Lake of the Woods MN Fishing Report, July 3rd, 2017

Good numbers of nice walleyes and sauger this week.  Jig/minnow or jig/leech and bouncers with spinners with crawlers or minnows still producing a lot of fish. Gold, glow and bright colors doing the best.  Some walleyes feeding shallow when bait is present, 14-18′.  Others set up in 29-30′ in Big Traverse.  Some anglers starting to troll cranks with success.  Pike, perch and smallmouth mixed in all over the lake.

Anglers in the Rainy River finding some walleyes with morning/evening bite the best.  Trolling cranks or pulling spinners a good idea to cover more water. Smallmouth bass in good numbers along shorelines and feeder streams. Sturgeon fishing opened July 1st.

Up at the NW Angle, water temps are in the low to upper 60’s and low 70’s. The east side of Four Blocks, Lunatic and Little Traverse Bay producing good numbers of walleyes on MN side.  Crawlers on a gold and/or orange spinner are producing fish out of the mud between 22 – 28 feet. Some anglers starting to pull crankbaits.  On the Canadian side, bottom bouncers and spinners have been filling the livewells with walleyes.  Smallmouth on fire with some boats finding 100 fish per day around Tranquil Channel with crankbaits and spinnerbaits.  Muskie fishing picking up with high 40” class fish being caught and getting even better as water warms. Lodging, charters and guides are available at www.LakeoftheWoodsMN.com/Lodging.