Are you seeking an employment change?  Maybe you are an adventure seeker?  Work up at Lake of the Woods!  Many resorts, hotels and others are Now Hiring.  Did you know most people regret not taking enough chances in life and simply settling?  Are you someone who has visited Lake of the Woods and thought, “I could live here?”  This is a great time to consider Lake of the Woods.

Lake of the Woods isn’t just a great place to fish, hunt and enjoy the great outdoors, it’s an excellent place to find good employment and do business. Not only is there a steady flow of visitors, there is a thriving local economy that boasts an educated workforce, world-class technology and an abundance of resources for those interested in opening, relocating or expanding a business. This area is a dream getaway.  Lake of the Woods employment opportunities abound.

People visit Lake of the Woods County for the stunning international waters and the breathtaking scenery of Northern Minnesota. Lake of the Woods offers four seasons of world-class fishing, a hunter’s paradise and a vast array of outdoor recreation.  Winter is one of the busiest seasons at Lake of the Woods.  The world class ice fishing, consistent ice conditions, daytime bite, millions of walleyes and saugers, and great resort community cater to anglers from many regions.

Many couples have found success working amongst the resorts as there are a number of important jobs available.  This is hospitality at its finest.  Imagine the possibilities, ice guide, front desk, housekeeping, cook, servers, marketing and business managers, and bartenders.  Lots of opportunities right now across the lake as resorts have openings and are staffing up.

Do you have a favorite resort?  If so, give them a call and inquire directly about openings.  Opportunities await across the lake (and river).

Employment Opportunities!  Have you ever thought about working in an area you love to vacation?  There are a variety of opportunities and many have taken the step to work where they play and area businesses are hiring.  Imagine fishing, hunting and simply living in an area people travel across the country to get to!

Right now, area resorts are looking for valued employees for a variety of positions.  Whether it is an ice guide, working the front desk, cleaning rooms, food service, various hospitality positions, outside maintenance, marketing and the list goes on.

A listing of local resorts can be found on the Lake of the Woods Tourism lodging page.  Resorts are hiring on their resort websites, some on Facebook, and some positions may not be listed at all but there is still a need.

It is sometimes good if you are looking for work, to simply pick up the phone, call and inquire about open positions.  It has been said about 80% of potential open positions are not advertised for.  As a candidate for employment, this is also a good technique that also shows your willingness to work.

Quality healthcare and education.  People stay in Lake of the Woods County because of the community. We take pride in our outstanding healthcare and nationally-recognized education with Lake of the Woods Schools ranking very high in Minnesota schools. There are positive things happening all around, such as the Lake of the Woods International Arena, a great international bridge to Canada, new owners of Lake of the Woods Foods, Caribou Coffee, and a sweet distillery on Main Street.

As the winter months approach, many of the resorts are looking for good people to take advantage of excellent Lake of the Woods employment opportunities. Again, winter fishing on LOW is known to be some of the best in the world. Look no further than Here for many of the employment vacancies!

Right now there are openings and various area employers would love to meet with you. Visit www.gethookedforlife.com for more valuable information and also www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com.  Another good option is to look at the Lake of the Woods Tourism Lodging page.  Many of the resorts and hotels are hiring for a variety of positions, email them or give them a call.

Also see our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/lakeofthewoodsmn

Ladies!—Are you planning your Ice Fishing Trip yet? Don’t just send the guys out on that lifetime adventure of fishing the waters of Lake of the Woods. Plan your trip now for the Ladies adventure through one of 50+ resorts to choose from at this fine destination.

Yes, anglers come in all genders, ages, shapes and sizes to Lake of the Woods. This renown fishery is located at the top of Minnesota at Lake of the Woods. Lake of the Woods is the largest freshwater lake next to the great lakes showcasing 317,000 acres in Minnesota. It is international as it shares its waters with both the United States and Canada. Lake of the Woods has 65,000 miles of shoreline and 14,552 islands.

Lake of the Woods is known as the Walleye Capital of the World™. These waters are famous for their fishing, hunting, wildlife and recreational opportunities. Open water fishing remains the favorite for most people, however, hard water (ice fishing) has become a main event of the winter season featuring thousands of fish houses and wheelhouses taking up residence on the frozen waters. It’s a sight to behold as you approach the landscape of an actual fishing village.

So…ladies….why not gather your friends and have yourself a great vacation being a lady angler. There are women’s fishing groups that have been formed such as WAM, WI WOMEN’S FISH so it’s no longer a novelty for ladies to enjoy this fine sport. One of our local resorts here hosts a Girls Gone Fishing group each year. The event draws from many localities and be sure to know that the ladies have a great time fishing and also gathering for other activities.

As a matter of fact, many anglers bring their young girls with them as they teach them the skills of fishing for walleye and other species of fish on both open and hard water. Young ladies feel the thrill of catching their first small or trophy fish and it gets imbedded in their memories as one of the greatest experiences ever. Remember, this doesn’t have to be a once in a lifetime experience. Why not make it an annual event or better yet summer and winter season experiences.

Bachelorette parties are becoming more and more popular during the winter season.  Whether ladies are staying in nice sleeper fish houses or ice fishing during the day in a day house and actually staying in a hotel or cabins on shore, there are lots of memories made.

There is not a lack of fun things to do in the area.  In addition to ice fishing, shopping, cute coffee shops and a wide variety of bars and taverns, some with live music.

Don’t forget about the two bars located out on the frozen Lake of the Woods.  The Igloo Bar is out of Zippel Bay Resort and the Angry Walleye is out of Cyrus Resort.

Now ladies…. Ice fishing these days has taken on a new look. Most outfitters are seeing that ladies are taking to the sport more and more so they have equipped their ice “shacks” to accommodate whatever a lady needs.

1. Bathrooms on the Ice.  Most ladies want the availability of a bathroom. Check √! Fish houses now have restrooms available.  Some are built right into the “shack”, others have porta-potties on the ice near your fish house.  The point is, there are some nice options.  Check ahead with your resort or outfitter to see what your options are.
2. Cooking Facilities.  Many women want some cooking facilities. Check √! Most houses have either a full size or apartment size range that runs on propane complete with over and even some cook ware. No need for refrigerators out there but the house usually has ample supply of paper towels and toilet paper.
3. A nice clean environment.  Most ladies want cleanliness…even while fishing. Check √! Our outfitters have been very careful to maintain a clean environment to come into. All houses have been sanitized after each use and any refuse disposed of.  Normally when you arrive to your heated fish house, things have been spruced up for your arrival.
4. Keep me Warm!  Ladies want to know they’ll be warm. Check √! Each shack is heated by propane furnaces and the heat is turned on so the fish house is warm upon your arrival.  You control the thermostat during your stay and whether you are in a sleeper fish house, hotel room or cabin, you can keep the temp as warm as you would like.
5. Safe Ice.  For anyone who hasn’t ice fished much, man or woman, people need to know the ice is safe.  Check √! Our guides are incredible at keeping their guests safe. They stake and groom ice roads and trails from the formation of ice.  Each and every day, they do ice checks prior to visitors traveling out.  Depending upon the resort or outfitter, you either drive out to your fish house on a plowed and marked ice road, or, the resort will transport you to your fish house.  Safety is #1.

Ladies, do you want to rough it out when ice fishing on Lake of the Woods. Most of our resorts also have sleeper fish houses available. They are larger houses and can often sleep up to eight people. Bunk beds are built in and ready for the bedding that you bring with you.

Some ladies would like to return to a lodge and dine there eating their catch of the day. Fish Fry! Spend the day on the ice fishing and then take your catch in for a great meal of fish? Yes, our resorts do a wonderful job as guides bring your catch in, clean them and then deliver them to the kitchen and prepare an incredible meal using your fine catch of the day. Evening entertainment is available often.

There are a nice variety of lodging and fish houses.  Shop our resorts and their amenities at www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com/lodging and check out all their facilities as well as what kind of ice houses they have.

Are you ready ladies??? Check out availability now at www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com/lodging-availability-request and call your friends and make your plans. Show the gentlemen that ladies are also experts at the sport of fishing.

Full service ice fishing makes ice fishing possible for the young, old, disabled, and just about everyone.  What a great way to enjoy a Minnesota winter than catching walleyes, saugers, perch, eelpout, pike and a variety of other fish with friends and loved ones.  Many think of ice fishing as sitting outside on a bucket.  Not at Lake of the Woods.  The resorts like to take great care of guests and make their ice fishing adventure easy and enjoyable.  From heated resort to heated fish house with the holes drilled and set up on top of the fish.  This is ice fishing Lake of the Woods style.

Resorts and outfitters across the lake offer full service ice fishing.  In some cases, the resort or outfitter will transport you out to your fish house.  In other cases, when the ice is thick enough, you can drive yourself out on plowed and well maintained ice roads.  There are plenty of options.

Ice fishing in the winter is done in primarily two areas, on Big Traverse Bay and up at the NW Angle in the northern part of Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods.

Big Traverse Bay is the large part of the lake that extends about 30 miles north and south by about 25 miles east and west.  This is big ice!  The small businesses that provide ice fishing services do a great job of tracking down and staying on walleyes and saugers.  In some cases, you may be close to shore, in other cases, you may be miles off of shore.  The goal is to provide a safe and enjoyable experience with the intent of getting you on good fish of course.

The NW Angle also provides some great ice fishing.  The Angle is the area that if you drive there, you actually have to drive 40 miles through Canada before entering back into MN up at the Angle.  The other option is to take the bombardier service across the lake which keeps you in Minnesota.  This is called the Lake of the Woods Passenger Service.

People often wonder why ice fishing is so popular at Lake of the Woods.  One reason it is full service ice fishing and really takes the work out of it.  In addition, millions of walleyes and saugers doesn’t hurt.  The behind the scenes infrastructure make ice fishing easy for just about anyone regardless of ability.  With this being said, ice fishing is warm, simple and easy.  The thermostat is set at around 70 degrees.  Most only have to be in the cold a few steps into ice transportation and a few steps into the heated fish house.  As the saying goes, there are two things you need to think about when you participate in full service ice fishing, “what should I wear and what should I eat”.  Everything else is taken care of for you.

Families, couples, business groups and long time friends take advantage of these fish houses out on the ice.  In between bobbers going down, good conversation, good food and even good drink is part of the atmosphere in a fish house.  For some it’s the fishing.  For others, it’s the social aspects.  Either way, it is a great way to spend a beautiful winter day.

Sometimes it helps to actually see how it works rather than read about it.  There are many ways resorts transport you out on the ice to their fish houses.  Some even let you drive your own vehicles on their maintained ice roads.  Here is one example just to give you an idea.  The video below gives you a nice idea about Full Service Ice Fishing on Lake of the Woods.  If you would like to check out more info, a list of resorts and sleeper fish houses or even check out their websites to check on dates, pricing, etc., check out the Lake of the Woods Tourism Lodging Page. 

Click Here to Access Lake of the Woods lodging options.

Click Here to return to the Lake of the Woods Tourism website

It is that time of the year.  Each fall, the Rainy River experiences a right of nature, a tradition of sorts for outdoors minded anglers who don’t mind fall fishing in chilly fall temperatures for the chance at a walleye of a lifetime.  The emerald shiners run up the Rainy River.

We really don’t know why they swim up river but some believe they are in search of food.  Others believe it is to toughen up for the upcoming winter.  While we are not certain on why the emeralds enter the river, we do know why the walleyes enter the river, to eat one of their favorite forage, the emerald shiners.  This natural pattern triggers that itch for many anglers leading to great memories and the Rainy River tradition.

On a recent year’s outing, Greg Jones of Midwest Outdoors and myself had the opportunity to do some fall fishing on the Rainy River.  If you got on the fish, you would catch them.  If you could not find the fish as they are moving around, sometimes pulling cranks is a good strategy to put walleyes in the boat.

We did both and had to be flexible.  Trolling a relatively shallow flat against the current, we caught some nice fish.  We then jigged and caught a few more including a huge 30″ walleye with a big girth and not on purpose, a sturgeon that went over 60 inches.

This given day on the Rainy River really reminded me why anglers love fall fishing and the Rainy River tradition.  Check out this episode of Midwest Outdoors from the Rainy River.

Fishing the Rainy River.  The first thing to say is don’t sit all day in the same spot if you are not catching fish.  Move around and try and find fish.  Try up river, down river, deeper, shallower, different techniques.  Ask around, find out what the trends are.  This will lead to more success.

The thought is as the water cools into the low and mid 40’s and the larger emerald shiners will begin to run as will the larger walleyes. 

Some years, bait dealers have some live shiners for fall fishing, other years, just frozen.  These sleep deprived entrepreneurs work very hard and are often out all night in search of shiners.  Anglers love nothing more than having fresh live shiners to tip their jig with.  Most don’t realize the efforts bait dealers go through to actually catch them this time of year, checking nets and key shiner areas often three or more times throughout the night.

Typically, good numbers of walleyes with some big walleyes show up in the river.  This is what sustains the tradition.  Will the run continue all fall or stop and start up again?  Only Mother Nature knows, but anglers realize, there are normally shiners and walleyes in the river each and every fall.

Into October and then pushing into November, the days will get shorter and the water colder, things will start to shift.  Normally bigger fish will continue showing up for anglers more hard core for fall fishing and big fall walleyes.

Big walleyes during deer hunting.  It is common to hear about huge walleyes being caught during the weeks most are sitting in tree stands looking for venison or horns.  It is definitely a tough choice as the deer hunting season is short.

Most anglers are targeting walleyes jigging.  Typically a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce jig will give you control in the current of the Rainy River.  If water is really rolling, don’t be afraid to go to a 3/4 or even ounce.  It is important to maintain control and feel the jig occasionally bounce off of the bottom.  The walleyes don’t mind a larger jig.

Colors vary but you can’t go too wrong with colors like gold, orange, glow, pink, white, peacock or combinations of such.  Area resorts and bait shops have a good selection of heavier jigs in the good Lake of the Woods colors.  The local tackle company, Tom’s Tackle, has a wide selection of jigs that just work on these waters.

Stinger hooks.  I am a big believer in stinger hooks this time of year.  Hook a stinger up to the hook of your jig.  This 2″ line attached to a small treble hook can be the difference between a so-so day and a great day.  Hook the small treble just in front of the tail of the shiner.  It amazes me how big of fish can be taken on the small treble.

One method of fishing on the Rainy River one shouldn’t overlook is trolling crankbaits.  This fall trip from a few years ago was a perfect example.  Although I stuck a big 30″ walleye on a jig and emerald shiner, we actually caught more walleyes trolling that given day.  In our case, on that day, we targeted 9′ of water and caught keepers and a 20″ and 26″ throwback.  We did hear of a couple of big fish taken trolling as well.

Leadcore line or a 3 way rig with a shallow diving crankbait will allow you to troll the deeper holes in addition to the shallow stretches.  When fishing the shallow water, we simply long lined Rapala Shad Raps and Wally Divers.

If you aren’t an avid deer hunter or perhaps get your deer early, you may want to consider a trip to the river.  Dress warm, be safe and make some memories that only can be made late fall.

To learn more about Lake of the Woods, check out the Lake of the Woods Tourism website.

To find a guide, charter boat or lodging, check out the Lake of the Woods Tourism lodging page.