suspended Walleye.

 

The bite started to pick up and in about 30 mins I caught my personal best Eelpout and Walleye (28.5"). One more day to fish up here and to see who goes home with the Manley Cup and the coveted 2020 Mr. Walleye title.

 

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[CJH]

Fished out of Zippel Bay Fri & Sat.  Friday was very slow, Sat was somewhat better but still below average.  Weather was pretty nasty on Sat, they could barely keep the ice roads open.  No real color pattern outside of the "normal" LOW colors/sizes we could figure out, Fri was all jigging, Sat it was 50/50 jigging to deadstick (plain red hook).  

 

I will say that it was an absolute zoo up there, and I think that definitely had an impact on the fishing.  It was obvious where all the wheel houses who couldn't go on Red Lake went, they were everywhere the eye could see.  I think LOW is getting absolutely hammered this year, IMHO - not good.  

[Hoey]

Five of us fished Fri and only three on Saturday due to the weather.  It was another tough breezy couple of days.  SE wind on Fri and NW on Saturday.  Our bite was slow, however I did carry the group on Fri.  They contributed 4 of these fish.  My bucket was full.  The others fished close by, less than 20 yards away in all directions.  Fish for dinner!!!

 

Saturday was a different story for me.  I was skunked and not keeping eyes under 15 nor sauger under 14.  My two guests that day ended up with 6 or so.