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First time at the Rainy River


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Unless you have a good sized boat, it might be pretty tough to get any fishing in near the gap in the lake friday and maybe saturday. By the looks of things, I will be stuck on the river with my 18 foot lund super skiff.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fgf/?n=lake_fcst_low

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If the wind is howling out there, then I would fish in Four Mile Bay or just around the corner from Four Mile Bay/into the River. I also heard this past weekend from a few different guys that there was a pretty good evening bite by the wind sock the other night. There is also one really good spot I always hit just off the dock downriver from Wheelers Pt's bar. It is almost always good for a few fish.

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just heard a great sturg report. might be headed up, fingers crossed for finding a babysitter...

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Looking to head up the first weekend in November for the fall run. With the cooler temps expected in the forecast, will that time be a bit too late? Any input would be great, thanks.

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Looking to head up the first weekend in November for the fall run. With the cooler temps expected in the forecast, will that time be a bit too late? Any input would be great, thanks.

Not at all!!

In fact, I'll be up there at that time

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Nice! Never done the fall run, only the spring, and I know how much the spring bite depends on water clarity, weather, ect. Had a group of 8 guys going until they all realized it was deer opener. Oh well, more fish for the three non deer hunters, that will be hunting walleyes instead! I'll be in a green and tan 1850 Tyee tacklejunkie if ya see us give a wave!

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Fished on friday afternoon by wabanica church and got skunked and cold and wind burned. Got up friday and went out of zipple bay and got our limit for 3 guys in relativly short order plus a few big perch for a bonus. Just about swamped the boat in the wind/waves, but the fishing was almost the best I've ever had. Talked with some people that did better in the river closer towards town and clementson, but the word was that it was pretty slow on our end. Closed up the cabin and put the boats away, time to think about snowmobiling, but I'll be back in 6 months!

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We had a rough time out there on Friday/Saturday. Wind was bad on Friday which meant there were a ton of boats in the river. Got kind of fed up with trying for walleye in the horde of boats so we tried for sturgeon instead. Caught a few, nothing big though. It was the first sturgeon either of us had ever caught though, so it made us happy. Tried to head down river towards Baudette but realized it would be heck driving back into the wind, only made it about a mile or two from Wheeler's point and turned around. Driving back into the wind was pretty nasty, our 16' boat with 25 horse was having a hard time going into those waves and that wind. Got real wet but made it back safely. Wind basically pinned us in between wheeler's point and the wind sock, enjoyed getting tossed around by other people's wakes every 10 seconds...

Saturday was cold and still too windy for us to try out by the gap, stuck in the river again. Wouldn't have been AS many boats, but there was some tournament going on in the river so it was just as busy. Found a spot and got a lot of Sauger action for awhile, but after catching one fish for every 4-5 little bites we decided to go for sturgeon again. We probably could have limited out on 12-13" saugers had we stayed there. That spot was probably a mile down river from the windsock, along some reeds on the US side, about 24 feet of water.

Overall I had a lot of fun, my friend and I enjoyed every minute of it, even if the fishing wasn't awesome. None of the bait shops had crawlers, so our sturgeon bait was limited to sticking a bunch of frozen shiners on a hook, but I'm not sure if it would have made a difference.

Thanks again for all the advice from people on here!

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I might be wrong...I hope I am as I would like to target sturgeon; but I was thinking the sturgeon season was closed. If the sturgeon season is closed don't sweat as people make mistakes.

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Quote:
LAKE STURgEON

April 24-May 7 and July 1-Sept. 30

1 per license year. (Fish must be 45-50", inclusive, or

over 75".) Immediately upon reducing a fish to possession, you must validate and attach your sturgeon tag.

Harvested sturgeon must be registered within 48 hours. See page 55 for more details

May 8-May 15 and Oct. 1, 2011- April 23, 2012

Catch-and-release only. (No tag needed.)

From page 50 of the 2010 MN reg book.

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got back tuesday night from the river. fished from saturday to tuesday morning.

Saturday as you heard was really windy. went out of vidas and caught a few right away then it slowed way down fished from noon to about 630 and kept 5 eyes.

Sunday got up and went out to frontier. waether was worse in my opinion. fished all day and kept 5.

Monday was cold again. and rainy which really sucked. oh and it was windy. we fished solid from 9 to 6, basically froze all day and it made it really tough. we only kept 4.

Went out tuesday morning and it was still windy with some flurries. we fished till noon and kept two really nice fish.

All of the fish we kept were really nice. between 15 and 19. we didnt catch any big ones. my uncle and i had to leave while the rest of the group, probably about 10 or so people, got to stay the rest of the week. the last two days they've been able to get out on the lake and have done really well. limits both days.

Overall we had a blast. we got to eat fish and bring home our limits. (thanks to our two fish tuesday morning) i would say gold and black worked the best for us, and we tried all colors. we used live shiners. one thing i noticed was the water clarity was not good. im assuming the wind has stirred up a lot of stuff from the bottom. not sure if that had anything to do with it but its possible. my dad has been going up there for the last 25 years and hasnt missed one year and i've been goin up the last 15 with a few misses. its almost my favorite time of the year. behind deer hunting. even tho we didnt pound em im already excited for next year!

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   The big basin, otherwise known as Big Traverse Bay, is ice free.  Zippel Bay and Four Mile Bay are ice free as well.  Everything is shaping up nicely for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th. With the walleye / sauger season currently closed, most anglers are targeting sturgeon and pike.  Some sturgeon anglers are fishing at the mouth of the Rainy River, but most sturgeon are targeted in Four Mile Bay or the Rainy River.  Hence, pike are the targeted species on the south shore and various bays currently.   Pike fishing this time of year is a unique opportunity, as LOW is border water with Canada, the pike season is open year round. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. Back bays hold pike as they go through the various stages of the spawn.  Deadbait under a bobber, spinners, spoons and shallow diving crankbaits are all viable options.   Four Mile Bay, Bostic Bay and Zippel Bay are all small water and boats of various sizes work well. On the Rainy River...  Great news this week as we learned sturgeon will not be placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.     The organization had to make a decision by June 30 and listing sturgeon could have ended sturgeon fishing.  Thankfully, after looking at the many success stories across the nation, including LOW and the Rainy River, sturgeon fishing and successful sturgeon management continues.   A good week sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River.  Speaking to some sturgeon aficionados, fishing will actually get even better as water temps rise.     Four Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River near the Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp is still producing good numbers of fish, as are various holes along the 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  A few spots with rotten ice, but as a rule, most of the Angle is showing off open water.  In these parts, most are looking ahead to the MN Fishing Opener.  Based on late ice fishing success, it should be a good one.  
    • leech~~
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    • Rick G
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    • smurfy
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