Lake of the Woods — Fifty Degrees, and Give Yesterday's Spot Half an Hour

My whole fishing career has been one long fight with a blank sonar screen. The screen says nothing’s down there. I believe it. I pull anchor and leave, and the guy who stayed starts catching fish. This week’s Lake of the Woods note finally gives me permission to sit still.

The tourism desk’s Oct. 20 report is posted on Fishrapper’s report page. When we checked Tuesday morning, the tourism site’s own report page still showed Oct. 13, so we’ve linked the Fishrapper copy, which credits Lake of the Woods Tourism.

The thermometer

The lake is sitting at about 50 degrees. Our Oct. 15 card had it at 53, so that’s three degrees in a week. That’s about how fast my truck heater warms up on a January morning: slow, but you notice.

South shore: same plan, plus one good habit

On Big Traverse, tourism says the main lake hasn’t changed much since last week, and that’s not a bad thing.

• The fish: walleyes in schools, staged up and down the south shore, with some of them near structure.
• The method: anchor or spot-lock, then jig and minnow straight down. Park on top of a school and things can get busy in a hurry.
• Colors this week: gold, gold/glow white/pink, and chartreuse.
• Bait: emerald shiners come first. After you’ve found the school, fatheads and chubs will do the job too.

Now the good habit. Fish lying tight to the mud can be hard to pick out on your electronics. So if a spot held fish the day before, tourism suggests giving it about half an hour even when the screen looks empty. Thirty minutes. Pour a coffee, retie, and let the jig do the work before you give up on it.

Rainy River: still waiting on the big push

The shiner story inched along this week. More shiners are moving into the river, but tourism says it’s not the big run yet. The river is still fairly warm. A lot of folks expect that as it cools, more minnows will come in, with walleyes following them upriver. That’s what folks expect, not something that’s already happened, and tourism calls it a bite worth watching for the next few weeks.

Sturgeon: some good reports from fall anglers, and tourism says that bite usually keeps climbing as it gets colder.

Northwest Angle: the mixed bag

• Walleyes: great reports from several different spots around the Angle. Like always up there, you might reel in a jumbo perch, a pike, or something else on the next drop.
• Crappies: anglers are getting nice fish. Fall is when black crappies school up, and tourism says the average fish up there runs big.
• Muskies: some nice fish caught and released. Tourism points out fall has always been good muskie time on the Woods.

The rules, as the report lists them

Walleyes and saugers combined: 6 fish, with no more than 4 walleyes. Walleyes from 19.5 to 28 inches go back right away, and you can keep one over 28. You’ll need a 2026 Minnesota license. Double-check all of this against the current MN DNR regulations, and know the border rules if you drift toward Canada.

How this fits with the last card

Keep Fifty-Three on the Gauge for the Oct. 13 notes, the Chili Bowl results, and the first word that the shiner run hadn’t started. Use this card for the newer numbers: about 50 degrees, this week’s colors, the half-hour rule, and shiners trickling in, not running.

The report ends by saying it’s time to make ice fishing plans. Which is a polite way of saying the open-water season is almost over. Go while you can.

Fine print

One weekly tourism report for a lake big enough to have its own weather. It gives no fish counts or sizes, and we didn’t add any. The river forecast is what a lot of anglers expect, not a fact yet. We used the copy on Fishrapper because the tourism site hadn’t updated its report page when we checked.

Sources

• Lake of the Woods Fishing Report, Oct. 20, 2026, Lake of the Woods Tourism, as posted on Fishrapper
• Lake of the Woods Rainy River Fishing Report, Lake of the Woods Tourism (showing Oct. 13 when we checked)
• Minnesota DNR fishing regulations
• Prior card: Lake of the Woods — Fifty-Three on the Gauge, and the Shiners Still Thinking About It