Walleye

Kenora is a well-known walleye fishing destination on Lake of the Woods.  The walleye fishing is fantastic here for numbers of fish, so you should have no problem catching enough fish to eat.  There are also plenty of big walleye in this area.  Walleye in the mid to upper 20 inch range are fairly common and fish up to 30 inches are possible.  With all of the islands, bays and points in this area, there are so many places to target walleye and you should be able to find plenty of places to fish on windy days.

Fishing Kenora in the Spring

Month Avg. Temps °F (Hi/Lo)
March 31° / 8°
April 48° / 26°
May 63° / 40°

The spring provides awesome fishing in shallower water.  When the walleye opener arrives on the 3rd Saturday in May, anglers will be out in big numbers throughout Lake of the Woods in the Kenora area.  There should still be a bunch of post-spawn walleye that will be roaming the rocky shorelines looking to eat.  Wind-blown shorelines and points will usually help congregate fish and new green weeds will also attract walleye, however, you will find a lot more rocks than weeds in this part of the lake.

Fishing Kenora in the Summer

Month Avg. Temps °F (Hi/Lo)
June 72° / 49°
July 78° / 56°
August 74° / 53°

In the summer, walleye will eventually transition out to the big waters out on the main lake.  Deep water will hold more walleye than the shallows and the better quality of fish will usually be found deep as well.  Look for deep water ledges, off of points and around the reefs and you’ll find walleye.

Fishing Kenora in the Fall

Month Avg. Temps °F (Hi/Lo)
September 62° / 43°
October 49° / 34°
November 30° / 17°

In the fall, you can find walleye in shallower water than the summer, however, there are still a lot of big schools of walleye with lots of big fish out in the deeper waters on the main lake.  You can still find good numbers of walleye moving up onto some of the reefs, around points and along rocky shorelines a little shallower than they are found in the summer.  On many days through the fall, you’re going to have to get out there and start fishing and the walleye are going to tell you where you the better bite will come from.  It could come shallower, but it might end up being deep as well.  In the fall, many days may start like that since walleye love to roam around and chase baitfish.  The baitfish do move much shallower in September before eventually heading out to deeper water before winter arrives.

Fishing Kenora in the Winter (Ice Fishing)

Month Avg. Temps °F (Hi/Lo)
December 14° / -5°
January 10° / -11°
February 18° / -6°

There are several businesses that cater to the ice anglers here, so you can definitely spend some time up here ice fishing.  Walleye will bite through the ice well and you may catch some pike, crappie and perch too.

More Fishing Tips

Catch Lots of Walleye

‘Kenora is an awesome walleye destination.  You can catch plenty of walleye right near town, but some of the better fishing is out on the main lake.  From spring through fall, there are so many spots that will hold walleye in this part of Lake of the Woods.  If you know how to fish for walleye and you put in the time here, you can easily have 30 fish days if not better.

Catch Big Walleye

Kenora is also home to some huge walleye.  Big walleye are caught here every year in the walleye tournaments.  From spring through fall, you have access to water that holds the big girls.  Fish up to and above 30 inches are possible on this part of the lake.

Fishing the Drop-offs

There are so many spots where there are good drop-offs along the shorelines off the islands and off the reefs.  From summer through fall, you’re going to find plenty of walleye holding in these areas.  The deeper rocks and weed edges will hold walleye, however, since there are so many more rocks here, plan on fishing a lot of rocks when targeting walleye on these drop-offs.

Fishing the Points

The points will also hold a lot of walleye.  In the spring, you can find plenty of walleye that will move up into the shallower water on the points, however, from summer through fall, the points that hold some deeper water will be the better spots for catching walleye.

Fishing the Islands

With all the islands to fish, you have plenty of options here and many of these islands will hold some deeper water.  These spots will be the better spots to find walleye in the summer and fall months.

Fishing the Reefs

The reefs are a great summer and fall pattern for walleye.  It’s how most anglers will target them when fishing here.  Don’t be surprised when you catch a lot of smallmouth bass here too and you will most likely run into some quality pike by fishing the reefs as well.

Fishing the Rocks

There are more rocks here than weeds, so plan on fishing plenty of rocks.  Whether it’s offshore structure, islands or points, plan on losing some jigs in the rocky areas that will hold walleye.

Fishing the Weeds

Weeds won’t be the primary pattern here, so don’t worry if you have a hard time finding some of those deeper weed edges.  There are a lot more rocks here than weeds.  If you can find some deeper weed edges, you may find some nice walleye mixed in with some pike.