Lake of The Woods, MN Fishing Report April 27, 2023

The Rainy River is flowing freely and wide open all the way into Lake of The Woods. Over this past week or so, the Little Fork broke free followed by the Big Fork a few days later. Subsequently sending debris and muddy water in the Rainy. All of that has been flushed through her veins and fishing has been phenomenal.

In addition to fishing the river, sturgeon anglers are fishing near the ice pack edge on the lake outside of the Lighthouse Gap where the Rainy River enters Lake of the Woods. With that said, sturgeon fishing has been good overall.  Fourmile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River is producing good numbers of fish, with various spots along the river producing as well.

The sturgeon harvest season runs from April 24th – May 7th and July 1 – Sept. 30. The catch and release season runs May 8th – May 15th and Oct. 1 – April 23rd.

Most pike are staging adjacent to spawning areas and will be swimming back into shallow, muddy areas soon.  Back bays with open water will be the go-to spot for anglers wanting to catch a giant pike.  A few last minute monsters were landed off the last remaining ice in shallow. (see featured photo: River Bend’s very own, Tara Rud shows off a 43″ northern caught on Fourmile Bay) READ MORE.