Guided fishing trip for bachelor party

Looking to put together a plan for a guided ice fishing trip for my brother’s bachelor party. I have never been on a guided trip and don’t know of any quality outfits. We are looking at going either to northern MN (Upper Red Lake, Lake of the Woods, Boundary Waters) or out on Chequamegon Bay for a weekend fishing trip. I live in Superior, WI, so if we made a trip to northern MN we would be looking for something with sleeper cabins for 6 guys. If we end up on the Bay we would just drive over in the morning, fish all day, and then drive back. We are not looking to target any specific species, just looking for a trip that we catch a lot of fish and have a blast on the ice. If anybody would be willing to help me out that would be great! I am just looking for some points of contact for guide services so I can begin exploring prices. Being that a lot of the guys are either just finishing college or are still in school, cost is something I have to take into consideration. Thank you in advance to those that are willing to take the time to help me.

Get ahold of Tim at Lyons Sleepers on lotw he’s a smaller family owned business. Runs about 12 Sleepers 10 by 22. I’ve been fishing with him every year for the past 12 years and wouldn’t go anywhere else. We go up with 16 guys every year and can’t remember a year we didn’t slaughter fish he’s always on em. He really takes care of his customers. As u can imagine with that many guys we party hard and he will also take u to the igloo bar for a afternoon. The guys he’s got working for him are great people and alot of fun. They also come clean your fish every night and tag em don’t think anybody else has that servuce.

I would look at renting a cabin on LOW, if you guys have all the equipment. This will be much less expensive than renting a sleeper house. I’ve used Wigwam, Adrians and Borderview before and was very happy with all of their cabins. Otherwise their guided trips are listed online also, so you can check that out. Or VRBO has a lot of cabins around the state if you guys want to look at DIY.

Check out Ben, he will get you on some fish: http://www.elyiceguides.com

Just be aware that a lot of ‘guided’ trips on LOTW really just consist of a ‘guide’ driving you out in a track van to a house a few miles out on the lake and dropping you off.

Make sure you ask what’s included in the trip. I love fishing LOTW, but the term ‘guide’ is fairly loose up there in the winter.

If you want 1 on 1 guiding for a whole day you’ll have to ask around a bit when calling up there. Arnesen’s for example would probably do a true guided trip, but it would be more expensive than what’s listed on their brochure for ice fishing. Call Arnesen’s and ask if Wingnut is available to guide for a group of guys for one day, he will absolutely find you some fish.

When are you looking to go? I’ve always had the best luck on LOTW BEFORE the new year, before the resorts really get going. A couple years ago we fished the 2nd weekend in December and I think we did 75 and 86 fish a day between two guys.

Thanks Mitch. Around what dates were you looking for Jacob?

Tentatively we are looking at end of January beginning of February. It would be a Friday evening through Sunday morning.

That would be a good time for lake trout and eelpout in the Ely area. If you’re looking specifically for walleye at that time, I would reccomend LOTW if you want to sleep on the lake.