Lake of the Woods-Oak Island

Hi everyone,

I just booked a surprise trip for my dad. He introduced me to ice fishing when I was too young to remember. He’s 70, and now I take him. He’s not sick or anything…just not young and in charge anymore.

I booked a 3 day deal in late Feb at Sportsmans Lodge Oak Island. I want to show him the best time ever. I have a vexilar FL 18, rods and all a pretty good selection of baits.

Do any of you have any tips to offer? Baits, techniques, etc…? The lodge will send fresh minnows with us every morning. I live near River Falls, WI. We don’t have many lakes in our area that have good walleye ice fishing. We spend the winter chasing crappies, blue gills, and perch. So I sure could use a few tips on catching ice wallleys.

Thanks very much to all.

I’m heading up there for the first time next week! I’ve only ice fished on the south end of the lake. Fish are everywhere up there. You should have a great time no matter where you set up.

Kevin,
Make sure every fisherman has a flasher. I’m pretty sure every Resort rents them

You will have a blast! I like the colors Red, Pink and Gold on LOW. Red Buckshot being my #1, and Chubby Darters/Rippin Raps being #2 for jigging lures. A lot of times your set/bobber line will produce as well or better.

Bigger jigging raps and I agree with gold pink and red for colors. Dont be afraid to be aggressive. That big fish is always around up there

Great tips guys. Thanks very much! I’ll do some shopping soon. My dad isn’t much into tackle and that stuff. He just loves coming along. Maybe I’ll surprise him with a few of the items you all suggested as a gift. Great tip on everyone having their own flasher. I won’t wish without one, but I know the other 3 guys going, (including dad) don’t have one. I’ll make sure to reserve them.

Thanks again very much. I’ll reach out if I have more questions.. I promise to report in after we get back to share whatever I can with all of you. Take care all.

I have anothe question guys,

My favorite ice rods are 13 Fishing Widow Makers, and St.Croix Mojo Ice. But I can be talked into something else. Most of the rods I own are ultra lights for crappies, etc. So for my Feb Walleye trip, what rods should I get? Obviously, I want something with a little more beef than an ultra light? I have plenty of sienna 500 reels. Thoughts?
Thanks all.

To be more clear with what I’m asking for suggestions….I have not more than $100.00 per rod to spend. (or my wife will kill me) I will be in a heated ice house. The rods can’t be too long, but they can have small guides since I’ll be in a heated ice house. I like braided line and use a floro leader. I’m fine to go custom, but I’ve never had one made, and would need help with that also. I’m also fine to buy something like what I suggested in the previous post, but not sure what weight and action to look for. Thanks!

Don’t worry about getting the fanciest rods, I mean it’s definitely nice using a thorne bros/TUCR rod, but you will get by just fine with a fenwick elite tech or something similar in the $30-$50 range. If you are really worried about people not being able to feel bites(I wouldn’t be), put braided line on the reels as long as you are fishing indoors, any cheap graphite rod with braided line and you will feel every bite.

I’d go with a medium or medium-lite depending on lure choice, medium will be safe though, 28″ is a good middle ground for length, anything up to 32″ is pretty easy/normal to use in most situations, much shorter than 28″ I think feels short for walleye fishing, but that could just be me.

Another thing to know about fishing up there and especially if people aren’t used to fishing with a flasher, a lot of those walleye/sauger come in TIGHT to the bottom. Like, if you aren’t paying attention you won’t notice the bottom return on your flasher looks just a tiny bit different.

Red buckshot rattln spoon and red rattln flyer are my favorites up on LOTW!

I’d buy a these rods in 32″ if I was going to walleye fish LOTW
https://sportsmensdirect.com/shop/ice-rods-combos/ice-hopper-extreme-taper-rod/
If it were me I’d build on that blank but same idea, if you don’t build your owns rods just buy that SDI 32″

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. Time to start looking for deals. I’ll be in touch as the trip gets closer. Kev

If the walleye bite is tough ask the guides about crappies on the Ontario side. There are trails going right out to the spots. The fish taste amazing and are usually around 13-15”. We had guides take us once and it was so easy to make it to the spot we just started going on our own.

Ice cleats, I’ll be the boring guy to talk safety. May not matter with enough snow. It’s cheap insurance to make sure dad doesn’t take a header walking out of the ice house. Sometimes those steps right in front or by the bathroom, err yellow corner of the house can be downright slick.

Otherwise the other guys have it covered pretty well.

I know it’s been a few years ago now but I doubt much has changed…

Check out this video of James and I up in the NW Angle of LOTW…

This is the most useful tool I found when researching my trip last season. James and Dave did a great job of providing useful information that helped me immensely!

Last year was my first trip to LOTW and we stayed on Oak. We’ll be back at Sportsman’s at the end of February again this season. UV green and UV pink were great, red was good, and the more noise the better.

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Great pics. Maybe we’ll see you there. I booked for Feb 22-26. We are staying in a condo I think. We will be in one of their 4 man ice houses. We’re coming up in a cream colored F-150. Hope you guys have a great and safe trip.

Brandon, did you guys head off for the day on your own, or did you fish in a Sportsmans ice house? I’m worried we’ll have some slow times. I’m squirrelly when that happens, and NEED to go find fish. Wonder if I can bring a small hub tent, auger…etc and go exploring..?

We did every day on our own – we stayed in one of the condos and headed out on snowmobiles in the morning and returned after the bite shut down at night. I’m not the type of guy that would be able to sit in a hard house all day long, especially not in that environment… If you have the means, I would highly recommend being as mobile as possible.

Brandon, I’m going to see if the lodge will let us follow the bombadier out with my brothers f-150, so we can stay mobile. Then I can bring my auger, hub shelter…etc. We’re surprising my dad with this trip. He’s 70 now, and just fine to visit in the shack all day long. I don’t think I can do that for 3 days. I might lose it. I’m used to moving as needed all day long. So I hope the lodge is open to being flexible with me. I have a Helix 7 with mapping, so having that along I’ll be ready to move. Thanks for your help.

Brandon, Stay in touch as we get closer to the trip. I might message you to get more details if you’re open to it. My dad is not sick or anything, he’s just not young and as mobile as we all are. So my brothers and I want to show him the best time we can. He’s the one that showed us the ropes when we were kids, so now it’s our turn for pay-back. We’re way better at all this than he ever was, which makes our adventures that much more fun for him. I know he notices it. He’s a great dad. Please stay in touch.. Thank you!

For sure!