Tag Archives: mn fishing

Going Deep

by

Fish are on the move.  Guides are busy moving and grooving to 25’-29’ of water. Gold and pink jigs and buck-shot rattling spoons tipped with a minnow have been good tackle along with a plain hook this week. A combo of dead sticking and jigging is the best approach. Electronics definitely help! Bring your own or call ahead to reserve. Mix of walleyes, saugers and an occasional pike or perch have been coming up the holes this week.

Ice Conditions
24-30 inches of ice in the areas we fish and travel. Walleyes season is open until April 14 on Lake of the Woods. Looking good for ice fishing right through late March. March trips are available!

Trails
Grooming away! 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

Ice Road
The ice road from Young’s Bay to the lodge is in good shape! Come on out!

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall we have a fishing adventure for you!
Check out our packages for every season and make plans to escape to Oak Island this year.

 

Fishing for walleyes and BAM! A Monster Sturgeon!

by

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.

Sportsman’s Lodge South Shore Lake of the Woods Fishing, Trail & Ice Report 1-18-2017

by

Fish in the Bucket!
A steady bite of walleyes and saugers this week.  Anglers are reeling in a mix of walleyes and saugers. Real nice 14”-18” and a few 24”+ walleyes along with a steady bite of small walleyes and saugers.  Pink and gold jigs, plain hook with a little weight, blade and rattle spoons tipped with a minnow or just a minnow head has been working the best in 20’-31’. If you get into a finicky bite try downsizing your lure. Another tip is to try dead sticking with one rod and jigging with the other. The one you use to jig with really pound the bottom stirring it up and jig up 4-8 inches.  Some anglers have even had success jigging upwards of 2’ off bottom to draw attention to your bait.  Flashers are a good idea to bring along or rent. They tend to really help your catch rate. Vexilars and Marcum’s are good choices. We rent Vexilars at the lodge; give us a call ahead of time to reserve if you would like to try one.

A nice eye!

A nice eye!

Missy reeled in a nice walleye on a pink jig and minnow!

Missy reeled in a nice walleye on a pink jig and minnow!

A fun way to spend a day with no school!

A fun way to spend a day with no school!

1-18vid

Thanks John and Kate for visiting us!

Ice Conditions
Currently we have 20”-22”of ice in the areas we fish and travel.  We travel on a groomed trail.  If you are venturing out on your own, Adrian’s Road out of Wheeler’s Point is a good one to access the lake.  They are now allowing out all size trucks and wheel houses up to 28’.

1-18-forecast

Trail Conditions
The lake trails are marked with black stakes and groomed from Baudette on the Rainy River and across Lake of the Woods to Oak Island. They are also marked from Wheeler’s Point to Warroad.  It is about 50 miles from Baudette to Oak Island or Baudette to Warroad via the lake trails. We have a nice base of a  couple feet of snow and the trails are in great shape. Click here for more information about the Baudette area.  Click here for more information for the Northwest Angle & Oak Island area.

Ice fish with us until March 31!
Ice fishing packages available through March 31. Click here to learn more and book your trip today.

Short on time? Take a quick trip!
One night/one day trips available including lodging, ready to go fish house, transportation to and from the fish house, use of jig sticks, jigs bait and fish cleaning starting at only $144* per person. Available: Jan 22, 26, 29-Feb 2, 5-9, 12 & 22.  One day fishing only trips $115* per person.  Available: Jan 22, 23, 26, 27, 29-Feb 2, 5-10. Click here to reserve or call 800-862-8602.
*plus tax and based on double occupancy.

Rainy River Open Water & Fishing Report March 30, 2015

by

3/30/2015 

Sportsman’s Lodge Open Water & Fishing Report

Rainy River Report
Birchdale and Frontier landings are open. Boats are being pushed off Vidas landing (8 miles east of Baudette), still 10 feet shore ice. Ice should be gone in a day or two. Open water is reported west of Clementson now and we expect it to be to Baudette by the end of the week.  The weather forecast looks much warmer this week. We should make some good progress opening the river up! Nice sturgeon and walleyes are being caught. Bite is picking up by the day and the warmer weather should help too!  Best approach for walleyes right now is a 3/8-1/2 oz. gold or chartreuse jig tipped with a minnow. Sturgeon, #5 hook, 1-2 oz. weight and a gob of night crawlers has been working best in deep crevices of the river bottom. For pike, casting buck tails and assorted flashy spoons work well in weed beds and open bays.

For a map of the boat landings on the Rainy River, click here.

Season Open Dates: Walleye until April 14, re-opening May 9 Sturgeon now through April 23, catch & release. April 24-May 7 keep one within size limits. May 8-15 catch and release. May 16-June 30 closed. Northern Pike never closes.

River Fishing March 29 2015

Hot Deal! Spring Lodging Rates as low as $40* per person per night!
*plus tax and based on double occupancy. Click here.

Happy Easter!
The lodge will be closed Easter Sunday but lodging will remain open that day. Give us a call to book your stay 800-862-8602 or reserve online here. Guided Trips & Boat Rentals available! Check out our options and reserve yours today.

Ice Update

by

12-4-2014

Ice update!!!

The crews have worked hard all week and have made some nice smooth trails to and from the fish houses. There is 16″ of ice on the lake and 14″ on Four Mile Bay (the bay we access early in the season to get to the lake). The cracks have mostly healed and things have come together nicely for our opening weekend of ice fishing. The rainy river has 8″-10″ of ice.

 

The snowmobile trail to Oak Island will be marked next Tuesday or Wednesday with the trail to Warroad and the Rainy River to Baudette trail being marked the day after the oak trail. We are very excited about the ice thickness and the upcoming season. The guides have done some scout fishing and report good water clarity and some hot action. Please remember that it is still early and there may be thin weak spots of ice yet. At this time there are no full size vehicles allowed. Please call ahead or check our website to find out the latest ice report. Also remember we only report on the areas we travel and fish and the entire lake is certainly not treated equally. Safety first!  Good luck fishing! For reservations contact us online or call 800-862-8602.  Bring on the season!!!

Oak Island Lake of the Woods Fishing Report

by

August 20, 2014

…to find the fish…

There’s reports of big walleyes abound swimming the lake.  Hammered gold jigs with minnows or crawler harnesses with leeches in 25’-30’ water around Garden Island or Little Oak seem to be where the walleyes are being found.  It seems as if either anchoring or drifting have been producing results too.  The muskie bite is still somewhat finicky but doing better in the late evenings around the shore lines or in the weed beds especially when the moon is bright.  Smaller lures with a slower presentation seem to be having the best luck but if you like a faster option, the cowgirls seem to be the lure of choice.  There’s also been reports of the start of some crappie action and also the northerns and perch have been around as well.  Just like the south end, the weather looks like it will be a mixed bag of partly sunny to partly cloudy skies, chances of rain but with temps ranging from the mid-60’s to the low 70’s.

Fall into great fall rates!

Fall is a incredible time for excellent walleye, sauger, muskie, pike, crappie and bass fishing at Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge.

Click here.

Lake of the Woods South Shore Fishing Report

by

Awesome.  Excellent.  Fabulous.  The first three words spoken when asked how the fishing has been this week.  Not too shabby considering the water levels continue to go up and down.  The bite has been good just outside of Pine Island or up north by Garden Island.  Set your line with a hammered gold spinner tipped with either minnows or leeches in 10’to 14’ of water, find some sand and you will be on the fish.  Closer to the Angle, it seems as if the shallow rocks have been holding some walleye as well.

Dennis Anderson
29.5 inch walleye released
Guided by Captain Mike
Bernie Jilek Hudson
28 inch walleye released
Guided by Capt. Dave

High Water
The water levels continue to go up and down again this week.  Our centralized loading/unloading dock system is working well so that guests can safely get in/out of our boats to enjoy their fishing adventures.  Some of our dock slips are available as well; they are on a reserved-basis only and can be reserved by calling the lodge at 800-862-8602.  You can view the water levels as well by viewing our dock cam.

Fishing, Fireworks & Family Fun!
July 3,4 & 5. Stay at Sportsman’s and enjoy excellent fishing, lodging, food and entertainment. Stop in Baudette for more activities!

Bring along your Tarzan and Jane costumes for our Wild Weekend Party July 5. 

Don’t let summer pass you by! Give us a call to book your summer vacation.
www.sportsmanslodges.com

Lake of the Woods South Shore Fishing Report

by

Fishing Report 04-09-14

River Open Update – It’s Time for Spring Fishing
Are you ready? Because spring fishing has officially begun! After a warm and sunny week, the river opened up several miles, and is now open to the Birchdale landing and beyond. Sportsman’s Lodge guide, Dave, fished near Birchdale on Tuesday afternoon, and reeled in a ton of fish ranging from eating sized to wall hangers, and lots of slot sized fish in between! Outfitter trips are now available for the rest of the spring season. Give us a call to book yours!

A fair amount of ice is still covering most of the lake, but a string of warm days has certainly knocked out some of that ice. Ice conditions continue to change on a daily basis, be sure to give us a call before you head up for your trip!

High temperatures will be creep into the 40’s throughout most of the next 10 days, and may even inch into the 60’s on one occasion.

. Click here for a full weather report for the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River area.

Come reel in the excitement!
Don’t forget, spring is great for sturgeon fishing! The sturgeon season is catch and release through April 23, and opens up to keep one (within size limits) April 24-May 7! Walleye season remains open until April 14 (reopens May 10) and pike season never closes!

Visit our website to download the area boat landing map.

We are open!
Lodging and food is available at Sportsman’s Lodge Rainy River location! Guided Outfitter trips will be available as soon as we get rid of a some more ice. Forecast is warming up. It shouldn’t be long! Lodging as low as $40 per person per night. (plus tax based on double occupancy) Give us a call to book your spring trip 800-862-8062

Lake of the Woods South Shore Fishing Report

by

Fishing Report – 04/01/14

That’s a wrap! Sportsman’s lodge has officially wrapped up its 2013/2014 ice fishing season! Thank you to all of our guests for making the trek up to Lake of the Woods to spend some time fishing with us! We had a blast spending our winter with you!

Katie caught this Northern on Lake of the Woods this weekend!

Katie caught this Northern on Lake of the Woods this weekend!

Fishermen have continued to reel in a lot of fish throughout the last week. Some of the fish have flirted with with lengths near the slot limit, but most have been good eating fish. Either way, the fish are biting!

Sportsman’s Lodge guides and guests have been fishing in water depths ranging from 18’ to 26’ about 5 miles from the lodge. Shallow water has been consistently producing fish in the early and late hours of the day, while deeper water has been successful during the afternoon hours.

Minnows and fatheads remain the popular bait, while buckshot lures in pink and gold have been the tackle of choice.

Ice Conditions
We still have plenty of it. We are still sitting on 40+ inches of ice, and, after Monday’s blizzard, a substantial amount of snow.

Sportsman’s Lodge has removed all permanent ice houses from the lake. However, Based on current ice and weather conditions, we expect the ice to remain for a while longer. So, if you still haven’t gotten your ice fishing fix, pack your ice augers and take your own ice fishing adventure.

Rainy River Update
The river is beginning to open up about 15 miles from Birchdale, MN. Birchdale is located approximately 50 miles downstream from Sportsman’s Lodge and the mouth of Lake of the Woods. The Birchdale landing is usually the first one to open for the year in our area.  Stay tuned! Once we start warming up, it shouldn’t take too long to deteriorate the river ice and start our soft water fishing season.

Visit our website to download the area boat landing map.

Trail Conditions
26 inch pink jig Joshua Thielen
Public trails had their last groomings last week, and remain in fair to good condition. The trail markings will be left up until conditions deteriorate.Many resorts help maintain the trails or use their own private trails.

Weather
We may officially be in the spring season, but we are a long ways off of spring-like weather. Daytime temperatures will only be climbing into the mid- to upper-30’s throughout the next 10 days, and will drop below the freezing mark to the teens and 20’s during the overnight hours. A slight chance of snow is expected late this week, and again early next week.

Sturgeon! Pike! Walleye! Make plans for April & May soft water fishing!

Excellent sturgeon, walleye and pike fishing will soon be here.

Walleye season is open until May 14, reopening May 10

Pike season never closes

Sturgeon season is catch and release through April 23. Keep one (within size limits) April 24-May 7, catch and release again May 8-15.

Get your reservations in today.