Category Archives: Weekly South Shore Fishing Report

Hunter’s Big Walleye Weekend

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6/15/2011

7 year old really Hunter hunts down the walleyes at Sportsman’s Lodge
7 year old Hunter was here fishing with his dad and boy did he have some good luck! He caught and released a 27 ¼ inch walleye and a 26 inch

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Check out a few of last years catches.

27.25 inch Walleye, released
Hunter age 7
June 4, 2011
 

24.25 inch walleye, released

Another one of Hunter’s catches!
June 5, 2011

 
 

walleye on his first day of fishing and then on his second he caught and released a 26 inch and a 24 ½ inch! Way to go Hunter!! Always great to see kids enjoying fishing. Check out these pictures!

Excellent Fishing, Camping, Entertainment, Cabins, Pool, Lots of Things to do….at Sportsman’s Lodges this summer all at affordable rates.

Lake of the Woods Fishing Report May 25, 2011

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5/25/2011

Early Season
Walleye fishing has been pretty good this past week. Anglers have had plenty of action, a few meals and a limit to go home, so I

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Check out a few of last years catches.

29 inch, 9 lb Walleye
Released by Curt Herwers
Curt caught this on a 1/4 oz chartreuse jig & minnow 
 

 Curt releasing his walleye

would say the season is starting out well.  The water temperature continues to increase. This past week the surface temperature increased about five degrees now hovering around the upper fifties right now.  We are starting to see the walleyes push a little deeper. The best fishing this past week have been in the 23′-26′ range although some anglers have done best fishing deep early in the day and moving shallower as the day warms up.  Some current hot spots have been around the Lighthouse Gap, Morris Point and Zippel Bay.  The best technique and presentation continues to be anchored and vertical jigging with a gold or orange jig, tipped with a minnow. It looks like it will be in the mid 60’s for the next 3-5 days, full sun for a few days, cloudy Friday and maybe a threat of rain on Saturday and Sunday. The guides are all geared up; give us a call to book your trip today.  Don’t have a group of 6 or more? No problem we have affordable rates for you too.

Summer 2011 Outlook
According to the MN DNR we have a strong and moderate year class of walleyes reaching the size of 13-17 inches this year.  We also have the same amount of trophy sized walleyes swimming like the past few. The past few years have been exceptional for both good eating and trophy walleye fishing; many guides have been known to say it is some of the best fishing they have seen in years!  Lake of the Woods also has one of the largest northern pike populations in Minnesota.  We are looking forward to another excellent fishing season. Come fish with us and explore Lake of the Woods this summer.

Keep those boats, rods and anchors clean
Are you transporting your boat from lake to lake this summer? Make sure you spray off your boat and gear before entering a new body of water. Those pesky spiny water fleas are known to follow. These fleas compete for the same food the fish do, so do the right thing and give that boat a spray.

2011 Fishing Seasons & Notable Dates
Minnesota
Walleyes –  May 14, 2011-April 15, 2012
Northern Pike  – Continuous
Muskie – June 18-Nov 30
Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass – Continuous
Lake Sturgeon – July 1-Sept 30, Oct 1-April 23, 2012
Crappie – Continuous

May 30 – Memorial Day
June 10-12  – MN DNR Take a Kid Fishing Weekend – MN residents 16 and older fish free with children younger than 16.
June 19 – Father’s Day
July 4 – Baudette’s Annual 4th of July Celebration
Aug 25-28 – Sportsman’s Take a Kid Fishing Weekend
Sept 5 – Labor Day

Walleye Opener 2011 Lake of the Woods South Shore

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5/16/2011

Successful Opener!

The walleyes are hungry!  Walleye opener on Lake of the Woods was a success! We wrestled with some wind but that didn’t keep the walleyes from biting. Limits of walleye were not hard to come by this past weekend.  Jigging with a gold, orange or pink

jig tipped with a minnow was the technique that pulled in most of the limits of

For more pictures become a Sportsman’s
fan on facebook and check it out click here!
Check out a few of last years catches.

Opener Walleye!
One of many Patty pulled in over the weekend while fishing with Sportsman’s Captain Dan. 
Way to go Patty!
Patty Ternes, Rockford, MN 

walleyes. Some hot spots were Lighthouse Gap, Rainy River and Morris Point washout.  We saw lot of nice good eater size 14”-18”and a decent amount of large walleyes in the 24”-29” range and a few over 30” over the weekend, all released back for more catching enjoyment to be had in the future.

The guides did a great job at finding the action over the weekend and are looking forward to taking you out this summer.  If you haven’t made your reservation yet, now is the time to book your summer trip.  Take advantage of our Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day special. Stay 3 nights and get the 4th night free and our 100% Walleye Limit Guarantee!  Our guided trips include poles, bait, tackle, fish cleaning, assortment of pop and water and are priced right for groups of 1,2,3,4,5,6, or more!  If you don’t have a group of 6 to fill the boat, no problem! We have affordable per person rates.  Give us a call 800-862-8602 for more information and to book your trip today.

Sportsman’s Lodge 5th Annual Sturgeon Tournament

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4/30/2011

The 5th Annual Sportsman’s Lodge sturgeon tournament was a success! Over 155 sturgeon were caught over the two day catch and release event. 50 boats and 128 anglers battled it out for over $4800 in cash and prizes April 29 & 30. The two day event will conclude with an awards banquet tonight and Live Entertainment by Fireline. We only have 15 spots left for 2012! Reserve your spot today 800-862-8602 www.sportsmanslodges.com

The winners:
Day 1 (for pictures see 4/29 report below)
#1 64.5 inch length, 27 inch girth & 73 lbs- Derek Ferestad from Park Rapids, MN $1400 Cash
#2 57.75 inch length, 21 inch girth & 43 lbs– Pat Schrieber from White Bear Lake, MN $600 Cash
#3 56.5 inch length, 18.5 inch girth & 36lbs – Randy Shoen from Hastings, MN Custom Sturgeon Rod handcrafted by Lake of the Woods Guide Ralph Christopherson 

Day 2
#1 60.5 inch length, 21.5 inch girth & 45lbs Randy Shoen from Hastings, MN $1400 Cash

#2 59 inch length, 24 inch girth & 54 lbs Dan Brown from Hudson, WI $600 Cash #3 58.5 inch length, 20.5 inch girth & 43 lbs
No picture available

Mark Lyons from Roseville, MN Custom Sturgeon Rod handcrafted by Lake of the Woods Guide Ralph Christopherson pictured behind him is Scott Steinbring from Warroad, MN with a close contender holding his 52 inch caught at the same time. 

Other awards
Bullhead – 13 inch Kevin Weber from East Grand Forks, MN
Eelpout – 17 inch two way tie Steve Stoskopf from Warroad, MN & Gary Rutherford from Pengilly, MN
Sucker – 20.5 inch Hunter Deziel from Grand Forks, ND
Best Boat – Brian Stennes from Grand Forks, ND

The tournament was once again a big success and alot of fun as had. Next year’s tournament is set for May 4 & 5, 2012. To sign up contact Sportsman’s Lodge 800-862-8602. Congratulations to all of the winners and thanks to all the participants for making the tournament once again a success!

Fishing, Ice & Trail Report Lake of the Woods

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For the Areas of Four Mile Bay and just outside of Pine Island on Lake of the Woods

12/13/2010

ICE!!!!
It’s here, it’s nice and think and the walleyes are just waiting to be hooked at Sportsman’s Lodges.
We currently have 12+ inches on the lake right now in the areas that we travel and it was -31 below this morning! We are making more ice every minute!

Walleyes!
The fishing started out fair last week, but over the weekend it really picked up and limits of fish was not uncommon.  The guides found the fish out deeper than in normal years at this time.  Chubby Darters, stop signs and gold jigs have been the hot tackle lately tipped with a minnow. Check out this beauty caught last week, Joe Cooper from Baudette, MN caught this 11 lbs, 31 inches! Wow! It was released, and is waiting for you!

A few tips from the guides, jigging helps, change up your tackle after awhile if you don’t get any bites and the morning and late afternoon bites are the best.  Vexilars are also a helpful thing to bring along or rent from the front desk.   Also keep in mind last winter we had quite a few fish caught not just at bottom, but also suspended 1, 2, 3, and even 6 feet off bottom.  The best technique to catch one of those is to leave your jig on the bottom, have a vexilar and watch it, when something comes up, reel up. The most popular seasons on Lake of the Woods is here!

Trail Report
The Lake of the Woods Drifters snowmobile club is planning on staking the trail from Wheeler’s Point to Oak Island this Saturday.  The land trails have 12-14 inches of snow but are just starting to be groomed. Hopefully by the weekend we can have our first nice grooming done. No word yet on when the Wheeler’s Point to Warroad trail will be marked. I am sure it will be soon. Stay tuned.

Lake of the Woods South Shore Fishing & Outdoor Report 10/20/2010

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Lake of the Woods South Shore Fishing & Outdoor Report

Sportsman’s Lodge

Baudette, MN

www.sportsmanslodges.com

800-862-8602

10/19/2010

The Shiners are starting to show up!
Just in the past day we are starting to see more measurable amounts of shiners starting to show up in the Four Mile Bay and Rainy River!
The Current Bite

The current water temperature is at 47-50 degrees this morning, down a few degrees from a couple of days ago. The best fishing as of yesterday had been in 18’-25’ of water outside and around Lighthouse Gap and Zippel Bay however in the next few days we feel this will rapidly change to the Lighthouse Gap, Four Mile Bay and onward up river. Right in front of Sportsman’s is usually a hot spot. We have also heard a few reports of some good walleye fishing in the river around Wabanica Bay, Baudette Airport and Clementson lately.  The best presentation is a 3/8 – ½ oz brightly colored jig tipped with a minnow.

Water Temperature? Current? Water Level? Rain? How long does it last?

These questions are all hot topic right now with the annual shiner run starting.  From what I understand, there is no documented official study ever done in our about the run, but based on my experiences and talks with many veteran anglers, guides and DNR fishery staff here are the common answers I found to the popular questions being asked right now. 

Water Temperature – this seems to be the #1 thing that dictates the start of the run and the fast paced walleye fishing that accompanies it. The upper forties and ideally mid forties are the start of this run. We are currently at 47-50 degrees right now. Warm weather spikes after the first dip into the forties can affect it but the run normally starts back up after it cools off again.

Current – The current in the Rainy River is always fairly rapid. Many said they didn’t feel this speed made much of a difference over the years they have been watching the shiners and fishing for walleyes during this time.

Water level – This again was not something many veterans felt was a factor. Some said if their was an extreme difference they thought it could have some affect but nothing that they remember made that big of a difference.

Rain fall – This does have an affect on the fishing, but only for a few days. Once the rain subsides and the waters have a few days to clear up the fishing usually improves again.

Wind – Other than early in the run when the fishing is best in Four Mile Bay and the Gap did anglers say they have found this to be an issue where the wind really churned the waters up. Many said once the shiners moved in the river the wind didn’t seem have as much affect.
How long does the shiner run last & the active walleye fishing in the Rainy River? Usually right thru November! Many anglers said in the years they fished if they were able to get out fishing in November before the ice starting forming, the good walleye fishing continued.

Guided Trips available through October!

Guided charter trips and alaskan outfitter trips are still available through October. Book a trip today and let the guides lead you right to the walleyes. No equipment or experience required!