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Every winter, Minnesota's Lake of the Woods draws visiting ice fishermen from across the Midwest. With the American side alone covering 317,000 acres, there's more than enough room to accommodate crowds. Sauger and walleye fishing promises to be excellent in 1997. Lake surveys conducted this year turned up impressive numbers of fish, according to Bob Ekstrom of the Minnesota DNR. "The 1989 and 1990 year classes of sauger were very strong and those fish should now be reaching 14-16 inches. Walleyes in that range should be good too." Anglers are allowed to fish two lines on Lake of the Woods, and Ekstrom suggests a live minnow and bobber on one and a jigged spoon or Rapala on the other. "On a very few days sauger won't take your jigged lure at all and you'll have to use two minnows," he says. While there's no minimum size on walleye or sauger, only one walleye over 19 inches is allowed, Ekstrom notes, prompting some anglers to complain, tongue in cheek, of catching "too many big fish." For more information on Lake of the Woods, contact the Minnesota DNR at Minnesota DNR, Division of Fish and Wildlife, DNR Building, 500 Lafayette Rd., St. Paul MN 55155-4046, phone 612-296-6157. Copyright (c) 1997 All Outdoors, Inc. All rights reserved. |