Help Me Plan A Trip, Please

[B17]

Me and my old man used to fish a lot as kids. Then spent over a decade apart. This year has been wild. He is now recovering from a huge heart surgery and we have been getting back to fishing like old times.

For the first week of January we would like to rent a shack to stay in and hook into some fish.

Im not asking for anyone to give up their honey holes or anything...but where should I look?

We are looking for a 2-3 trip. Rent a nice shack. Catch some fish.

[JBMasterAngler]

Lake of the Woods, zipple bay resort. No need to look anywhere else!

[wanderlust]

lake of the woods, upper red, winibigoshish. what kind of fish do you like to catch? would you be willing to search for the fish and go portable or do you want to get setup like a king

[Archerysniper]

Lake of the woods

[leech~~]

My son-in-law and 3 of his buddies go up to LOW every Jan and rent a sleeper which has it's own outhouse from Sportsman lodge. Last year I fished by them during the day in a porty and ended up getting about 25 fish and the 4 of them got about 150 fish. Some times they aren't always the biggest fish but we have always gotten some up there!

[DLD24]

Lake of the woods or Red Lake...We stayed at Freds Beds on LOW last year, real nice house, real nice guy,good price, a lot of fish..

[luckydog25]

I would go to red lake. If you plan to rent a sleeper, you can catch fish at all hours. Not always, but much more often than on LOW. Red can have a very good night bite at times. My experience is not much of a night bite on LOW unless you want to catch pout.

[B17]

We would just like to be set up and stay put. Not sure he would be up for trudging around popping holes, etc...

We like Walleye, big Perch, Pike...Crappie

[ice_medic]

How far do you plan on traveling and would you like to stay in state are my big questions. If you want to stay in state I would would say LOW or mille lacs. We had good luck last year at both. We did the fish during the day and in on shore at night with sportmans at LOW and spent a couple of nights out on mille lacs with appledorns. Both wonderful places. Wigwam at LOw now has sleepers too. If you are looking out of state I would strongly recommend bitter lake or waubay in south dakota. I would strongly reccomend bittle lake lodge there. They work hard to put you on the fish and had wonderful new team lodge fish houses there to stay in plus giant walleye, northerns, and perch.

[B17]

Would want to stay in MN....the idea of a place being just as concerned with us catching fish as us handing over a check is crucial.

Ive done a couple of these with buddies and that has been the case unfortunately.

[Rikkus]

Hello B17, I sent you a message on some spots. Our group's trip is the 4th - the 11th. We're staying at a resort on Winnie, but fishing 3 different lakes. After >10-years of renting shacks & sleepers, we're going back to the portables. Our group's favorite lakes are Red Lake & Winnie. With Winnie, you're always catching something. Red Lake is coming back strong for the Walleye. All can be hit or Miss at times. We'll be fishing Winnie most of our trip, with a couple days on Red.

[boXCar JiggY]

Last red was hot pretty much all season an LOW was more hit an miss than Ive ever seen. Im planning on upper red this year. any one of the resorts do a great job. You will have a great shot a consistant fishing for walleyes. huge pick come thru for adrenalin pumping action an bonus crappie are know to give you a suprise from time to time. Give Jonny P. a call at washkish minnow station he will hook yu up for sure.

[low277]

Lake of the Woods has many different options, you can go to rent a house and drive your car or truck to it on plowed roads, or you can go full service and get transported out to a house in a tracked vehicle and have someone check on you every couple of hours.

It kind of depends on what your budget is and how far you are willing to drive.

[Luzbel]

I would definally go with Lake of the woods.. The drive is long but I think well worth it.. I personally like to sleep on the ice, you can fish all day and then sleep next to your hole and who knows?? maybe a huge eel would come at night and test you ice fishing skills.

I hope you guys have fun!

[eyehunter78]

RED LAKE!! Check with Chad Benson, he is a great guide and has nice clean fish houses at a reasonable rate.

[WalleyeVision]

A lot of good options out there that match your needs, there are around 50 resorts on the U.S. side of Lake of the Woods if you count the guide services and the resorts at the Northwest Angle.

You mentioned the need to have the resort get you on the fish, most are pretty good at that, but some better than others.

A couple other questions to consider that will narrow it down for you:

1) Do you want an on shore cabin with a fish house, or would you consider a sleeper fish house where you stay out on the lake?

2) Do you want a plowed road to your fish house, or do you prefer the resort to take you out in a bombardier. Pros and cons here as a lot of times the Bombardiers can get to fish that others can't, but you don't have the flexibility to go back and forth if you want to come to shore to eat, etc

3) Do you want a resort with a bar and night life or are you looking for a clean/quiet place to just hang out in the cabin?

4) Would you be willing to go to the Northwest Angle (adds about an hour and a half, but a lot of great options)?

If you answer these 4 questions I could at least narrow down the options for you somewhat. I know how daunting it can be to plan a trip up here with all of the options.

PM me if you want as well.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

RED LAKE!! Check with Chad Benson, he is a great guide and has nice clean fish houses at a reasonable rate.

Been going through chad for a number of years now. He's hands down the best guy I've ever had for being a guide. Top notch, and if there are fish to be had he puts you on them. I just wish he'd get back on the se side of red vs the sw.

[B17]

A lot of good options out there that match your needs, there are around 50 resorts on the U.S. side of Lake of the Woods if you count the guide services and the resorts at the Northwest Angle.

You mentioned the need to have the resort get you on the fish, most are pretty good at that, but some better than others.

A couple other questions to consider that will narrow it down for you:

1) Do you want an on shore cabin with a fish house, or would you consider a sleeper fish house where you stay out on the lake?

2) Do you want a plowed road to your fish house, or do you prefer the resort to take you out in a bombardier. Pros and cons here as a lot of times the Bombardiers can get to fish that others can't, but you don't have the flexibility to go back and forth if you want to come to shore to eat, etc

3) Do you want a resort with a bar and night life or are you looking for a clean/quiet place to just hang out in the cabin?

4) Would you be willing to go to the Northwest Angle (adds about an hour and a half, but a lot of great options)?

If you answer these 4 questions I could at least narrow down the options for you somewhat. I know how daunting it can be to plan a trip up here with all of the options.

PM me if you want as well.

1. Sleeper.

2. Plowed.

3. A bar would be fine. Not crucial.

4. Willing to go anywhere in the state of MN.