Planning an Adventure Ice Fishing Lake of the Woods

This is the time of year conversations often make their way to ice fishing Lake of the Woods.  Planning a ice fishing trip provides anglers variables including when is the best time to go?  What is the right location?  What lodging best fits our group? Should we eat at the resort, cook our own meals or both?  Does a sleeper fish house sound like fun?  There are definitely choices.

Whether you stay in Baudette, along the Rainy River, the south shore or up at the NW Angle, there are great fishing opportunities to be had.  The resorts and outfitter on the Rainy River and south shore are targeting Big Traverse Bay.  This is big ice, almost the size of a great lake about 25 miles by 25 miles.  The good thing, resorts keep a good handle on the fish and it is beautiful.

Another option is fishing up at the Northwest Angle.  The northernmost point of the contiguous U.S. and where the 14,552 islands of the lake begin, there are islands, reefs and lots and lots of walleyes.  Don’t think for a moment the accommodations are lacking, not at all.  The area boasts some wonderful properties.  Some resorts you cook your own meals, others are full service and offer bar and restaurant.

Some anglers prefer bringing up their own equipment and pursuing those big walleyes on a maintained ice road or snowmobile trail. Some want life to be more relaxed with a nice resort breakfast and then heated transportation out to the resort preheated fish house.  Others are looking just for lodging so they can have the conveniences of staying on shore and fish out of portables moving around hunting walleyes and saugers throughout the day.

When planning on ice fishing Lake of the Woods, you have the best of all the worlds. LOW resorts are known for there full-service ice fishing. By full-service we mean a delicious breakfast followed by anglers loading into heated resort ice transportation or simply driving their own vehicle on the resort ice road out to preheated fish houses. Enjoy a nice day in a cozy fish house with your group catching fish and having a good time.  At the end of the day, the ice guides will pick you and your bucket of fish up and chauffeur you back to the resort just in time for happy hour. Once arriving back on land, the guides will clean your fish while you get cleaned up or go enjoy your favorite beverage.  In some cases, the resort will even cook up your fresh catch!

Full service ice fishing Lake of the Woods opens up this enjoyable and very social winter sport or activity up to just about everyone.  Families, girls trip, company outings, multi-generational trips.  This list goes on.  It is fun to see the variety of people from all over the U.S. and in some cases, the world, enjoying The Walleye Capital of the World.

Anglers with pull behind fish houses find it is easy to gain access to ice roads for a small fee.  Resorts and outfitters with ice roads do an exceptional job of maintaining roads for safety.  Coming in for dinner each night is a breeze and gives you a nice break from being on the ice.  Many appreciate the chance to compare notes with other anglers.  It’s part of the adventure.

With over 60 lodging facilities around the lake, ice fishing Lake of the Woods is all about choices.  Certain times during the winter months can be difficult to find lodging, but not impossible. Calling around to different resorts is one option.  Another great option is using the Lodging Availability Finder. Simply enter contact info, dates, what part of the lake you prefer to stay and any details or preference and hit the submit button.  Your request is automatically dispatched to the resorts, hotels and sleeper fish house businesses in the area you requested.

There are so many different options when it comes to LOW. Asking questions and doing some research will definitely help you find exactly the winter getaway you want no matter what you are looking for.

Click Here to Access Lake of the Woods lodging options.

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