Lake of the Woods Morson Fishing Reports by Tolen's

[Tolens]

Got out around 2 today fished west of Brule Island in 20 fow. We used frozen shiners had hit and miss action till quarter to 4, then the the bite was on. We packed up at dark and they were still biting. Both walleyes and sauger. There are several roads for trucks. The snow machine trail to White Fish Bay has no slush. In WFB reports are 12" of ice.

[MuskieDowg]

Thanks for the update Tolenspl! I'm really interested in the ice road update! Do you have more details on where the roads go and how many there are? I might bring up a wheel house if conditions continue to improve.

[Tolens]

Out yesterday from the Morson government dock there is not much snow on the ice, can drive pretty much anywhere in 2wd. Have heard reports of travel to Sunset Channel and Miles Bay . Fished for walleyes with minnows on pink jigs n white glow in the dark. Caught only walleyes this time out in 17 fow. MuskieDowg there was one plowed road before the last snow out to the west side of Brule island leaving from Big Island Reservation . Not sure if its been plowed again.

Cheers

[Eastwind]

Fished out of Morson last Sat thru Monday. First two days we went up to WFB looking for Lakers. Marked lots on the Vexilar but no takers. Had one on then it got off, got a ten pound Northern and one other average Northern. Fished 'Eyes on Monday. Again we marked fish all day but the bite was slowwww. Friend got one six pounder.

Traveled on snowmobiles was very easy going. Good ice with a little snow on top and no slush on the way up and back from WFB. Went west for 'Eyes and encountered to huge ice heaves. A little scary but we found safe places to cross. Lodging at Pelican Landing with the new owners was great. Great service, accomodations etc. Still my favorite Winter trip. Thank you Rob and Rebecca!

[jerkin'm]

Eastwind-I was waiting for your report, it is similar to ours from LOTW. We were up a couple weeks before you and fished WFB and got one laker and marked lots, we got a handful of really nice pike in WFB too. We then proceeded to swiss cheese most of Miles Bay and surrounding area. Marked fish all day and only managed a few midget saugers, midget eyes, one nice smallie and a few dink perch. Once 4:00 rolled around we had a nice flurry of jumbo perch and nice crappies, (4-5 of each)one 17" keeper eye and a few borderline saugers. It was nice to have the whole area to ourselves but I expected the walleye fishing to be a bit better....Obviously WFB had seen a lot of pressure before us as everywhere we wanted to fish someone had already drilled....Awesome scenery and like you said, the trip of the winter for us....

[Tolens]

Group I talked to over the weekend that fished in WFB they caught some nice trout in the morning, and then they came back to Morson side of the lake to do some crappie fishing , which they did well also. We talked about the BAD ice/ no ice west of Rabbit Point and the little island. Just a heads up to anyone going north to miles bay area or over to sunset channel . Stay on the west side of the marker.(Rabbit Point) Saturday I had a chance to do some walleye fishing in 17 fow had our lines in the water at around 4 pm caught fish up till dark. Sunday we headed west of fox islands to a reef fished in 20 fow had saugers n walleyes being caught. Till next week.

Cheers

[Wild Thing]

Hey Guys

Heading up Thursday for a very short trip. What's the status of ice ridges straight west of Morson? Thinking west of Pork? There were some nasty ones there a few weeks ago.

Anyone fishing reefs for walleyes and if so how deep? 12-15-18? I only have a little time to fish so trying to narrow down the possibilities.

Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated.

Dankeschon!

P.S. Tolepnsl, you probably know the answer to this: Still enough snow on the ice for snow machines?

Thanks

[Tolens]

Wild Thing

Goin west of pork point I've drove the truck out there starting at big Island Reserve. There is a road plowed to Brule ,everyone heads through the fox Islands (theres a break in the ice ridge ) then west again . I was on a reef fishing at 18/20 fow daytime . As for snow last weekend there was enough . Hope that helps you ,Good luck.

[Wild Thing]

Oops, forgot to thank you guys.

Had a quick trip up fished last Friday and Saturday... good average size, several 18-21 inch fish, but not crazy on numbers. Also landed another 40-inch class pike. Wonder why they have been so active this winter? Maybe I'm just a pike magnet!

Snow conditions on the ice were perfect for snow machines, about 4-5 inches on the level and soft.. except the ice ridges have multiplied and gotten bigger. Had a hard time getting out to my favorite reefs. Also had Fog as thick as peanut butter on Friday. Ended up driving the truck out of Gov.t dock and fishing close by there. Did the same same on Saturday.

Lots of ice, more than 24 inches.

Friday was dead and very few tracks on the snow. Saturday saw and heard more activity on the ice.

Road out from Big Island Res is still plowed, but you can probably go most places on the ice if it doesn't snow more.

Back up in 10 days and then again the first week in March.

Seeyall!

(Tolenspl.... I will have to stop by sometime, we drive by on the way in to out place.)

[Eastwind]

W.T.

Were does the road from Big Island Res originate and go to? I'm just nosey, as I bring a snowmobile when I ice fish out of Morson.

BTW thanks for the fishing report.

[welfedted]

eastwind did you get my e-mail? WFT THANKS FOR THE REPORT WT.

[Eastwind]

WFT,

You've got mail.

E.W.

[Wild Thing]

Eastwind,

I don't know if he was kidding, but my buddy up there (who knows the guy who plowed the road) said it goes to French Portage Narrows, which is like 30 miles away. Apparently the guy has a cabin up there!

I'm going up with a couple guys Thursday night for a long weekend, will report back then.

Good luck all!

Forgot to say we caught our fish in 19 feet off a reef, but that's week-old news now.

[welfedted]

Wildthing, I'll be up the same time you are. It would be nice to meet & say hi, maybe compare notes and have a pop. My group will target the big three, walleye,lakers, and crappies. Good luck! WFT

[benelli_dude2002]

i plan on making a daytrip up there on Monday for crappies then wallleyes in the afternoon. will post a report when i get back. i have some other friends going up for lakers next friday. I'll be on the west coast next friday prolly wishing i was fishing. lol

[Tolens]

Hey all

Went to Miles Bay Saturday by truck fished for crappies in 30 fow there were 6 or 7 sleds with portables there too. Caught a few walleyes and a dozen crappies, not a hot bite , but still better then working .. Went to WFB on Sunday tried up by Timber island in 40 fow and down by devils Bay nothing but one northern .. seen other fish on the Vexilar no takers .. no fresh snow so truck travel is easy.. the week before that was west of fox islands fished in 20 fow used minnows/glow in the dark white 3/8 jig and jigs like the Lindy Darter had action on both ...

[benelli_dude2002]

Hi yall! Made a day trip to Morson today. Tried to get bait at BVR but nobody was around and we didn't know of anyone else that sold live bait. Unhitched the portables and took off for Nestor Falls by sled. Was a quick but awesome ride. Got my speed fix for the season. Lol. Anyhow.....fished on a edge of a reef west of Morson and did well on crappies and walleyes in the same place. Even caught a few crappies on a spoon. But it seemed live bait on small jigs were the best. Didn't even set up the portable cuz it was so nice out. Day well spent in my book.

[Tolens]

Just a heads up for March 17 there's a fishing tournament put on by Big Island of Morson.. its a great family event with lots of prizes for the kids and adults .. Will get more details in the next week or so

Wild thing looking forward to meeting you

Cheers

[Eastwind]

WFT,

How was the fishin'? How did the field test of the carrier go?

[Wild Thing]

Wow, just got back from three days of GREAT fishing!

Thanks to Benelli Dude and his dad we got on to some ginormous crappies very close to Morson. We had a meal and brought home our limit of 45 and they were all 12-14 inches. I've never seen that many that large before from LOTW.

Also did well on walleyes with 3 25's a 23 and several 17-19 inchers. Lots of small saugers were bugging us when we fished off the reefs.

One guy got a 34 inch pike this morning and I got one about that Friday morning. B-dude's dad got a big one Friday too. What a year for big pike!

Incredible weather, plus a FANTASTIC northern lights display saturday night. Just filled the whole sky to the north and straight up.

We fished the crappies just off a reef in 22 feet. some walleyes that deep up to 14 feet on the reef.

Nearly 30 inches of ice, very close to needing extender.

Perfect snow for snowmobiling, about 4 inches on the lake and they are supposed to get another 4 Monday.

Lots of folks out fishing this weekend in the nice weather, about the most I've seen in a long time.

About as good as ice fishing gets!

Back up in 11 days!

Take care all!

[welfedted]

I agree Wild Thing. Fished Fri, Sat, & Sun. Weather, riding conditions, and fishing were excellent. 6 of us brought home our limits of eyes and crappies. Only haif of us were lucky enough to land our Lakers. Had a great fish fry on Sat. The new auger rack worked great. I traveled with the narrow adaptor the whole time, average speed was 30 mph. Hope to be heading up again soon as work is slow. I'll be postig pics when wife gets home. WFT

[dmoore]

Heading up on Friday. Trying to do it all. Walleyes, crappies, lake trout. Did you get your crappies in Miles or Hay Island? We have a place at Mylies. Where are you located? Email me if you wish: [email protected]

Dick

[Eastwind]

WFT,

Whew! glad to hear that the auger holder worked well for you. I test my replacement NTB up in the Arrowhead next weekend. Glad to hear the fishing report also.

EW

[welfedted]

here are some pics from last wkend. WFT

[Tolens]

Nice pics WFT

Got a dump of snow this week, 6 inches or so... Big Grassy is putting on a fishing tournament on saturday out from the Morson government dock.

Cheers