planning a trip may/june…need advice

Hello all…my fishing buddies and I used to go to a fly in resort up in canada yearly, but are looking to make a switch to LOTW as our new tradition, can anyone give some honest advice on cabins to rent or a resort to go to ? we have never been there and will want to hire a walleye guide for the first half day or so. Thanks

Most of the time I have spent fishing LOTW on open water has been out of Sioux Narrows. It’s about an hour, hour and a half North of Ft. Francis. I have stayed at Totem Lodge for a three day trip for the last ten years. It is expensive, but the guides are the best and the accomadations are great. I don’t really know much about the other reasorts in that immediate area. I can tell you that the fishing out of the SN is incredible that time of year. You will have to travel a ways to really get into the best areas but the walleyes bite like bullheads. You might think about checking out Wiley point, I know they are more reasonable, more remote, and the lodge is located a real short distance from great walleye fishing.

thanks ccoops……..maybe if i was a little more specific, looking into sioux narrows area????????????

thor,

This past summer we stayed at a place called Meads Spruce Island Camp . This place is the place we have been looking for years. We have fished the Northwest Angle, Sabaskong, Sioux, narrows, whitefish bay, etc… and we are pleasantly pleased at the accomodations that this palce offers. Like most anglers, you are there to fish and not to party and thats what this place offers. Its a boat to small island resort with about 8 cabins on it. Each privately spaced cabin has its own dock for several boats. The 5 mile perimeter offers some of the best LOTW fishing I have ever experienced. This past year we were up there about the 3rd week in June. We will be back every year for years to come!
Here is a re-cap of our trip there in June.
Lake of the woods June report

Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions. I have no tie to the resort at all, just a good reccomendation, thats all!
Hope this helps!

I’ve been going for years now in the summer. Actually gave up the fly-ins, because the fish quantitiy were almost the same, but the quality on LOTW is astounding.

My first year was at Spruce Island. This was in 96. Steve, glad to hear that your time there was much better than mine. I won’t go back……..never……………No details needed…….Just won’t go back.

Last year, we went to Wiley…………Won’t go back……….never….I didn’t appreciate the owners son turning HARD CORE PORN on the tv in the lodge, while we are all in there………..The stay was expensive, the food was good, the dock service was outstanding. table service poor. The comfort level was outstanding. It is a good place, however that incident in the bar with the adult movies really upset me and I lost all respect. To bad too, it is a really nice place!!! However, we did have all the gas we wanted, bait we wanted, ice we wanted at no additional cost to us with our package.

I have stayed at Monument Bay. Too expensive for what you get in return. We were charged $30 US for a case of beer and they charged $4 per bag of ice. Gas was $3.60 US per gallon. The cabins are not pretty, however the additional taxes, excessive gas fees, excessive ice fees, $4.00 per dozen of little leeches, etc, charged up our $60/night stay to total $120 per night. That is what Wiley charges, and they feed you very well!!! By the way, they lock up the lodge at 7pm. No food after 7pm, no nothing!!! They didn’t open until 7am either……..

The best stay that I’ve ever had was at Bonnie Brae’s, Oak Island, out of the Angle Inlet. Wonderful host and staff. The cost was $60 per night. Ice was $2 bag. Gas was $2.60 gal. Bait was very reasonable. Food was good. The dock staff would actually sprint to the dock, to greet your boat and take care of you. They would be waiting for you when you pulled up. The staff service was the best that I’ve ever had anywhere, hands down. Now, I understand that Sportsman’s have purchased this place, however there service is also known to be very good.

Bonnie Brae, on Oak Is. is on the American side. It supports superior walleye fishing and the muskies are just 5 miles away.

Another bit of advice, and I’m sure many will challenge me on this statement, is that you have to figure out what species you’re going to target. As a blanket statement, I have found my biggest walleyes to be closer to the main basin of the lake. Meaning that the Oak Is. area and on south to the Garden Is are excellent locations to find a 12lb walleye.
However, very, very few muskies in this area.

To find the largest concentration of Muskies, you need to go to Big Narrow, or the other areas that Steve informed you of. However, it has been my experience, that the walleyes taken from the Narrows are smaller on the average, than what you hook up with out towards the main lake.

Good Luck!!!! There are so many places to go, but I will be returning to Bonnie Brae, without doubt. At $2.60 a gal, for gas, I’ll cruise up to the narrows for the Muskies and take the top notch service for the low price that they offer!!!