"Late Summer Walleye Bonanza on Lake of the Woods"

Good morning, anglers—Artificial Lure here with your Lake of the Woods fishing report for Saturday, August 23rd, 2025. The sun cracked the horizon at 6:19 AM and will tuck away at 8:13 PM tonight, giving us a generous window to chase some of the best bites of late summer. Weather-wise, we’re sitting under a stable high-pressure system, with temps topping out in the mid-70s, a light southwest breeze, and barely a cloud to be seen—perfect conditions for a run up the lake.

No tides to report, of course, but water clarity’s solid and surface temps have eased up to the lower 70s, which has the main basin walleyes pushing deeper. Fresh off last night’s bite and in from the reefs, a number of boats reported two-man limits by midday yesterday, mostly pulling ‘eyes in the 16 to 19-inch range, with a handful of true hawgs over 25 inches in the mix. Outdoor News reports big numbers of walleyes holding over the deep mud in 31 to 34 feet of water, especially off Pine Island and in the neighborhood of Garden Island.

The go-to tactics continue to be pulling spinners and crawlers or anchoring up and jigging with frozen shiners. Gold and glow pink have been consistent on the bluffs, with hammered gold blades and 1/4 to 3/8 oz jigs doing the trick. If you’re out midday, don’t be afraid to slow down; bottom bouncers with a two-hook harness and leech have been deadly on a drift. In the evening, toss out a jig and minnow combo or switch up to crankbaits if you want to cover more water—especially as the sun starts to dip.

On the muskie front, folks running the north shore and the rocks around Flag Island and up to Four Blocks are reporting aggressive fish, even a pair of mid-40" beauties boated just yesterday according to the Lake of the Woods Daily Fishing Report. Topwater lures like buzzbaits and large walk-the-dog style baits have been getting explosive strikes during the last hour of daylight. If you want numbers, keep your presentation moving and don’t sleep on black and chartreuse color schemes. Meanwhile, sturgeon anglers are hooking up near the Rainy River gap—heavy rigs with gobbed-up crawlers or cut bait are bringing steady action on the bottom.

Largemouth and smallmouth activity is also picking up with these stable nights. Bass are crushing top-water lures right along the weed edges and near submerged timber, especially if you get out there before breakfast or stick around for the golden hour tonight. Outdoor News’ MN Daily Update for yesterday says stable weather plus top-water lures can be magic for bass after dusk, and I couldn’t agree more. Try a black/blue frog or a popper right along the cabbage.

Hot spots:
- The deep mud basin south of Garden Island (31-34’), especially for walleye by mid-morning.
- The rocky reefs northwest of Flag Island and Four Blocks for those chasing muskies in low light.
- The weed beds east of Long Point for early-morning bass and a grab bag of panfish.
- The Rainy River gap, anchoring up for sturgeon and the occasional channel cat.

To recap—solid mixed-bag action, with *walleyes still taking the spotlight*, and *musky chasers starting to see real results* as we move toward late summer. Bring both live crawlers and frozen shiners, keep an eye out for those topwater musky follows, and be ready to switch up as the lake lays down tonight.

Thanks for tuning in to today’s Lake of the Woods report. If you enjoyed this, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a bite. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, anglers, artificial war here with your Lake of
a Woods fishing report for Saturday, August twenty third, twenty
twenty five. The sun cracked the horizon at six nineteen
am and will tuck away at eight thirteen pm tonight,
giving us a generous window to chase some of the
best bites of late summer. Weather Wise, we're sitting under
a stable high pressure system with temps topping out in

(00:21):
the mid seventies, a light southwest breeze, and barely a
cloud to be seen. Perfect conditions for a run up
the lake. No tides to report, of course, but water
clarity is solid and surface temps have eased up to
the lower seventies, which has the main basin walleyes pushing
deeper fresh off last night's bite and in from the reefs.
A number of boats reported two man limits by midday yesterday,

(00:44):
mostly pulling eyes in the sixteen to nineteen h range,
with a handful of true hogs over twenty five inches
in the mix. Outdoor News reports big numbers of wall
eyes holding over the deep mud in thirty one to
thirty four feet of water, especially off Pine Island and
in the neighborhood of Garden Island. The go to tactics
continue to be pulling spinners and crawlers or anchoring up

(01:06):
and jigging with frozen shiners. Gold and glow pink have
been consistent on the bluffs with hammered gold blades and
one fourth to three eight souls jigs doing the trick.
If you're out midday, don't be afraid to slow down.
Bottom bouncers with a two hook harness and leech have
been deadly on a drift in the evening. Toss out
a jig and minnow combo or switch up to crank

(01:26):
baits if you want to cover more water, especially as
the sun starts to dip on the Musky Front. Frolks
running the north shore in the rocks around Flag Island
and up to four blocks are reporting aggressive fish. Even
a pair of mid forties boaties boated just yesterday, according
to the Lake of the Woods Daily Fishing Report. Top
water lures like buzz baits and large walk the dog

(01:49):
style baits have been getting explosive strikes during the last
hour of daylight. If you want numbers, keep your presentation
moving and don't sleep on black and Chartru's color schemes Meanwhile,
sturgeon anglers are hooking up near the Rainy River gap.
Heavy rigs with gobbed up crawlers or cut bait are
bringing steady action on the bottom. Large mouth and small

(02:09):
mouth activity is also picking up. With these stable nights.
Bass are crushing top water lures right along the weed
edges and near submerged timber, especially if you get out
there before breakfast or stick around for the golden hour tonight.
Outdoor News' m N Daily update for yesterday says stable
weather plus top hyphen water lures can be magic for

(02:30):
bass after dusk and I couldn't agree more. Try a
black blue frog or a popper right along the cabbage
hot spots, the deep mud basin south of Garden Island
thirty one thirty four feet, especially for wally by mid morning,
the rocky reefs northwest of Flag Island and four blocks
for those chasing muskies in low light. The weed beds

(02:52):
east of Long Point for early morning bass and a
grab bag of panfish. The Rainy River Gap anchoring up
for sturgeon, and the occasional channel cat to recap solid
knixed bag action with Starwaly still taking the spotlight. Star
and Star musky chasers starting to see real results as
we move toward late summer. Bring both live crawlers and

(03:14):
frozen shiners. Keep an eye out for those top water
musky follows, and be ready to switch up as the
lake lays down tonight. Thanks for tuning in to today's
Lake of the Woods Report. If you enjoyed this, be
sure to subscribe so you don't miss a bite. This
has been a quiet Please production. For more, check out
Quiet Please dot ai