Can someone tell me how the hell Im supposed to pick a LOTW resort? lol

Going up the last weekend in feb and we want a sleeper. Not because of the nonexistent night bite but because we want to wake up and go right to fishing (as opposed to wake up, eat, pack, drive).

Here’s what’s on my list so far.
Dale Fishing (3 person requirement but we’d pay for the 3rd)
Lyons (free use of day shacks sounds interesting)
Arnesens
Twin Islands
lake of the woods outdoorsman

Two of these are resort operations, three are much smaller. Is there something to be said for a smaller operation putting in more work to get you on fish? We rented a day shack years ago and that thing had to have been sitting in that spot since day 1. We want to avoid that!

I believe these are a little spread out too, should I focus on a particular area for end of February?

It’s been so long since we’ve been up there, we just want to catch some fish jigging!

thanks.

Have family that have used both JP with LOW Outdoorsman and Nels with Fred’s Beds and have been very happy with both of them. JP goes out of Adrian’s and uses Bayview’s spoke roads where Nels uses Morris Point and makes his spoke roads. Both seem to move houses quite a bit and since they plow their own path off the main drag, tend to be away from the crowds a bit. Hope this helps, good luck.

Out of all of those, I have only stayed at Arnesons. Their resort is very nice as their food is delicious, that’s about it. They only allow you travel via their means of transport and do not allow personal vehicles on their road. IMO, they cater to the occasional fishing crowd, not the dedicated. FWIW, I got a 30″ from their day house 3 years ago…

Definitely freds beds Nels runs his huts like a mad man will move your hut also if not on fish high-quality operation huts super clean and comfortable just no night bite

I’ll be making my first trip through Arnesen’s next week and will let ya know!

crappieguy –
LOTW really is a day bite and your not missing out on much action by getting out early or staying later.

With that said I’ve tried 4 or 5 places up there and always end up going back to Adrians. Not 5 star, but we like it. They let you come and go whenever you want. I will not Fish out of a Resort up there that requires you to be shuttled or kicks you out of there houses at sunset.

Freds beds has a free shower house on shore if you stay in one of his sleepers can’t beat that

Stayed in a sleeper through Twin Island early Jan. House was nice,checked on us at least twice a day. We were on fish all three days. Good outfit to go with.
Randy

Best stay for me was Lyons. Worst by far was Freds beds.

My only experience is with Nels and Fred’s Beds. It’s a great operation and Nels is cool. They’re doing their very best to put you on fish.

Personally, since there no night bite, I don’t see the point of a sleeper shack on LOW. I would recommend sleeping in a resort or a Baudette motel and using portables and/or ATVs. That’s what I’ll do next time, using Fred’s Bed roads and tips from Nels.

Have gone out of zippel it was good, but that’s the only time I’ve gone out on the ice up there. I’d much rather sleep on shore somewhere then in the fishhouse there’s no point in being on that lake early or late. Don’t be in a hurry in the morning take your time.

I’ve always enjoyed the sleeper option. Our groups first 3 trips years back were to Judd’s out on Winnie. So that is what we probably will do until we get to that age where a real bed and shower are important. As we get older that is becoming a real topic of debate now, with some in their 60s now.
That being said we have stayed at Arnesen’s, Nel’s, and with JP, we first met JP at WigWam years back. They all run real nice operations, they work hard for you. Nel’s and JP are smaller operations so they can focus more on each group.
We had to wait to plan our trip this year and JP and Nel’s were both booked for the days we needed so we are going to be at Arnesen’s this year.
You really can’t go wrong with any of those 3. They all work hard, have some of the best layouts for fishing. Also the indoor toilet is a real plus when considering the other option. That walk to an outhouse in sub zero sucks.

We don’t mind the sleeper option either, in our early 40s and it’s just kind of nice to slowly wake up right next to your fishing hole. Get the coffee on, make breakfast and eventually turn the vex on. And as far as no night bite, can’t be much different than the couple times we’ve slept on Mille lacs this year! Ha.

We decided on Twin Island. On a whim I reached out to Curt with NCOR, stand up guy. Instantly emailed me back. TI is out of the long point area. Pretty excited for the trip.

Thanks for all the input. AS always, love this board

I did a sleeper in late February 2015 with Zippel Bay, it was to 2 fish house package. The sleeper was in shallow water (15ft) and we had a deeper water house for mid day. We could go back and forth as we wanted in our vehicle.

There was a definite bite early morning as it was getting light in the shallow water and it would be done by 8:30 or 9AM, we would go to the deep water house and catch fish until 3 PM than back to the sleeper for evening bite that would last until 30min after sunset. We did get a nice 18in walleye at 4AM on the rattle reel but from the sounds of that, that is rare for LOTW

I’ve used Twin Island Sleepers many times. It’s my go to place. Rod is a great guy, I highly recommend him. He’s pulled us off of the lake late at night when our wheeler failed, puts two of us in a four man house for the same price when possible, and always seems to be on the fish. Houses are not fancy but we’ll kept and warm. I’ll be up in a TI sleeper Feb 9-11 and can’t wait.

Don’t forget about Borderview. I’ve stayed in their sleeper houses (4 man) 10×20, the past 3 years and I think they are the most comfortable (bring your own chair though) and have the most room. 4 years ago I stayed in a sleeper through Zippel, which was nice, but I like Borderview’s sleepers better. Fishing was the same at both places. Zippel does have an ice bar I believe though, if it’s still out. Those are the only 2 I’ve tried so I can’t speak for the rest. I’ve always thought about trying somewhere else, but just haven’t yet. Good luck!

Going up next week to a sleeper with JP LOTW Outdoorsman, so I can give you a report when I get back. But past experience with JP, I expect great service.

I have stayed at Morris Point many times and did the run and gun with snowmobiles and portables, and never had an issue with them. Like someone else said, not 5 star, but everything we needed with a smile. But this year, I cannot do the snowmobile thing, so decided to go sleeper house just for the experience. So I was stoked to hear Nels ran Freds Beds and was all set to book with him. But, I was unable to connect with him, leaving lots of messages, with no return call. Not sure what the issue was, but I then called JP and booked.

For a 2-3 day trip, I like the idea of the sleeper house as well, cuz I like to fish sun up to sun down anyways, and I can do without the shower for that few days. We still plan on making shore runs to spend some money at the local resorts/restaurants, but only outside of prime fishing time, ha.

I will let you know how it works out.

We tried JP as well but they are booked. They did set us up with a partner of theirs, Chris. But it’s hard to turn down a recommendation from the man himself, mr NCOR.

I too have heard you can’t really go wrong with any of the well-known outfits up there. We’ve been using Arnesen’s the past few years for our annual guy’s trip and will be up there again 3/8-3/11.