Early Ice Walleyes and Saugers on Lake of the Woods

This is Artificial Lure with your Lake of the Woods, Minnesota fishing report. We’re solidly into **early-ice** now, and it’s shaping up nicely. Outdoor News’ Lake of the Woods report from December 9 says initial ice action has been **good**, with **walleyes, saugers, and jumbo perch** all in the mix. Lake of the Woods Tourism is echoing that: good numbers of eaters with some nice slot fish and a few big girls showing up during low light. No tides to worry about on this freshwater inland sea, but barometer and wind still matter. Under this current high-pressure stretch, the **morning and late-afternoon bites** have clearly been best, with a midday lull unless you’re right on a transition or a subtle inside turn. Weather-wise, we’re in classic early-winter mode: single digits to teens overnight, teens and 20s during the day, light to moderate northwest wind, occasional flurries. That’s building ice but also drifting snow, so expect variable thickness and some slush pockets off the beaten path. Local resorts are talking **8–12 inches** of ice in the well-traveled areas near shore, thinner and spottier as you push toward mid-lake. Stay on the staked resort roads and heed every sign. Sunrise is right around **8 a.m.**, sunset roughly **4:20 p.m.** That gives you a tight prime-time window; most of the better fish this week have come in the first two hours of light and the last hour before dark, with a short after-dark bump for walleyes on the shallower flats. Recent catches: houses set in **18–24 feet** are putting good numbers of **walleyes and saugers** on the ice, mixing in some **jumbo perch** and the odd **tulibee**. According to the latest early-ice reports, a typical day in a well-placed shack has been 20–40 fish, mostly eaters in that 13–17 inch range with a few slot fish to keep it interesting. Best presentations right now: - **Jigging spoons**: 1/8–1/4 oz gold, glow red, glow green, or pink. Buckshot-style rattle spoons and slender spoons have been hot. - **Deadstick**: A plain red hook or small glow jig with a live **shiner or fathead**, set a foot off bottom, is matching the jig stick or even outfishing it some days. - Tip: Work the jigging rod aggressively to call fish in, then let them slide over to the deadstick for the eat. Top baits: - **Emerald shiners** (live or dead head-and-tail combo) - **Fathead minnows** - A **minnow head** on the spoon and a full live minnow on the deadstick is the go-to early-ice one-two punch. Couple of hot spots to circle on your map: - **Out from Pine Island and Morris Point**: Resorts have roads punched to that 18–23 foot range, and the walleye–sauger mix has been steady there with good structure changes and a nice migration corridor. - **Graceton Beach to Zippel Bay line**: Subtle breaks and mud-to-sand transitions are holding schools of saugers and perch, with bonus walleyes sliding through at low light. If you’re walking or running a wheeler, stay conservative: check ice with a spud bar, watc This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.