Tag Archives: fishing minnesota

Lake of the Woods South Shore & Oak Island Fishing Report – 9/30/20

by

Sportsman’s Rainy River

Walleye and Sturgeon Biting at the Line
The weather is cooling down again. A sure reminder October is just a day away. 

For walleyes, anchored with a gold, pink or red jig and a chub or shiner is working just outside of the gaps and bays 9’-15’ amd 21’-27’.  Varied sizes biting at the line.  Water temp in the mid 50’s.  The sturgeon bite has been good in areas of current and on the edge of a deep hole in the river using a 18″ snell made of 60 lb line, 5/0 circle hook, 3-5 ounce roll sinker and a gob of minnows with a shiner or two.  Today is the last day of keep season but you can catch and release these prehistoric monsters October through April 23.

Fall Midweek Special
Lodge Rooms only $89 per night for 2 adults plus tax through October.

Join us for our Fall Sturgeon Tournament October 30 & 31
Sign up for this fun event!  Our normally scheduled spring tournament is coming up this fall October 30 & 31.  We had rescheduled this year’s tournament due to COVID. Cash prizes! Check out the details online and give us a call 800-862-8602 to sign up.

Oak Island

Rig up a jig
Jigs and a minnow is reeling the walleyes and crappies. Shorelines and points with current 8’-24’ have been good for walleyes and areas around structure 15’-30’ hot for crappies.  Gold, pink, bright green and glow in the dark have been good colors. Muskes and pike are hitting in areas of rocky points and cabbage weed bays trolling with crankbaits or casting with jerkbaits.  Not sure where to go? Ask about booking a gudie.  You still have time for one last soft water blast. The passenger service is still running to get you from Sportman’s Lodge to Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge. Give us a jingle and enjoy the peaceful island atmosphere.

Lake of the Woods South Shore & Oak Island Fishing Report – 6/18/20

by

Sportsman’s Lodge Fishing Report
South Shore Lake of the Woods

Lots of nice fish being caught! Check out the pictures of the week!

The guides have been finding some incredible fish this week. Lots of lunkers 25”+ and good eaters. It is always a blast to see so many smiling faces and memories being made. With everything going on in the world, a few days in the great outdoors can be just what a person needs. Water temp is warming up in the lower to mid 60’s now. Drifting with crawler harnesses or spinner with a leech in 24’-29’ has been hot spots. Some anglers continue to find luck anchored and jigging with a minnow in 13’-26’ on structure. Gold and orange have been hot colors. Come wet a line.

Father’s Day is June 21 and the 4th of July is just around the corner

We have gift cards and vacation packages available this summer. Purchase your gift card online and give us a call 800-862-8602 to book your summer trip.

Sportsman’s Oak Island Fishing Report
Lake of the Woods NW Angle & Islands

Drifting Away

Drifting with spinners and a leech or crawler harness around structure in 13’-25’ has been pulling in some incredible walleyes. Gold, orange, and yellow have been hot colors. Lots of slots and healthy-sized eaters. Water temp is about 63 degrees. The bays and rocky points have been producing huge pike and quality sized smallmouth bass using spinnerbaits. Check out the 41” er caught this week in our pictures of the week.

Border Update

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the news we were hoping for but we do have options to still get you here to enjoy the islands! To help reduce the spread of Covid-19 the Canadian government decided to extend their border closure to recreational travel through July 21 this week. That means no access to the Northwest Angle by land from the United States or fishing on the Canadian side of the lake is allowed at this time. However, we do have options for you to enjoy the beautiful islands and catch some fish until then! Lake of the Woods Passenger service runs a service from Sportsman’s Lodge to our dock. They have been running since early May and have openings available for the summer. No border crossing required. They also have options for people who would like to follow them up with their boats. Once you get here, we have guided fishing, lodging, full restaurant and bar, gas, bait, incredible views, and hundreds of acres to fish. Another option is our Adventure packages which include lodging a few nights at Sportsman’s Lodge and a few nights at Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge as well as fishing via a charter up to the island, around the island and back. Enjoy two locations in one trip. Give us a call for all the options, reservations, and any questions 800-772-8411.

 
Last-minute openings for this weekend!
Give us a call, we have some hot specials! 800-772-8411

www.oakislandlodge.com

Lake of the Woods South Shore & Oak Island Fishing Report – 6/10/20

by

Sportsman’s Lodge South End Fishing Report

Warmer Days Ahead

A few storms have rolled through the past few days but the forecast is calling for dryer weather and a warming trend in the week ahead. The best bite for walleyes has been in 23’-28’ drifting with spinners tipped with a leech or trolling with crankbaits. Gold and yellow have been popular tackle colors. The water temperature is in the upper 50’s. Tip of the Week ~ You can’t catch ’em sitting at home, come fish with us!

Father’s Day is June 21

We have gift cards and vacation packages available this summer. Purchase your gift card online and give us a call 800-862-8602 to book your summer trip.

Our pool, indoor dining, and bar opens back up today!

We continue to use extra cleaning protocols and social distancing practices to help keep everyone safe.

Oak Island Fishing Report

A good bite not too far away
Vertical jigging over rocks, rocky points and shorelines have been hot spots. Gold, orange, and yellow are popular tackle colors. Jigs tipped with a minnow in 12’-20’ has been good. Some anglers finding success drifting with spinners tipped with a leech too. Water temperature is still in the upper 50’s. Won’t be long and the muskie action will start cranking up in the bays.

We have openings available this weekend and throughout the summer. Give us a call 800-772-8411 or contact us online here.

Sportsman’s Ice Fishing Update – 3/11/20

by

Sportsman’s Lodge
3/11/2020

 

Cool temps! 20 days of ice fishing left, you still have time!

A decent bite this week. Catching a variety of walleyes, saugers, and few eelpouts. Anglers trying some different things if the bite isn’t hot for them are getting the best results like different lures, jigging speed, dead sticking, on bottom vs a few inches off the bottom, minnow head vs full minnow and using electronics like a Vexilar. The bite continues to be in 29’-34’ out about 45-55 minute ride from the lodge. Hot jigs have been 1/4 oz gold, pink or chartreuse or a plain hook tipped with a minnow. Come have some fun!

If the weather starts to warm up we will be moving our houses to stay away from the slush and to allow a longer season with safe ice. With the bombardiers and groomed trails, we have many areas to fish. Check out the pictures of the week and make plans to come wet a line.

Trail Report
Trails are open. For more information check out these links.
South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods

23rd Annual End of the Season Mardi Gras Party is March 28
Our end of the season bash is coming up! Visit us for great fishing and a whole lot of fun! Entertainment, beads, free hurricanes, food and drink specials, costume contest win $200 CASH and much more. Click here to check out all of the fun we have planned and book your stay and play package today!

 

Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge

Fishing Away

This week depths in 22’-27’ around structure using plain hooks, gold jigs s and small spoons tipped with a minnow has been the best approach for catching walleyes and saugers. An occasional perch, tullibee, perch, pike, and eelpout too. A mix of vertical jigging and dead sticking has been the best approach and electronics help! We have 30-32 inches of ice.

Trails
The trails are open. Click the links for the latest reports.

South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods

Ice Road from Young’s Bay to Oak Island
The ice road is open. Follow the signs and take a ride. It is about 10 miles out.

Time to book your spring and summer trip.
It is never too early to start planning your spring trip! Come visit the islands this spring and get into some hot soft water action. Spring lodging specials available May 8 -25! Contact us today 800-772-8411.

Sportsman’s Ice Fishing Update – 3/4/20

by

Sportsman’s Lodge
3/4/2020

March Fishing is in Full Swing

Walleyes, saugers, and a few perch, pike, eelpout and tullibee have been caught this week. Walleyes and saugers predominately but it’s March, which means a greater chance to catch a variety of species. The best bite continues to be 29’-34’ using a combination of dead sticking and jigging. Hot tackle has been plain hooks and jigs/small spoons colored green glo and pink tipped with a minnow.

We are still out about a 45-55 minute ride to the fish houses and have over 3’ of ice. The ice is in good shape and no slush. When the weather starts to warm up we will be moving our houses to stay away from the slush and to allow a longer season with safe ice. With the bombardiers and groomed trails, we have many areas fish. Check out the pictures of the week and make plans to come wet a line.

Trail Report
Trails are open. For more information check out these links.
South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods

23rd Annual End of the Season Mardi Gras Party is March 28
Visit us for great fishing and a whole lot of fun! Entertainment, beads, free hurricanes, food and drink specials, costume contest win $200 CASH and much more. Click here to check out all of the fun we have planned and book your stay and play package today!

 

Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge 

Glow in the dark is hot!
Jigging glow in the dark jigs and small spoons have been hot this week tipped with a minnow. A mix of walleye, saugers, and a few perch and pike are being caught in 22’-30’ of water around structure. We have 30-32 inches of ice and plan to keep fishing through the 22nd here in the islands at this point.

Trails
The trails are open. Click the links for the latest reports.

South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods

Ice Road from Young’s Bay to Oak Island
The ice road is in good shape. Follow the signs and take a ride. It is about 10 miles out.

Time to book your spring and summer trip.
It is never too early to start planning your spring trip! Come visit the islands this spring and get into some hot soft water action. Spring lodging specials available May 8 -25! Contact us today 800-772-8411.

Sportsman’s Ice Fishing Update – 2/29/20

by

Sportsman’s Lodge Rainy River

A little Over A Month Left Of Ice Fishing Season

The best bite this week continues to be 29’-34’. A notable more aggressive noon – 2 pm bite has been going on the last few days. A mix of 3/4 sauger, 1/4 walleye, and a few tullibee.Stop sign lures or jigs with glitter, pink/gold or chartreuse/white tipped a minnow has been working. For the best catch rate, a little work can go a long way. It doesn’t hurt to switch up tackle, try one-rod dead sticking and jigging the other, use electronics and test right on bottom vs a few inches off the bottom to grab the attention of the fish as they are swimming by.Ice Conditions and Rally Weekend
We have over 3’ of ice and the snowmobile trails are in good shape. Trails are freshly groomed. The Annual Northwest Angle Edge Riders snowmobile rally is planned for this weekend hosted at our sister resort, Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge on Oak Island at the Northwest Angle 40 miles north of Baudette. This event is always a great time! For more information about the event, click here.Visit us in March for a fun getaway. Click here to learn more

Trail Report
Trails are groomed and staked. For more information check out these links.
South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods

Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge

The Bite
20’-27’ on reefs and edges of reefs using pink, gold, red and white jigs tipped with a minnow has been working well. Anglers have been reeling in a nice bag of walleyes and saugers for supper along with an occasional trophy. We have 30 – 32 inches of ice where we fish and travel. Last chance openings available March 1-4, 15-22 and one 3 bedroom cabin 8-22.
Hosting the Northwest Angle Edge Riders Snowmobile Rally this weekend!
We are excited to be hosting the annual snowmobile rally Feb 29. Click here for all the info and make plans to head out on the trails or take a cruise on the ice road to join in the fun. The trails are in great shape. Click the links for the latest reports.

Sportsman’s Ice Fishing Update – 2/21/20

by

Sportsman’s Lodge
2/21/2020

Days are getting longer! Ice fish with us through March.
It is a beautiful sunny day today, a nice time to be out on the lake. Unlike many lakes in Minnesota, Lake of the Woods is considered a US/Canada border water lake so our walleye season extends through April 14 and our houses can be out longer. We ice fish through March 31.

This week we have found the best fishing to be in 29’-34’ of water. Anglers have been catching a mix of walleyes and saugers along with a few jumbo perch. We have over 3’ of ice right now where we fish and travel. White, pink and gold jigs have been hot tipped with a minnow using the deadsticking and jigging techniques. Electronics help too!

Trail Report
Trails are groomed and staked. For more information check out these links.
South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods

Weekend Ice Fishing Trips available in March
We also have midweek trips available now through March. Come have some fun!

 

Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge
2/21/2020

A what? A muskie!
You just never know what might nibble at your line. One of our guests was fishing for walleye when a 53” muskie took a chomp on his bait! What a surprise that was! In the winter, muskie season is closed and we do not target them but sometimes the fish don’t realize that. This guy got hungry. This huge fish was released and another great fishing story was made.

The best walleye/sauger bite has been in 20’-25’ right now in the current using Buckshots, Glo Shot spoons, purple,  gold and pink jigs tipped with a minnow. A mix of vertical jigging and dead sticking has been the best approach. We have 30”-32” of ice now in the areas we fish and travel. We should be good to go through March 22 here in the islands for some goooood ice fishing.

Hosting the Northwest Angle Edge Riders Snowmobile Rally next weekend!
We are excited to be hosting the annual snowmobile rally Feb 29. Click here for all the info and make plans to head out on the trails or take a cruise on the ice road to join in the fun. The trails are in great shape. Click the links for the latest reports.

South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods

We have open water in front of the lodge and Wheeler’s Point landing is open!

by

Sportsman’s Lodge Rainy River
April 23, 2018

What a difference a few nice days make! All of the public boat landings are open on the river now. The current water temperature at our docks is 40 degrees. The water level is low. Birchdale will be closed April 24 for the day only. Wheeler’s, Timbermill, Vidas, Frontier and Birchdale are the landings near us. For a map, click here.

Sturgeon and pike fishing is going on now and walleye season opens back up May 12. Come get into some goooooood fishing and don’t forget to share or tag your pictures with us. We love to see and hear your fishing stories! You might even show up on our next fishing report.

Logan and Corey reeled in some nice sturgeon!

The bite should only heat up this week with many more fishing holes opening up. The weather forecast looks pretty great too!

Sturgeon are moving around in deep holes of the river bottom. Anchor up and rig your line with a few ounces of no roll sinkers, 4/0 or 5/0 hook tipped with a gob of minnows and shiner. Once one of these dinosaurs take a nibble, get ready for a heck of battle. The big sturgeon are known to wrestle for an hour or two.

Northern pike are another fun fish to target in the spring on Lake of the Woods. Lake of the Woods has an abundant trophy pike population. Whether you enjoy catch and release or keeping a few to bake or pickle, Lake of the Woods won’t disappoint. Shallow bays off the river and lake are great spots. Casting orange, red and flashy spinner baits with a slow retrieval works well in the spring along with a jigging presentation bouncing off the bottom with a spinner tipped with a shiner. Come have some fun! Guided trips available.

Fishing Seasons
Sturgeon catch and release now Oct 1-April 23 and May 8-15
Keep one within size limits April 24-May 7 and July 1 – Sept 30
Northern Pike open year round
Walleye currently closed, reopening May 12

Spring Specials!
Lodging starting at only $43* per person per night now through April 23 and up to 20% off Charter Fishing packages May 12-23.

Book your trip today. Click here or call 800-862-8602.

*Plus tax and based on double occupancy.

The Rainy River is opening up more by the day and sturgeon fishing is heating up!

by

4/19/18

The Rainy River is opening up more by the day and sturgeon fishing is heating up!

We have open water up to a mile or so east of Baudette and open water spots in front of Timbermill landing on the east edge of Baudette. We expect to have open water at our docks within a few days. The weather is warming up.

Check out the latest…

Vidas Landing is open along with Birchdale and Frontier Landings.

Timbermill Park (East side of Baudette)

Boat Access Map
Click here for the Baudette Area Boat Access Map

What a catch! It’s time!!!

Ryan Shinabargar reeled in this monster 64 inch sturgeon yesterday in the river near Birchdale. 👍🏻🎣Nice catch Ryan!

Sturgeon fishing is heating up. More river holes are opening up by the day. 
A few ounce no roll sinker and 4/0 and 5/0 hooks tipped with a gob of minnows and a shiner is a good approach. Guided trips available!

Fishing Seasons
Sturgeon catch and release now Oct 1-April 23 and May 8-15
Keep one within size limits April 24-May 7 and July 1 – Sept 30
Northern Pike open year round
Walleye currently closed, reopening May 12

Spring Specials!
Lodging starting at only $43* per person per night now through April 23 and up to 20% off Charter Fishing packages May 12-23.

Book your trip today. Click here http://sportsmanslodges.com/contact/ or call 800-862-8602. 

*Plus tax and based on double occupancy.

Lots of ice, ice fishing trips available through March!

by

Check out the pictures of the week!

The Bite

Sporadic fishing this week. Some doing better than others. Mix of sizes. Walleyes, saugers, few perch and pike coming up the holes.  Best bite has been using electronics and mix of jigging and dead sticking using pink glow, green/glow and gold jigs and small spoons tipped with a chub minnow in 19’-26’ of water. Hugging bottom or reeling up just a few inches and jigging have been a successful approach.   As we move closer to spring, the warming weather should only heat up the bite!

Walleye season is open until April 14 on Lake of the Woods and we have ice fishing trips available until March 31. Come see us! Lodging and fishing packages starting at only $215 per person.

*Plus tax and based on double occupancy.

Ice Conditions
No changes in the ice conditions, lots of ice. We have 40-50 inches of ice in the areas we fish and travel on the groomed trails at this time. Forecast says the freezing will continue.  If you are looking to venture out on your own, there are a number of plowed roads in the area. Be sure to stay on marked trails and roads and check with local resorts before going out.

Trail Report
Trails are groomed and staked. For more information check out these links:
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods
South Shore Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods Trail Information

21st Annual Mardi Gras Party is March 24
Visit us for great fishing and a whole lot of fun! Entertainment, beads, free hurricanes, food and drink specials, lip sync and costume contest win $100 CASH and much more. Click here to check out all of the fun we have planned and book your stay and play package today!

25% off all Lodging March 25-31
Give us a call 800-862-8602 or click here to book.