Winter Walleyes - A to Zipple!

Even with all the great walleye lakes to be found in northern Minnesota, it’s difficult to dismiss Lake of the Woods as anything but one of the best.

 

And certainly, Zippel Bay Resort northwest of Baudette is at the heart of the good ice fishing. In fact, you could say that Zippel Bay Resort is the entirety of ice fishing in that portion of the big lake.

 

With a full-service resort, cabins, ice houses and the Igloo, you only need fish to have a successful ice-fishing adventure.

         

And fish there will be. Starting at first ice, which usually comes the first week of December, walleye fishing in the sheltered bay itself is good, as is the fishing for pike along the weed edges.  The shallow-water bite is in water that ranges from 10 to 15 feet deep as a rule, says resort owner Nick Painovich.

 

“We’ll fish this bite as long as it lasts, and it can continue at times until the end of December. Providing good walleye fishing.  When we move deeper, then we get into sauger as well as walleyes,” says Painovich.  “And we’ve got a strong year class of six-year-old sauger in the lake right now.

 

“In fact, I think we’re heading into the glory days of fishing. We’ve had several really strong year classes of fish, and we’re going to have some really good fishing coming up.”

 

Of course, Zippel Bay is not just a winter-fishing venue, as it offers fishing opportunities all through the seasons.

 

But, with a four-month hard-water season—depending upon the weather, of course—it provides hardcore winter anglers a long time to get their fix.

 

Zippel Bay Resort does its best to give winter fishermen a really good experience. Not only is the resort open during the winter, offering 21 cabins, a restaurant, bar and small tackle shop, but it caters to just about every need. 

 

Painovich says the resort has 80 houses on the ice.  There are 25 sleeper houses, a few dark houses, a few houses for those who still like to spear pike, and the Igloo.

 

All houses are located on plowed roads, so the resort doesn’t offer transportation on the ice except for the very beginning and end of the season when travel by truck or car can be chancy.

 

“Our customers seem to prefer the roads,” adds Painovich.  “This way they can drive over to the resort to catch lunch or get more gear or whatever.  They can also drive to the Igloo to catch a game.”

 

No discussion of Zippel Bay and ice fishing would be complete without talking about the Igloo. 

 

The Igloo is the traveling restaurant/bar/take-a-break station that, well, looks like an igloo.  As soon as it’s safe, Painovich and crew tow the Igloo out to Zippel Reef off the mouth of the bay.

 

“The Igloo has become an on-ice destination for folks,” says Painovich.  “We get snowmobilers and cross-county skiers who drop in, so it’s not just for ice fishermen.”

 

The Igloo has creature comforts—satellite television, a stocked bar, catered food, and holes and rattle reels by the tables, so indeed, when you’re watching a game and eating a brat or a bowl of hot chili, you can still fish.

 

“There are groomed snowmobile trails to the Igloo,” says Painovich, “and we get people who just drive out there for the novelty of a restaurant and bar on the ice. 

 

“We serve hot food, but it’s not a full-service restaurant like we have at the resort.  We always have hot soup and sandwiches and frozen pizzas to microwave.  We also bring out things like brats or hotdogs or whatever, but we don’t cook beyond that.”

 

Painovich says that the fishermen in the sleeper houses like the Igloo because it offers them a good break when the night-bite dies.

 

“Lake of the Woods is pretty stained water,” he says, “and the night bite isn’t that good as a rule.  What we find is that the low-light periods are best for shallow water, say 10 to 15 feet deep, and the mid-day fishing is good deeper, out to 25 feet.

 

“As the season progresses, we keep moving out into deeper water, and during the middle of the season, we’ll fish in water 30 feet deep or so.”

 

That’s when sauger enter the catch heavily, along with larger walleyes.

 

As far as tackle goes, Painovich says that the usual approach is best.  “We’ve seen a good bite in the shallows early this year, and mostly that’s when the Rattl’n Flyer Spoon works well.  But when the temperature drops, downsizing is the way to go.  The guys did really well this year with the Frostee jigging spoon, especially during the cold-front conditions.”

 

 In deeper, stained water, you need more attraction, and the Darter and Rattl' N Flyer shine there.  The extra flash and rattle of both lures draws fish to them, always a good thing when you’re fishing in one spot.

 

While Painovich says walleyes and sauger are the main draws at Lake of the Woods, fishermen also hit big perch and bigger pike. 

 

“We have warming houses for the guys who run tip-ups for pike,” he says, “and they get some big ones, twenty-pounders.”  The pike fishery is really an early and late winter deal, focusing on the weed edges in and around the bay.

 

 During winter, Zippel Bay Resort is all about fishing.  However, for those who want a midday break, the adjacent state park has groomed cross-country ski trails and snowmobile trails as well. There are other groomed trails in the area as well. 

 

But with fishing as good as it is on Lake of the Woods, there is little need to look anywhere else for excitement. Whether it’s big pike, big walleyes or sauger, there is enough to keep anyone busy at Zippel Bay.

         

Nick Painovich, along with his wife Deanna, own Zippel Bay Resort on the southern shores of Lake of the Woods in Williams, Minnesota. Zippel Bay features five star log cabins, charter boat fishing, a full service bar and restaurant, a pool and ice fishing services providing plowed roads with rental houses in the winter months. Visit them at www.zippelbay.com or give them a call at 1-800-222-2537 for more information.