A repeat trip just brought us back for another few days here.

If you've got a few days...and want some great ice action for Lakers...you gotta consider this place.  We brought in a 5 lb'er this year and lost many others.  During our 1 1/2 days actual on the ice, we had 7 larger fish on...only landed one.    My dad fought one for 10+ minutes...up and down 3 times in 60 feet of water... then to lose it!  The lake is quite clear and you can see near 30 feet down.  I think his fish was near 15 lb from my view down the hole....But alas, we were there during a "lull".  (As always), the hot action subsided in mid-Jan prior to our arrival.  We had many large ones on.

There are many large Lakers in this body of water.  The resort proprieter tells me these trout are a different sub-species than those in the Q.  Less fatty and oily.  They also seem to have a little different appearance to their head (snubby vs. hooked).  He swears these trout are much less fatty.  The ones we ate out of his fridge for supper can attest to that.  Nice red meat.  My 8 lber out of Pickerel this last summer was pure yellow meat. (perhaps this is all hype...just thought I'd throw that in).

You can access the lake via $5 to Hansens camp at the S end of the lake (includes parking).  The government (public) access is not maintained in winter and the lot is not cleared for parking, snow was 3 ft. deep in there.  Last year we stayed on our own at a Sioux Narrows hotel.  This year we stayed with Muskie Bay resort near N end of lake.  There are two outfitters on the lake open in the winter.  The outfitters will rent you any/partial/ or no equipment, including a room and a meal if you desire.  Bring your own snowmobiles, or 4-wheelers.  Muskie Bay took good care of us.  I gotta plan to canoe this place sometime this summer.  The lake is well known for it's Lakers, Muskie, and Smallies.
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Get your tackle/liscense at two bait shops in Nestor Falls.  One of them is not open on M/Tu.  The trout were just slamming large jigs/white tubes at 40-70 feet...some with a large minnow tipped.

Here's what I found weird.  We planned a third day on Sabaskong bay to ice-fish walleye on Lake of the Woods (just the other side of the road).  Those folks near "never" fish 'em in winter...the Crappie bight is quite hot just out of Nestor Falls and everyone focuses on them.  We couldn't even pay someone to tell us a hotspot for the winter 'eyes.  We spent another day and a half coming home out on LOW out of Baudette...10 miles out to pull in some 'eyes via a rental house from Adrian's out of Wheeler's point.

I'll post a couple of pics this next week.

nice pics wally .
i read with interest your comment about the laker having bright red meat, compared to the one out of Pickerel being yellow??
i've never fished Pickerel.
however any laker i've caught in the Q, had bright red meat, almost sweet tasting, similar to a Brookie??
i wonder if diet/water conditions accounts for this??
the Q lakers were somewhat "fatty" but that makes them perfect for grilling as they don't dry-out easily.

that's a nice fish .
i'm not sure about the sub-species comment??
not that it couldn't be true??
maybe a resident biologist in the QJ could shed light on that idea??
  i could understand the sub-species in a given area but seems like it would be the same across the Q??
on another post on QJ there is a comment about water quality,and diet determining meat color??
that seem's plausible to me and would account for the difference from lake to lake in a given area??
the lakers i've caught were all reddish and delicious grilled or pan fried so as long as there eater's, i guess the color doesn't matter .

Beav, looks like a Fishin' Buddy locator to me.