Ballard's - Lake of the Woods, Minnesota

A fan of trophy walleyes…

Hello sportsfans and welcome to the weekly sweep here on Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods.  Wow.  Our weather has really ran the spectrum these past five to six days.  From good to bad to good again…  We’ve been bouncing up and down the barometer like a yo-yo on a first timers attempt.  A crazy ride…

Prior to the weekend we settled into a very consistent walleye bite that covered the mid-lake mud flats and the reefs just west of Big Island.  There were multiple options available from drifting to trolling and our guides were pretty much throwing everything at ‘em.  The end result?  Great fishing.  Great walleye fishing.

And then came Saturday.  Yes I am a fan of trophy walleyes.  No I am not a fan of the wind blowing so hard the big lake becomes un-fishable.

With prevailing westerlies (this happens about once or twice a summer) we experienced some 30-40 mph winds for three straight days.  And with that about our only option is to hide over by Zippel, slug it out, and basically do the best we can.  So that’s what we did.

Now what?  After today the winds will subside.  The temps have really cooled off.  And the Big “T” is quite churned.  A challenge for the balance of the week and this coming weekend?  Maybe.

It’s tough to predict what we’ll be looking at until we get back on the pond tomorrow.  If history tells us anything…  Start by finding clean water.  Fish the mud versus the reefs.  And keep moving until you find ‘em.  It will be a whole new ballgame when the green flag drops tomorrow.

Until next time.  The great chase continues.

I’m a fan of trophy walleyes.  I’m not a fan of the wind keeping us off the lake.  But as they say:  that’s fishing.

Set the hook!