Lake of the Woods update

[Lee Borgersen]

                           Lake of the Woods Report :fishing2:

The ice fishing season started early at Lake of the Woods and the bite has been stellar up to this point. Given the walleye and sauger population in the lake, that should continue throughout the season.

Anglers have been sorting through a lot of small walleyes while putting together limits of keeping-sized fish. This year’s hatch produced an abundance of walleyes that are now 6 to 8 inches long and the 2011-year class also is strong with hordes of 11- to 12-inch walleyes.



“People will notice a lot of pesky, small fish, so bring extra bait,” said Phil Talmage, DNR fisheries supervisor in Baudette. “But with those are plenty of keepers and plenty of big walleyes, too.”

Talmage added that walleyes in the 15- to 17-inch range also are well represented in Lake of the Woods. Those walleyes appear to be the fish being kept in most limits during the early part of the season.

Sauger abundance remains high as well, with the lake riding strong year classes from 2005, 2006 and 2007. Most of them are now in the 13- to 15-inch class, so you should expect to not just catch a lot of sauger, but a lot of nice sauger this season.

“Walleyes and sauger are both in great shape and they are biting very good,” Talmage said. “I haven’t heard a bad fishing report off Lake of the Woods so far.”