Me and my dad are going to take a trip up to lake of the woods this year. it will be out first time ice fishing it and we were wondering if we should stay at a resort and rent their ice houses or if we would be able to find some fish on our own by just staying at a local motel and just using the atv's to find spots and save money.

It all depends on what type of experience you are looking for. Do you want to be taken to and from your fishing spot? Do yoiu want to step into a heated shack from a heated bomber? Do you want all the bait included with your trip? Do you want someone to bring you lunch? Do you want to trust someone else's instinct to find your honey hole?

If you've said, "YES" to all these, then by all means book a trip with someone between Rocky Point and the Rainy River. Lots of great resorts there.

BUT, let me ask this. Do you want to fish or just catch your limit? Do you like a challenge? Do you have all the gear to make an all day trip on the ice? Do you have the knowledge to find fish on an unknown chunk of hardwater? Do you want to be the guy who finds the honey hole of all honey holes when no-one is catching anything in the area?

Then, go on your own!

Tough decision, but something you have to decide for yourselves. Good luck. Just fish!

If you want my opinion, go out yourself and keep posted on the "hot spot" on the lake. Go away from the crowd, but if you are new to the lake, ask if an area is safe to fish.

It is tough to not catch a fish on LOW. It has happened before however. Once the hard water season gets going, there will be all kinds of info to be had on this site. Like icefishing21 said, it all depends on what you want. If you have all the gear (warm clothes, flashers, gps, portables, wheelers or sleds) then take a shot at the lake on your own. Like WhiskeyPete said stay away from the group. I know that can be hard to do, but it can pay off big time. LOW is nice because for the most part, its a big bowl. All you have to do is figure out what depth the fish are at... Usually helps to see where the resort houses are setup also. We used to go out of the resorts, but have since bought a wheel house that we use as a base, and then take our portables and go try other areas if the fish aren't biting by the big house. Sometimes we bring enough people up and the fish are biting where the big house is, so we setup the portables by the big house. Usually on a three day weekend, you can count on having at least one decent day. Some days you can't keep both lines down at the same time. Enough ramblings for now...

Here is my .02

For a first trip, I would recommend renting a house, at least the first day. You can stay at a motel, pack sandwiches or whatever and save a little dough, but rent a house the first day at least. Tell whoever you are renting from its your first time and they will help you get started. Bring your own stuff too because by day two after talking with a few people and seeing what goes on, you will be ready to do go almost anywhere for the perfect spot.

That said it isn't too tough to just have at in on your own either. The fish are many times spread out and they do move so almost any spot will produce at some time.

I know staying in a sleeper house rather than a motel or cabin will get you more time to fish. When you wake up in the sleeper all you have to do is drop your lines down. When in a cabin you will have to drive a few miles to get to your spot and wait for bait if need be or a road pass for that matter. As far as a hotel all of the above plus the time to check out and get to the lake.

Early ice your of course forced to stay in either a cabin or a motel.

Even when I go up to the sleeper house always bring a portable. The sleeper house can be hot one week and cold the next. Some of the best fishing on LOW has been out of a portable though.

if it was me i would rather go by myself.if you have a gps with low chip that is a very big help.but renting a sleeper house is the way to go like others said MORE time to fish. every time i rented a sleeper i always bring my portable.we bounced around from shallow to deep it was kinda nice.but now i got 2 hopuses out there to move around.

Thanks guys, I appreciate everyones help!

No problem. This is a great place to get many different ideas in a little bit of time!!!

i would say going out by yourself presents a major challenge. not saying it cant be done at all but i would at least watch reports on here and the out door news paper and stuff cuz fishing can get tough later in the year as the fish start to move agian. like last year me and the buds were up by rocky fishing all week and really stuggled to pale them, first because most of the fish were small. second there was 3 feet of snow. and third the 39" of ice sucked to drill through. so runnin and gunnin wasn't really an option. Im not saying that you cant handle it at all. jsut that it gets tough as the season progresses.

Let me add one thing in there, i would book with arnesens cuz i know the boys in that group and they work there tooches off to get everybody on the fish and they are constantly moving people to keep them happy

And the food at the lodge is really good! I just booked a trip to Arnesens for me and my 10 year old daughter for Dec. 20th - 23rd. She is very excited.

Doing it yourself does really feel good when things come together, however it can be really tough when they don't.

Something to keep in mind is depending on the snow conditions when you go you may not be able to get around very well with 4 wheelers so you can't always count on that. If you have both just call up there to one of the bait shops a couple days before your trip and ask if sleds or wheelers are the best approach.

It is a huge lake and can be very intimidating if you have no idea where to start.

Something to consider is hiring a guide for a day or 2, one that takes you out on sleds or wheelers and moves around a lot to find the fish. You can ask a lot of questions and get a feel for what you need to do, use for tackle and look for when you attempt it alone.

Renting a house has its perks as well....weather isn't an issue, warm hotel room to a warm truck(or relatively warm bomber) to a warm ice house with the holes drilled.

yeah fish, thats probably because you had my cousin john cook your food hes an outstanding cook and ill give that two cents to Guerne back in the kitchen too,