Lake of the Woods Walleye

Pre-Christmas for me means I havn’t done my shopping, I can not remember where or who’s gathering I’m supposed to be at, I’ll be late for each one, and I will fall victim to criticism of all of the above from the favorite women in my life. However, I will never forget the famed early ice fishing available on Lake of the Woods every season. For myself and many others including my Dad Mike, LOTW provides the necessary shelter from the “hustle and bustle”; and brings us back into the spirit of things.

My Dad and I were fortunate enough to spend part of Thursday and all of Friday fishing LOTW. Initially, our late arrival on Thursday was thought to be an inconvienience. Instead, it was the biggest help of the trip.
Arriving late in the day, I had anticipated picking up a few fish in deeper water. This proved to be the wrong approach after a few hours of hole hopping in a desparate search for a few biters. After focusing in on depths from 23 feet to 28 feet it became clear that we were in need of a bit of change. At these deeper depths, the only obtainable fish for us were small sauger in the 10 to 12 inch range.

I focused my attention on a shallow water area that produced in the past in 16 feet of water. In an attempt for bigger fish in better numbers, we took the same approach in 10 feet less water. As my back, arms, and legs, let me know that they were indeed on their last breath, I began my usual hole drilling once more. Starting from our setup in 16 feet and punching a staggered line of holes all the way to a depth of 19 feet, I put down my auger and sighed. After completing the nearly quarter mile walk back to the shack, I decided to hop on the four wheeler and head to the last hole I drilled in 19 feet. In a mere 2 minutes it was clear that 19 feet of water was going to be the depth. In that first hole I was able to pick up two nice slot walleyes and give dad the signal to bring the set up to what would end up being the final location of our 1.5 day excursion. Dad quickly followed suit with a couple more slot fish to end the day as the sun hit the horizon.

Day 2 found us returning to the newly discovered area anticipating a productive day. One half hour into day 2, excitment set in as a healthy 25 inch walleye came through the hole and was followed by several other “missed” fish of equal or larger size. Lures of choice were hammered gold spoons and plain gold jigs.
So often you hear of Lake of the Woods accepting gold lures explicitly. In an attempt to break old habits, I switched to a perch patterned bright spoon in hopes that it may prevail in the low light conditions we were experiencing. Both days were overcast which offers fish poor viewing in this very stained water. In the end, the perch colored spoon actually prevailed over all others baits.

Trucks are now being let on the lake. A fairly consistent 13-15 inches of ice covers the primary areas around pine island. Addtional snow this weekend will make off road truck travel very difficult, However four wheelers will have little trouble.
Many of the permanent houses through resorts are stationed 23 feet and deeper. This allowed us wide open areas to ourselves and made travel a bit easier. The bigger fish can still be harvested shallow. If maximum size slot walleye are of interest to you, shallow water will produce for you.
I’m sure many of our readers have trips planned soon. The lake is in fairly good shape and the fish are there. If and when you come across a productive location, I found it better to wait out the fish instead of hopping holes. Its important to remember that these fish are in a constant massive migration they are not sitting around stuck in one area. Good fishing and Merry Christmas to you all!