The ice-fishing scene has been full of ups and downs for us during the past couple of weeks. We just returned from a trip to Lake of the Woods where we had hoped to get in on some of the great late winter Walleye fishing. We were disappointed by the weather and ice conditions that greeted us, but thanks to the great road plowing the folks operating out of Wheelers Point had been doing this winter, there were still places to fish and luckily we caught enough fish on Saturday for a respectable fish fry. But Sunday morning the “ship hit the sand” when we were treated to high winds and blizzard conditions that forced us to cancel the rest of our fishing trip.
The freezing and thawing cycle up there has made a mess of the ice and it was necessary to stay within a couple miles of Pine Island. Many of the anglers, who were attempting to drive out more than a few miles, were finding slush holes and pockets of water. Lots of folks reported getting stuck and there were very few reports of really good fishing.
I did talk to some people who had above average fishing because they were able to find decent schools of fish, including some really nice size fish by staying in about 20 feet of water. They were able to travel freely with snowmobiles and if you really want to make the most of your trip up there right now, it would be best to bring snowmobiles or four wheelers. There’s still plenty of good, solid ice and for those who can stay off the roads, there’s at least a couple of weeks of good fishing still to come.
Perch fishing is continuing to be strong on Winnie and the travel conditions are somewhat better down here. One friend told me that you need to keep the truck moving to avoid settling in to soft spots in the snow, but travel by truck is still possible over most of the lake. There are going to be folks catching Perch on the deeper humps in the main lake right up until ice out, but anglers looking for more action, are finding better numbers in shallower water. Fishing along the edge of the main drop off from 20 to 30 feet until you locate a school of fish, then moving up on to the flats is the ticket to finding these larger schools of fish.
Crappie fishing on the smaller lakes is also a good bet right now. Even though the Red Lake reports are coming in as “spotty” fishing, many of the smaller area lakes are going strong and except for a few of the really publicized spots, the crowds are minimal. Crappie locations have shifted to some of the shallower spots too and if you aren’t seeing them on your electronics, it’s advisable to check out the drop off areas in shallow water before switching lakes. It’s a good idea to bring some wax worms along and bait up with them often enough to check for Bluegills that may be mixed in with the Crappies.
As much as I love fishing through the ice, I can hardly wait to get a boat in the water. We’re watching the Rainy River and expect to be on open water soon. With a little luck, we’ll have a report on that in another week or so.