With walleyes, saugers, pike and jumbo perch in abundant numbers, LOTW is known for its productivity of both numbers and size.

"It's a fantastic lake to fish and it's tough to have a bad day on Lake of the Woods," said Pat Burch of Burch's Guide Service.

Anglers looking for 30-inch walleyes are going to have a tough time doing any better than fishing on LOTW. There are 45 resorts in LOTW County that are open year 'round and all of them have plush arrangements for ice-anglers. For those who want to do most of the work themselves, driving out on a plowed road to their chosen destination is the most basic of services. For those who want to go ice-fishing but don't have any gear, many of the resorts offer complete service in a heated fish house you can sleep in. Driving out to the fish house is done in a cozy van or bombardier.

Most anglers opt for services in the middle by utilizing the resort transportation to get out to the prime fishing waters and then use their own gear. There is also a passenger service offering winter trips from the south shore to the Northwest Angle and Islands area, which many consider to be the best winter fishing on the lake.

In the early part of the season, the bays and shoreline areas are usually the best ice and best places to fish. The walleye action gets rocking in the low-light periods around dawn and dusk, while saugers hit throughout the day. The portion of the lake from 14 to 17 feet has high concentrations of walleyes, and as the winter progresses, some of the fish stay shallow, while others move down to water 30 to 40 feet deep, Burch said.

For more information, contact Burch at (763) 370-6043 or online at www.lakemillelacsfishingguide.com. Call (800) 382-FISH for information on the Lake of the Woods area, or visit www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com.

OTHER HOTSPOTS
These are by no means the only multispecies lakes found around the state. Go to your local bait shop, check fishing reports in weekly newspapers, or go online to www.fishingminnesota.com for other hotspots. With so many lakes throughout the state, there are easily 500 that could be considered awesome for a wide variety of species through the ice.

A few additional lakes to check out would include many of those in the Grand Rapids area, especially Wabana, which has great crappie, walleye and trophy pike fishing. Other area lakes include Trout Lake near Grand Rapids, Trout Lake near Coleraine, Lake Wabana, North Star Lake and Swan Lake near Pengilly.

In southwestern Minnesota, Lake Sarah is a tremendous walleye, perch and crappie fishery. Another southern lake worth checking out is Diamond Lake near New Ulm with walleyes, perch and crappies.

An often-overlooked area is the frozen Mississippi River in the Sartell vicinity. The current is typically slow in the area allowing it to freeze over pretty solid and making for some tremendous walleye and panfish action. Check with local bait shops before venturing out onto the river.

Buffalo Lake, located right in the town of Buffalo, is a popular destination and rightly so for crappies and walleyes. The deep edges around the sandbars are great throughout the day with the shallow portions being best in the evening.

Then, of course, there is Upper Red Lake, which is another multispecies mecca like LOTW and Mille Lacs. URL as many call it is great for walleyes, massive crappies and huge pike. The best spots are either around the cribs or along the edges of the crowds. "It's strictly a trial-and-error lake and you have to punch a lot of holes to try and find the fish," John House said.