Early March Lake of the Woods Report

Lake of the Woods is one of the most fascinating bodies of water in the United States. Its size is beyond my comprehension covering 1727 sq. miles, 25,000 miles of shoreline and it also has over 14,500 islands.

I finally got a chance to fish this beautiful lake over the weekend with DeWayne (Tina’s step-father) and Garret (Tina’s brother-in-law). Garret drove all the way from Ohio to experience ice fishing on LOW. He’s in the Air Force and recently returned from a deployment in Afghanistan.

We stayed with our good friends over at Wigwam Resort where we were treated with friendly smiles and great food. Fishing was pretty good and one could easily tell that the guides at Wigwam do their best to put their clients on fish.

Chubby Darters (2.5”- gold/metallic orange) was the hot bait over the weekend. We aggressively ripped these baits throughout the water column until we graphed a suspended fish on our sonar. Once that happened, we quickly placed our baits 1-2 feet above the suspended fish and then slowed down to a normal jig and pause presentation. Right away you knew if you were going to get bit. The walleyes that were aggressive would quickly swim up to the chubby darter to take a closer look. At that time all you had to do was pause and watch the St. Croix spring bobbers do their thing.

Between the three of us – we caught about 80 walleyes/saugers with many being between 15-19 inches. And due to a tip I got from another fellow IDO Pro Member – Jason Sullivan we also caught a few on our deadsticks using J.B. Lures Gem-N-Eyes. Thanks Sully for the tip! We also got into a few jumbo perch. These were some of the largest perch that I have ever caught.

We had to travel over 22 miles one way to where our fish houses were located. As we were making the trek across the ice in our 1950 bombardier, I started to think about what life was like there many years ago. I tried to imagine who laid their eyes first on this lake and what went through their mind. I did some research when I got back and uncovered some interesting facts.

The history of the Lake of the Woods region began in 1688 when Jacques De Noyon came from Three Rivers, Quebec to become the first white man to view the waters. Pre-historical evidence dates back more than 5,000 years, perhaps extending back 10,000 years to ancient people who followed the retreating glacial ice into the area.
Following Jacques De Noyon’s arrival in 1688, there are no known expeditions to the Lake of the Woods area until Pierre La Verendrye came with a party of more than 50 men in 1732. La Verendrye found northern Minnesota populated by Cree, Monsonis, Assiniboine and Sioux Indians. The Ojibwe had not yet pushed as far west as Lake of the Woods. The La Verendrye party was a victim of Indian warfare when Father Aulneau and 19 other men were massacred on an island in the lake by the Sioux war party which had set out to attack a Village of Cree. Today there are two islands on the lake which are identified as Massacre Island. Each has its supporters for being the site of the Massacre. History for the next 75 to 100 years was characterized by the onset of the voyageurs and rivaling fur trading companies.

In 1823, members of the International Joint Boundary Commission arrived on the lake. They had been appointed to establish the border between Canada and the United States as it had been designated in the treaty which ended the Revolutionary War. One of the most difficult points of contention was the establishment of the most northwesterly point on the Lake of the Woods. The Commission found a point which they claimed was the most northwesterly spot. However, the surveyors from the two nations differed on just where they had located the spot. The dispute continued for the next century and the final agreement was not signed until the 1920’s. The end result was that the U.S. retained possession of the Northwest Angle. As the United States’ most northerly point (before the admission of Alaska), the Northwest Angle became Lake of the Woods County’s most famous piece of real estate.

In 1885, the county area got its first permanent settler when Wilhelm Zippel settled on the south shore of the Lake of the Woods at Zippel Bay. He was a German immigrant who worked as a fisherman. Later in that same year, Alonzo Wheeler settled at Wheeler’s Point at the mouth of the Rainy River. Thomas Cathcart came to the border area in 1891 and later joined Joe Beaudette, a trapper who would later give his name to the town of Baudette. In 1901 William Mason and George Williams followed the railroad track roadbed to stake claims at the site which would grow into the community of Williams.

On October 4, 1910, a disaster struck the Lake of the Woods area. A forest fire which started east of Williams burned most of the northern half of the county and left 43 people dead. After recovering from the fire, the county experienced another settlement boom. Within the decade following, nearly every 160 acre plot was claimed. Most of these settlements have now disappeared and have been reclaimed by the wilderness.
The attractions of Lake of the Woods are much the same as they were when the pioneers came to settle – fishing, hunting, forest, water, clean air and land. The pioneer spirit which enabled people to overcome the hardships of a wilderness still survives today. May we be wise enough to recognize those factors which make for the quality of life around the Lake of the Woods area and be prudent enough to preserve and expand them for future generations.