Lake of the Woods Lodging, Warroad, MN (2026)

12/31/2016

LAKE OF THE WOODS ICE CONDITIONS & FISHING REPORT 12/31/16

The fishing season is in full gear on Lake of the Woods and the early ice fishing has been incredible. The cold weather system that is going through has slowed the bite down a bit, but just to clarify that means that you might need to put in more than a 4 hour day in to limit out. The ice on the main lake is around 13 inches everywhere that we checked, but we have heard stories of 11-12 in some places, so be careful and follow instructions from each resort if taking your big equipment out.

Ice road updates:
Cyrus Resort – ATVs and Snowmobiles only, they are hoping that the cold weather will open them back up to half ton pickups early next week.

Adrian’s Road – allowing half ton pickups, but only allowing wheel houses up to 17’ pulled by ATVs and side by sides.

Springsteel – allowing half ton pickups and smaller wheel houses. They are currently plowed to a mile north of DNR reef.

K&A (swift ditch road to 5 mile reef) – Allowing half ton pickups. They had been allowing wheel houses as well earlier in the week, but a crack started opening up due to the heavy traffic, so they are not allowing wheel houses until that part of the road improves – hopefully early next week.

Fishing technique earlier in the week heavily favored an active line with a rattle jig preferably glow. Red and chartreuse have been working well. Later in the week the active line was still favored, but you needed to finesse the fish a little more. If you worked hard enough you could get them to bite.

Good luck out there and be safe.

Happy New Year everybody!

07/19/2016

LAKE OF THE WOODS FISHING REPORT 7/19/16
A big thank you to Sunset Lodge for sharing this week’s fishing report with us.

At the Angle, we've had some extreme weather come through the area: rain, thunderstorms and high winds definitely made fishing tougher in the early part of the week. Wind gusts as high as 40mph were reported at one time! But in spite of the weather, our guests were able to keep fishing and scratch out some limits of real quality fish!

On the Minnesota side of the lake, the water temps are at around 73 degrees. The North and West side of Little Oak has been producing good numbers of saugers and walleyes in depths of 25 to 30 feet. Work the offshore reefs and humps using spinners and bottom bouncers with crawlers, or a jig and minnow combination, as the majority of fish have moved off the larger islands onto the mid-lake structure. The Southwest side of Oak and the areas around Four Blocks were also good producers this week. Gold, pink and orange are top color choices.

Up in Canada, the Muskie action has been getting hotter! Numerous fish are being sighted and several have found themselves at the end of anglers lines! Reports of fish in the mid 40" range have been steadily coming in, with a few reports of some monsters topping 50" being landed! If you ever get a chance to catch one of these toothy giants, you'll be hooked for life! As far as walleyes go, the offshore reefs and humps around Bishop Bay, Deepwater Bay, and Massacre Island have been giving up fish in 18-30 feet. Drifting spinners and jigging in these area have been best. Use minnows and night crawlers for best results. Again, gold, pink and orange have been best. We've even had some jumbo perch showing up in these spots as well, and they have been BIG!

Have a great week everyone!

01/04/2016

LAKE OF THE WOODS ICE CONDITIONS & FISHING REPORT 1/4/16
Happy New Year everybody!

This week’s report will be part ice conditions and part fishing report.

Overall, the mild weather over the last week hasn’t made much ice, we still have between 9 and 11 inches of ice around Pine Island and the resorts along the south side of Lake of the Woods all the way from Pine Island through Graceton Beach and Zippel Bay. In this area there was around 3 inches of snow in most places and there were plenty of snowmobiles and ATVs out enjoying the lake.

The resorts are letting ATVs and snowmobiles out through their access points, but no other vehicle traffic at this time as there just isn’t enough ice. Please exercise caution even on ATVs and snowmobiles, especially around snow drifts and rough ice as there are places that are 4 inches or less in these spots.

The area that seems to have the least ice is on Muskeg Bay from Springsteel to Buffalo Point and also between Warroad and 5 mile reef. One of the local guides checked near the blinker off the Warroad public access point yesterday and reported around 5 inches of ice. Some of these areas froze up before the early December snow we received, so they have a little more snow cover - between 5 and 6 inches.

All of the resorts that we have spoken with except Springsteel Resort and Izzy’s Ice Fishing had their fish houses out and were taking customers out in their day fish houses over the weekend. Both of these resorts are going to reassess conditions as the week goes on.

We scouted around a couple days this weekend and there was a lot of fishing traffic out on the lake, especially around Pine Island. The fishing was good to excellent, but it did seem like the fish were grouped up and moving around a little bit from day to day. We didn’t always find them at the first stop, but after a couple moves each day we were on them and the action was really good once we found the right spot. Most people were fishing in 23 to 27 feet of water and the most success this weekend seemed to be on the deeper side of that between 26 and 27 feet. There were more walleyes in the 23-24 foot range, but more fish and especially saugers on the deeper side.

We also had the chance to catch and release a 49 inch sturgeon, which was an incredible experience. In all of the years I’ve ice fished on Lake of the Woods I have never caught a sturgeon and it is definitely a day of fishing I’ll never forget. We initially saw the sturgeon come through on the Vexlar and commented that it was the biggest fish we had ever seen come through on the electronics, but had no idea what it was. It disappeared briefly, then after bouncing my glow red rattlin’ flyer on the bottom a few times it hit and I instantly knew I was in for a fight. It put my medium weight rod and 10 lb line through a full test and I was thankful that I had just re-spooled my reel with around 75 yards of heavier line at the beginning of the season. The sturgeon went on over 30 runs in my 25 minute battle with it and thoughts of Ernest Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea” crossed my mind a couple times :) It was all I could do to gain back enough line after each run that he couldn’t quite spool me completely although he did have me down to a few feet of line a couple times and it was a bit panicky to see a nearly bare reel thinking I may never know for sure what was on the other end of the line. Eventually the sturgeon gave up and let us land it. He never once came close enough to the hole to give us a look at him until we landed him though. Thankfully we were using my brother in law’s 10 inch auger as it was a bit of a challenge to get this monster through the ice. A big thank you to my net man Scott Anderson for the assist in landing and releasing this beauty.

Have fun fishing and most of all be safe out there!

If you are having trouble finding a place to stay for your January ice fishing trip, give us a call – we do have some openings left, but many of the resorts are fully booked up due to the December ice conditions.

12/19/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS ICE CONDITIONS & FISHING REPORT 12/19/15
The last week has been really good for making ice on Lake of the Woods. Since our last report the Rainy River and Four Mile Bay have completely frozen over and there is ice as far as you can see from land from the resorts and also from the main access point in Warroad. Sportsman’s Lodge did a fly over this morning and relayed the best news we’ve had yet, the sub-zero temperatures last night finished sealing up the lake. Obviously the ice is not safe for travel of any kind yet, but getting it to seal up is a huge step in the right direction. Most resorts are currently hoping to start fishing sometime between Christmas and New Year’s depending on how well the ice freezes over the next week, but most of the travel on the lake at that time will be limited to snowmobiles, ATVs, and resort vehicles. It will likely take a while longer for those pulling wheel houses.

With all of the mid December fishing trips being pushed back due to the lack of ice on Lake of the Woods, make sure to get your reservations booked soon if you plan on coming up any time before mid-February.

We recently added Sharptail Point Lodge in Warroad to our participating resorts and they do still have some availability even in the prime end of December and early January dates that are so hard to find on Lake of the Woods.

This is a great property and will book up quickly, so if you want more information, please book online or give us a call as soon as possible.

Sharptail Point Lodge features 5 bedrooms, an upscale kitchen, and a large lounge & game room area. This private lodge is located just 3 miles from Warroad and Springsteel Resort’s ice road access on a private 360 acre property with easy access to the snowmobile trail system.

Check out all of the details at www.SharptailPointLodge.com or give us a call and we can answer any questions that you have. Note that you get a 20% discount by booking through us here at www.LOWLodging.com

We’re looking forward to another fun ice fishing season. Above all else, make sure to be safe out there, especially on the early ice.

12/10/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS ICE CONDITIONS & FISHING REPORT 12/9/15
The ice fishing season on Lake of the Woods has been delayed, but there is finally some good cold weather in the forecast starting mid next week. As of today there is currently no ice on the lake with only a little bit of shore ice along with the bays being frozen over. Bostic Bay has the most ice in the area with around 4 inches of ice, but even that stalled out this week with the above freezing temperatures.

The boat fishing for those that have been going out has been good with a really solid sauger bite in 20 – 25 feet of water in the gap and an even better walleye bite on the Rainy River. The public access point is open at Wheelers and a few boats have been using it. Based on the weather, this weekend might be the last chance to say you boat fished Lake of the Woods in mid-December. The last time there was boat fishing on the lake in December was the late 1990s.

Stay tuned for updates on the ice conditions.

09/08/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS FISHING REPORT & LOCAL ACTIVITIES 9/8/15
I hope everybody had a fun and safe Labor Day weekend! A big thank you to Captain Dan Schmidt from Sunset Lodge who sent us an update from the Northwest Angle today.

Up at the NW Angle, we had a warm stretch of weather which has changed our fall fishing pattern. With the water temperature back up to 72 degrees, the fish have moved up into the rocks so we're fishing shallower than we had been at 16-24 feet. Fish and emerald shiners tend to move around less when the water temperature is warmer. Our temperatures will be cooling down this week so I'm expecting the crappie bite to pick back up. The walleye bite remained strong.

On the Canadian side, we were fishing shallow points on the west side of Falcon Island. Also, fishing currents in Big Narrows continues to be good - you have to keep looking but the fish are there! Forrest took a break from muskie fishing this week with the water temperatures back up and said they found the fish sitting up in the rocks sunning themselves. Spinnerbaits and Bucktails were the two hot baits he was using.

On the Minnesota side - the launches are moving up closer to the rocks near Little Oak and Four Blocks.

In addition to phenomenal fishing that Lake of the Woods has to offer, we are also hosting the first annual Bushcraft Bike Ultra this coming weekend in Beltrami Forest. This race is sure to challenge even the extreme bikers. Do you think you have what it takes to finish this race?

Bushcraft Bike Ultra – sponsored by the Warroad area Ruffed Grouse Society and Warroad Young Professionals is scheduled for September 12th (please see attached brochure).

If you are interested in the activities, but not quite ready for this grueling race there will be a Friday evening pre-event party open to the public. The event will take place from 5-10pm at the Clear River Station located 10 miles South of Warroad on Hwy 5 just as you reach the forest roads. The event will feature a live blue grass band from 7-9pm and local vendors including: a knife maker, bow drill demonstrations, black smith, natural bug remedies, and spinning. For more information or to register for the race, please contact Chuck Lindner at 218-242-0315.

07/06/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS FISHING REPORT 7/6/15
I hope everybody had a fun and safe 4th of July holiday. Thanks to all of our current and past military friends who continue to defend the land of the free!
There was a lot of fun to be had up on Lake of the Woods this 4th of July with parades, fireworks displays, games for the kids, and of course catching that once in a lifetime walleye or muskie.

Fishing on Muskeg Bay has been really good the past week, especially out at Whiskey Flats, where most fishermen we spoke with filled out each day over the weekend with a lot of slot fish included in the mix as well. The hotspot seemed to be just as the ledge drops off into Whiskey Flats.

We also received the updated fishing report below from Sunset Lodge this morning and it sounds like fishing up at the Northwest Angle remains hot. You can read the full report from Sunset Lodge’s Captain Dan below….
Up at the NW Angle we had another great week of fishing! Our guests caught quite a few muskies while fishing for walleyes! They were using rattle traps with beads, a jig and a rattle trap with tubes. We're just getting into July which means steady weather is on it's way and it's time to catch some BIG fish! With the shallow water warming up and losing oxygen you'll find fish in deeper water around reefs. May fly season is pretty much over for the year.

On the Ontario side, we've been heading north up by Bishop Bay and S***t Island to get away from the bugs. Since it's 64 degrees, rainy and cold here today we're heading back up there to get out of the weather. We'll have to fish the currents and see what we can find. As soon as the weather warms up, we'll be heading to Little Traverse where we'll be fishing deep reefs, which is where the majority of our big fish are found this time of year! Tip: If the wind picks up this spot will turn off, you then have to switch to fishing the current.

On the Minnesota side, we've been have good luck on the points near Oak Island which is where we put our fish houses in the winter.

Repeat guest, Michael Law, was back this week and it was like the animals knew we had a camera crew with us as they were all along the banks practically begging us to take their pictures! We saw a fawn and a bear even stood on it's hind legs and clapped at us!

06/22/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS FISHING REPORT 6/22/2015
Up at the NW Angle, fishing is still FANTASTIC! It's been a very exciting week with a lot going on.

Bass fishing has REALLY turned on. This past week and this coming week will be the best we'll see all year for bass because they've been in the shallows to spawn, they are vulnerable AND they are still concentrated in those areas.

Musky opener was June 20th! We switched to fall trolling since everything is a week ahead of schedule due to the warmer weather. Muskies are on the move to rocks so we recommend looking for them around rocks, weeds and early summer spots.

FISHING TIP: Normally this time of year we would downsize (use real small bait) but bypass that this year and start with cowgirls (bucktail) and some more bigger stuff. Do some trolling since there is a lot of transition going on.

Perch have turned on pretty good. They are done spawning and the bite has been good. We are seeing the same nice jumbos as we did last winter.

Walleye fishing was also really good! Some reefs are going to be loaded up pretty good and some won't but make sure to check them out because they are starting to turn on. The largest walleye I saw was a 29" caught by Justin Lee. Justin and his father, Rex, caught 6-8 walleyes over 25 inches! So, we are getting some large walleyes in our boats!

Crappies have dispersed, so we'll see them again in the fall.

On the Minnesota side, there were about 30 launches off the west bar of Little Oak Island, so that area has been doing very well. The Flag Island Flats are spotty with the colder mornings. The May fly hatch was on and then off. We need to have wind (preferably from the south) to fish this area.

On the Ontario side, the reefs at S***t Island have been doing the best.

We've seen lots of deer, with the mild winter the deer are starting to come back so fall hunting should be good! We also have a BIG bear on Oak Island that has been spotted by staff.

Our water temperature is at 67 degrees and we're still fishing the standard depth of 18-24 feet around sharp breaks. The fish are still feeding on crayfish and bugs.

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt
Sunset Lodge Manager & Guide

06/15/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS FISHING REPORT 6/15/15
Up at the NW Angle, fishing has been PHENOMENAL. With the nice weather, it's the BEST I've seen in years. We had sunny weather all week and our water temperature is at 65 degrees. Still catching lots of northerns under that 29 inch size which make a great shore lunch! Perch are done spawning so we're starting to catch more of those. Smallmouth bass are up on beds and fishing for them has been fantastic (in shallow, I recommend tube jigs). All groups are still getting their limit of walleyes with countless groups getting more than 50 fish per day. Some with over 100 per day. Several musky's were caught and released while jig fishing for walleye - it's going to be a GREAT musky season! Just a reminder that musky season opens June 20th. We have limited availability, call and we'll do our best to find some dates that work for your group!

On the Minnesota side, Flag Island Flats have turned on since the May flies have hatched. 6-8 feet of water. The Four Blocks area also did well - 12-20 feet of water. 3/8 ounce jig, gold seemed to be the best but fluorescent work well also. For spinner rigs, we used a 1.5 ounce bottom bouncers with a snell spinner. Normally, we don't catch crappies on the Minnesota side. The exception is this time of year. Kids were catching them right off the dock at Young's Bay since they are spawning in the creek there!

On the Ontario side, deeper reefs that top out at 5-17 feet have turned on due to the May fly hatch. Bellies are full of crayfish.

We were in the right place at the right time to witness loons mating right near the boat! The male was dancing, rolling over backwards, flapping his wings, etc... really trying to impress the female. It was a treat to watch.

The Peterson/Van Dam Group were visiting for their annual father/son fishing trip. They had something pretty special to celebrate. Jordan Peterson (pictured here with his 24 1/4 inch walleye) had BOTH lungs replaced two years ago!

I predicted we'd be breaking the 30" mark soon. Well, this past week, the Mike Tripp Group caught one that measured 31 inches!

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt
Sunset Lodge Manager & Guide

06/01/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS FISHING REPORT 6/1/15
Thanks Captain Dan at Sunset Lodge for passing along another great fishing report this week!

We have some great deals on www.LOWLodging.com right now for Sunset Lodge. If you would like to enjoy one of the most beautiful resort settings Lake of the Woods has to offer let us know and we can get it setup for you.

Up at the NW Angle, we had some cold fronts roll through this past week bringing rain and cooler temperatures. Despite that, the fishing has still been excellent! All of our groups have limited out and are catching very good sized fish! They've reported northerns in the 36" plus range and walleyes in the 25" range. Our high temps this past week were in the 50's and 60's with lows dropping into the 30's. The water temperature has risen to about 55 degrees. The cold temperatures pushed fish into deeper waters but 20-25 feet was still pretty consistent compared to last week. On our warmer, calmer days the morning and evening bite was good in shallower water. Crappies and small mouth bass are starting to move to shallower water for pre-spawn. Perch numbers are down due to their current spawn. Groups are also reporting catching LOTS of bass! In the coming weeks, bring your tube jigs and get on these bass! The first week of June is always a hay day with small mouth bass.

On the Minnesota side, there were real good reports off of the points near Brush Island and the red buoy near Brush in about 15-20 feet. There isn't much happening on the Flag Island flats yet since there were no bug hatches this week with the colder weather. There is still good fishing on the NW point of Garden Island and Little Oak is also reporting good numbers. They've had good luck with bottom bouncers and a spinner in about 15 feet of water.

On the Ontario side, the popular place to be was still the east and west side of Falcon Island. Our guests were advised not to overlook the points on the little islands adjacent to Falcon out by Monkey Rocks and they were very successful in this area.

The deer are starting to make their way out of the woods and were spotted grazing along the shore lines.

The BIG news this past week, was the BIG fish we are seeing. We've had countless fish over 25". I haven't seen that 30 incher yet...but he's coming!

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt
Sunset Lodge Manager & Guide

05/27/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS FISHING REPORT 5/26/15
A big thank you to Sunset Lodge for providing this week’s fishing report!

Up at the NW Angle, we have been having exceptionally good weather which has contributed to great fishing. Temperatures in the upper 70's, light wind and no cold fronts coming through. Our first bugs hatched this weekend which also helped play a part. Our water temperature is now about 50 degrees.

On the Minnesota side, the best walleye spot has been between Oak Island and Blackbird Island. The walleyes spawn on various points and shallow bars around Oak so fishing in deeper water (21-25 feet) adjacent to those spots have been producing good results. There is one spot with a 21 foot hole that does extremely well. There were at least 4 boats in that area all weekend long. Soldiers Point also did very well. We also had lots of boats from both the north and south end of Lake of the Woods having good luck at Garden Island, Bridges Island and Knight Island. We've been using 1/4 or 3/8 ounce jigs.

On the Ontario side, you could pick a point anywhere and catch fish. One group caught and released 77 fish the first day and 78 fish the second day in the SAME spot!. Their largest was a 24" walleye with most in the 18"-20" range. Another group who regularly fish the NW Angle over Memorial Weekend, said this was the best fishing they've seen at this time of the year. Both the east and west side of Falcon Island were just awesome. Crappies still haven't started spawning so were more scattered. 25 feet was the magic number and 1/4 ounce jigs seemed to be the ticket.

While the deer are still back in the woods having their fawns, we were fortunate to see a mama bear swimming while carrying her two cubs on her back!

Until next week, good fishing!
Dan Schmidt
Sunset Lodge Manager & Guide

03/15/2015

LAKE OF THE WOODS ICE CONDITIONS 3/15/15

The winter fishing season is sadly coming to an end, but there is still time for one more run at the big walleye or northern pike that Lake of the Woods is so well known to produce. We were out on the lake yesterday checking ice conditions and doing a little scouting. The ice was in really good shape and we had 36 to 40 inches most places across the lake. The snow was holding up as good as could be expected given our warm weather this week. All of the snow including the snowmobile trail was starting to get soft, but still plenty easy navigating with a snowmobile, the main issues were places where trucks had driven through the snowmobile trail making for a bit rougher ride. The snow as of yesterday was still a bit deep for an ATV in most places especially the farther north you get, but there were plenty of trucks out there yet and it didn’t seem like they were having too much trouble getting around. The snow will continue to disappear with the warm weather and I’m sure the weather today helped that. By mid/late week ATVs will likely be the preferred method for getting around.

There were a lot of fishermen on Muskeg Bay getting ready for the run of northern pike and walleye especially near the mouth of the Warroad River and over by Swift Ditch.

The fishing has also started to pick up a bit closer to Pine Island after being slow there most of the winter.

Access Points:
The main issue that anglers will find at this point is finding a good access point to the lake:
- The swift ditch access point was shut down yesterday.

- Springsteel Resort road out to the DNR reefs and Buffalo was also closed, although plenty of fishermen were still fishing the bay between Springsteel and the Warroad Estates golf course.

- Plenty of trucks were accessing the lake through the public access point at the mouth of the Warroad River yet today. The attached picture was taken late afternoon today – this was a busy access point yesterday, but was a little more quiet this afternoon (Sunday). The travel up to the pressure ridge is good. Many trucks were also finding places to cross the pressure ridge, but that will be day to day and some crossing in the wrong points yesterday and today were getting caught up in the crack. If you look closely at the picture you can see one of the trucks that tried to make his own path and got stuck in the crack.

- Adrians Road was getting pretty beat up after heavy traffic and a day of mid 60 degree weather today. They were still letting trucks out to retrieve fish houses, but weren’t sure if they would keep it open to vehicle traffic other than ATVs beyond this weekend. Definitely check with Adrians if you are planning on coming up on their road this week.

- The Cyrus resort road is closed.

Enjoy the weather if you are able to make it out for one last trip on the hard water. If not, we’ll see you out in the boat this summer!

Lake of the Woods Lodging

12/31/2016

07/19/2016

01/04/2016

12/19/2015

12/10/2015

09/08/2015

07/06/2015

06/22/2015

06/15/2015

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05/27/2015

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