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

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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 – 9/23/20

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Sportsman’s Lodge

Warm Week
Is this the last warm blast? We have had highs in the upper 60’s and 70’s this week. Sounds like a cool down is coming starting Sunday.

Hit and miss bite this week but yesterday it picked up. Water temp has pushed up to lower 60’s. Anchored and jigging a chub or shiner or drifting pulling spinners with a crawler or chub has been luring in the walleyes.  9’-15’ and 22’-28’ outside of Pine Island and Zippel Bay. Gold, yellow and orange have been popular colors. 

Fall Sturgeon Tournament Openings October 30 & 31
Limited space! 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

The Bite
Jigging a gold, orange or glow in the dark jig tipped with a minnow in 10’-14’ and 21’-27’ on or around structure and shorelines has been good for walleyes.  The landscape with the leaves turning is absolutely beautiful right now.

Check out our Great Fall Rates through mid October
Click here or call 800-772-8411.

Lake of the Woods South Shore & Oak Island Fishing Report – 9/18/20

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Sportsman’s Lodge Fishing Report

Fall Patterns
The week started out up and down but the bite is getting better and we are seeing more shiners in the river. Fall patterns are taking shape. The current water temp has decreased and is in the upper 50’s.

Walleyes are starting to move into shallower depths and to the river. Some of the best techniques to getting a nice stringer of walleyes have been anchored using a jig tipped with a chub or shiner or drifting with a spinner tipped with a minnow or crawler along shorelines 11’-16’ and out deeper in the mud in  22’-28’.  Gold, glow in the dark and orange have been popular colors. 

Looking for more species to fish?

Sturgeon
Sturgeon are being reeled in in the deep holes of the bays and river bottom using a 4/0 hook, few ounce no roll sinker, a gob of crawlers, and topped with a shiner.

Pike & Smallmouth Bass
Give jerk baits a try when fishing for pike in the fall in cabbage weeds adjacent to rock structure. Pike often hang out on the fringe of cabbage weeds. Start at 10’-12’ and work to deeper water off reefs and points using a spinnerbait or a jig and a minnow. 

Great Fall Rates
Up to 20% off summer lodging and charter packages and lodging starting at just $89 a night for two people now through Oct 31, 2020. Give us a call 800-862-8602 or email us for a rate quote and availability. *Plus tax

Fall Sturgeon Tournament Openings
October 30 & 31 Cash prizes! Always a fun event! Check out the details online and give us a call 800-862-8602 to sign up.

Oak Island

Jigging
Similar to the south end of the lake, jigs and spinners are working right now. Jigging getting better by the day. A gold or orange jig tipped with a minnow or hammered gold spinner tipped with a minnow or crawler in 10’-15’ and 21’-27’ on or around structure and shorelines. Crappies are hitting on small jigs on structure 15’-30’. Muskies and pike are hot after the topwater baits in the weedy bays.

Check out our Great Fall Rates. Openings are available!
Click here or call 800-772-8411.

Lake of the Woods South Shore & Oak Island Fishing Report – 8/27/20

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Sportsman’s Lodge

Leaves are starting to Change
Pulling spinners and trolling with cranks continue to work the best for walleyes. Some anglers finding fish in 12’-16’ and others in deeper waters 28’-36’. Pink, silver, and gold for colors. The leaves are starting to change, fall is just around the corner and so is the shiner run. Once the shiners start run the river, we know it won’t take long for the walleyes to follow.

Anglers fishing the river are reeling in some nice sturgeon. Anchored in a deep hole or along the incline above the deep hole has been good. A sturgeon rig tipped with a gob of crawlers works well. Lots of species and miles of water to explore. Charter trips available through late October. Give us a call 800-862-8602.

Sturgeon Tournament October 30 & 31
Cash prizes! Openings are available. Call up some fishing buddies and join us.
Click here to learn more and to sign up.

Fall Openings
Lodging starting at only $89* per night in lodge rooms and up to 20% off summer lodging and charter fishing packages Sept 8-Oct 31. Check out our packages and make plans to visit us, call 800-862-8602. *plus tax and based on 2 adults

Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge

Trolling
Trolling in 24’-28’ using spinners with a minnow, crawler harness or crankbaits in the mud and around structure has been working for walleyes. Gold, red, pink, and yellow tackle have been good options.

Nice pike and muskies have been reeled in. Several 30”+ pike right off the dock. Muskies have been hitting on topwater baits and blades in weedy bays and rock points. Pike mainly in deep water with rocks using spinnerbaits. Crappies are hungry using small jigs and a minnow 10’-30’ on structure.

The Canadian border remains closed at this time but the Lake of the Woods Passenger Service is available to get you to the island. For fall and winter trips, give us a call 800-772-8411 or contact us online.

Lake of the Woods South Shore Fishing Report & Oak Island Update – 5/6/20

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Sportsman’s Lodge

Minnesota Walleye Opener is this Saturday, May 9
The Minnesota walleye fishing holiday and long-standing tradition is finally here! Fresh walleye for supper on Saturday night can’t come soon enough.

The ice as far as we can see is gone and the big pond is ready to go. The weather is looking fair, a little on the cool side but common for the big day. Wind 5-12 and partly sunny. So where is the best place to find the early season walleye on Lake of the Woods? Shallow sandbars are usually a good place to start. 12’-20’ on the windward side. Rig up a jig and shiner minnow or a chub and do some jigging.

After a day of walleye fishing, don’t count out the sturgeon. Sturgeon “catch” season is going on now through May 7 and you can enjoy catch and release May 8-15 before closing for 6 weeks. Deep holes in river and bay are usually great spots to reel in one of these monsters. Drop a 4/0 or 5/0 hook with a gob of worms and a no-roll sinker to the bottom and give it a try. Check out some of the photos from this past weekend.

Rooms Available
We have a few rooms available for the weekend. Give us a call 800-862-8602.

Our Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge location opens May 15 for the season. For summer reservations call 800-772-8411.

The staff has been busy deep cleaning and increasing cleaning protocols as well as practicing and implementing new social distancing to serve you. We will kick off our new online food ordering option at our Rainy River location on Friday too for curbside pick up and delivery to your room, cabin, or villa until we can open for dine-in. We look forward to having you visit. Good luck fishing everyone!

Fishing for walleyes and BAM! A Monster Sturgeon!

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Targeting walleyes and saugers is always our #1 priority in the winter, but Lake of the Woods is an incredible fishery and you just never know what might be looking for something to munch on. Lake of the Woods is home to not only walleyes and saugers but also northern pike, lake sturgeon, tullibee, perch, eelpout, muskie, bass, lake trout and crappies.  Check out some of the pictures from the past week and two monster sturgeons! It is quite a rush to see a 45+ inch fish come through an ice fishing hole!

Bite
The weather continues to be mild and it looks like it will continue for at least through the weekend at this point.  The bite has been fair the past week.  Anglers have been having the most success jigging and dead sticking glow and gold colored jigs, small rippin raps, glo-shots and forage minnows tipped with a minnow. 8am-11am and 2pm-4pm have been some of the best times in a range of depths 16’-29’.  The best depth has really been changing frequently.  The guides are always moving houses and doing their best to stay on the best bite.  If you have electronics, bring them along. We consistently see a lot of success with folks who use them. If you don’t have your own, give us a call ahead of time, we have a few vexilars available to rent.

Ice Conditions
We have a good base of ice of over two feet, 28-32 inches in the areas we fish and travel.  Looking good for March ice fishing! Remember walleye season is open through April 14 on Lake of the Woods and we plan to keep our houses out until the end of March.

Trails
Grooming is in full swing. Groomers caution riders to stay on the trails especially this year with how rough the lake froze; there are a lot of ice chunks sticking up off the trail.  Click below for the latest conditions and more information about the Lake of the Woods area trails.
South Shore Lake of the Woods
Northwest Angle Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods Trail Information

Join us for the BIG GAME and GREAT FISHING!
Feb 3-6 Trips available! Click here

Snuggle up with your Sweetie in February at Sportsman’s.
Two night lodging and fishing packages starting at just $215 per person. Can’t make it in February? Sportsman’s gift cards make great gifts! Click here to order yours.
Come see us! 800-862-8602 or [email protected]
*plus tax and based on double occupancy.

Fishing Report NW Angle & Oak Island Lake of the Woods 7-29-2016

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Fishing Report NW Angle & Oak Island Lake of the Woods 7-29-2016

Good action this week.
For walleyes, Little Oak Island has been a hot spot lately 18″-23″water with chartreuse, blue or black jigs tipped with a minnow. Night crawlers on a good ol’ worm harness have also been the hot lure. Water temperature is 75 degrees.

Muskie and northern fishing is heating up!
This week reports five 38-42″ northerns and eight 45″-52″ muskies have been lured to the surface by a group. Top water crank baits and spinners have all been working casting in a weedy bed. Don’t delay book your trip now before the summer passes you by 800-772- 8411.

Fall rates start September 15

Lake of the Woods Fishing Report Sportsman’s Lodge 7-29-2016

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Lake of the Woods Fishing Report Sportsman’s Lodge

7-29-2016

Beautiful Weather & Beautiful Walleyes
I just love this time of year. Warm weather, light breeze and lots of walleye action.  We continue to do a mix of bait fishing and trolling with crank baits. We expect to continue this approach through August for sure and probably until mid-September. About mid-September is when we usually see the walleyes start to move.  Mid basin of Big Traverse has been a hot spot in 28’-32’ as well as the northern reefs in 26’-32’. White/silver, Red/white and gold/red have been good lure colors. A spinner, a couple of ounces of weight and tipped with a worm or leech or the same color crank baits have been working the best. A few anglers have also switching spinners on and off with 3/8 ounce gold jig tipped with a minnow and having some luck in the same areas.  The water temperature is currently 77 degrees.

Finding some nice fish!

Lake of the Woods Fishing Report 7-29-2016

Bass? Yes, two nice smallmouth bass right off our dock! You just never know what you might reel in! Lots of good fishing this time of year!

Smallmouth bass off the dock!

Beautiful Weather!

weather forecast Sportsmans Lodge RR  7-29-2016

A nice bunch of 16 – 18 inch walleyes are being taken and make great appetizers with a cool beer on the side in the Sandbar after a day on the lake.

We still have openings in July and August
Give us a call 800-862-8602 or email us for a quote [email protected]