Outdoors In Northwest Minnesota

The Northwest Fishing Report 2008

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05/12/08 Zippel Bay-Nick Painovich was busy this past weekend.  Not with charters, but tweeking his launches for NEXT weekend!  The ice moved in and they just couldn't get any anglers out of the bay.  However, Northern Pike fishing is splendid, and these post spawn snot-rockets seem to be as hungry and aggressive as ever!  Did you know Northern Pike can be fished YEAR ROUND on Lake of the Woods?  I didn't, or at least I don't think I knew that until I talked to Nick this morning on KROX!   Nick and his wife Deanna have been running Zippel Bay Resort for 30 years, and though it's disappointing to see the ice hang around this late, it's not like it hasn't happened before.  The ice this winter was some 40 inches thick, so you have to expect it would take longer than average to disappear, but the ice isn't for much longer, Nick said, so get ready for some great 'Eye fishing in the shallows.  This weekend, Nick expects to take charters out of the bay but will stay close to shore in 5-feet of water.  Drifting and jigging should pull out a good number of Walleyes early on.  "We'll use minnows on some spinner rigs right away", Nick said.  "It'll be a bit before we move to crawlers and then leeches".
KEEP TUNING IN FOR THE NWFR ON KROX!  Nick and Deanna have agreed to host another "HOOKY DAY AT ZIPPEL BAY" in August.  Details have yet to be hammered out...but it looks like a "GO"!