fishing reports 2020 Lake of the Woods Fishing Reports & Info

[jiggin9]

It should be a good trip for you guys. I'm not sure if you're going through the resort our fishing on your own but good fishing is out there to be had. If you are on your own, just look for the resort houses and use that for a starting point. From what I saw, 26-30+' is about where you want to be. They have a map in the resort house where their ice houses are. We used both frozen shiners and chubs with equal results. Don't be afraid to mix it up with different presentations. Gold and glow colors are usually good. Watch your electronics if you have any. Some fish like the deadstick approach and some required some jigging to entice into biting. It's also fun to have a cool one at the Igloo bar out on the ice after fishing. Have fun!

[Walleye Inn]

Hey jiggin9 nice report my son and boss are going sunday and monday good to know the fish are still there how much snow was left on the ice? thanks

[greenwinger_13]

So I am no stranger to fishing walleyes, open or hard water... Cold fronts aren't always easy on the fishing.. What have cold fronts been doing up on the big lake lately? Exactly what I'd expect? There are always ways to trigger bites but I am just wondering from some veterans.. appreciate it guys/gals! First time up there for a few years and i'm jacked..Can't wait to get up there tomorrow!!!

[jiggin9]

Walleye Inn. The snow was still holding up pretty good. We took a pickup out and just pulled the portable off one of the side roads to set up. I didn't feel like busting out the shovel since the snow was pretty hard still where we were. I'd say the snow was a good 10-12" thick off the roads. If a guy can find a place to get off the road you should be able to move around a little. Might take awhile now with this colder weather to get that perfect snow condition on the lake where a guy can drive around easily with a pickup. I looked for your famous Walleye Inn shack to help me find a honeyhole on Wednesday but couldn't seem to pick it out amongst the hundreds of houses. Maybe next time.

[Walleye Inn]

jiggin9 , sounds like snow is down put the chains on the Dodge and troll with the walleyeinn or maybe stay put will have to see.I am in 28 ft right now. I have a buddy right on bobber st. doing ok in 21 ft. stop in or give us a wave if we go by ya good luck fishing

[jiggin9]

Ha! Sounds good Walleye Inn. I'll stop by if I venture out to that side of the lake again this year. Does anyone have any recommendations for guide services out of the Warroad side of the lake? I haven't called any of the big resorts (Arnesens or Long Point) since I would assume they are booked every weekend from here on out. I'm trying to plan a mid March trip with some friends. We usually fish on our own but want to try something different this time and go through a guide. Is Bob's decent or anyone else for that matter? Thanks in advance.

[pooly_31]

I've heard bob's has been very good this year. Also i'd book with Jim at Wintersett. He's one of the nicest guys around and runs a nice smaller operation (read more personal attention).

[1LuckyLouie]

Headed up across today by sled. Fished Bridges area in 28ft. Things started slow then picked up. I through every thing I had at them and found that just a regular pink 1/4oz jig was the ticket for me. Three of us were fishing and I caught just about all of our limits in walleyes. Only three saugers caught all day. Use fat head chubs only. One of those days for me that jigging would not get them to bite. Not a great day but cant beat putting almost three limits of waleyes on the ice for our crew.

[greenwinger_13]

Just got back from the weekend.. It was a little slow we were roughly 12 miles out. I would say we maybe would have caught 4 or 5 total without Vexilars.. They made us really work! Pink was the color of choice for me... we probably ended up catching 50 fish with about 25 keepers.. mostly saugers that utilized the "bucket" rule.. Couple really nice eyes that were suspended and reacted well once you got up to them... Closed the weekend with a big ol eel pout.. All in all good fun as ice fishing usually is.

[fivebucks]

Slow this past weekend for us. Friday in the 25 mph wind and below zero temps. Went out of Zipple on Friday and kept some small ones but 2 of us kept 8. Of the 8 only 4 or 5 were "true" keepers but they ate good! Saturday took the sled around out of Babblers access and it was just as slow but better fish. The 5 fish we kept were nice including 15" and 19" eyes plus a couple 13-14" sauger and a sumo perch.

[vman11]

A group of us (3 houses) fished this weekend off of Pine Island. Because the wind blew everything shut, Adrian's 10.5 mile offshoot for wheel houses was one of the few options available and ended up being where we set up. Fished there Saturday all day and Sunday until about 10AM, keeping about 15 fish for the 3 houses. Our house only caught 10 game fish total on Saturday. I did run around and talk to people in their own wheelhouses and also stopped by houses from 4 different resorts scattered around and the consensus there was also very slow. A few houses only had caught a few fish all day. One couple had mentioned 8.5 miles out a few weeks prior was pretty good as they also endured some pretty poor fishing on Saturday and Sunday. One of the slowest days yet for us on LOTW.

We probably caught +20 tullibee in that 10.5 mile location. Fun to catch at first, but rather annoying after a few.

Brought the sled along and planned to run up to the reefs Sunday morning but had some technical difficulties and weren't able to make the trip. Instead, we decided to shake it up and move in shallower, setting up in 21' a few miles out from Lighthouse. It was even slower in this area. From 1pm Sunday to 11am this morning the 3 houses only kept 2 fish. One house caught a 29.5" pike and I caught a 36.5" pike, all within 10 minutes of each other Sunday afternoon.

Not saying there wasn't a decent report, but I talked to nearly 15 different groups and everybody in the mud had pretty poor results. We've been fishing off of Pine Island since 2007 and this was the toughest weekend yet.

Tons of snow still left and while it might have been tried, off-road travel with a wheeled vehicle is nearly impossible. Sticking to the plowed roads or tracked vehicles are the only options at this point.

[Prairiefire]

Our group of three took the snomobiles and made the run up north for the first time. We went up to Garden Island and did really well on Saturday and Sunday. The fish are much bigger and a lot more aggressive up there; It seemed like the harder you jigged the spoon the faster and harder the walleyes would hit. We probably averaged 50 fish a day. It was a prettly long run at about 28 miles from wheelers point, but well worth it considering how slow the south shore was for others.

[Walleyehooker]

Good to hear.Im heading up to Oak Island on Thursday for 4 days.

[weedis99]

Garden Island very good place to fish if you can get out there. Will be heading up there in a few weeks. We always do well, deffinetly worth the ride out there.

[Mclovin]

truck traffic with a wheel house?

[vman11]

truck traffic with a wheel house?

Pretty limited to offshoots plowed by Adrian's.

There are a few private roads that you could sneak on, but the guys who pay for them aren't very friendly about outsiders.

[bdubs78]

We did really well up at Garden Island on saturday as well. Found my little honey hole from last year and within 30 seconds of putting a line down I had a nice 17"eye in the pail. Fishing wasnt fast and furious, but everything we caught was of good quality. The ride back south was a little challenging with the poor visibility, but once again the gps came through in the clutch.

[Tanker]

Headed up Thursday morning thru sunday.. Any tips would be awesome.

[LOTW_Outdoorsman]

Happy Fishing to all, and to all a good day!

Wigwam Fisherman

[PSE_Guy]

We were at rocky point by gull rock tuesday and it was rough. Marked lots of fish moving thru but only hooked up with 4 keeper. Gonna try it again this weekend, hopefully they are more aggressive....

[live4chrome]

how is travel on the lake? can one drive off road in an SUV? or is there too much snow.

[Big A]

Too much snow. I was up all weekend. Had a great trip with my dad and brother. Took snowmobiles. No SUV's spotted anywhere but on the roads.

[ParkRangerRube]

Fished from about 8:30 - 5:00 on Saturday about 10 miles up Adrian's road in 34'. Probably about 12 caught and 7 kept between the four of us that were fishing. Went out again Sunday a few miles out on the Morris Point road and fished 29'. Stayed from about 10:00 - 3:30 kept 4 and caught 6, with one being a fatty 13" perch. Pretty fun to see, but at the same time a little sad that a perch was almost our biggest fish of the weekend. Looks like the weather might be setting up nicely for next weekend, so good luck to anyone heading up!

[LOTW_Outdoorsman]

Lake of the Woods Ice Fishing Report Video 2-27-11

Happy Fishing to all, and to all a good day.

Wigwam Fisherman

[badknee]

is any one else having problems pulling the video up ?

[binsfeldnick]

yep

[LOTW_Outdoorsman]

I loaded this from my phone, so it may have something to do with that, but here's the link http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?xl=xl_blazer&v=iRhX3nnasbc

JP

[LOTW_Outdoorsman]

Sorry, here it is.

[Walleyehooker]

Just got back from a few days at Oak Island.Catching was on the slow side and the cold weather limited the moves we made in the portables.Even rented a hard house up there on Saturday instead of battleing the wind and weather.Fished from South of Garden to Oak Island and never found the hot spot.Still ended up having enough for a fish fry and limits of walleyes to bring home for 4 people.Still had a great time up there.Snowmobile trail was in pretty good shape and the groomer was out today.

[bmc]

6 of us are headed up this weekend, fishing out of Bayview Resort. Doesn't look like the weather will be in the 40's like last year, but a good time will be had by all.

Saturday morning can't get here quick enough!

Brian