Lake of the Woods, MN 1-1-05 walleye report

I made my second trip to Lake of the Woods of the year over New Years. The same group of guys have been going up for quite a while now, and we seem to have a better time each year. Saturday we came up 1 limit shy with each house averaging around 60 fish for 3 guys. The fish we kept were in the 14"-16" range with the biggest caught measuring 19". Throw in 1 ‘pout for fun and it was a good day with lots of small fish thrown in.

Sunday we awoke to 8"+ of new snow. The fishing was about the same in our house for keepers, but there were a lot less small fish biting. The fish pictured here was the last fish of the day I caught and measured a little over 25". This fish was so thick, it had the shoulders of a football player and won big fish honors. She hit a gold Angel Eye tipped with a fathead head, which again proved to be the best jigging spoon. A plain white hook or similar small ice jig was best under a bobber. We fish 26′ both days.

With all the snow now on the lake, vehicle traffic off the plowed roads was getting harder. We saw quite a few trucks get stuck and need a tow. If you plan to drive off the plowed roads, I would definatly have a couple trucks following each other. There was a solid 18"+ of ice on the lake, and the resorts were planning to be able to run their Bombidiers down the river soon. Good luck to all heading north!!