LOTW ice worsens but bite reamains strong

[Halversons on Crow Lake]

Well this will be our last ice fishing report for the season as warmer conditions have now begun to make areas more unpredictable. Ice conditions on Lake of the Woods are still generally safe for fourwheeler travel but one should be very aware of current areas. We are finding some soft spots, so we highly reccommend you contact ourselves or Angler's Pro Shop to get current changes to the lakes. Basically we are still fishing but with great respect for the changing conditions. Crow Lake along with several of our other glacier trout lakes still have good ice due to the cold water conditions. That beeing said we still have started to see known current areas begin to open.
As for the fishing it has been mixed reports. We were out two days ago and by being flexible and moving to find the fish we had very successful crappie fishing. Half our group went to Sand Bay fishing shallow fish and the other half stayed towards town in deeper water. Both groups were able to get a nice limit of crappies. We are seeing alot of people set up on spots that produced for them in the past and this is where they sit all day. While fish will move in and out it is truly not the way to assure yourself some outstanding fishing. Glow jigs tipped with very small minnows seems our best bet. It has been a very soft bite and dead sticking seems to make the finicky biters a little easier to catch.
Walleyes have slowed some what but we are still seeing some decent catches. The falls has produced but as can be expected it is fairly busy with anglers. If you are going to venture out on your own look for shallow flats and bay mouths. The last two hours of light seem to still be the prime fishing. We are still using small spoons tipped with a minnow or half of the minnow. In some areas the perch can be almost overwhelming but if an angler is patient it usually pays off with a few nice walleye.
Trout fishing on Crow Lake has been good to darn right awesome. Seeing the larger fish in seventy to eighty feet of water. When fishing deeper like this be ready for hits on the way down and while reeling up. Your lure is covering a greater depth and trout will chase as the lure rises or falls past them. When fishing in the forty foot mark we are still catching fish but generally alot smaller. We are using the trusty white tube jig with a rattle, little cleo's, and tip up fishing for them. One thing to note is that the last week has seen us tip our lures with a minnow to get the more aggressive bites. We would like to congratulate Pat Waverin on entering the largest Lake Trout in our Winter Trout Tournament. Pat takes home $500.00 and some bragging rights. We would like to thank all our guests for making this a fun tradition. To see a picture of Pat just go to our website and check it out.
As for now we will periodically update ice out conditions and we look forward to ice out Lake Trout fishing. This time of year sees trout move shallow and it can just be a blast. Stay safe on the ice and we will keep you all posted on any major changes.


[attachment deleted by admin]

[UncleDave]

Good report and nice crappie!