Central Minnesota’s favorite Sportsmen’s Show is back for its 37th Season on February 7th-9th, 2025 at St. Clouds River’s Edge Convention Center! Where you will find the very best in resorts, lodges and camps from the Midwest and Canada. Boat Show pricing on the newest fishing boats and pontoons, tackle and electronics and more! RV Show pricing on the best campers and trailers by the area’s best dealers. See:  St. Cloud Sportsmen’s Show  

There will be great Hunting and Fishing seminars and great fun for the whole family. There will be two special speakers doing seminars at the show.

Ted Takasaki is a professional fisherman who has dawned the fishing scene for years. A Fishing Hall of Fame Legendary Angler, Ted is one of the top competitors on the National Walleye Tour.

 Ted won the prestigious Professional Walleye Trail (PWT) Classic Championship in 1998 and the 1995 PWT Top Gun Angler Award.  In 2002, he smashed the all-time, one day PWT tournament record, which still stands today, with a limit of 5 walleyes that weighed 53.2 pounds!  

Tom Huynh, another seminar speaker, began fishing walleye tournaments in 2020. His first tournament was on the AIM Pro Walleye Series, which he fished with his teammate Nate Wolske. They won their very first event! The momentum continued throughout the year, with a 4th place finish and another win in the last two events of the season.

The 2023 season was another showcase of his skills, with top 5 finishes in all AIM events and a top 5 finish in the NWT AOY. This year, 2024, he reached the pinnacle of the NWT circuit by winning the Championship and tying for AOY points. And that’s not all! He just launched a revolutionary new educational fishing platform called Tom Huynh University.

Check it out at www.fishthu.com  

If you happen to be in central MN in St Cloud that weekend, stop by the River’s Edge Convention Center and say hello.  Joe Henry with Lake of the Wood Tourism will be available to chat anything Lake of the Woods!  This is a great opportunity to learn more about the lake, different methods of fishing, what resorts might fit your group the best, etc.

While at the St. Cloud Sportsmen’s Show, pick up the New Official Lake of the Woods Visitor Guide and of course, let’s talk Lake of the Woods fishing, resorts, NW Angle, spring fishing, sturgeon and everything else that makes Lake of the Woods a special place.

For some anglers, the focus will still be talking ice fishing as fish houses can be left on the lake overnight through March 31st, a bit longer than most of MN as we are border water with Canada.  The walleye/sauger season continues through April 14th on Lake of the Woods which extends the ice fishing season on Lake of the Woods.

Ice fishing is still going strong on Lake of the Woods.  Ice has never been better on the lake with it measuring over 2 feet. Ice roads are in great shape and snowmobile trails are also groomed for travel across the lake. Get the latest conditions and report while at the show.

Many anglers are looking forward to the spring run of walleyes on the Rainy River.   Typically the Rainy River starts to open up east of Baudette towards the middle or end of March.  Only Mother Nature knows when this will happen but when it does, it can be world class fishing for big female walleyes.

Walleyes from a good portion of Lake of the Woods will make their way to spawning grounds up-river.  Imagine, all of these walleyes constricted into a relatively small river.   This can lead to some epic walleye fishing and of course memories.  The Rainy River and Four Mile Bay is catch and release only for walleyes and saugers from March 1 – April 14.  Most anglers don’t mind as it is a chance to splash their boat and fish walleyes for the first time of the year.  It is also a chance to catch a walleye of a lifetime!

There will also be anglers wanting to chat about big pike in March or possibly catching them when the ice goes out as the pike season never closes on Lake of the Woods and that lends itself to some nice opportunities.  Lake of the Woods is a trophy pike lake with many fish caught over 40″.

It won’t be long and anglers will also be targeting Lake Sturgeon on the Rainy River.  This fish that dates back to the prehistoric times is a handful of fun and a blast to catch.  Anglers will be fishing sturgeon up and down the Rainy River as well as in Four Mile Bay.  Many skip the walleyes and focus on the sturgeon.  It is fun fishing too.  Basically,  anchor up near a hole in the river, fishing night crawlers on the bottom.

In addition to Lake of the Woods, the St. Cloud Sportsmen’s Show will have a large selection of fishing tackle retailers, boats, trailers, resorts, etc.  The River’s Edge Convention Center is located right in the downtown area of St. Cloud on the shores of the mighty Mississippi River.

The show starts Friday at noon and continues until 3pm on Sunday.  Parking is easy and this is a great show.   Click Here for complete details.

Click Here to return to the Lake of the Woods Tourism website.

Click Here for a list of Lake of the Woods Lodging.

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