River Bend Resort Lake of The Woods Fishing Report December 23, 2021. The ice is thickening, and overall conditions are improving. Daily numbers of fish being caught remains in the high double digits. Weight restrictions for transportation are still in effect until after the Holidays – small vehicles only. Mixed bag catch reported across all anglers. Cover photo: While filming a new River Bend Resort ice fishing segment for Midwest Outdoors, Nicole Stone documents on her live Facebook stream Greg Jones landing a 60” sturgeon on 4lbs. test line.
What is Being Caught
Fishing over the past week has continued to be phenomenal. Anglers are reporting 50 to 60 fish days. In the mix has been walleye, sauger, eelpout, perch, northern pike and yes even sturgeon. There has been a lot of sorting. Meaning many smaller fish are being caught. That’s great news for the future of the fishery however you will plow through bait you are tipping your set up with. In addition, good numbers of slot fish (19.5” – 28”) are being reeled up for a quick photo and then promptly released. Trophy walleyes over the 28” slot are being landed with good consistency as well.
Where to Fish
River Bend Resort’s fleet is perched 2 miles offshore in front of Pine Island. Resting on 12” – 14” inches of ice, we are fishing 22 – 26 feet of water. The action is staying strong along the entire southern shoreline. Please keep in mind that ice conditions can and will vary across each area. Even though the ice has been thickening and resorts are increasing weight limits for transportation (ATV’s, snowmobiles, side by sides, small vehicles), if you are going it alone keep to the marked roads/trails and adhere to the weight restrictions – no ½ tons. For those of you who are choosing to be mobile, there has been reported a good morning and evening bite in 9’ – 18’ along the same southern shoreline.
How to Fish
One jigging setup and one deadstick setup is getting it done. For the jigging rod set up, go-to jig head colors currently reported are gold, glow colors, lighted lures, and rattling lures. All tipped with a frozen minnow. The deadstick setup is as easy as a plain red hook and a live minnow. Don’t touch it. Let the live minnow do the work for you.
We are finding the best presentation is inches off the bottom. There seems to be something in the mud that is keeping all the fish currently glued to the bottom. Trust your flasher. You never know when a big walleye will come from higher up in the water column.
We currently are still running a New Year’s Rock’n Special on our 2/2 and 3/2 packages December 31st – Jan 2nd. We still have space available but anticipate filling up quickly with this offer. Book your ice fishing trip now! Don’t wait! River Bend Resort can set you up easily with just one call to our booking agents. We offer a variety of ice fishing packages that will suit any level of ice fishing experience and will fit any budget. You can find our offerings as well as pricing by clicking this link. In addition, we do offer online booking for those who wish to do so. Please keep in mind that if you should experience any difficulty with our online system, we are a simple phone call away from getting you set up and fishing with us on beautiful Lake of The Woods.
Until next week … Keep a Tight Line! Bugs & Fishes ≤º))~{
