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. 

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.