Ice Fishing Lake Of the Woods

[imnofish]

I recently went ice fishing on LOTW, out of Baudette, MN.  Stayed at the Sportsman's Lodge, with my son-in-law and 18 year old grandson, for a few days.  We were on the meal plan, which meant that we had our choice of great food for 3 meals per day.  One of those was lunch, which they delivered out at our heated shack.  We got transportation out and back, bait, holes drilled, propane-heated shack, etc.  It was a hoot!  Fishing was a bit slow, but we ended up doing well enough.  We jigged up a nice limit of walleyes and saugers, plus a nice pike.  No tullibees or eelpout, though.  Still, a great time and great memories with the grandson, before college starts eating up all his time.  If you've never done this, I'd recommend checking it out.  There are a variety of plans, including sleeper shacks, that fit various budgets.  Anyone on here ever done this?  Anything to add to my notes?

[Houndhead]

I do the sleeper shacks on LOTW out of Sportmens Lodges every year. It is always a great time. The fishing has always been just ok. Could be much better, but could also be worse. We have not caught much for size of walleyes. Last year I don't think we had a fish in the slot. Hard to believe you didn't catch any tullibees. we usually get quite a few of those. Going again the first weekend of March. What baits and what colors were working the best?

[imnofish]

I do the sleeper shacks on LOTW out of Sportmens Lodges every year. It is always a great time. The fishing has always been just ok. Could be much better, but could also be worse. We have not caught much for size of walleyes. Last year I don't think we had a fish in the slot. Hard to believe you didn't catch any tullibees. we usually get quite a few of those. Going again the first weekend of March. What baits and what colors were working the best?

My son-in-law and grandson have gone the past few years, so we used a variety of their glow jigs.  It seemed like the preferred bait changed throughout the day.  Probably the most productive was a rattle jig that was spotted with just about every color, tipped with a minnow head.  Pink and white was also pretty good.  One day, they seemed to prefer 2 or 3 minnow heads.  We got our best fish on deadsticks, with a split shot, red treble hook, and a live minnow.  The past couple of years, they caught many walleyes; got a lot of them in the slot.  Last year, my grandson got a 28 inch walleye.  This was the first time they didn't catch lots of tullibees or any walleyes in the slot.  In fact, we only caught 3 walleyes.  All the rest were saugers.  We were fishing in 25 feet of water and the fish were staying very tight to the bottom.  My grandson did awesome on the last day, by deadsticking a jig and minnow head.  They had the shacks in pretty close compared to previous years, according to my son-in-law, due to the late ice development.  The day we left, they were just starting to use the bombers.  Maybe by the time you go up, they will have the shacks out by the border, which is where they did so well in the past.  One thing they said was that they had not experienced a night bite, so they decided to spend the extra cash for the lodge rooms and meal plan.  We stayed 3 nights and fished 2 days.  The food was great and it was fun shooting the bull with other fishermen and watching the Badgers basketball team beat Indiana in overtime.  It cost about $500 per person, tax included, though. 

[Houndhead]

I do the sleeper shacks on LOTW out of Sportmens Lodges every year. It is always a great time. The fishing has always been just ok. Could be much better, but could also be worse. We have not caught much for size of walleyes. Last year I don't think we had a fish in the slot. Hard to believe you didn't catch any tullibees. we usually get quite a few of those. Going again the first weekend of March. What baits and what colors were working the best?

My son-in-law and grandson have gone the past few years, so we used a variety of their glow jigs.  It seemed like the preferred bait changed throughout the day.  Probably the most productive was a rattle jig that was spotted with just about every color, tipped with a minnow head.  Pink and white was also pretty good.  One day, they seemed to prefer 2 or 3 minnow heads.  We got our best fish on deadsticks, with a split shot, red treble hook, and a live minnow.  The past couple of years, they caught many walleyes; got a lot of them in the slot.  Last year, my grandson got a 28 inch walleye.  This was the first time they didn't catch lots of tullibees or any walleyes in the slot.  In fact, we only caught 3 walleyes.  All the rest were saugers.  We were fishing in 25 feet of water and the fish were staying very tight to the bottom.  My grandson did awesome on the last day, by deadsticking a jig and minnow head.  They had the shacks in pretty close compared to previous years, according to my son-in-law, due to the late ice development.  The day we left, they were just starting to use the bombers.  Maybe by the time you go up, they will have the shacks out by the border, which is where they did so well in the past.  One thing they said was that they had not experienced a night bite, so they decided to spend the extra cash for the lodge rooms and meal plan.  We stayed 3 nights and fished 2 days.  The food was great and it was fun shooting the bull with other fishermen and watching the Badgers basketball team beat Indiana in overtime.  It cost about $500 per person, tax included, though. 

Yep, the nite bite is almost non-existent. It is nice staying on the ice and not not having to go anywhere for 3 days though. The cost for the sleepers is about $275 per person for 3 nites. Every time I have went it has been super cold out. 2 years ago it never got above 0 the whole time, with -35 at nite. I am doing some reseach on Sleeper shacks in SD for next year.

[imnofish]

I do the sleeper shacks on LOTW out of Sportmens Lodges every year. It is always a great time. The fishing has always been just ok. Could be much better, but could also be worse. We have not caught much for size of walleyes. Last year I don't think we had a fish in the slot. Hard to believe you didn't catch any tullibees. we usually get quite a few of those. Going again the first weekend of March. What baits and what colors were working the best?

My son-in-law and grandson have gone the past few years, so we used a variety of their glow jigs.  It seemed like the preferred bait changed throughout the day.  Probably the most productive was a rattle jig that was spotted with just about every color, tipped with a minnow head.  Pink and white was also pretty good.  One day, they seemed to prefer 2 or 3 minnow heads.  We got our best fish on deadsticks, with a split shot, red treble hook, and a live minnow.  The past couple of years, they caught many walleyes; got a lot of them in the slot.  Last year, my grandson got a 28 inch walleye.  This was the first time they didn't catch lots of tullibees or any walleyes in the slot.  In fact, we only caught 3 walleyes.  All the rest were saugers.  We were fishing in 25 feet of water and the fish were staying very tight to the bottom.  My grandson did awesome on the last day, by deadsticking a jig and minnow head.  They had the shacks in pretty close compared to previous years, according to my son-in-law, due to the late ice development.  The day we left, they were just starting to use the bombers.  Maybe by the time you go up, they will have the shacks out by the border, which is where they did so well in the past.  One thing they said was that they had not experienced a night bite, so they decided to spend the extra cash for the lodge rooms and meal plan.  We stayed 3 nights and fished 2 days.  The food was great and it was fun shooting the bull with other fishermen and watching the Badgers basketball team beat Indiana in overtime.  It cost about $500 per person, tax included, though. 

Yep, the nite bite is almost non-existent. It is nice staying on the ice and not not having to go anywhere for 3 days though. The cost for the sleepers is about $275 per person for 3 nites. Every time I have went it has been super cold out. 2 years ago it never got above 0 the whole time, with -35 at nite. I am doing some reseach on Sleeper shacks in SD for next year.

Sounds like the big thing is the food quality and the ability to shower, use a normal toilet, etc., when it came to my son-in-law's decision to change course this year.  Of course, he makes the big bucks, so he can pretty much do what he wants.     5 years ago, he, I, and some friends went out to ice fish the Glacial Lakes area in SD.  We rented a house, then drove to various lakes.  We used 4-wheelers to pull portable shacks.  That was a mistake.  Snow was too deep and there was a crusted layer that we kept breaking through.  The weather was brutal, also.  We did get a lot of big perch (13+ inches) and some pike around 30".  If I was going to do it again, I would definitely consider renting a sleeper shack...   or at least bring snowmobiles.   

[imnofish]

I've never gone ice fishing, how hard is it to learn?

Not that hard, but you need the right equipment.  Team up with someone who knows what they are doing and get them to mentor you.  That's how I got started, back when I was a kid.  Many guys are happy to get some company and pass on their knowledge.  Don't spend too much on equipment until you know if it's something you will keep doing.

[Houndhead]

I do the sleeper shacks on LOTW out of Sportmens Lodges every year. It is always a great time. The fishing has always been just ok. Could be much better, but could also be worse. We have not caught much for size of walleyes. Last year I don't think we had a fish in the slot. Hard to believe you didn't catch any tullibees. we usually get quite a few of those. Going again the first weekend of March. What baits and what colors were working the best?

My son-in-law and grandson have gone the past few years, so we used a variety of their glow jigs.  It seemed like the preferred bait changed throughout the day.  Probably the most productive was a rattle jig that was spotted with just about every color, tipped with a minnow head.  Pink and white was also pretty good.  One day, they seemed to prefer 2 or 3 minnow heads.  We got our best fish on deadsticks, with a split shot, red treble hook, and a live minnow.  The past couple of years, they caught many walleyes; got a lot of them in the slot.  Last year, my grandson got a 28 inch walleye.  This was the first time they didn't catch lots of tullibees or any walleyes in the slot.  In fact, we only caught 3 walleyes.  All the rest were saugers.  We were fishing in 25 feet of water and the fish were staying very tight to the bottom.  My grandson did awesome on the last day, by deadsticking a jig and minnow head.  They had the shacks in pretty close compared to previous years, according to my son-in-law, due to the late ice development.  The day we left, they were just starting to use the bombers.  Maybe by the time you go up, they will have the shacks out by the border, which is where they did so well in the past.  One thing they said was that they had not experienced a night bite, so they decided to spend the extra cash for the lodge rooms and meal plan.  We stayed 3 nights and fished 2 days.  The food was great and it was fun shooting the bull with other fishermen and watching the Badgers basketball team beat Indiana in overtime.  It cost about $500 per person, tax included, though. 

Yep, the nite bite is almost non-existent. It is nice staying on the ice and not not having to go anywhere for 3 days though. The cost for the sleepers is about $275 per person for 3 nites. Every time I have went it has been super cold out. 2 years ago it never got above 0 the whole time, with -35 at nite. I am doing some reseach on Sleeper shacks in SD for next year.

Sounds like the big thing is the food quality and the ability to shower, use a normal toilet, etc., when it came to my son-in-law's decision to change course this year.  Of course, he makes the big bucks, so he can pretty much do what he wants.     5 years ago, he, I, and some friends went out to ice fish the Glacial Lakes area in SD.  We rented a house, then drove to various lakes.  We used 4-wheelers to pull portable shacks.  That was a mistake.  Snow was too deep and there was a crusted layer that we kept breaking through.  The weather was brutal, also.  We did get a lot of big perch (13+ inches) and some pike around 30".  If I was going to do it again, I would definitely consider renting a sleeper shack...   or at least bring snowmobiles.   

I do a late season trip to Leech every year also for perch. Not the 13"+ fish but plenty in the 9"-12" range but a great, fun trip, ecpesially if you have any kids or grandkids in the 8-16 age. Usually some great weather days in late March.

[Houndhead]

I just hire the Hound as my guide.

How far from Escanaba are you ?

http://www.adventureoutmi.com/

[maggie]

Hound No offence, but I was just wondering as to why a person in Gods country, like yourself, would opt and go to Minn to fish when there are so many different Lake in Wis in your area to fish...Personally i have take trips to Canada and Leech as well, but of course i live in southern Wis too    ...I do understand that the Canada Bit is off the charts as is Leech's...but you have so many, many Nice, different lakes so close to choose from...was just asking...

[imnofish]

I suspect Hound is like me.  I have plenty of good lakes to fish near my home and near my campsite up north, but I like a change of pace sometimes.  It's especially fun if you can have that adventure with some good friends or relatives. 

[maggie]

you boys are lucky to live there

[imnofish]

you boys are lucky to live there

I count my blessings every day.  When I was 14, I decided to move to this region as soon as possible.  I figured it made more sense to enjoy the great natural resources here throughout my life, rather than just waiting for retirement.  Ten years later, I was here.  Never regretted it. 

[wrestle84]

Hound No offence, but I was just wondering as to why a person in Gods country, like yourself, would opt and go to Minn to fish when there are so many different Lake in Wis in your area to fish...Personally i have take trips to Canada and Leech as well, but of course i live in southern Wis too    ...I do understand that the Canada Bit is off the charts as is Leech's...but you have so many, many Nice, different lakes so close to choose from...was just asking...

Quite honestly, the fishing is much better in MN than it is around here. Heck, the fishing is better in the southern half of WI than it is here. Green Bay, Winnebago, Madison Chain, Petenwell, Mississippi River are all better. I wondering what the difference is?

[maggie]

i DON'T AGREE WITH THAT AT ALL 84. ..where is around here?

[wrestle84]

i DON'T AGREE WITH THAT AT ALL 84. ..where is around here?

Northern WI