Fishing Report 4..3.2024

On the south end… Cold spring weather the past couple of weeks dispelled the predictions of even the greatest of weather and ice predictors on social media. The bottom line, after an early warm up, conditions turned to winter again preserving ice conditions for those wanting to take advantage of March ice fishing.

March ice anglers were rewarded with good catches of walleyes, saugers and of course this time of year, monster pike.

Resorts have now pulled fish houses from the ice as the last day fish houses could be overnight on the ice was March 31st. Although the walleye season continues through April 14th, for the most part, ice accesses are closed for the year.

Monster pike are staged in pre-spawn areas. Soon, they will make their way to back bays and ditches to spawn. This creates some great pike fishing as the pike season on LOW never closes.

Anticipation is high for the MN Fishing Opener, which is Saturday, May 11th. Good numbers of walleyes and saugers are currently staged along the south shore.

On the Rainy River… Open water is expanding nicely again after thin ice formed over already open water due to cold overnight temps. With daytime temps in the 40’s and 50’s over the next couple of weeks, things are looking good. The Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp are all open.

Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river. Most fish being caught are 16 – 26 inches with a few giants over 30 inches being caught. The hope is the big female walleyes will be making their way up the river from the lake once water temps rise a bit. Be ready!

Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been good for walleyes. Slow trolling crankbaits is a very effective technique this time of the year.

Sturgeon are being caught on the river as well by both walleye anglers and those actually targeting sturgeon. Most sturgeon anglers are using a sturgeon rig, which is an 18″ leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker. Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait.

Up at the NW Angle… Ice fishing is finished up for the most part, with the focus now on May 11th and the fishing opener. The bite finished strong and there is great anticipation for the open water season.

Lodging, small boat guide trips, charter trips and meal packages are available. Go to www.LakeoftheWoodsMN.com/Lodging for more info.