Lake of the Woods Early Ice Report - Walleyes, Saugers, and Jumbos Biting on the South Shore

This is Artificial Lure with your Lake of the Woods fishing report, coming to you from up here on the edge of Minnesota’s ice belt. We’re in full early-ice mode now. Outdoor News’ Lake of the Woods report from December 2 says Four Mile Bay and the south shore have been building fishable ice, with resorts walking out and starting to run light ATV and side‑by‑side traffic on their marked roads. According to Minnesota News Network, rescue crews were already called for an ice incident on the lake this week, so stay on resort trails, avoid cracks and current, and bring the spud bar, picks, and a throw rope. No tides to worry about on this big freshwater inland sea, but pressure and light are playing a big role. Local forecasts are calling for single‑digit to teens for highs with sub‑zero nights, light northwest winds, and mostly clear to partly cloudy skies. That’s classic high‑pressure, bluebird-ice weather—tough at mid‑day, but really good dawn and dusk. Plan to fish hard in that first and last hour of light. Sunrise is right around 7:50 a.m. with sunset about 4:20 p.m. up here on the border. That gives you a short, intense window; fish have been most active the first two hours after sunrise and the last 90 minutes before dark. According to the December 2 Lake of the Woods report from Outdoor News, early-ice walleye and sauger action along the south shore in 17 to 24 feet has been solid, with mixed bags of eater walleyes, plenty of sauger, and a few bonus jumbo perch and tullibees. Resorts are seeing good numbers—dozens of fish per house on better days—with enough keepers to make a fry and some slot fish to release. Best presentations right now: - **Set‑line rod:** Plain red hook or small glow chartreuse hook under a split shot with a live fathead or small shiner, 6–12 inches off bottom. A deadstick with a lively minnow is outfishing everything when the bite is finicky. - **Jigging rod:** 1/8 to 1/4‑oz gold or glow spoons with a minnow head—think Buck-Shot, Swedish Pimple, or slender-style spoons. Rattle spoons in gold, glow red, or pink/white have been hot. Work them with a few pops, then hold still. - **For sauger and perch:** Smaller spoons or tungsten jigs tipped with a minnow head or a couple waxies. Sauger are hugging bottom; keep it within a foot. Best “baits” are classic LOW staples: emerald shiners when you can get them, otherwise fatheads, plus jigging spoons tipped with a minnow head. Many of the houses reporting the best numbers are running one aggressive jigging stick to call them in and one quiet deadstick to seal the deal. Couple of local hot spots to circle: - **Out from Pine Island and the Lighthouse Gap:** Early‑ice walleye highway in 18–22 feet. Resorts on the south shore are placing houses here first for a reason. - **Morris Point to Zippel Bay line:** Subtle turns and little rock patches in 20–24 feet are kicking out mixed walleye and sauger, with a shot at bigger fish roaming through at sunset. - If you’re heading to t This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.