Gustafson’s Guide to Lake of the Woods
Other than the Japanese pros, most of whom spend the season in the United States, no Elite Series angler has a longer “commute” to work than Canada’s Jeff Gustafson. Unlike many long-distance pros who end up relocating to Alabama or Tennessee, he’s steadfastly remained on his home waters, which means he has a drive of approximately 7 hours just to get to Minneapolis.
Why stay so far away?
The simple answer is that he lives and guides in a sportsman’s wonderland, the Lake of the Woods Region. The massive body of water straddling Minnesota, Ontario and Manitoba holds huge populations of walleyes, smallmouths, lake trout, northerns and muskies, among others. There’s also exceptional hunting. Gussy does it all, and if you want to experience any of these options it pays to get on his jam-packed calendar as soon as possible. Here’s why, in his own words:
HPFC: How did you get started fishing and guiding on Lake of the Woods?
GUSTAFSON: My grandparents had a cabin on the lake, abut 45 minutes from town. The fishing was phenomenal and my parents ended up buying it from them in the early 90s and that’s where we spent our summers. Kind of the opposite of the way most people would get their lake place or their cabin in retirement – we had it growing up. I have a brother and sister, we all went to university. Our parents helped us out with that and they sold the place when we all started going to school. I totally miss it. If I had known where my life would go, I probably would have figured out how to keep it. I was really lucky to have access to the lake whenever I wanted it as a kid. It was in a 14 foot boat with a 15 horse motor. I went wherever I wanted to go, caught whatever fish I wanted to catch, and that fueled my passion for fishing.
Of all the places that I’ve been it’s probably the best multispecies fishery in the world for freshwater fish, comparable to the Great Lakes, but you don’t get ‘weathered out.’ The lake’s got 14,000 islands, it’s over a million acres. While there is some big water, you can always hide out. The season’s open for multiple fish year-round. I love bass fishing and tournament fishing, obviously, that’s my thing, but throughout the year I fish for everything – crappies, muskies, walleyes and a lot of ice fishing as well.
HPFC: Your guiding service extends to all of that plus hunting, right?
GUSTAFSON: For like 10 years my big moneymaker was guiding for whitetails. We’re right at the north end of their range, so we get some of these bad winters and it puts a big hit on the deer, so our deer situation is pretty tough now. It’s going to come back around at some point. I do quite a bit of guiding for wolf hunting as well, early in the winter.
HPFC: Is it the variety that keeps it fresh for you or are there particular things that you like better than others?
GUSTAFSON: I love the variety. Even growing up, I was lucky because I wouldn’t just work at one place. I’d work at five or six of them. That way I could fish the tournaments I wanted to in the summer, six or eight of them with pretty good payouts. I could go to one resort, then to a fly-in place for a week, then to a different part of Lake of the Woods for four days, and it taught me to fish different water, different species. Even today, I hardly ever go to a place that I know I can catch fish. Obviously, in tournaments I do, but when I’m at home and fun fishing I’m going to try a new section, or something new.
HPFC: How much of the lake have you fished?
GUSTAFSON: You could never really see it all. There are so many little nooks and crannies, but I’ve seen probably 80 percent of it.
My Take on Gussy
For many years, I was fascinated by the Japanese pros who came to the United States and excelled. Not only were there typically language and cultural barriers, but they had to adapt to new waters and new styles of fishing. I remain obsessed with Japanese tackle, but in recent years I’ve come to think of the Canadian pros in similar terms of amazement. Of course the language barrier isn’t there, but there are still some significant differences and obstacles to success. Nevertheless, Gussy and his running buddies the Johnstons have more than excelled.
I’ve worked quite a bit with Chris and Cory Johnston since they came to BASS, but for some odd reason until recently I hadn’t worked with Jeff. That was a mistake. In our first interview, our discussion about Lake of the Woods was really just a sidebar – I’d called to discuss the “moping” technique that he’d used to win in Knoxville last year, and also some shallow water cranking tips. The depth of his knowledge and his ability to explain complex concepts was exceptional, and it’s not hyperbole to say that he was as prepared and professional as any bass pro I’ve ever worked with – shortly after we got off the phone I had a dropbox link to photos I could use and an introduction to his sponsor at Bagley’s for more. That alone makes me want to work with him more (you’d be shocked at how many hours I spend each week chasing photos to accompany my articles).
More importantly, it made me want to fish with him. I’ve watched him fish from a camera boat on Santee Cooper, but that’s it. The only question is where and when I’m going to try to make it happen. On the one hand, he’s done well all over the country, and I’d love to write about a big bass slugfest in Florida or Texas. On the other hand, after fishing with several of the greats on their home waters – KVD in Northern Michigan, Keith Combs at Rayburn, etc. – I’m inclined to try to find a time to book him at Lake of the Woods. Who else is up for that trip?
One other thing: he mentioned that he’d heard me on Bass Talk Live discussing getting paired with Ron Lindner at an FLW event on Lake Minnetonka in 1997. I knew that Gussy had been close with the Lindners, and had been mentored by Ron in particular. To hear his reverence not only for the individual, but also for the history of the sport and for his elders, made me further recognize the depth of his commitment to the sport. In other words, if you weren’t aware of him already, get ready to see a lot more of him in the future — there will be ample accolades and victories sooner rather than later.
Getting to Kenora
The closest option is to fly into Winnipeg’s international airport, rent a car and then drive. It takes a little over 2 hours. There are connections on major airlines through cities including Minneapolis and Toronto.
You can fly to International Falls, Minnesota, through Minneapolis and then make a slightly longer drive up the east side of the lake.
Of course, you can drive from anywhere – just be prepared to burn some gas and some time.
American visitors will need a passport to get into Canada.
As of March 2022, fully-vaccinated foreign anglers no longer need a recent COVID test to get into Canada.
Places to Stay:
Gussy noted that there is a huge range of lodging options available to visiting anglers on Lake of the Woods, everything from tiny cabins to five-star resorts. Whether you hire a guide or bring your own boat, no matter the type of attention you need, there is something that will fill your needs. One that he often recommends is the Perch Bay Resort.
Things to Know About Gustafson:
Three-time Bassmaster Classic Qualifier
Winner, 2021 Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on the Tennessee River
Two-time Forrest Wood Cup Qualifier
In addition to whitetail and wolf hunts, he also leads shed hunts.
