Lake Of The Woods MN Fishing Report
Category: fishing reports
Aug 23rd, 2022 by Keith Worrall
Modified Aug 23rd, 2022 at 1:03 PM
On the south end… Walleye fishing continues to be good. In addition to many limits of eaters being caught around the lake, some really big walleyes are showing up as well.
Lake levels continue to drop. Boat ramps are open and docks are once again out of the water enjoying the late summer sun just in time for fall fishing!
As has been the pattern all summer, anglers catching walleyes primarily with three methods, drifting spinners, trolling crankbaits and jigging.
With spinners, a combo of hammered gold and orange or glow red blades with a two or three hook harness and a crawler have been good.
Jigs tipped with minnows. Anchor up in the wind or if low winds, some anglers finding success moving slowly jigging off of the bottom.
Rotate crankbaits until the walleyes tell you what they want. As a rule, gold, pink UV firetiger, and traditional firetiger are good colors to begin with. Anglers are getting lures down to fish using lead core line, a 4 ounce bouncer with a 6′ mono or fluorocarbon leader with a shallow diving crank or downriggers. Cover water, pay attention to electronics and hang on!
Some anglers are still finding nice fish around Garden Island on the north end of the lake.
On the Rainy River… Walleye, sturgeon and smallmouth bass reports from the Rainy River were good this week. Not many anglers are fishing the river yet, but anticipation is high for fall fishing with good flow this year.
In recent years, shiners have started running in September and various waves come through into and through October. Every year the timing is a bit different.
Sturgeon anglers are reporting decent numbers of fish and a mixed bag. Sturgeon with suckers, walleyes and saugers mixed in is the norm.
Up at the NW Angle… Walleye fishing remains good. Anglers fishing tight structure are jigging. Others are covering water in flats area or along breaks drifting or trolling crawler harnesses.
Little Traverse Bay (large open water east of Little Oak Island) is still producing nice walleyes over deep mud drifting spinners and crawlers.
Muskie anglers are still reporting nice numbers of fish with some over 50 inches. Pike are being caught casting various bays and rocky points. Smallmouth bass on scattered rock along shorelines and points.
Various ways to travel to the Angle.
1. Drive through Canada to the Angle (must be vaccinated, no covid test required)
2. LOW Passenger Service (charter boat service across the lake avoiding customs)
3. Lake Country Air (fly from various Midwest locations to LOW and NW Angle, no customs)
4. Take your own boat. (Safety first, this is a 40 mile ride over big water, no customs)
A complete list of lodging, guide and charter boat trips at www.LakeoftheWoodsMN.com/Lodging.