Ballard's - Lake of the Woods, Minnesota

Cold snap punches bite…

Hello sportsfans…  And welcome to the weekly burrrrrrrr here on Lake of the Woods.

Ouch.  Lows temps of minus thirty degrees.  For three straight days.  Ouch.

Not only has the walleye bite slowed but so has the movement in my joints.  Why would anyone live in the northern most sector of the United States?  For the ice fishing!  You bet!

And as we say at Ballard’s…  “The colder the better”.  Well…  Maybe not quite so cold.

Anyway, the fishing?  Yes.  The walleye / sauger bite has dropped off quite noticeably in the past three to four days.  And it seems like today it might have even bottomed out along with the thermometer.

The guides are busy, busy, busy.  I just got off the horn with Nick in the “lake office” and he told me we are once again on the move.  Deeper faster.  That’s the prediction.  And that’s where I’d go if I were a fish during a cold blast. 

We’ll see how much work the guides get done in the next couple of days.  But I know that they’ve already moved a dozen houses today in preparation for more fishermen tomorrow.  Hopefully the fish will respond.  It’s time to regroup.

What else is new?  Well…  I survived the holidays.  Every year it’s such a blast.  There were so many people here to visit over Christmas / New Year’s break.  And we certainly enjoy sharing our little part of the world with you.

Til next time?  Keep moving.  We were fishing 28-29 feet.  About 2 1/2 miles offshore.  I’m guessing by the chatter we’ll be deeper and further by the weekend.  Looking for more positive results.

We’re definitely not seeing those 75-80 fish days in a good fish house.  That numbers have been cut by at least half.  And then some.

The bite will come back with the temps.  It always does.  And we’ll be ready to…

Set the hook!