On the South End… Walleye and sauger fishing is very good with good numbers of fish being caught. If you want to catch some numbers, the bite is on. Anglers are finding fish ranging from 24 to 31 feet across the south shore of Lake of the Woods.
Jigging with frozen, or live emerald shiners is the ticket. Locate fish on your sonar, anchor up and give it 30 minutes. If not to your liking, relocate different fish and repeat. Normally things will work out nicely over the course of the day.
Areas from right in front of the Lighthouse Gap where the Rainy River enters Lake of the Woods west to the Morris Point area, Zippel Bay area to Long Point are all producing. There aren’t fish everywhere but there are various schools spread out across the entire south shore of the basin.
Successful jig colors in the stained waters of LOW are gold, glow white, glow red, chartreuse, orange, and pink. Gold combined with any one of these colors is often a good choice.
Drifting spinners / crawlers or trolling crankbaits is still working for anglers as well.
Some really nice perch and an occasional pike are being caught mixed in with the walleyes and saugers.
For the anglers targeting smallmouth bass, there is a good bite on both the lake and Rainy River.
On the Rainy River… The river continues to produce some nice walleyes. There are definitely some schools of shiners up and down the river and consequently, some nice walleyes in the river too. Not the heavy run yet, but respectable for sure.Sturgeon fishing continues to pick up as water temps cool. The sturgeon is catch and release from October 1st into the month of April, 2025 when you can keep one again.
The river is relatively small and a great option for small boats. With a variety of boat ramps from the mouth of the river all the way to up the river to Birchdale, there are many options.
Up at the NW Angle… Walleye fishing remains strong on both sides of the border. Walleyes are using a variety of areas from mud flats to various areas with structure and neck down areas with some current.
It’s fall, which means a mixed bag of fish is common in these parts. Walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, crappies, pike, smallmouth bass and muskies are all being caught.
As water temps cool and the days get shorter, the bite will get even better!
For more information on fishing packages, fall fishing and ice fishing, visit LakeoftheWoodsMN.com/Lodging.
