Lake of the Woods Fishing Reports by River Bend Resort

[bturck]

That is one beautiful eye. We were up lastt week and fished with Darren and Snobes. Ate all of our meals at. The Bend as we have for years, still great food. I like the remodeling /cleanup of the lodge. Glad to see things are going well for you Paul. Was good to run into Adam as well, many good times with him over the years, and Gordie, well what can you say about Gordie, still the same fun guy. Have a great season will be back your way soon.

[paulRBR]

I know it has been awhile since the last update, but we have been working hard to find the fish. That didn't leave much time to write a report, but here it is!!

11 am fish house check reported 4-9 fish in the pail. Fishing has improved a bit from last week. Fish are still showing up on the electronics, but are slow to bite. Fisherman who are working the fish and changing up spoons tipped with minnow heads are doing the best. Our day house's are in 31' and our sleepers are in 30' of water. Tomorrow we are sending 2 of our Guides North to our winter fishing grounds to see what they can find. If they find good fishing we will start to pull North sometime late week or early next week. Big Walleyes of the weekend were 29" and 27". Temperatures this week show a warm up then cooling by late week. I'll be updating this report when I have more information, probably late week. Good luck fishing! -See you out there!!!

[paulRBR]

January 17th

Scouting North on Tuesday was productive. 3 of us found a variety of species, including: Walleye, Sauger, Burbot, and Tulibie. Walleyes were coming in in all sizes. 25 inches was the most common slot size, while the Sauger were a respectable 17 inches. Still working with the jigging spoons tipped with a minnow (fathead) head have been producing the most fish. This also helps you be a little more versatile when the walleyes are coming through suspended! Dead sticks set at 1.5 to 2 feet off the bottom have been the right distance to get the fish off the bottom and become a little more active. Plain hooks with a split shot, little demons, and gem n eyes are all working great on the dead stick.

Our South houses are set up at 31 feet in the mud. Yesterday those who chose to fish down south were very surprised at the amount of fish they were able to box. Same methods of fishing as up north. They said the ticket was to watch the graph. A lot of fish swimming through that did not stick around long on the flasher. Many slot fish being caught in both our North and South houses, and the sleepers have been pulling in nice walleyes in the upper 20′s.

Good Luck Fishing!

-Ike

[Jared_P]

Thanks for the update...looking forward to getting up there with you guys in March. Keep the report coming...

JP

[paulRBR]

Just when you think you found the fish, they prove you wrong. We had three good days North, then one slow, then one good. Don't really know what to think. Fishing on Saturday was good. Nice Walleyes and fewer Saugers. Most house's had at least one slot fish. Lots of Tulibe's. Sunday was a much slower day. Slot fish were again present with a 27.5" Walleye and 2-27" Walleyes for the big fish of the day. Our South house's have still been doing okay in 33' to 34' of water. Our Sleepers are in 31' and are doing fair. Hopefully sometime this week, we'll pull one house North to our winter fishing grounds to see what we can find. I will update this report something changes. Good luck fishing! -Ike

[paulRBR]

And then it changes!! Yesterday was a great day of fishing where we have our houses. We are fishing some structure about 13 miles north along the border. Many slot fish released! 3 over 27" in one house! Everyone fishing yesterday brought in their limit of both walleye and sauger!!! There has also been some great tulibie action for those of you who like to smoke them!!

Jigging spoons and dead sticks!! Gold pink and orange working great!! Watch the flashers close because the walleye are coming in suspended!

[paulRBR]

Fishing has slowly been improving day to day. Our North houses seem to be producing more fish than our south houses. We are still fishing in 34 feet about 13 miles out along the border.

Slot fish are present in all the houses daily. Most of the slot walleye running in the 21 to 25 inch range. The biggest ones this week were a 28 1/2" yesterday, and 30 1/2" today.

Nice mix of walleye, sauger, tulibie, and burbot coming in with the occasional JUMBO perch.

The sleeper house slowed down so we moved them out the same depth as our day shacks. They are now sitting in 32 feet in the mud. They are getting action, but there are still a lot of smaller (8-12 inch) walleye and sauger.

Jigging spoons that rattle, or the colors of orange, blue and purple have been surprisingly been doing well. Of the course the typical gold, pink, and glow red are still doing great. Be sure to work them jigging spoons. If you get them to chase you up off the bottom, keep reeling. If they stop, stop with them and start jigging again until they start moving up towards your spoon again. They have been chasing all the way up to 10 feet below the ice before biting.

With the cold snap and now this warmer weather the pressure ridges are really starting to show up. So be careful when driving near them, or around them as the condition of the ice can change.

All for now will update when something changes.

-Ike

[bturck]

Paul, are you still running the bus that Charlie put together a couple of years ago? That was one sweet ride to the reefs. Kind of reminded me of the old...ollllld days of riding a school bus. I think Adam enjoyed driving it as well.

[Ballyhoo]

Bill, are you saying you rode the short bus?

[only ice]

I dont care what there driving across, I just want to go on Monday & Tuesday!

[bturck]

Jkb. yup I think in my day it was considered pretty big. Lot better than walking 5 miles to school, uphill both ways

[paulRBR]

We do still have the bus. We need a little more ice before we start running it though!!

"You go on the bus, you come home on the bus"

[Coach]

Paul, looking forward to coming up on presidents day weekend, how are the north houses doing? How far out are you now? It will be great to see you again.

[paulRBR]

Hey Coach,

Our North houses are still doing good. We have done some venturing further north, but have not found anything better than where we are at. Those that are working the fish are doing very well, and electronics are very important. A lot of the fish have been suspended. Quite a few of the box fish have been caught 10 to 15 feet off the bottom lately.

We will see you next weekend!!!!

Paul

[Coach]

Sounds good Paul, do you have roads out to the north houses or is it all bomber driven. Looking forward to seeing you again.

[paulRBR]

Coach,

We are doing bomber transport to our north houses. We have a few houses down south in the mud that we do have a road to.

[paulRBR]

Fishing has continued to stay consistent over the last week in our north houses. We are still sitting 13 miles north along the U.S, Canadian Border, in 34 to 35 feet of water. The walleyes are really starting to put on the feed bag. The majority of the walleye and sauger have been feeding on what look like May Fly larvae. They have been spitting them up constantly as they are coming through the hole. The guides have been re-hooking the larvae and sending them back down the hole on a plain hook and letting them sit just a couple inches off the bottom. Others have been using Berkley Nymphs or even the Euro Larvae with the same results.

Our south houses are also producing some nicer slot fish. There has been an abundance of smaller fish being caught as well.

All colors have been working on the jigs. Stop signs, and charmers seem to be the jig style that is working well. Also the jigging rap with a full minnow hooked on the back with an aggressive jigging action is bringing them in.

We did get blasted with snow and high winds yesterday (2-18) so lake conditions have changed. Be sure to use caution if you are driving off the main roads onto unplowed areas.

See you out there!!!

Paul

[Coach]

Paul, thanks again for good trip. Even though the snow made it interesting, the fish cooperated most of the time. My group of four got a nice pile of fish and released a 22 and a 20.

Thanks again

[paulRBR]

Coach- It was great seeing you guys again. Monday was very interesting, but now everyone can cross off fishing on Lake of the Woods in a snow storm. Glad you guys had a good time!!

[Jared_P]

Just wanted to say thanks to the Riverbend crew for last weekend. The accommadations were good, the fishing was descent(what do you do its fishing not catching), and the food was OUTSTANDING!!!

I would and have been telling everyone the good reports. I was very pleased with the cabins. They were perfect for our group. The fishing wasn't lights out but it kept us farly busy all day. The guides checked on us and made sure to update us on how everyone else was doing...see if we needed anything and helped in anyways they could. We brought our fish in to cook both nights and man do they do a great job at it. I would suggest the wings to anyone and everyone as well. Breakfast was a great day starter.

We will be back again next year for sure. Oh, and Happy 1 Year under new ownership. **THANKS**

JP

[paulRBR]

Fishing this week has been nothing short of fantastic. We have had prime conditions for a great bite in the river, the bay, and now the lake. With the late spring and ice thaw, most of the walleye have made their yearly trek up the river to spawn. A majority of the fish caught on opening weekend had dropped their spawn, while the males continue their responsibility.

Shallow water in both the bay and river have continued to produce the numbers of fish anglers are looking for. 1/2-3/4 oz. jigs tipped with a frozen shiner, or fathead is the ticket. Color selection has not played much into this bite, as the fish are putting on a short term after spawn feeding frenzy.

Post spawned walleyes are also speeding back into the lake. A great bite is happening now in 12-15 feet in both Morris Point, and Lighthouse Gap. Jigging, or drifting with spinners have been catching fish, while running crank baits across the breaks have been enticing the big fish to strike.

Water temperatures have been slowly rising sitting at approximately 53-55 degress.

We will see you out there! - Paul

[losthikingguide]

Was just up there from Sunday to this AM. Sunday PM was good but the rest of the time things were very slow after our experience and talking to the few others fishing. High wind and rain the entire time, river is running high and dirty. A 3/4 ounce jig was too light in the river, 1/2 ok in 4 mile which was too rough for most boats most of the time. A few males were still loaded but all females were empty. Did manage to catch a 29 3/4 and a few 20-24 but most were small males. I would advise getting a report on water clarity and river flow speed before venturing up there for a few days.

[kfk]

My wife and I were up on Saturday and did well just outside of Pine Island in shallower water (9-10 feet or so). We got a fairly fast limit of nice eaters 15-17.5 inchers slow trolling slow death rigs. I'm fairly sure they were all males. The water temps I saw in the lake were 42-43 degrees.

We never did search for larger fish on this trip and went in when we got our limit.

[paulRBR]

Well we are finally seeing the effects of 4 inches of rain in 4 days. The Rainy River has slid up its banks and has raised about a foot. With all the extra water it has cleaned the banks of all the feeder creeks and rivers, and is creating a mine field down the river and into the bay. Please use caution while navigating through these areas.

With the water clarity decreasing in the river and bay, most of the fishing these past couple of days has been conducted out in the lake.

12-17 feet off Pine Island (also out to 27 feet) out of the murky water has been productive. Many of the fish caught have been ones for the live well. There has not been a lot of bigger fish reported being caught, as I believe they are in their after spawn dormant stage. This does not mean they won't bite.

Jigging of course is still one of the many ways to catch these fish. Pulling spinners, and long lining with crank baits has also been a very productive method. If they are not biting very strong in the 12-17 foot depths, do not hesitate to try up in the shallower waters. We had heard of fish biting on spinners in 3 feet of water.

We will see you out there.

Correction: I do need to apologize for the last reports water temperature. It should have read 43-45 degrees.

[kfk]

Paul,

No need to apologize for anything. We all enjoy your reports very much.