Although it’s technically spring on March 20th, winter has its way of sticking around until the bitter cold end in northern Minnesota. The month of March can be a strange phenomenon around northern Minnesota fishing resorts. One year we fished on the ice in 70 degree sunshine for St. Patrick’s Day. A few years later it was 30 below that day. If you’re doing the math, that’s a 100 degrees difference!

Without further ado, here is Northland Lodge’s list of ways to breeze through the final weeks of Minnesota winter.

#3 Get a Tan (Get Outside)! 
Can’t afford a tropical spring break or a tanning membership? Grab an ice auger, a fishing pole and a bucket and head out on the lake for some good old fashioned bucket fishing on a sunny day. Northern Minnesota resorts and other Lake Winnibigoshish resorts are still reporting decent ice and fishing conditions . Plus, now that we’re past daylight savings time, we are enjoying prolonged hours of glorious daylight. The sun’s reflection off the glistening ice will reflect the sun rays, maximizing your sun exposure. Studies show that sunlight helps boost your mood, too! A few days of this and your friends will assume you just returned from the tropics.
**Disclaimer - practice safe sun by applying SPF 30 sunscreen prior to exposure.

#2 Get a Hobby!
Finding a hobby you enjoy will not only give you extra motivation to get out of bed on chilly mornings, but keeping yourself occupied with something fun also makes the time go by more quickly. Become a whitetail deer shed hunter! In Minnesota, late winter and early spring are the best times to look for antlers that have been shed by bucks, because the snow is melting and the underbrush hasn’t grown over them yet.

If you’re not into shed hunting, make walking your hobby. Try to take at least a 15 minute walk around your neighborhood every day if you can. Challenge yourself by increasing your walk time by one more minute or one more block each day. Walking increases circulation, making you feel warmer in the long run, and increasing serotonin and dopamine levels. Bonus points if your hobby brings you outdoors!

#1 Get On Our List!
Book your Minnesota resort vacation at Northland Lodge now! Reserving your spot early will increase the likelihood of securing your favorite cabin or campsite. Having the upcoming date circled on your calendar will give you and your family something to look forward to and will seemingly make the winter go by more quickly.

You’ll be enjoying our Minnesota family fun resort in no time! See you when you get here!

It might seem premature to start thinking about summer vacation, but now is the perfect time to plan your getaway to one of the most inclusive Minnesota family resorts! Located on beautiful Lake Winnibigoshish (Lake Winnie to the locals), the historic Northland Lodge offers a little bit of something for everyone. Boasting more than 10,000 lakes, it’s rare to find a Minnesota resort with a swimming pool, but we’ve got you covered! Families can enjoy swimming in the waters of beautiful Lake Winnie, or splashing in our heated swimming pool complete with a waterslide.

Lake Winnie Resorts have the advantage of being located on one of Minnesota’s largest and most popular fishing lakes. Our guides can help you navigate the waters to find a “hot spot” throughout the season, recommending specific bait and tackle to catch that trophy walleye. Combine that with the peaceful setting of centuries-old pines nestled in the Chippewa National Forest, and you’ve got it made in the shade...quite literally.

This fall, our classic-yet-modern cabin interiors were updated with blue-stained red pine paneling, crafted from local timber. These upgrades add a stunning splash of style to our clean cabins, contributing just the right amount of “rustic” to our Lake Winnie resort. We also offer a well-kept campsite complete with RV hookups if that’s your style.

​Whether you’re looking for an action-packed family escape or a relaxing fishing getaway, we hope to see you along the shores of Lake Winnie this summer! Book now to secure your spot before they fill up. 

Is there a secret to late summer fishing?

The summer lake environment is constantly changing, and walleyes react accordingly. To stay with the fish, anglers need to be willing to change how and where they fish for walleyes, and keep an open mind.

Transition- As walleyes vacate early season hideouts, in favor of deeper summer haunts, there’s a period of time when fish are in transition. As more and more fish show up at their new “home for the summer“ the action, once you find it, can only get better. With an increase in numbers, your chances for finding a few active ones greatly increases. Walleyes don’t all do the same thing at the same time, and when it comes to feeding movements, it’s like they take turns. Some will be totally inactive, some may be starting to stir a little but won’t move far to take a bait, and others may be extremely aggressive and willing to take just about anything you put in front of them. Those fish can help you determine a school’s location, and identity.

Summer Locations- Summer location can include deep, offshore structure, like sunken islands, bars and humps. Look for structures that have most of their mass above the thermocline. Structure that is too deep will see little walleye activity, if any, until after the fall turnover. Larger structures will often out produce the smaller ones, simply because they can offer more feeding opportunities for ‘eyes on the prowl. However smaller ones can be easier to fish, because of their simplicity.

Searching- One of the best places to start your search, is near a break line that drops quickly into deeper water. The top of deep structure can play host to perch, bait fish, insects and crayfish. Active walleyes will often be found cruising the top edge of a break, where they can quickly move up to grab a bite to eat.

Another place that is often overlooked is the transition line where hard bottom meets soft. Where gravel or rock changes to mud or silt, a transition line is created, and can concentrate fish.

Doing the same things in the same places, time after time, will probably yield less than satisfactory results.

Presentations- Rigging and jigging may still produce, but quicker methods like trolling spinners, really start to pick up. Rising water temps can push walleyes’ metabolisms to the boiling point, and increase the chances that he’ll react to a speedier technique. Try a spinner and live bait combo. Spinners possess an element of speed. A method is to use a spinner and bottom bouncer combination. A bouncer can get a bait where you want it, and run relatively snag-free. Bouncers in the two to three ounce range are the ticket, and allow the user to keep the bait close to the boat.

Feeding- In mid-summer walleyes continue to feed, and do so more heavily than at any other time of the year. The key is to find them, and then find out what they want. Quite often, something with a little speed is effective this time of year. With an abundance of food the metabolisms of walleye and their prey are increasing.
​
Bait- The odds on favorite bait for dressing a spinner rig, is a big fat juicy night crawler. Leeches and minnows can still work. You just have to try a variety.

Paraphrased from: Secrets To Summer Walleyes, by Ron Anlauf