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Lake of the Woods Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Lake of the Woods: a Canada-Minnesota border water with its own walleye, sauger and northern pike limits, and two Minnesota state-record fish.

2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.28 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.
Lake level
1059.78 ft
Air / High
60 / 60 F
Wind
SSE 15 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 05140520, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. The wind owns today.28 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Lake of the Woods feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The gauge reads 59.00 ft, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind SSE around 15 mph, steady pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 60. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:55 AM-11:55 AM and 10:26 PM-12:26 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Tomorrow: Similar at 57 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Minnesota requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $25.00 for residents. What a Minnesota licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing walleye here? Check the size and bag limits with DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Minnesota, read off the agency, are on the Minnesota seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Lake of the Woods at Warroad, MN.

Gauge height, last 30 days

USGS gauge 05140520.

58.7559.0459.3359.00 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp60 F
High / Low60 / 53 F
WindSSE 15-26 mph
Pressure1012.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain79% cloud, 74%
Sunrise / Sunset07:53 / 18:14
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Lake of the Woods this week

The best day on Lake of the Woods this week looks like Tuesday Oct 27, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Oct 27 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

28 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Solunar majors
9:55 AM-11:55 AM and 10:26 PM-12:26 AM
Minor period
4:19 AM-5:19 AM
Sun
07:53 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 28 mph
Rain chance
74%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake of the Woods: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

When to come: the Lake of the Woods calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye
Northern pike
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake of the Woods today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 59 F, wind to 18 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 54 F, wind to 19 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 60 F, wind to 21 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Minnesota requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Minnesota license covers only the Minnesota portion; a Canadian license is needed for Canadian water. Walleye/sauger 6 combined (max 4 walleye; 19.5-28 inch walleye released; 1 over 28 inches), May 9, 2026-April 14, 2027; Four Mile Bay catch-and-release March 1-April 14. Northern pike 3 (30-40 inches released; 1 over 40). One line (two on ice). Other species: see the 2026 Minnesota regulations, border waters section.

Access

USGS lists a boat landing at Wheelers Point on the Rainy River near the lake; check the Minnesota DNR for public accesses.

About this water

A Canada-Minnesota border lake; the Minnesota portion lies in Lake of the Woods and Roseau counties.

Fishing Lake of the Woods: the full guide

A Canada-Minnesota border water

Minnesota's 2026 fishing regulations list Lake of the Woods, in Lake of the Woods and Roseau counties, among the Canada-Minnesota border waters, together with the Rainy River and the lower reaches of tributaries such as the Baudette, Rapid, Winter Road and Warroad rivers. On these waters anglers may use one line, or two when ice fishing, and may not possess more than a Minnesota limit while in Minnesota.

Walleye and sauger

For the 2026 season (May 9, 2026-April 14, 2027) the Lake of the Woods limit is six walleye and sauger combined, no more than four of them walleye, with walleye from 19.5 to 28 inches released and only one walleye over 28 inches. Four Mile Bay, the lake's southeast bay, is catch-and-release only from March 1 to April 14 each year, and a sauger without its head and tail intact is counted as a walleye.

Northern pike and state records

Northern pike on Lake of the Woods are open all year with a possession limit of three; all pike from 30 to 40 inches must be released and only one over 40 inches may be kept. Two Minnesota state records listed in the 2026 regulations come from the lake: a 19-pound-10-ounce burbot and a 13-pound-9-ounce lake whitefish.

Common questions

Do I need a Canadian license?

Only to fish the Canadian portion. Minnesota's regulations say a Minnesota license allows fishing only in the Minnesota part of Canadian border waters, and that anglers must follow border-crossing rules.

What is the walleye slot on Lake of the Woods?

Walleye from 19.5 to 28 inches must be released; the limit is six walleye and sauger combined, no more than four walleye, and only one walleye over 28 inches.

When is Four Mile Bay catch-and-release?

From March 1 to April 14 each year.

Is fishing good at Lake of the Woods right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 28 mph gusts make boat control the real battle.

Nearby waters

Upper Red Lake66 miRainy Lake88 miKabetogama Lake96 miLake Bemidji107 miCass Lake115 miLake Winnibigoshish117 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 05140520 β€” Lake of the Woods at Warroad, MN
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 49.0520, -94.9545 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.