Ballard's - Lake of the Woods, Minnesota

Splish splash…  Wind, waves, and walleyes.

Hello sportsfans…  Welcome to the weekly bail here on Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods.

What’s the latest?  Fishing, fishing, and more walleye fishing.

The report?  I have to sound like a record that keeps skipping, but we’ve really been stuck in a fishing / weather funk for about the past two weeks.  Same fronts blow in…  Same fishing results go out…

Example:  last week we saw horrid winds on Sunday/Monday/Tuesday.  As went the weather (not favorable) so went the fishing.  The wind has a way of clipping us down to getting back to the basics.  Try to catch enough to eat for a shore lunch and take whatever you can get after that.  Which on some days has been slim.

The upside:  last week when the weather turned around the walleyes we totally resisliant.  Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat were quiet good.  And by the weekend we not only saw the numbers of fish return, but so did the trophy size.

I fished the big pond last Saturday.  It was a classic reef bite for late August.  You had to pick and choose your spots, but the fish were there.  On the day our gang boated about 40+ walleyes…  Had a fabulous shore lunch…  Released 11 slot fish (walleyes over 20”)...  And overally just enjoyed a tremendous day.

That’s the kind of fishing we expect in August.  More so with the jig-a-thon.  And maybe some higher numbers with the crankbaits.  But most of our guides are sticking to the hook-n-line techniques.  Both in the mud and on the rocks.

As for this week?  Again…  A skipping record.  Wind Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday of this week (tough bite).  And then Thursday through the weekend we will rebound.  That’s pretty much been the pattern.

The good news is:  Every day in as ADVENTURE.  And that’s what we love about Lake of the Woods.

Hey.  Are you ready to maybe pop a trophy!  Or at least…

Set the hook!