Fishing and Outdoor Report from Sportsman’s Lodge 12-23-09
gengberg December 23rd, 2009
Lake of the Woods South Shore
Fishing, Ice Conditions & Snow Report
Sportsman’s Lodge
Baudette, MN
www.sportsmanslodges.com
800-862-860212/23/09
This is what we have been waiting for!
Good ice base, nice temperatures and fantastic fishing, it is here! This past week along with the warmer air heating up so has the fishing. Lots of action, and a nice limit of walleye and sauger to enjoy for Christmas or plenty of catch and release whatever you choose to do have been the common chorus sung at the Sportsman’s Lodge this week. One house reported 43 fish in 3 hours this morning for 3 people! We had other groups report 75, even 100 fish caught in a house in one day, now that is fun fishing!
Saugers have been more prevelant than walleyes right now which is odd for this time of year, but makes sense with the DNR reporting that Lake of the Woods has one of the best sauger counts ever this year. Angler’s have reported lots of fish being caught, many in the smaller class, but plenty to make a nice limit and even a few trophies too! Three 10lb walleyes were caught this week. So where do you go for good fishing? Sportsman’s Lodge of course, the guides have been diligently keeping up with the fish patterns and currently finding the best luck between 25′-30′, deeper than normal for this time of year and luring them in with gold and white jigs tipped with a chub. Avoid the hassle and let us do the work, our houses will be warm and ready!
Ice Conditions
We had a real good freeze up this year, nice and smooth, and excellent clarity. We currently have 16 inches of ice on Lake of the Woods and 12 inches on Four Mile Bay (the bay between the Rainy River and the Lake of the Woods in the areas we travel and fish. We have seen a warm up in temperatures from the bitter cold -20 with highs in the twenties during the day and teens at night so we are still making ice! We currently continue to use jeeps with heated enclosed trailers to get out to the fish houses at this time, but it won’t be long and the bombardiers and heavier track vehicles will be out, stay tuned!
Snow & Trail Report
As I write this at 5pm Wed, Dec 23 we have 1-2 inches of snow on the lake and 3-5 inches of snow on the land. This is really not much snow and the snowmobile trails are really not that good, however it looks like this is going to change pretty quick in the next few days. The meteorologists are currently reporting that we may get up to 8 inches of snow in the next few days, this could really change things in a hurry. Check out our report after the storm for an update. The snowmobile trail from Sportsman’s Lodge on the Rainy River to Sportsman’s Lodge on Oak Island has been marked and groomed. The trail from Sportsman’s Rainy River to Warroad has been marked but not groomed yet. The groomers are planning to go out this weekend to groom that trail. Many of the land trails in the Lake of the Woods area have been groomed but are in need of more snow for a good ride.
The fish are biting, the snow is falling, come on up to the northland and enjoy winter!
Lake of the Woods Oak Island
Fishing, Ice Conditions & Snow Report
Sportsman’s Oak Island Lodge
Oak Island, MN
www.sportsmanslodges.com
800-772-8411
12/23/09
Sportsman’s Oak Island is starting their ice fishing season Dec 26! We currently have 12 inches of ice and 4-5 inches of snow blanketing the Northwest Angle and Islands area. The guides have been testing and the fish are hungry! 10-20 walleye and sauger combinations caught and or released per person has been the norm. The test spots have been around 20-25 feet of water and the fish have been favoring gold and pink jigs tipped with a chub. It looks like it is going to be a good start for fishing action this season! Get your friends and family together and come enjoy the northland!
Snow & Trail Report
The snowmobile trail from Young’s Bay at the Northwest Angle to Oak Island is marked but not groomed. The ice road has not been plowed to Oak Island yet. The snowmobile trail from Sportsman’s Rainy River to Sportsman’s Oak Island is marked and groomed. The land trails in the Northwest Angle are not groomed yet.
3244 Bur Oak Rd NW • Baudette, MN 56623
