A story of 6 boats and 36 fishermen over the course of a three-day journey.. They all caught their limits of eaters, many slot fish (19.5 – 28”), and a few trophy walleye over 28”. The end. Another way to say that our summer fishing is in full swing and spectacular. The longer version of this story would be that a couple groups this past week decided to head upriver where they found a mixed bag of fish including walleye, smallmouth bass, crappie, walleye and perch.
Many anglers are heading to deeper waters targeting muddy bottoms in about 32’ of water. This follows and old pattern of summer + heat = fish looking for cooler waters. Where this equation is true, an experienced angler will also tell you to stop driving over fish to go find fish based on routine. Trust your electronics and knowledge gathered from reliable sources.
Since you have many choices of where to find fish and thus finding them in many different areas, you will want to keep in mind these basics on Lake of The Woods. If you are fishing over a muddy flat bottom this time of year, a spinner harness rigged with a leach works best. Pick a spinner that has gold blades and bright beads. Next, if you find fish foraging on a sandy flat bottom, use the same exact rig only with a nightcrawler. Finding fish off the flats with a varied bottom and structure will require you to start jigging with a brightly colored jig head tipped with a minnow. Depending upon how they are dinning, a frozen shiner or live fathead will do the trick. Side note, I personally just heard a report that a black jig with a red hook rigged with nothing was producing fish just outside of Garden Island in about 28’ of water. Was this just a fluke? Who knows until you give it a try.
A nice mix of eaters, slots and quite a few trophy walleyes over 28 inches were caught once again this week. Spinners with crawlers / leeches or trolling crankbaits have been the most effective techniques. And as stated above the rig will depend on where you found them. Good spinner blade colors reported this week were hammered gold, or red & white. The best bead pattern had a red bead in the center of the lineup with clear beads around it. Crankbaits most effective were shallow divers that resembled perch, crawfish or if on a downrigger, a shad fingerling.
Always remember, don’t be afraid to shake it away from the crowd. Our call agents are waiting for your call and will assist you with booking your next trip to Lake of The Woods with River Bend Resort. If you are bringing your own boat, don’t forget you can book your cabin online through our website and give us a call to reserve a dock space.
Until next week … Keep a Tight Line! Bugs & Fishes ≤º))~{
