A Glorious Northern Minnesota “Indian Summer” is Upon Us on Lake of the Woods

Good morning to all!

Welcome to another edition of the Wigwam Fisherman’s Blog. Well these past few days have been a breath of fresh air for us at the Wigwam Resort on beautiful Lake of the Woods. We have seen more warm days put together in this stretch than we did all summer. I am trying to take it all in stride…I would love to get out and fish a little bit more, but we find ourselves making sure that others are having the time of their lives…I can handle that. So come join me, Tom and the rest of the Wigwam staff while we experience our northern Minnesota “Indian Summer” here on Lake of the Woods…this doesn’t happen every year…join us and experience all the excitement here at the Wigwam Resort!

This past week has brought us a very diverse crowd from all different geographical locations across the United States and Canada, and they all had one thing in common…THEY LOVE TO FISH!!!! I’m right there with you on that one, guys and gals…guilty as charged. My love of fishing has brought me to my paradise on Lake of the Woods and I hope that your love of fishing will bring you to your own place of paradise, no matter where it is. But by the chance you might want to checkout my paradise; the Wigwam Resort would welcome each and every one of you with open arms. You must see it for yourself…each and everyday brings us something new and one step closer to figuring out where the “BIG FISH” are at. I personally invite you to check out my paradise, Lake of the Woods, THE BEST FRESHWATER FISHERY IN THE WORLD!

Just a couple announcements…September 18th & 19th will be the MTT (Minnesota Tournament Trail) Fishing Championship, which will be held on Lake of the Woods, and a large majority of the participants will be staying with us at the Wigwam Resort…Poor Boys band will be playing both Friday and Saturday night for the entertainment. October 2nd & 3rd will be the Fall North Star Walleye Classic Fishing Tournament…Poor Boys will again be blessing us with their presence on those respected Friday and Saturday nights. Finally, for every Vikings game this season, we will have a “Kill the Keg” special, specials on our bar dining menu, and prizes to give away. This will make for some pretty crazy Sunday afternoon/nights and Monday nights…LETS GO VIKINGS!!!!

I will bring this up every day until we are there, but just a reminder to all of you that want to stay with us this winter during ice fishing season…we are starting to fill up. If you want your places reserved at the Wigwam Resort, book now, or forever hold your peace. We are looking forward to a record breaking ice fishing season, for the amount of fish that will be caught on Lake of the Woods, don’t miss out on all the fun. Remember, every night during the winter is like a Saturday night. Be apart of all the excitement, only at the World Famous Wigwam Resort on Lake of the Woods!

Daily Fishing Report: Today we will have lots of sunshine, high 78F with winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight will be mostly clear, low near 55F with winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow we should see partly cloudy skies with a stray afternoon thunderstorm possible, high 78F with winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Tomorrow night we should see a few stray thunderstorm through the evening with some clouds early, giving way to generally clear conditions overnight, low near 55F with winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Today’s fishing report will come from our guides (Tom Briggs, Billy “The Sniper” Kloos and Kevin Olmstead), our guests and me and will be no different from my last report…the fish are still there! Tom, Billy, Kevin have stopped heading north and started to fish the big water again about 4 to 6 miles outside Lighthouse Gap, Morris Point Gap, and Zipple Bay in about 30 to 32 feet of water. They have been anchoring and jigging, and also downrigging, if jigging becomes too tough. When downrigging they have been using trusty Rapala baits (Perch color, White and Purple have been the “golden ticket”) and when they are jigging they are using White/Gold, White/Purple and Orange/Gold jigs with frozen Shiners as bait. The fishing has still been “top shelf” (for all my hockey buddies) and we don’t anticipate that to slow in the least bit as we move into the middle of September. Two days ago Billy took out a group in the afternoon after Goose Hunting in the morning and it took them a little longer to catch their limits, a whole 3 hours…they downrigged all three hours, and our guests came in all smiles! Today I had the chance to get out there in the afternoon and I was able to bring a couple guests with me and we were pulling Rapalas and getting on the fish. The Chartreuse Perch Colored Rapala was the big winner today. I think that 14 of the 20 fish that we caught in a 3 hour period were on that Rapala…we had a blast! I’m going to go and pick up a few more of those Rapalas from my buddies over at Log Cabin (a bait/convenience/gas store about a half mile from the Wigwam). We were using lead core line, fire line and 12 pound mono…where we had our best success was out in 23 to 26 feet of water about a mile and a half outside Lighthouse Gap using the long lining method. A couple days ago I tried the rocks by Graceton Reef and was marking a ton of fish, but couldn’t get them to bite; using either method…maybe next time they will be hungry for my lure. Jake “of the Woods” Magness, Doug “The Surgeon” Hagen and Val Safro, went out a couple days ago and were fishing in 31 feet of water, anchoring and jigging out in front of Zipple Bay and had some great success…the big fish of the day for them was a nice 25” Walleye caught by Jake “of the Woods” Magness. There have been more boats fishing right out in front of the Wigwam Resort also…what this means is that the Shiners have started their annual run into the Rainy River…we all know what that means…BIG WALLEYES ARE ON THE WAY! The Shiner run will last till the middle of November, so if you don’t want to travel far and you want to catch some big fish, book today at the Wigwam Resort and experience some of the “BEST FISHING IN THE WORLD”! All this great fishing will take place right in front of the World Famous Wigwam Resort, in Four Mile Bay and at the mouth of the Rainy River! Don’t miss out on this great fishing that we’re having on Lake of the Woods…come visit us today at the Wigwam Resort on Lake of the Woods!

My shout out today will go to a person very dear to me, my brother. Since the passing of my “biggest supporter” (my father), the people that I have to call and talk to on a motivational level are few and far between these days, but there has been one person that has stepped up and taken that role with open arms, my brother Ryan. I just wanted to thank you for listening to my ideas (good and bad), taking the time to talk when it might not be the best time for you, listening to my problems and always offering positive solutions, and most importantly, lifting me up when I am down with your witty humor. I wanted to personally thank you publicly for all your support…you are my blood…you are my family, and without you, I would not be where I’m at today…thank you.

Happy Fishing to all, and to all a good day!

Wigwam Fisherman aka Jean-Paul Tessier
Wigwam Resort
http://www.wigwamresortlow.com/