Out from Pine Island Lake of the Woods report

Spent the last 3 days on LOW.
The fishing was a little slow but the 2 of us managed to catch 74(mostly sauger) in the 3 days with only 16-18 total keepers and another 8-9 perch 12+ inches.
We were out pretty much at the end of Adriens road in about 32-33 feet of water.
The best approach we found was to change presentations often. The only thing that produced steadily the whole weekend was the pink and glow Demon under a bobber.
The jigging bite was sporadic, watching the vexilars we would give 2-3 fish a chance to take a bait and if they wouldn’t we would switch. If we could get them to chase and not take we would just change colors of the same lure. If they seemed less than interested we would change to something totally different. We caught fish on everything from the larger crusher spoons, very small swedish pimples, buckshot spoons, and small jiggin Raps. The active colors were very streaky gold would work for a while then just quit, then glow, then green…we just had to keep switching if we marked fish with no takers. With the pink and glow demon working so conistently one would think a pink and glow jig would have as well….nope…we only caught 2-3 fish on pink and glow anything if it was being jigged.
One last thing….watch for suspended fish…all our walleyes came off the bottom from 10 feet down to 25 feet down and would just hammer the jigging lure if you got it in their face without spooking them so you need to reel it up fast enough to get there but slow enough to not create too much disturbance in the water.
Heard many reports while I was up there and most people were reporting that the bite was slow with a few keepers here and there.
Good Luck out there.
John

buckshot can you give me any ides on some of the better places to go on low i have never been up there befor and im looking for some general info

There are a couple different things to consider.
If you want to drive out or get a ride out in a bombadier(bomber) from one of the resorts to a rented house or if you want to drive out and fish portables.
I would suggest for your first trip that you go through a resort and rent a house to get a feel for things and to take some of the headaches out worrying about what you need.
I have been out of Riverview and Bayview. I know people that have used Sportsmans and Wheelers Point…great service is all I have heard and experienced from all 4.
We used Bayview Resort this last trip. You drive your own truck out…kind of nice because if you know what house you are going to be in you can get out there early and stay until after dark and you aren’t limited to just the gear you can carry on to the bombadier. Just check in with the resort each night to get your house assignment for the next day and you are all set. They leave the heat on so the holes don’t freeze over night so you just get there and fish.
There is one drawback….because you drive out there are plowed roads which means traffic during the weekends.
If you go through Bayview ask to be put out as far as possible on Adriens Road and as far to the side of the main road as possible. Sat we were in the first row they had and the closest house to the main road…we only caught 14(total) walleyes and sauger with a few tulibee mixed in. Sun and Mon we were in the last row out way at the end of Adriens road but still the first house off the main road because that was all that was left but there was little or no traffic out that far and we caught 32(eyes/sauger) and a few big perch and a bunch of tulibee each day and marked way more fish.
If you go through RiverView they have their houses on their own bomber road so you are well away from any and all traffic other than their own bombers so the fishing is more consistent and not hampered by traffic. The drawback is that you are totally at the mercy of the resort as to when you go out and when you come in. When they show up and say it is time to go….it is time to go….period.
There are a bunch of hotels there, we stayed at the Baudette Motel this last time….nothing fancy but it was clean and pretty inexpensive.
If you want to do portables….bring snowmobiles and get a good distance off the plowed roads….you will have better success. This last weekend…I was very glad we didn’t opt for portables with the temps being below zero for highs and windchills that were obscene.
If you want to talk more about it shoot me a PM with a phone number and I can give you a call. It is a great time you won’t be sorry.
Oh yeah there is a good bait shop up 172 almost up to Wheelers point…great bait, a huge selection of tackle and pretty good about fishing info.
John

wow thats alot to consider. well i will be bringing my truck and a portable. but i would like to rent a sleeper and use that as a homebase if the fish are slow. now does a place like river view let you use your own truck so you dont have to come off right away or do you have to use their bombers. and if you use the bombers and you say at their mercy does it mean they are picking you up at prime time? because i would rather fish to long rather than leave at prime time. thank you for your info

Yes you are kind of at their mercy, they try to keep you out there as long as possible. They are pretty good about working with you and when you want to be on and off the lake.
With the snow on the ice this year you wouldn’t be able to drive anything but a snowmobile to the houses they use bombers to get to because they don’t plow roads…that is the whole idea so those houses have less competition. It also keeps things quiet during the day so you normally have a better more consistent bite all day. I have marked and caught way more suspended fish from a bomber house than the drive yourself out houses because it is so much quieter, which is important because those suspended fish are typically walleyes.
As for prime time bite….not sure there is one on LOW.
The deep water bite is pretty much over as soon as the sun is gone. For the low ligth/night bite on that end of the lake you need to move in by Pine Island in 16-20 feet of water. We only caught 1 fish over 10 inches after the sun was down out in 32 feet….it was about a 6 pound eelpout, it was the only pout we caught all weekend.
The reports lately have actually been that the best time is from 10am-2pm out in the 30-32 foot basin out from Pine Island. Our action was sporadic, you would have 10-15 minutes of action then 15-30 minutes with little or nothing and that cycle held true pretty much all day. Once the sun was gone you would mark fish but very few would take.
Using a sleeper you can drive to as homebase is a good option then you can take your portable out and try some different areas, we considered that until we heard that it was going to be 40-60 below with the windchill.
John

buckshot thanks for your info it sure helps a rookie like me get as much info as possible befor making a choice on what it is a guy wants to do. i think the best thing for is to get a sleeper and use it as a home base hopefully getting one as far away from the main road as possible and if its not to cold hedding out for a few short expeditions if the fish are slow in the sleeper. now do bayview and riverview rent out sleepers?and do you have a phone number? or wedsite?

I don’t think Riverview rents sleepers you can drive to since they use the bombers.
I think Bayview does and their # is 218-634-2194.
The folks at Bayview were very nice, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.
The guy I went with was calling around too and I think he said Zippel Bay had sleepers you might want to try them as well, their # is 218-783-6235.
Not sure when you are thinking about making the trip but you will probably need to plan at least a couple weeks in advance because most places are booked up 2 or more weeks out.
A couple other resorts that may have sleepers on the road you can drive out would be
Wheelers Point resort 218-634-2629
Adrians resort 218-634-1985

If none of those are available go to Yahoo.com and select Yellow pages enter a location of Baudette and do a search on resorts they should all come up with phone numbers.
I tried it to make sure and there is a place called Lyons Sleepers 218-634-1863, don’t know them at all but sounds like it might be exactly what you are looking for.
Good Luck, I am sure you will have a great time.
John

Does anyone fish out oif Warroad? I heard Jakes guide service has overnight house and he is usually on fish.

Nope, I have always gone out of Baudette.
I might have to make the switch if for no other reason a change of scenery next time I am up there.
John