Lake of the Woods MN Fishing Report 7/17
Category: article
Jul 18th, 2023 by sworrall
Modified Jul 18th, 2023 at 9:00 AM
On the south end… A great week of fishing on Lake of the Woods. Some anglers are targeting the deep mud on the big basin, while other anglers are targeting rock reefs.
With Big Traverse Bay being a big expanse of water, it is really helpful to use your electronics to search out schools of bait and walleyes. Once you find some signs of life, start fishing.
Try a two hook harness with a hammered gold blade and a nightcrawler. It is helpful to pinch off long crawlers and have just a few inches of crawler off of the back hook. The fish will still hit the crawler and your hooking percentages go up.
If you are trolling crankbaits, part of the fun is figuring out the walleyes that day. What color? Do they want a shad style or minnow style? How fast do they want the lure? Most anglers are trolling from 2.5 – 3.5 mph. Try turning the boat occasionally when trolling to speed up or slow down baits causing reaction strikes.
Jigging with a frozen emerald shiner is still effective, particularly when on a good school of fish or fishing on structure.
Most walleyes are being targeted in 26 – 34 feet. There can always be a shallow bite when forage is present or very early or late in the day. Trolling crankbaits in the evening along Pine Island and areas along the south shore can produce nice fish at times all summer.
On the Rainy River… Walleyes and saugers are being caught with the morning and evening bite the best.
Working shoreline structure casting crankbaits, spinnerbaits and swim jigs has been good for a variety of fish. In addition to the most sought after walleyes and saugers, smallmouth bass, pike, jumbo perch, crappies and the predator of predators, muskies, are showing up regularly.