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2020 Lake of the Woods Fishing Reports & Info


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Thanks for the report.  

I'm headed up tomorrow morning for the weekend.  Going with a couple buddys and their wheelhouse, either Cyrus or Morris point it sounds like.

I'll be happy with a bunch of 14" saugers for a dinner, I'm just along for the ride and ? 's this weekend ?

How far out were you with Sportsman's? 

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Roughly 4-5 miles. 28 ft water. Other resorts out in 30-32 ft, but doing about the same. This steady weather should be good hopefully. Good luck.

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Back home. 

Fishing was tougher than tough for us.  Tough as in for 6 guys I took top honors with 4 fish from Friday afternoon to this morning. 

We were in 30’ out of Morris Point.  24” of clear solid ice. 

Sill had a great time, and the weather was awesome for late January!!

 

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1 hour ago, Xplorer said:

Back home. 

Fishing was tougher than tough for us.  Tough as in for 6 guys I took top honors with 4 fish from Friday afternoon to this morning. 

We were in 30’ out of Morris Point.  24” of clear solid ice. 

Sill had a great time, and the weather was awesome for late January!!

 

Same 28' off Morris Point and 1 fish with 12 lines in the water. T Shirt weather but slow from everyone we talked to as well.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators
10 hours ago, Jake Payson said:

Same 28' off Morris Point and 1 fish with 12 lines in the water. T Shirt weather but slow from everyone we talked to as well.

Welcome to FM @Jake Payson.

 

Thank you for the update sir!

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Three of us fished out of Adrians and we were started 12 miles out on Friday and fished there until noon on Sat.  Caught 4 fish and kept one.  Moved in 4 miles and caught 5 and kept 2.  Decided to move Sat. night at sunset and ended up 6 miles out.  On Sun. the fishing picked up a little.  We left at noon on Sun. and were able to keep 7.  The three of us caught a total of 19 fish and kept 10.   Talked to a handful of people and everyone said fishing was poor.

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I am heading up Friday morning! Can't wait! I will post a report when I get back.

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1 hour ago, Rick said:

From Wheeler's Point Resort

Check this one out!  The Nelson group had a nice one today.

PSX_20200128_110401.jpg

The walleye looks nice too!?

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Welcome to FM @Chris B..

 

There are a lot of great places up there. Most folks drive out of Adrians.

 

There are others further west with less traffic.

 

I'll let them tell you.

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On the south end...  A lot of nice walleyes and saugers caught this week up at Lake of the Woods.  Many resorts traveling 16 - 22 miles out on the ice and most reports are very good.  Lots of big walleyes this week.  Ice conditions on LOW remain excellent.  Jig one line and don't be afraid to use noise such as rattles or vibration to draw fish in.  Have a deadstick with a live minnow in the second hole for neutral fish.  Best colors vary but gold, glow, green, orange and pink good colors.  Electronics tell you where fish are and how they are reacting to your bait and presentation.  Pike anglers already pulling some trophy fish.  Should only get better as month progresses.

On the Rainy River...   The river is frozen over with snowmobile traffic on marked trail.  Some reports of good fish in the river.  Extra caution is always needed on the river, especially with higher current this year.  Thin ice around the International Bridge in Baudette.  Work through resort or know ice conditions if ice fishing the river as ice thickness varies.

Up at the NW Angle...  Some great reports from the Angle this week.  Resorts in 26 - 32' of water.  The snowmobile trails from south shore to Angle in great shape.  Jigging spoons and Rippin Raps in one hole.  In second hole, plain red hook with live minnow working well.  Fish houses on the ice through March 31st, walleyes and saugers open through April 14.  

Big ice pike_Beef_020920.jpg

Hannah_Border View Lodge_020620 (2).jpg

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On 2/10/2020 at 6:24 AM, Chris B. said:

Coming up through Baudette Thursday with a wheelhouse. Who is the best to go through? Who has plowed spots?

 

Border View and Wheelers roads were in good shape and looked pretty quiet when I was up there but that was during the week. Good luck and welcome to FM!

Edited by chaffmj
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Another thing I failed to mention is out in the mud, there are what I call "high flyers," fish suspended 3 to 5 feet off the bottom.  These fish were larger than bucket fish, hungry, and aggressive.  So watch you water column and be ready to adjust your bait to their depth.  

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Great Advise Hoey!  I always tell people keep a eye on the lookout for those high marks up in the water column.   The big females are out cuiseing targeting the cisco population  9 out of ten times it will be a much larger fish popped back to back 27 inchers one time 8 foot  off the bottom out there. 

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Sounds like Adrian's road is out there 20 to 22 miles....  with some roads going to the east shore reefs, some out towards Garden, etc...  We could see houses out south of the west end of Garden too.  I do not know if Long Point roads get you there.  Need to call.  How far out do you need to go?  I'd say get out in the middle, out in the mud, maybe 12 miles.  You really do not need to be reef or structure oriented this time of year.  The fish are feeding on hatches, larvae, etc...  I had many squirmy things on my fish house floor that were spit up by the fish.  

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We went 13 miles out on Border View's road. We were at a depth of 35 feet and caught several fish that were 5 to 10 feet off of the bottom. We would pull our lure up just above the fish mark give it a little jiggle and they would move up and inhale it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

On the south end...  An awesome week of ice fishing.  Most anglers fishing in 27 - 33' of water.  Ice conditions on LOW remain excellent.  Use combo of jigging line and deadstick.  Work your lines, keep jigging and keeping minnow on deadstick active.  It will pay dividends.  Some good colors overall, pink / gold, glow, chartreuse / white.  Electronics helping to catch suspended walleyes.  Pike activity has increased with some big fish being caught.  Tip ups and big baits on quick strike rigs the norm.  This is bonus ice fishing on Lake of the Woods.  As a border waters area with Canada, fish houses can be left overnight on the ice through March 31st, walleye and sauger season is open through April 14th and pike season never closes.  

On the Rainy River...   Local anglers continue to catch some walleyes in the river.  Extra caution is always needed on the river, especially with higher temps,melting and runoff.  Thin ice around the International Bridge in Baudette.  Work through resort or know ice conditions if ice fishing the river as ice thickness varies.

Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing reports good up at the Angle with a mix of walleyes, saugers, big jumbo perch and pike in the mix.  Resorts in 20 - 32' of water targeting both structure and mud.  Jigging spoons with minnow head for jigging line, plain hook and live minnow on deadstick.  The snowmobile trails groomed and are in good shape.  

 

Big walleye in fish house_Sportsman's Lodge_022820.jpg

Jena Rae Theis_28 inch walleye_030120.jpg

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Nice walleye!

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On the south end...  A great week of March ice fishing. Anglers fishing anywhere from 27 - 33' of water.  Ice conditions on LOW remain excellent with freezing temps keeping ice firm.  Work lures on jigging line with a live minnow on an ice jig or plain hook on second line.  Some good colors overall, pink / gold, glow, red glow, green glow.  Electronics helping to catch suspended walleyes.  Pike activity increasing with more big fish caught this week.  Tip ups with big baits on quick strike rigs the norm.  Fish houses can be left overnight on the ice through March 31st, walleye and sauger season is open through April 14th and pike season never closes.  

On the Rainy River...   As spring approaches, extra caution needed on the river.  Thin ice around the International Bridge in Baudette.  We are watching open water line progress from east to west.  No open water fishing as of yet.  We report open water progress often on Lake of the Woods Tourism Facebook page.

Up at the NW Angle...  A great week of ice fishing reports up at the Angle.  A mix of walleyes, saugers, big jumbo perch and pike in the mix.  Resorts in 20 - 32' of water targeting both structure and mud.  Glow colors, gold and pink effective.  The snowmobile trails groomed and with freezing temps, are still in good shape.  

Big ice pike_Zippel Bay Resort_030920.jpg

Ice walleyes_Border View Lodge_030820.jpg

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Daughter and i came up yesterday, got to the lake about 11 or so. Only went couple miles past pine and set up. Real slow manage only couple small ones. Today moved out farer, graphed a few but no takers. Tried alot of different jigs with no luck. Noticed alot houses leaving early, people having same luck or better.

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