fishing reports 2020 Lake of the Woods Fishing Reports & Info

[Phillip Peck]

keep me posted I'm from ny and planning a trip in February

 

[Hoey]

Seasons Greetings to all.  It is ice fishing season!!!  Hurrah.

I fished Friday and Saturday.  I arrived on Thursday evening and found a lot of opinions on the safety aspect of the ice.  The resort is ultra conservative in their assessments, and this should be expected as they have a lot at risk.  First ice explorers always push the limits.  For example one sled is on the bottom after breaking through 2 inches of unexpected weak ice, a week ago Sunday.  

I found 11 inches were I traveled and fished, only going out a couple miles.  There is a lot of eight inch thick broken ice chunks to work around and through.  The bite Friday was very good.  Catching numbers were high, but size kept it from being great to excellent.  I ended up one fish short of my walleye/sauger limit.  My four sauger were 15 to 16 inchers - nice.  My three walleye were 15 to 17 inchers.  I had two for dinner.  So on Saturday I was looking for three nice walleye.  The bite was much slower.  We had an east wind with rising temps.  I was anticipating another Friday type bite.  It was generally zero to eight degrees every morning.  I finally ended the Saturday with two 17 inch walleye, one short of my limit again.  

I plan to be back during the week following Christmas through New Years with family and friends.  

Good Luck and practice safety!!!  

[slammer]

Hoey,  how did you travel,  by foot,  wheels,  or tracks?

[Hoey]

I was out on a snowmobile, sno-cat to some, pulling a portable.  

[minneman]

how much snow on the ice?

[Hoey]

From 5 years ago!

[Hoey]

Wow - it is pretty quite around here, except for the insults.  Leaving today, to fish Fri and Sat.  Taking a couple of guys from the office.  Weather forecast seems workable.  Reports I have requested is that the bite is tough, but doable.  Wish me luck!!!

[chaffmj]

Good luck. I am headed up Saturday so leave some in the lake for us. 

[Hoey]

OK - we made it back!!!  Every trip is different with it's own potential perils.  

I finally got into my house on Friday around 11am.  My guests were rookies, so i spent time with each of them, getting setup, heaters started, Vexilars set, houses banked, lines prep'd and set, bait, etc...  The bite was somewhat slow and many small ones.  The day got better 3 to 430pm.  Ended up with 6 nice eyes (19, 18x3, 17x2), 13 jumbos (most ever for a day), 12 small sauger which we ate for dinner.  

On Saturday we headed up to the south shore of the Angle, longer ride, so again did not get started too early.  Ended up with our 6 eyes for our limit, these ranged from 15 to 16 inches and a 4-pack of sauger.  Again the bite seemed to pickup at 3 or so and was done by 430pm.  

Ice as 3 foot or so.  Snow depth varied a lot, depending on the condition of the ice.  Smooth areas were blown off to crusty 6 inches or so.  Rough ice surely held a lot of snow.  

The drive back on Sunday was somewhat tough from Baudette to Emily, winter storm warning.  Slow go, low visibility, and icy roads, sometimes down to 15 mph.  

Next scheduled trip is with my wife, son, and three of his Gopher swim teammates for spring break in three weeks.  

[Walleye Inn]

sounds great. I hope everyone had fun great job Hoey red lake was slpw Saturday kept 2

 

[Hoey]

I was planning to fish Fri and Sat this weekend, but looking at the forecast, I am now looking to fish Thur and Fri, and possibly Sat.  Sat forecast is snow and breezy.  Thur and Fri looks to be nice, warmer and low winds.  I will report back.  I do have a new license - Thanks.

[seifjr]

Thanks Hoey, anxious to hear your report, as a group of us are coming up next weekend to hit it hard.  Appreciate any information you can provide.

[PRO-V]

A buddy of mine just got back. Was on Adrian's road out by Bridges in his sleeper. Caught 58 fish in two days. Lot's of nice eaters.

[Hoey]

We have a 6 hour drive, so we left home Thursday at 5am, arrived 11am, on the sleds and out the door at noon, all lines down and fishing by 1pm.  With the sunset getting later, i.e. after 6pm, it felt like a regular day of fishing.  It was a beautiful day, fishing was great, catching was, slow.  Between the two of us, probably only 20 fish with no keepers.  Our standard is 14 inch for sauger and 15 for walleyes.  This was in the mud off a reef in 32'.  Many of the fish were coming into our area at 3 to 8 foot off the bottom.  Once they sniffed out bait, they'd drop to the bottom and disappear.  

Friday was a different story.  We were setup and fishing by 11am, up on the fishable edge of the same reef in 27'.  Probably around an 80 fish day.  Size got better 2pm to 4pm.  Felt like we were going to run out of bait.  Ended up with 3 nice sauger and our limit of eyes, 16 to 19 inchers.  Ate one sauger and two eyes for dinner.  The fish were full crayfish hatch and 1/2 inch minnows.  Talked to one of the guides who agreed to what we found in their bellies and added that "once they clean up that forage, look out!!!"

On Saturday we went to the same spot, we were setup and fishing by 930am.  Bite was slower again.  Lots of small ones.  We ended up one sauger short of our limit.  One sauger was an 18 incher too.  This was probably a 40 fish day for us.  

The weather had eveyone's attention.  We were expecting to drive home on icy roads.  Oddly enough, dry roads and some light rain at times nearer the Crosby area to the Cities.  

Another trip this weekend with our college swimming son and three of his teammates.  

[seifjr]

Great report Hoey, thanks for sharing.  Were you fishing structure to the west of Pine, or did you head north a ways?  Where do you normally stay?  We're at Wigwam for this trip, so it would be great to share reports through the weekend if your in the area.

[Hoey]

I have a place at Arnesen's Rocky Point - please do not share this with everyone, because we like the smaller crowds.

[Hoey]

I fished Sat to Tues of this past week.  Saturday with my wife.  Sun to Tues with wife, son, and three of his teammates on spring break.  

Overall the bite was slow, but steady.  That is a true fish story.  Seemed like the fish were 60 to 70% not interested in our baits.  There were many small fish to sort through.  We ended up with enough for one large meal, plus our limit of very nice eyes 17 to 19 inchers.  Nice sauger were hard to come by due to size.  We had probably 6 slots with 24" being the largest.  Worth mentioning were the eel pout.  I had one everyday and three in one day, plus those caught by my guests.  We are slow starters and were typically fishing by 1030-11am each day.  It seemed like our bite was on 11am to 2 to 3pm each day, with the bite tailing off quickly each evening.  No sunset rush like we are used to seeing.  

We had others around us that must have been expecting a better bite, as they setup, fished, ventured out, moved, setup, moved again, etc...

We had beautiful weather each day, some started off overcast while other ended overcast.  My wife commented that it was 70 some degrees warmer than the last time she was fishing when it was more than 30 something below zero.  

There remains plenty of ice.  There was over 4 foot where we were fishing and also heard that some areas were at or more than 5 foot.  Got to wonder what the opener has in-store for us.  

My next trip is planned for next weekend.  This time of the year gets interesting, not knowing if sleds are still an option or needing to use wheeled units to get from the cabin to shore and then on the lake. 

[LakeofthewoodsMN]

Ice fishing on the lake heated up this week. Reefs to the west produced some nice fish as did areas adjacent to the south shore. Shallows overall producing nicely for the morning / evening bite.  Fish deeper in the afternoon. Rippin Raps hot this week along with plain hook and live minnow.  Some ice roads open to trucks some only atv/sleds, and some closed.  Call ahead and work through a resort / outfitter who is monitoring their road. Big pike being caught in pre-spawn areas and on top of reefs.  Live suckers, big smelt, or hot dogs have been producing best.  Pike bait must be through authorized bait dealer to prevent VHS.  Auger extensions still needed.

 

Rainy River spring fishing in full swing.  Birchdale and Frontier landings are open to all boats with the open water line moving west more every day. Nice walleyes being caught despite chilly temps over weekend. Safety first. 

The NW Angle walleye bite will continue to be good until the end of the season, April 14. Walleyes and saugers in traditional areas in 15-20 feet during morning/evening and 21-25 feet during the day. Pike in shallow bays.  Make sure to get your new fishing license.  

[Handsonthepole]

Not sure about the previous post.  Rainy river access is difficult due to refreezing of areas around the accesses.  Lots of issues with frozen motors and difficulty getting in and out of the water.  Was on the river twice and not going back until the weather warms up.  Not sure on the ice fishing but do know there are many places with over 50 inches.  Give the river some time.  With the forecasted cold temps for at least a week the river might be a bust this year.

[CANOPY SAM]

Couldn't agree more with Handsonthepole.  Does anyone here have an actual "firsthand" report of current icefishing success?

Our 10-day forecast doesn't look promising in terms of melting....either ice, or even much of the snow that remains on the ice.  With the current ice thickness over much of the lake I'm actually a bit concerned about how close we'll be to the opener and open water!  That ice sheet is THICK!!!!!

Anyone seeing the ice bite pick up at all?  Last time I was up it was disappointingly slow.  Typically really starts to pick up this late in the spring, but most springs we see a LOT more melting and sun penetration by now.

[Kettle]

Fished this past Sat and Sunday on the South end.  Most places are between 46-48+ inches of ice, the auger we were using maxed out at 48 inches and there were a few places that we couldn't get through.  Cold front shut down fishing for us at least.  Sat we got 5 keepers for two guys on red small spoons and frozen shiner heads.  Sunday caught a few but they were small.  Caught several tulibee but I would correlate that to the depth we were fishing.  31-35 ft of water off structure is where we found the most fish.  Marked fish but they didn't want to play.  In front of the gap there is about 3 feet of ice and the current is quite strong didn't catch any there.  I think we might have done better with set lines and live bait since the fish were finicky.  In regards to travel we were in a side by side.  There are definitely some rough areas.  It was easily noticeable that prior to last weekend there was ample slush and a few sketchy areas but these were froze for us.  We fished the river last Friday and it was a bugger with floating ice chunks and we only caught two around 18" jig fishing.  Opener could be iffy to say the least......  

[PRO-V]

The first post is all bluster and promotion. I don't usually even read their reports. It's just area advertising.

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks Kettle.  That's kind of what I expected to hear.

We usually see the bite pick up quite a bit around this time of year, but this year is obviously quite a bit different than most!  Last night (April 5th) we were in the midst of a full-blown winter blizzard here!  Fairly hard snowfall.  Wind was blowing 25-35 mph.  Visibility darn near zero for several hours.  And this morning, as per our typical weather patterns, we've dropped back down to single digit temps, with wind chills pushing -15 to -20 below!!!  Someone has obviously forgotten it's supposed to be Spring!!!

I honestly don't know if it's a lack of sun penetration due to extremely thick ice (and some remaining snow cover), seemingly constant weather changes, or perhaps very cold water temps that are just NOT changing, or maybe very low oxygen levels below that thick ice sheet, or perhaps it's a combination of all these factors, but it seems that dynamite late ice bite just isn't kicking off yet.

They gotta be preparing for the spawn, and one would normally expect these fish would start putting on the feedbag, but for whatever reason they are still very neutral.

Your latest report, Kettle, sounds identical to our experience from a few weeks ago.  A few keepers, a few whitefish, and lots of lookers.  I did have a little better success by downsizing my baits....ie., very small jigging spoons, and very small live minnows on a plain white, pink, or orange hook.  For all intents and purposes, we're still stuck in the midst of a late winter (dog day winter) bite.

At this point it's going to take a major weather change to get this lake ice free by mid-May, and right now we're not seeing anything on the extended weather forecast that will bring about hope for an ice-free opener.  I think I can speak for most of us who live in the northern tier of Minnesota when I say we're more than ready for warmer weather.

[Bigfatbert]

On 4/6/2018 at 11:43 AM, CANOPY SAM said:

Thanks Kettle.  That's kind of what I expected to hear.

We usually see the bite pick up quite a bit around this time of year, but this year is obviously quite a bit different than most!  Last night (April 5th) we were in the midst of a full-blown winter blizzard here!  Fairly hard snowfall.  Wind was blowing 25-35 mph.  Visibility darn near zero for several hours.  And this morning, as per our typical weather patterns, we've dropped back down to single digit temps, with wind chills pushing -15 to -20 below!!!  Someone has obviously forgotten it's supposed to be Spring!!!

I honestly don't know if it's a lack of sun penetration due to extremely thick ice (and some remaining snow cover), seemingly constant weather changes, or perhaps very cold water temps that are just NOT changing, or maybe very low oxygen levels below that thick ice sheet, or perhaps it's a combination of all these factors, but it seems that dynamite late ice bite just isn't kicking off yet.

They gotta be preparing for the spawn, and one would normally expect these fish would start putting on the feedbag, but for whatever reason they are still very neutral.

Your latest report, Kettle, sounds identical to our experience from a few weeks ago.  A few keepers, a few whitefish, and lots of lookers.  I did have a little better success by downsizing my baits....ie., very small jigging spoons, and very small live minnows on a plain white, pink, or orange hook.  For all intents and purposes, we're still stuck in the midst of a late winter (dog day winter) bite.

At this point it's going to take a major weather change to get this lake ice free by mid-May, and right now we're not seeing anything on the extended weather forecast that will bring about hope for an ice-free opener.  I think I can speak for most of us who live in the northern tier of Minnesota when I say we're more than ready for warmer weather.

Hey CANOPY SAM ,   in response to your statement of lack of a  "dynamite late ice bite" ,  In my opinion , i would say that a late ice "dynamite bite" is brought on on by warmth that's producing a melt , and there has been virtually no warmth , so no melt , thus the lack of a dynamite late ice bite ...   

[tipupsonly]

Anyone been out? We were up a couple weeks ago and drove off road all over. Hasn’t been real warm since. Wondering if I should leave the atvs at home. We went out of Springsteel and fished around south tip. The access was taking a beating then but I’m guessing if that’s not too terrible should be ok to drive still off the roads. Be nice to leave the trailer at home. I’m not afraid of driving off road, but the first 1/4 mile by shore always worries me when it’s so beat up.  Any info would be appreciated. 

[DP]

Fished 4/7/18 8am to Sunday 4/8/18 10am in my wheelhouse, we were out of Long Pt in 28', there was 41" of ice.  Saturday started slow, we kept 6 saugers/2 walleyes (2 of us),  rattle reels went off at midnight, one keeper walleye and one keeper sauger, then nothing til 6:30am, but then it was busy, we had our limits by 8am.  Nothing over 17", we threw back 25 small ones overall, most of our keepers were 13-14" sauger, with a few walleye 15-17".  Most fish came on set lines with a plain red hook, did manage a few jigging small spoons.  They were not as shy as previous trips this year.  Travel was good, not much snow, but lots of ice heaves in the area to avoid.  

[northspear]

Was wondering if you need to check in with the border when crossing into buffalo bay? I know in Ontario you don't need to call in anymore. 

 

[Hoey]

I did not make it out as much as I wanted to this year.  Overall it was a very good year.  Good = getting a limit of 15 to 16s for the trip.  Very good = getting a limit of 15 to 19s.  Excellent - getting a limit of 19s in two hours.  Poor = short of a limit.  Seven trips or so for a total of about 24 days on the ice.  I missed out on much of the cold weather from New Years to Valentine's Day.  My paced picked up in mid-February. 

I was out between Christmas and New Years, 6 days.  Two mornings were -30 or more.  Had many equipment issues on these days.  Best day of that trip was a mid-day high of 6F.  

Two of the sleds are in the shop for annual maintenance.  Now looking forward to packing up the winter equipment and gear and doing the switcheroo - moving the winter trailer to storage and bringing the boat back.  There might be a chance of targeting pike yet this year through the ice.  I am not a river type.  If I fish too much, then nothing else gets done.  

It will be interesting to the progression of the ice-out, since it has not really started yet.    Just saying goodbye to a very dood winter walleye season.  

[Hoey]

I was able to get my ice to boat equipment and gear cut-over completed.  Only problem was the electric golf cart was a no go.  Finally got it charged enough to move.  I just found out that the charger needed to be replaced.  Over $300 - ouch.

There were many out chasing pike.  Those fishing on the reefs and in deeper water were not doing as well as those fishing in one foot of water below the ice.  Sounded like you need to be willing to run your auger into the sand.  

I put new blades on my auger and went out to see how well they cut.  Well, I drilled down 2 feet in less than 3 seconds as the ice was on the hard side of slush.  I did not drill any further.  The hole filled immediately with water.   The pike chasers indicated they found little to no hard ice remaining.  That is encouraging since hearsay from the DNR indicated we need 4 weeks of 70 degree days with above freezing temps over night to get the ice out.  

Come-on 70s!!!!

[srj]

Busy lake on the east end. Success was mixed as usual...some caught lots and some didn't do well.  We caught fish from 6 to 25' with lots of saugers deeper. DNR was right about a big year class of 10" saugers...couple more years and there should be some banner years for them.Guys were fishing as shallow as 4'. First fish of the day,  my lady caught a 30 incher, her best ever. Only a few others over. Our neighbors caught quite a few 21 to 26. Water temp was around 47 in frint of the gap and several degrees warmer to the west. Ice sheets were moving in late afternoon, should be heading north today.

A little cool but nice on the lake for opening day. The lake is way low. Had to use my neighbors dock as I was about 6" short on water.

Anybody else?..Good luck to all.