Rainy River Fishing Report

[lakowoods]

Went out for the evening bite on the river, water was alittle swift 3/8 oz. on one pole and 1/2 oz on the other did'nt get to much debris on lines but the fishing was great for the hour and a half I was out caught my limit 2 , and threw back 5 slot fish 22in to 26 in. and 2 small eyes. hope that gets ya going. oh yeah I just used fathead chubs

[kosterguide]

when do you guys think we cn get some bigger boats in the water or can we already, i wish i had a small boat so i could throw it acroos the ice right now

[@kkellywalleyes]

Hey Tim,

Are you up there right now?

Were you able to get your Ranger in yet?

Hard to tell from some of the pictures whether there is a big shelf or not.

Thanks for the information!!

[Tim_Anderson]

No, I'm still watching just like everybody else!

Judging by the pics I've seen, there doesn't look like there's that much ice on the ramp. The county may come and clean it, but if they don't, it just might take care of itself within a few days. The current and some traffic makes a big difference every day.

I can't go up tomorrow, but if it's open, I will go up Saturday or Sunday. Even if it's not open, I will be going up on Monday for sure. Like I said, not much ice on the ramp. Looks like a guy with some sand, salt, and an ice pick could get things in order without too much work. I'll be bringing that and my waders.

[Diesel man kevin]

Birchdale at 10-ish this morning

jonny p, My friend and I are going up to his cabin (Backus) for a week next week. (march 30- april 3rd) We dont have Internet access at the cabin and was wondering if i could get your cell number if you dont mind letting us know if we can get a 17' crestliner on the river at birchdale. [email protected]

[fishing-g]

thanks for the info. i to am going up from the brainerd area but not until next thursday. was up to the river to check it out and do a couple other things oon tuesday. birchdale had about 40 feet of shore ice at that time and looked to be open water about a mile or so west at that time.

[Royal Dutchman]

Just got a call from DNR Fisheries in Baudette. They had a coordination meeting with Kooch County and several other agencies a while back and there where definite plans to clear the ramps. SO.... the guy I talked to either didn't know or was messin' with me.

No schedule but rest assured they will clear them as soon as conditions allow and it is safe for the crews to do so.

Hope to head up there this afternoon & will post later.

[lakowoods]

There was 22in yet and 100ft away from me was 32", I Falls area they have 2 gates open and plan on opening 2 more probably tonight due to the high level of water on Rainy Lake.

[Fishing Realtor]

So with the gates open resulting in higher, faster water - can this be as bad in terms of water clarity as when the Little Fork breaks loose?

Reports say that the Little Fork is "starting to give" and "there is some debris" from the rapidly rising water.

Any thoughts or more up to date condition reports would help those of us for this weekend...

[@kkellywalleyes]

It can be very dissapointing if the forks go out (not sure about the dam). We were one day late 3 years ago. There were limited reports about the conditions the day before we went, we got the boat ready, packed everything, and drove all the way up there. It went from outstanding the day before to horrible. You couldn't even fish there was so much debris on your line, the water was chocolate milk, and current was so bad we had a hard time even loading the boat on the trailer. Let's hope we arent' going to see this already. The last two years good clarity until the end of the season.

[computerboy]

High water alone won't make the river as turbid as when the Forks break, but it will definitely affect water clarity. Mud isn't the only factor conspiring against us though. The main problems with high water are heavy current and floating debris/ice. Heavy current makes vertical jigging next to impossible, and fast-floating debris/ice makes for treacherous boating conditions.

The best case scenario would be for progress to slow significantly. The cooler temps will help, but if they really are planning to open up two more gates that's definitely not going to help matters. If guys are already using 1/2 jigs to stay down, we'll be using downriggers to get our jigs to the bottom by this weekend.

[FishnUMD]

general question- do you think a 14' deep v boat with a 9.9 johnson can make it through the current?

[Jim Panfish Uran]

oh yeah it can. I remember taking a 14 footer and a 6 horse up there. It'll work.

[VIZSLA_NUT]

got up there at 9 am and it is definately flowing fast, 10mph by gps drifting with the current could hardly keep a 1 ounce jig on the bottom never caught any debris of any kind except ice i dont think the forks let loose yet because it wasn't that dirty but the high water and fast current must be busting up the ice up current pretty bad because it was like fishing in a giant slushy you had to flop your jig into the water like a ice hole that hasn't been cleaned out yet and once it does break through and start falling a bigger piece of ice flows by and hooks your line and brings your jig back up as fast as it went down boated down to where it was locked up still and the ice was piling up so fast were loosing roughly 1oo yds of open water every 10 min so i figure at that rate birchdale landing where i put in will be one big ice jam by tomorrow

so other than not a single bite or hearing of anybody else getting a bite and the ice flowing under my boat and shearing off my transducer it was a great excuse to get out of the house

[Royal Dutchman]

The ice jam actually started clearing out late yesterday and had opened down to about mm 151. The ice floes definitely cleared out later in the day as the 2 additional gate cleared everything from the Falls down. Drove to the falls about 6 PM and hardly saw a piece of ice left in the river.

Should make significant progress as temps and sun work for us next few days.

I understand having to use a 1 oz. jig as you were being carried along with the ice at surface flow speeds. We were not having any problem keeping a 3/8 oz. down while slip-drifting and vertical jigging later in the day when ice cleared out.

Fish were caught but not by us. The good stuff is yet to come!

[kentfast]

Friday

3 in my boat fished friday for 5 hours

zero bites, saw no fish caught. Heard a few guys say they caught one walleye.

Can only see your jig down about 6 inches. Had absolutely no problem keeping and feeling a 3/8 ounce jig in about 20 FOW.

Saturday we ran up to the dam and fished the dam down to the golf course, caught one 20" walleye and a small pike, saw many other pike caught.

They dont have any of the gates fully open, they are all very slightly opened, the current isn't faster than normal. Water clarity was about 6 feet, from the dam all the way to the Little Fork.

[Royal Dutchman]

Hey Kentfast,

When you were at the Little Fork confluence was there heavy flow and/or color? Thanks!

[whitetail_freak]

my dad managed to get his ranger into the river this morning, he said it was very dirty water, did manage to catch 7 walleyes, but that was it.

[kentfast]

all that garbage is coming from the little fork, we never made it down there, but two other boats did and reported 6 feet clarity just upstream, and less than 6" of clarity at the mouth of the river.

The ice isn't off either of the forks yet, and didn't look 'that' weak as we drove over the bridge.

[Tim_Anderson]

Water is clear above the Little Fork. Water is stained below it, but with very little debris. And it is still locked in ice.

Logically, the muddy water must be coming through under the ice, and it stands to reason that it could eventually clear. 10 day forecast shows very little time above freezing if any, for at least a week or so. This could give the LF some time to flush out the muddy water, and potentially the powers that be up at I-falls to start closing things up a bit.

Granted, with some cool temps, that water temp is not going to come up much in the main river, but I would rather see the LF stay locked up cuz if that lets go we are done for sure (just my experience, plus the high water levels this year could get ugly for debris...my prediction). In the meantime, more and more fish are moving up. So put all of this together:

1. Stable temps at or below freezing both day and night.

2. Time for Little Fork to clear.

3. Enough water let out of Rainy Lake to close down the gates and reduce the current.

4. Weatherman is right, and we don't experience unexpected warmth or moisture. We need zero chance of runoff right now.

5. Big run of hungry walleyes up the river, who have a small window to feed up before they go into their spawning ritual. 40 degrees or more is ideal, but I have whacked the walleyes when the water temp was 37 or 38.

This could happen! We still have two weeks, and I am not giving up yet.

[Random guy]

Fingers crossed. I am going to start looking for Sturgies in the mud either way. A guy has to give it a whirl. Ya know I have not heard much for sturgeon getting dinged. Should be some residental fish getting hooked up even in the tough conditions.

Plus I have to use up some crawlers as they keep escaping out of the flats in the fridge.

[Jarnotski]

Jonny- I had the same thought about resident sturgies. Fished below the litte fork last weekend with no bites, went back on friday and also had zero bites. The Little Fork was chuckin pretty good, had to have 4 oz to stay on the bottom. Had to reel in and clean leaves off every five minutes, ran up to the Dam and fished with no luck (Prob to early for the dam). I've never had this much of a problem picking up a couple resident sturgeon. Also heard bad reports on sturgeon out of birchdale. Beats workin I guess, I think I gotta try it again this weekend. Best of Luck.

[Bassboy1645]

It was the best worst day ever on saturday! The saying a bad day of fishing is better then a good day of work(or school) was defenitely true here. Long story short here is my crappy events in order.

Unsecured takle box rolled around in the boat on the drive up breaking a rod

Motor wouldnt start when I got her in the water it was wayy cold. Found out 15 mins after cussing and swearing I didnt have the kill switch key in. problem solved.

Pee hole was frozen...thawed out with a handy dandy handheld torch.

I had no bait and Shops in I falls werent open till 7am. No problem though.. buddy has plenty of bait well split minnows. Problem here is buddy leaves minnows in boat over night so we chip apart ice blocks to fish frozen dead minnows. It is now finally sunrise. AND COLD

Over lunch I lose my boat keys...no idea where. Could be at the landing, truck, baudette, nelson general store. I dont know. Fish the rest of the day in buddys boat.

NO FISH dirty high water. some debris. I didnt think it was bad compared to say the miss or minn rivers but I guess it was [PoorWordUsage] for the rainy.

8 miles out of Ely, MN heading back home that night the truck overheates with a radiator crack.

The next day I notice oil spewing out of my outboard. Becasue I couldnt not start my motor without my keys I couldnt drain all the water. As of now im waiting on the shop but I suspect a cracked head. It was cold overnight.

All in All it was nice being on the water again. Not four mins in I hooked into a monster sturgeon that broke me off. My buddy lost a rod to another sturgie which ripped it out of the boat. My fishing partner in my boat fought a sturgie for about 20 mins unitl the ice broke his line. It warmed up later and with the warm sun open water some country music and a shot of captain it was one of the best things ever. I just wish the fish would have been biting. Early yet? the water temps were 32 degrees according to the graph and the current was 3 1/2 4 miles an hour by gps. we fished birchdale. Hope this helps

[setterguy]

Ouch man, that is a rough day.

[Wensel]

We fished most of the day Sunday, the current seemed better but still fast.

Early skim ice was difficult.

We managed a few fish but we had to work for them

Big key was trying to find slack water, and there is not much of it

Water 6-8" vis max, about the same as Sat

When we came home last night, kids were riding snowmobils on the Little Fork, big fork was solid too???

GOod Luck

[Tim_Anderson]

Imagine being at a buffet table in the middle of a tornado. Good food is everywhere, but just as you reach for a piece of new york strip, you see a fork coming at you. You duck. And then you look and there are glasses and spoons coming at you from every direction. A plate hits you in the face. You really want that piece of meat, but you can't seem to get back to it. And when you finally do, it is all covered with dirt and leaves and all sorts of un-edible things. It doesn't appear to be very appetizing anymore. It's just not worth it. You back off and go into survival mode. You find a place that is comfortable to hide. You wait for better conditions to try and find something to eat.

Those walleyes and sturgeon must be on sensory overload right now. This is how I imagine it being in their world, and it is eventually going to get worse. Hopefully it gets better before that happens.

In the mud and debris, I have tried and failed with both walleye and sturgeon. Yes, a fish here and there, but mostly futility, and that is not what I go up there for. I hate to discourage you, but that has been my experience. What can you do when your rig is fouled the moment it hits the bottom? I have been there. It takes sheer chance for your sinker rig to catch the debris long enough for your hook/bait to stay clean, get found, and get bit. That is that lucky fish that you get every once in awhile.

At the same time, they gotta eat eventually. If anyone can figure out a way to feed them consistently under these conditions, I will be all ears!

[river rat316]

Drop shot with about a 1 ounce weight plastic up about 2' from the weight, let the sinker grab the debris and hopefully the plastic stays clean long enough to get bit.... thats just me thinking out loud though..... either that or pitching real shallow in any small seams hugging the shoreline, but have never been up there in high water so I don't know how dirty the shore line areas get

[shamrock7]

Saturday, tried a 2 oz. bottom bouncer then a plain hook about 4' downwind. The weight picked up a lot of debris but the hook and minnow still caught its fair share. Didn't catch a fish either.

[smokie30]

Bassboy. sounds like you had a fun day.

I had a day close to that in 2000. Day 1 and 2 fishing

was slow 10-15 each day. Day 3 slept in. Hit the water,

just got planed out hit a berg. Nothing $1000 didn't fix.

2 broken transducers, broken skag, and heavy damage to my brand new prop.

It was still better than working.

[CatManLee]

Fished on Sunday 3/29/09 with only a couple suckers to show for it...and we snagged those! Like said above, strong current and dirty water with a lot of grass moving through to get caught on your lures.

We mainly fished for Sturgeon with the water being so dirty, but couldn't find any willing to bite. We also tried (for about 4 hours) pitching jigs for Walleyes too in a few slack water areas to the east of Birchdale up in the rockier section of the river and did manage a few sure bites, but also lost a bunch of jigs!!

All-in-all, a very slow day, but it was nice to get out in the boat again anyways.

That's my report, sorry it wasn't more interesting... We didn't catch any fish in the mouth, but at least I can say "I tried" and we did get to reel in a couple of fish in anyways!

It was better than sitting at home, just barely though!