In many areas of the Midwest, walleye season has closed.

In other areas of the Midwest, ice conditions aren’t conducive to safe ice-fishing.

In other words, ice-fishing for walleyes is pretty much done for the year.

There is one place though, where you can still fish through the ice for walleyes. That place is Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota. Walleye season is open on Lake of the Woods until mid-April, the ice is traditionally safe up to that time, and the fishing can be outstanding. In fact, the bite gets better as mid-April gets closer. I just returned from a trip to Lake of the Woods, and if the bite is better than we experienced, it will be outstanding.

I fished with Mr. Walleye Gary Roach and the crew from Wigwam Resort. Wigwam Resort is located on the Rainy River, which flows into Lake of the Woods. The folks at Wigwam took us to the reefs about an hour from the resort. By going out this far, we were able to get to fish that hadn’t received a lot of angling pressure. We took track vehicles that were warm and comfortable to ride in.

Once we got to the area to be fished, numerous holes were popped in the ice, which was about forty inches thick. Although we could have fished from the track vehicles, we chose to fish outside. The weather was warm and there was no wind. We could fish without gloves. As we get later in the season and the temperatures get warmer, you will be able to fish in just light jackets and sweatshirts. A warm day on the ice with biting walleyes is a really neat deal.

The fishing was fast, but technique was very important. The walleyes were riding very high in the water. The area being fished was twenty three to twenty seven feet deep, but the fish were all about twelve feet below the ice. Sonar was mandatory. If your bait was on the bottom, where you would typically fish for walleyes, you would not get bit: The fish just weren’t on the bottom. You watched your sonar and when a mark appeared in the twelve foot range, you simply moved your spoon to that level. You almost always caught the fish. The MarCum LX-5 that I was using did a great job of revealing the fish. Without that unit, fishing would have been very slow.

Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons were the hot bait. The walleye’s color preferences changed during the day, but Firetiger produced the most fish. The water in this section of Lake of the Woods is stained, and the rattle provided by this spoon really helped to trigger the fish.

If you would like to get in on this late season fantastic fishing, contact the folks at Wigwam Resort at 800-448-9260 or visit their website at www.wigwamresortlow.com In a year when ice-fishing has been hit-or-miss for a lot of anglers, this late season walleye action can be a real hit.

For more fish-catching information, visit fishingthemidwest.com