How to Target Late Ice Walleyes on Lake of the Woods

Written By Richard Jacobson

Minnesota closes its inland Walleye season at the end of February every year. Fishing licenses expire on the last day of February. A lot of anglers see it as the end of the season and hang up the ice rods in wait for open water, unfortunately missing one of the best windows for shallow water walleyes of the season.

Lake of the Woods and other MN / Canada border waters have open Walleye seasons until the second week of April. This window can provide anglers with one of the best bites of the season, and one of the premier chances to catch big fish as they push shallow in preparation for the spawn.

As the spring days begin to get longer, the changes in photoperiod send the initial signals for Walleyes to begin their seasonal movements to stage for the spawn. In general, this is going to be a shallow movement. A lot of the time this means shoreline related to shallow areas, but it can also mean shallow areas on main lake rocks.

Fish that spend most of the ice season out in the basin chasing tullibee schools (making it difficult to target most of the winter), now become more accessible. This accessibility gives anglers one of the best chances of the ice season to catch a big fish. Fish will be close to their maximum weight for the season and are in beautiful condition.

Flash Dancer Pro triggers another LOTW late ice slot fish

While the major movement is to push shallow, this does not mean all the fish are going to be shallow over the course of a fishing day. There are definitive daily movements that are going to vary day to day, but they will stay in relation to the shallow areas. Some days there will be a hard morning and evening shallow bite, with fish moving back out during the middle part of the day. Other days fish may hang up on a break line until after dark before moving up, and other days fish will stay shallow for major parts of the day. The later into the season you go, the more likely you will find the fish shallow for more hours of the day.

What does this mean for an angler? Simply that you need to stay mobile enough to capitalize on the fish movements. First breaks are great spots to start. This allows you to move up or out depending on how the fish are moving on the given day. That break might be 14 feet, or it may be 20 ft, but it means the same thing to the fish. I really like to find small “benches” on the break which fish may use as a rest stop as they are moving around.

Fish are generally moving to feed, so fishing aggressively with spoons like our Flash Dancer Pro & Big Dogg or rattle baits like our Kinetic V50 can be deadly. Pair these with a dead stick for a great 1-2 punch. Minnow heads are great on spoons, either from a live chub or frozen shiner. A 50mm rattle bait can cover most of the season. For dead sticks we use both Teardrop jigs like our 7mm Tungsten Bullet and bare hooks. Sometimes fish will show a preference, other times not so much. But 100% have a dead stick, on a tough day it might be the only way to get some eaters.

Pairing the right rods with the baits can be a key to optimizing your opportunities. Rods are a key element to be able to present the lures in a way to attract and trigger a fish to bite. Our Xyra Pro Series rods are matched perfectly with the lures we use all season. While longer rods have become a trend, we find 32” is a perfect balance. It is short enough we have plenty of tip space in a house, but still long enough to hole hop and keep loaded on big fish. The Pro Series rods have extremely stiff handles so they have lots of power deep into the rod to handle any Walleye this lake can offer. We also have countless option in custom blanks to go longer and shorter when specific needs arise.

32” Pro Series ML - 8 -10lb braid to 10lb fluorocarbon leader.

32” Pro Series M - 10lb braid to 10lb fluorocarbon leader or straight 10lb fluorocarbon. If it’s super pike infested we will use a 17lb fluorocarbon leader.

32” Stealth RS - 8 or 10 LB mono.

With spring bringing longer days, that can also mean long days for anglers. A common approach to this is to fish in the mornings or evenings. Setting up in prime locations for just a morning or evening bite can be very productive this time of year. It can be a bit feast or famine day to day, but you can run into some amazing bites.

I really like to find areas where we can set up off the first break and quickly move up to a shallow flat before dark. We give ourselves a better shot at midday fish, and if the bite dies off early, we can move up to follow the fish. This is a great position as sometimes the bite will stay through sunset on the break line, had we stuck strictly to the shallows, we would have missed the activity on the break.

Make sure to take advantage of some of the best fishing the ice season has to offer. It may be one of your best chances to put some of the biggest fish of the ice season topside.

Gear up for late ICE before the bite is over ICE 2026


Richard Jacobson
Next

5 Families of ICE