Lake of the Woods, The Perfect Fishermans Paradise

Today as I opened the door to walk outside I was met with a great gust of wind, which sent a chill down my spine. This is the first time that I can remember this summer that the temperature has really dropped to fall type temps. I believe the weathermen/women are predicting cool temps and gusty winds for the next few days, but then we should be heating up again into the mid 70’s as we head into the weekend. Even with the fluctuation in temps, the fishing has still been better than any other lake in our great state of Minnesota, or even, if I might be so bold, the United States.

This past weekend I was able to get out there and do a little bit of fishing before the winds started to pick up to the point where there at right now (very gusty), and the fishing was still top shelf. That’s right guys and gals, right where grandma keeps the peanut butter, that’s some old hockey terminology for all you none hockey fans out there. I was out with Vancouver lead coring with TDD-7 & 9’s around the edges of the North Bridges Reef and was picking up some big fish. The biggest was the 28-1/2” Walleye that I have pictured here. The colors of the Walleyes have just been beautiful this year; the way they just glisten in the sun is absolutely breath taking. As I have indicated on many different occasions, Lake of the Woods is so healthy this year. With the 3 fish fly hatches we’ve had and the speculation from the DNR, which stated that this last spawn was one of the best they’ve had in a decade. The Walleye populations will be on the rise and we don’t see any end to the fantastic fishing we’ve been having, really all year long. This should make every angler salivate at the mouth, and I’ll look forward to hearing from you about booking your next fishing adventure to Lake of the Woods, the Walleye Capitol of the World.

Today we should have a mix of clouds and sun in the morning giving way to a few showers during the afternoon, high 71F with winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph…there will be a 30% chance of rain. Tonight we should have showers early becoming less numerous late, low around 50F with winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph…there will be a 40% chance of rain. Wednesday we should have a chance of showers, highs in the upper 60s and lows in the upper 40s. Thursday we should see a few clouds, highs in the low 70s and lows in the low 50s. Friday we should have a slight chance of a thunderstorm, highs in the mid 70s and lows in the mid 50s.

Today’s fishing report will be provided by Billy “The Sniper” Kloos, Kevin “Tall Tale” Olmstead, Tom Briggs and I. This morning Tall Tale and the Sniper headed out into the rollers that were crashing down on this side of the lake, because of the very gusty winds we had this morning, and I might add are still experiencing. Tall Tale’s crew made it about 30 minutes before they headed on back to the Wigwam, the Snipers crew is still sticking with it out there; I hope they are whacking the Walleyes. Where you’re fishing right now will depend on the weather. If you can get out to the US/Canadian line and drift spinners in about 31-32 feet of water, you’ll be right where the best fishing on the lake has been taking place. We have been absolutely crushing the Walleyes in that area for the past week. If you can’t make it out to the line, then you may have to go out to 32 feet of water about straight out from Graceton Rd and directly east of Long Point. When we have a south, southwest and west wind the area straight out from Graceton Rd has been a little honey hole of sorts also. We are still using the hammered gold and pink/gold spinners with crawlers and leeches. You can purchase your Jigs, Frozen Shiners, Spinners, Crawlers, leeches, and Rapalas from the same place that I get mine, Log Cabin Bait, which is about ¾ of a mile south of the Wigwam on 172. I must state this again, in my 18 years of fishing Lake of the Woods; I’ve never seen the fishing this good on such a consistent basis. Don’t wait too long to make your plans to visit us, because you never know how long it will last…I hope forever! Keep checking out the fishing report…I’ll give you all the hard facts as soon as I find out where they’re hiding next. Good luck and Happy Fishing to all! Thanks for fishing with us and visiting with us at the Wigwam Resort on Lake of the Woods.

Happy Fishing to all, and to all a good day!

Wigwam Fisherman aka Jean-Paul Tessier