Fishing Report September 2026

September 30, 2026

The solid fishing bite is going strong for both walleyes and smallmouth bass and should remain good as long as the weather remains decent.  Air temperatures reached 74 degrees this afternoon, the sky was clear, and the fall colors are as stunning as I remember in my 20+ years on Woman Lake.  It is a truly beautiful time to fish here on a truly beautiful northern Minnesota lake.

September 25, 2026

The traditional solid fall walleye patterns and hot bite is in full swing on Woman Lake.  Surface water temps are in the 62-63 degree range and the walleyes are moving to their fall season locations.  We are fishing with larger redtail chubs on a live bait rig over shoreline sand breaks in 20-22 feet of water.  The bigger minnows usually result in larger walleyes being caught.  If you get a day with fishable winds and a little overcast sky or light chop on the water, you have a great chance to put a decent batch of walleyes in your livewell.  Remember, if you catch a big female, think about taking a good photo and then putting her back in the lake for next year.  She will lay thousands of eggs next April to help continue the history of Woman Lake's remarkably balanced walleye fishery.

September 9, 2026

I have not been able to fish much for a couple weeks due to committments down in the Twin Cities, like doctor appointments, State Fair, Twins games, and a few bad stretches of weather, but I don't think I have missed a whole lot.  Water temperatures are slowly dropping now, the nights are getting cooler, and I anticipate the walleyes will get quite active in the latter parts of Sept and well into October.  I am certainly looking forward to that.  Redtail Chubs will be the bait of choice for the next month, the bigger the better.  It appears to me that most of the adult loons on Woman Lake left with the latest big winds earlier this week, and they are now headed for the Gulf Coast.  Their spring hatchlings, most now are adult size, are swimming around quite confused thinking Mom and Dad will return.  A month or two of that behavior and they too will figure it out and head south.