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Posts: 3
| First time poster looking for some guidance. I am looking to book my first lake of the woods trip ever and I'm split between two locations!
1. Winnipeg river just north of Kenora near Dufresne Island.
2. Long Bay north of Sioux Narrows.
The only goal of the trip is catching large northern pike and some muskie (big or small). Other fish are just a bonus and probably won't be directly targeted. I would like to hear which one of these locations you would choose and why? I know the Winnipeg river location is far from some of the better areas on the Winnipeg river (little/big sand and rough rock lake) but wondering if this area is still decent? I'm not opposed to boating a bit to get to a spot but wondering if the extra 1-2 hours of driving is worth it. Additionally, I have no river experience whatsoever and would need to buy a new lake chip for that area! None of this is a deal breaker just need some opinions from those who are infinitely more knowledgeable on the subject. |
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Posts: 1612
Location: Brighton CO. | It's been 20 years since we fished the Winnipeg River fishing was great and we just got dialed in but there was nothing for the non fishing members of our family (mom, sisters) so we stopped going. We fished by Minaki there is so much water to fish you could never fish it several lifetimes. Sure fish can get conditioned to lure on community spots but fishing was great. One day we took a trip into Kenora and we left town and were driving along a road that over looked the north part of Lake Of The Woods and I could see bay's and reefs, and islands all kinds of great looking stuff and what I didn't see? A single boat. |
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Posts: 2073
| Do both,  - If you want to be on that side of lotw..Stay at Smith Camps and then drive to Minaki… better yet boat into Tamarack, Spruce Island, Wiley Point or Crow Rock… then go to Minaki
Edited by IAJustin 11/24/2025 2:03 PM
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Posts: 3
| I should have specified earlier, but these two areas are pre-decided because of price and availability. I would love to do a boat in or a farther north trip, but it would be hard convincing my parents (who pay half) to do something more remote! These two places are AirBNBs with decent availability the first couple weeks of muskie opener! |
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Posts: 2073
| If those are predetermined locations, I’d 100% do LOTW… be ready to go at least 10 miles west… |
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Posts: 3
| Is the fishing near Sioux narrows that far inferior to other parts of the lake? And what areas do you mean? I'm looking at my map, and ten miles west is dinner islands and twin islands area. |
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Posts: 2073
| I personally wouldn’t do much muskie fishing until I got west or NW of Chisholm island, and yes much better areas for muskies than Sioux narrows, lots of people/boats in that area… if your goal is a couple big pike and 1 or 2 muskie for the week you might accomplish that in long bay…. It’s a long bay. 
Edited by IAJustin 11/24/2025 4:45 PM
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Winnipeg River near Kenora or Sioux Narrows?