On the south end…  The walleye bite is excellent. The mud is holding big numbers of fish and a variety of techniques are getting it done.
Interestingly, some of the success this week came with slight adjustments while on the water. In one case, lots of fish were being marked but the water in this part of the lake was muddy. The fish were there, but couldn’t see the baits and success was marginal. The move was made to another part of the basin with cleaner waters and it was game on with lots of walleyes caught in a hurry.
Another instance, a charter boat captain was fishing amongst a bug hatch in the lake. The walleyes just were not responding as they were probably full of larvae, so he went to another area where the hatch wasn’t so strong and caught good walleyes.
Three main techniques are getting it done, drifting or trolling crawler harnesses, trolling crankbaits and jigging with a frozen emerald shiner or leech. Most popular depths on the mud are 30′ – 36′ of water.
Gold / glow white, gold / pink, orange, chartreuse, or a combo of these colors are a great place to start.
On the Rainy River… Above average precipitation has the Rainy River flowing. Most are targeting areas on the edge of current or in slack water. One thing good about higher current is it isolates the fish and they aren’t so spread out.
For walleyes, jigging with a frozen emerald shiner can always be effective. If you are looking for fish or the fish are spread out, trolling spinners and crankbaits against the current is effective.
The Rainy River on any given day will produce a mixed bag of fish. Shoreline breaks, slack water areas, the backside of a hump or even along docks are good places to start.
There are 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale.
Up at the NW Angle… Fishing is excellent. Walleye anglers are finding success pulling spinners and crawlers over mud flats and adjacent to structure just off in the mud.
A jig and minnow is also producing nice walleyes. Some guides never take the jigs off all summer long. This area of the lake is loaded with structure and a jig and minnow are hard to beat in many areas.
If you are new to the area or are looking for fish, trolling crankbaits this time of year will catch a lot of fish. Certainly walleyes and saugers, but pike, smallmouth bass, jumbo perch, crappies and muskies will also surprise you.
Muskie anglers continue reporting good success fishing a variety of structure amongst the islands.
Lodging, fishing packages, small boat guide trips, charter trips and summer trips are available at www.LakeoftheWoodsMN.com/Lodging.
