The Morson area is an awesome part of the lake to fish. It may not be as scenic as some of the other parts of the lake, but the amount of fishing opportunities you have are ridiculous. Fish big water, sheltered water, bays, islands, points, rocky shorelines or vegetation. Big fish are here and you can catch lots of them too. You will see plenty of boats here, but if you take a 20 minute boat ride, you can find plenty of places to have for yourself. Anglers catch muskie, northern pike, walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, perch and crappie.
Primary Species of Fish
Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike & Muskie
The Morson area of Lake of the Woods is home to some excellent fishing. Anglers typically come here to target walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass and muskie. Good numbers of fish are here and big fish are available for all 4 species of these fish.
Secondary Species of Fish
Largemouth Bass, Perch & Crappie
Largemouth bass are very secondary here, however, don’t be shocked if you run across an occasional largemouth bass while fishing near vegetation in a bay. Anglers do occasionally report some very good catches of crappie and perch, but they can be hit or miss and that’s not the reason why most anglers come here.
Fishing Tips
We have plenty of fishing tips in the following sections:
Fishing the Bays
This area of Lake of the Woods has so many bays to fish. As long as you have a boat to get you from spot to spot, you have so many options to fish here. For the northern pike and smallmouth bass lovers, you will find plenty of bays with weeds and/or rock that hold plenty of the fish you want to catch. Mix in some walleye, muskie and panfish and you may not want to ever leave the bays. Late spring through early summer and early fall are great times to fish the bays. In the summer, a lot of the bigger fish will move to deeper water on offshore structure, however, there are so many bays with so much variety that you can really just go bay to bay and catch fish all day on most days.
Fishing the Drop-offs
The drop-offs along the shorelines, off the islands, points and reefs will hold so many different fish in this area. Weeds or rock may dictate what fish you catch along the drop-offs, but if you target the drop-offs around a variety of areas, you will catch plenty of fish here. Northern pike, smallmouth bass, walleye, muskie, crappie and perch will all use these areas throughout the open water fishing seasons.
Fishing the Points
There are so many points in the Morson area. Fish the points off the islands or the mainland shorelines. Either way, there are so many points to fish and plenty of them will have quick access to deep water, which is always great for holding a variety of different fish such as northern pike, smallmouth bass, walleye and muskie.
Fishing the Islands
There are so many islands here that you can’t fish them all on your trip. You would need an entire summer and you still might not hit them all. The key is to find a pattern and then fish similar areas on the other islands so you can catch more fish. The weeds will usually hold more pike with some walleye, smallmouth bass and muskie mixed in. The rocks will normally hold more smallmouth bass with walleye, northern pike and muskie mixed in. Whether you are looking for rocks or weeds, you are going to find so many awesome areas to fish with all the islands in this area.
Fishing the Reefs
The reefs are known for holding lots of walleye from summer through fall. The smallmouth bass also love the reefs and you can usually find some pike and muskie hanging around too. Make sure you have gps and a good map so you can find some of this offshore structure.
Fishing the Rocks
The rocks are going to hold more smallmouth bass and walleye than other types of fish most of the time. Northern pike will often be found around the rocks too, but they usually are found in greater numbers around the weeds. Fish the rocks, but try to stay out of the snags. The rocks will hold fish from spring through fall. You just have to find the right depth based on where the fish are holding throughout the season.
Fishing the Weeds
There are plenty of bays in this area that have vegetation. The weeds will usually hold more pike than other species of fish, but early in the year, you may find some smallmouth bass, walleye and muskie in the shallower water weedy areas in many of the bays. Throughout the summer and fall, the deeper weed edges will be the better spots to fish as the shallow weeds will usually hold mostly small northern pike.
Fishing Regulations
Ontario Regulations (Lake of the Woods is in Zone 5)
