Lake of the Woods Walleyes

After what was a slow holiday season as far as fishing has been concerned, a friend and I headed west to Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. We left on Sunday morning and drove four hours to Zippel Bay on the massive lake's south side. Lake of the Woods and the surrounding area is very interesting geologically...it sits at the cross roads of the flat, boggy prairie and the rocky Canadian Shield. The south portion of the lake, most of which is in Minnesota, is an open, relatively shallow sand flat. The northern portion is deep, rocky, and full of islands. Zippel Bay is a narrow river-like bay, and the Zippel Bay Resort is located well back from the main portion of Lake of the Woods.

We checked in at the Resort's office and learned they had put us in Sleeper House #224. The attendant pointed out where the house was located on a large map that showed an actual grid system of plowed roads on the ice of the main lake. After we settled up ($114 per person for 2 nights), we drove down the landing to ice road on the bay. We wound our way up down Zippel Bay, crossed a sand bar and went onto Lake of Woods. It was an impressive scene...thousands of ice fishing shacks of every make, model, and quality stretched to both the east and west horizons. The northern horizon was a frozen, snow covered lake as far as the eye could see.

We followed the street signs on the road system to "Bobber Street" and took a left, eventually finding the Sleeper Fishhouse labled #224. It was a solidly built house that was about 7' x 12'. It had two beds that folded down from the walls, six already opened fishing holes, a stove top, a heater, a table, and a propane light. Outside there was an outhouse-like structure with a bucket and some garbage bags. Thankfully, a toilet seat was kept inside the fishing house to keep it warm. The house was a respectable distance away from other houses.

We got our lines set up in 24 feet of water and settled in. It took a little while to get going, but we eventually caught several walleye and sauger (a slightly smaller, but just as tasty walleye cousin). Some of the fish were quite small, but we caught some nice eaters up to 16". After dark, I caught a good sized eelpout (burbot), which my friend had never seen before. He wasn't impressed. Overall the fishing was little slower than expected. After a fish supper we turned in, leaving one line down on a rattle reel.

Monday was a sunny, warm day and the fishing was pretty fast for an hour or so right away in the morning, but they were mostly small. We took a drive out and about that afternoon, checking out all the different kind of fishhouse set ups and noting the big spray foam igloo that the Resort keeps on the lake. It has a bar and grill inside. That evening the fishing picked up again. After supper, well after dark, I was jigging on the bottom and noticed a wide mark on my depthfinder, well off the bottom. I reeled up to the spot and got bit right away. After a short tussle and a battle to free the 4lb test from the depthfinder transducer, I pulled up a large walleye. It measured out at 26.5". Probably 6 or 7 pounds. One of the nicer walleyes I've ever caught. A few minutes later another mark came in 10 feet off the bottom and struck my lure. My line snapped immediately. The other fish must have nicked the line somehow. Aargh. That was the last bite of the night.

On Tuesday, we had another pretty good bite in the morning, and my buddy caught a 17.5" walleye, which was a good addition to the pile of fish we were taking home. The trip home was uneventful. I got the fish cleaned and in the freezer (just for you, mom).

It was a fun and interesting trip. Now this weekend I am headed north of the border with two friends to get started on the lake trout season in Canada.