Ballard's Resort Review

Great people to help you with your fishing and any thing else you may need. Also have great food.

Stayed there for the weekend, cabin was great and staff was very accommodating! Plus they have an amazing burger, also cooked our fish to perfection!

Ballard's Resort and each one of their employees truly cares about their guests experiences.

Great staff and fishing guides. All the facilities are very nice and clean. Exceptional service. Great food.

Absolutely amazing place. Second year coming up for ice fishing. Great fishing, great food, great staff. I can't wait to get back up there. We had a great time, and I wish I would have stayed at least a whole week.

The accommodations are the best, the captains are super and of course the walleye fishing is world class!

I've been there three times, twice on the ice, once in the summer, enjoyed all three trips immensely. They know what they are doing and how to take care of their customers, whether novices or experienced. The ice fishing is not for the faint hearted though,-20 degrees in February but there is little time actually spent in the cold unless you are crazy enough to want to venture out into it. The summer boat fishing is everything that you would expect. The boat Captains are conscientious, knowledgeable and very concerned about getting fish in the boat. (I think they compete amongst themselves.) The only negative would be the food at the lodge is so-so, not bad but nothing special either. Consider bringing your own chow to cook in the cabins, which have their own kitchens, nothing fancy but and are cozy and comfy.

I enjoyed dinner with friend at Ballard's Resort. The food and service we're good. The staff was very accommodating.

If you book this be sure you have a guide who is experienced or your fishing luck might not be so good as advertised...

My family had a great experience on our guided fishing tour. Great staff, great food, great fishing!

Great time ice fishing with my wife. The guides are top notch which makes fishing easier. Cabins are very clean and the entire staff was extremely pleasant.They will clean and prepare your fish for dinner. Loved it!

Had excellent service and cabins have plenty of room ,very modern Great fishing our guide Nick Dunn got us on a lot of nice fish. We will be back next year.

Was a great time! Clean, friendly, cold beer and great food.

We came in for drinks and dinner. It was a busy jovial atmosphere. Wait staff were efficient

Great resort to stay at. The guide service is the best they are very good at what they do and are very professional.

Good food and great service! The wait staff was knowledgeable about the food choices!

One of the trips I take every year that I look forward to the day I head out from the last one!

If you come here ask for Captain Zack! After you catch your limit eat some of the walleye tacos you won t be disappointed.

Excellent service all around. Fishing guides are knowledgeable and intuitive. Food is exceptional. And all the employees are friendly and helpful. Our cabin was always clean when we got back from fishing.

Not overly impressed. The accommodations were fine, the food was good but the prime fishing spots are an hour boat ride across the lake. Also while we were there we only had a professional experienced guide, one day during our stay. Guess they were short on help, but one day their maintenance man took us out and the next day was a young man who was just starting out in the business. We were there with a bus tour and some members of the tour had the same experienced guides all three days and were catching more fish.

Very friendly staff, our guide Al was great. Good times all around.

Nice and clean, friendly staff,great fishing getaway

Great resort clean and the employees couldn't be nicer...Captain Travis is a please to fish with.

Amazing place! The people are so friendly and very nice! Not the best place for agates from what I saw, It's all minerals mostly, found a few good gemstones I'm surprised I didn't find more quartz! Thanks for having me though I would love to live up in Baudette it's a nice area!

Great food. Great, fast and friendly service. Amazing views.

Best dining on Lake of the Woods. Excellent food and great service.

Wonderful food! Best guides and equipment on the lake!!

This is the place you go if you want to get away from it all, and catch some fish. If you do the charter service, it is worth 2x's every dollar you spend. The staff, the guides, the customers are as polite and friendly as you will find anywhere. I was only here for 4vdays, but wish I had spent a whole week, and cannot wait until my next visit. I read a LOT of reviews before choosing Ballard's and am only able to understate how accurate they are, and how happy I am to have chosen this place as my retreat from the mundane.

Great well managed facility on Lake of the Woods, cabin #4 was recently remodeled was very clean with kitchen and all utensils. Main lodge has restaurant, bar and heated pool. Fishing was great, Andy our guide took care of everything including the shore lunch which was excellent. I highly recommend.

Lovely, beautiful cozy place to stay. I come from Oxnard, California. The staff here is very friendly and their service is great. The food is delicious A++. I recomended Ballards Resort to anyone.

Great resort all around. Ballard's boats are very clean, comfortable, and well maintained. The staff at the resort were very friendly. When we got there we heard the bite had slowed down, but that didn't matter. Our captain, Tilden, put us on a pile of fish for the frying pan, as well as some beautiful slot fish. Thank you Ballard's resort for such a memorable experience.

Great times with a talented guide and a lot of waleye.

Staff and management are friendly and efficient. Accommodations are clean and comfortable. Restaurant first rate. Highly recommend.

Ballard's runs a very nice operation for ice fishing. I've done two trips so far, very pleased. 5 stars would be earned if the transportation onto the ice was updated. Our bomber smelled badly of burned oil and exhaust. Both trips, the bombers were the most dissappointing aspect based on anecdotal evidence. Aside from dealing with them as the "weak link", this place is outstanding! Andy and Chris are outstanding guides (only 2 of 3 we've had to be fair). Keep up the good work Ballard's!

The staff are friendly, helpful and answer all of your questions. Our cabin was comfortable and clean. The beds were surprisingly comfortable and I really liked having a refrigerator, microwave, sink and burners for cooking if you chose too. Dishes, glasses, silverware and cups were provided too. The shower was okay as I am tall and would have preferred a higher shower head. The fishing guide was excellent! The fishing was awesome. The shore lunch was awesome and fun. The food at the restaurant was good too. Very tastey and good variety. I enjoyed the package deal and not having to cook or bring food. I did bring some of our own drinks, water and Gatorade. You need that for the days on the boat. They do have drinks available to purchase, if you choose to do that there. My kid liked the pool and I liked walking around the area. Being able to watch a little tv at the end of the day and relax was okay too. Outside was nice to sit as there were chairs, benches or picnic tables. We did not have many bugs at all. I did bring sunscreen and bug spray, of course. Both are needed at times. Highly recommend Ballard's for an excellent fishing experience on Lake of the Woods.

Very accommodating and warm welcomed, super relaxing, will be back next year!

Good food good atmosphere. Would definitely go again.

This is a top notch fishing resort! The guides and staff are second to none. The fishing was great and the food and lodging was outstanding. Ballard's is a great fishing destination and I have no doubt you will be glad you booked with this amazing group of people!

Spent a long weekend here and it was very nice. I will be back.

Fishing was good, we were busy in fish houses for both days, food great, staff pleasant. Cabin was perfect for the 5 of us. Some of us ice fish allot, some not, all women. Guides in charge of cleaning and packing fish for us, assured it would be evened out. We received our bags of fish and headed home. All went our separate ways, checked fish at home, hmmm. Some got all sauger, some walleye and sauger, and one gal got 7 northern. We didn't catch any northern! Brought it to Ballard's attention, and they will look into it, it can happen.
I will go back because we had a great time and did catch fish but I believe I will clean my own fish.

Just got home to Waukesha after a 4 night/3 day stay. Neither my wife nor I have ever fished and were total novices. We had Captain Gary on Monday and he set us up, baited the hooks, taught us what to do while also helping the other four gentlemen catching fish in nets etc. Tuesday and Wednesday we had Captain Zach who was also fantastic!
Our cabin (#2) was very clean, comfortable and very nice! Exceeded expectations!
Food was great and our captains prepared walleye appetizers each night for us. The ribs were delicious too!
It was a 10 hour drive but worth it! We will be back!! Thank you Gary and Zach and the entire staff!!
Jim and Amanda Olson

Leave more toilet paper in the bathroom for heaven's sake!

Service was fmgreat and atmosphere as well. Was not too happy about the onion rigmngs as they were over battered. Ordered steak and smoked chicken which was delicious.

Had lots of fun. Food was good, cabins were clean, and guides knew their stuff. Overall a good time.

Loved this place. Great fishing experience and wonderful staff and food!