Great Lake of the Woods Hunting – Be Safe!

hunting flag island

Minnesota is a hunting paradise thanks to millions of acres of public hunting land. But finding a great place to hunt is often as challenging as the actual hunting. hunting hunting

Minnesota hunters are fortunate that the search is not nearly as difficult as it is in many states, where public land is rare. The most commonly hunted public lands in Minnesota are state wildlife management areas (WMAs), state forests, national forests and federal waterfowl production areas (WPAs). Be sure to check the Minnesota DNR website for complete details on seasons and licensing.

Lake of the Woods County, a hunting haven, offers thousands of acres of public hunting lands in addition to the waters of the Rainy River, Big Traverse Bay on the South Shore and the Northwest Angle. Ample hunting opportunities of all kinds exist including field hunting, jump shooting, and hunting over decoys, river, sloughs, big water, islands and more.  Here are some examples of the species you will find in this area.

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Grouse Hunting

GROUSE: Lake of the Woods County offers thousands of acres of hunting land with three species of grouse, the ruffed, spruce and sharp tailed. Dirt roads, walking trails and ATV trails cross thousands of acres at Beltrami Island State Forest, Lake of the Woods Forest and Pine Island.

Grouse hunters must wear at least one visible article of clothing above the waist that is blaze orange or pink. This could be a hat, jacket or hunting vest. Remember to stay abreast when walking with other hunters in the woods so you remain visible and behind the line of fire.  Ruffed and Spruce grouse season is now open running until January 1, 2025. The Ruffed & spruce grouse combined limit is 5.

HUNTING HAVEN FOR DEER:  Soon, Lake of the Woods will declare its “National Orange Season”. This is affectionately labeled as everyone wears orange during the season for the beautiful Whitetail deer. With so much public land, deer hunting opportunities abound. Both archery and rifle seasons are permitted in this part of Minnesota. Locals joke that there are probably more deer in Lake of the Woods County than people. Trophy bucks are shot each and every year in the area.

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This Whitetail Buck was searching for doe along this very colorful tree line. 

Your deer license and site tag comes as a two-part form. The upper half is the site tag for tagging the deer in the field. The lower half is the deer license and registration slip. Hunters must do the following:

  • Detach the site tag from the deer license/registration slip.
  • Before moving the deer, the hunter whose name is on the license validates the tag by using a knife or similar sharp object to cut out the notches indicating the month, date and time of day the deer was killed (AM/PM).

Hunting season is unique at Lake of the Woods because avid sportsmen can don blaze orange for whatever hunt they want and then they can get in their boats and hunt for that trophy fish. Big Traverse sees walleye, perch and northern moving towards the bays and the river area when the waters start to dip in temperature.

Shiner Minnows travel up the Rainy River and do their spawning and the walleyes that are hungry all the time, chase them up-river.  The bite is still on and anglers can launch their boats easily up-river at Vidas Landing, Frontier Landing and Birchdale Park.

All are dressed for the cooler temperatures found during hunting season and cooler waters underneath their boats. Catch hunting and Release is practiced during this time of year which protects the great fishery of Lake of the Woods. Fish for that trophy walleye but don’t be surprised if you happen to snag a sturgeon. What a fight they give the anglers, but once again it’s catch and release.

So, get out your orange duds and make sure you have your poles in good condition and come hunting at Lake of the Woods for the time of your life!!!

For more information and lodging opportunities, visit our website at www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com

For lodging see: www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com/lodging

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Fishing Report 11.5.2024

Fall fishing

On the South Shore…  With unseasonably warm weather, there are still some anglers hitting the water and most have been rewarded.  Limits of walleyes and saugers being caught, and the forecast looking ahead is favorable.

The best bite on the south end of LOW has been in 22-28 feet of water. Water temperatures are dropping and as the temps cool further, the bite has been excellent.

Vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners has been the program for most anglers.  Bring plenty of bait, as you’ll need to sort through some smaller fish and short biters.  Plenty of eater fish to be had, just have to do a bit of sorting.  Anglers are also reporting very good numbers of jumbo perch and occasional pike mixed in with the walleyes.  fishing
For those fishing structure, if you slide up on top of a rock pile, don’t be surprised to catch a big smallmouth bass, there are plenty around.
This week’s hot colors have been gold, gold/glow white, gold/chartreuse, gold/orange, and gold/glow white/pink.
One tip, a stinger hook on your jig will catch you more fish if you start missing too many fish.

On the Rainy River…  Bait dealers are reporting good numbers of shiners in the river this past week.  Interesting, each night is different.  Some areas have the small shiners called pinheads.  Other areas have the larger minnows.

The river is producing some nice walleyes in various spots from Four Mile Bay to Wheeler’s Point, to Baudette all the way to Birchdale.  There are 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale with plenty of public boat ramps along the way.
Walleyes are being caught in various depths, but 15-25 feet of water has been good.

Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners has been highly effective. Some anglers are also trolling crankbaits to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results.

Sturgeon fishing has been strong.  The catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is open into the spring when it changes to the “keep season” on April 24th.

Up at the NW Angle…  Fall fishing continues to be excellent. Points, neck-down areas with current, shoreline breaks, and transition zones from rock to mud are all productive locations for walleye right now.

It is traditionally a mixed bag up around the many islands in this part of the lake and this fall is no different.  In addition to walleyes, pike, jumbo perch, and crappies are in the mix.  A jig and minnow has been the most effective presentation.

Good muskie fishing is the norm during the fall of the year and area reports have been good.  In addition to casting, trolling shorelines, points and neckdown areas has been effective.  Muskies are often targeting schooling tullibees this time of year.

The weather forecast for the next couple of weeks is conducive for fall fishing.  If you don’t deer hunt, or if you have harvested your deer, consider some bonus walleye action before the ice forms.  The bite continues to be excellent.

For more information on fall fishing and ice fishing packages, visit LakeoftheWoodsMN.com/Lodging.