Royal Dutchman's 2015 River Condition Reports

[RoyalDutchman]

March 24th, 2015:

I went and checked Frontier Landing about 1:15 pm and there is open water in front of the landing with quite a bit shore ice yet. The river is open just over a mile west of the Frontier Landing. There looks to be some ice build up to the east of the landing as that is the last place I saw any boats. The temperature was 38 degrees and on the way home the sun was coming out a little bit. The high is suppose to get to 46 degrees and a low of 33 degrees tonight. Tomorrow they are calling for a high of 36 degrees with an 80% chance of rain and snow in the morning then changing to snow in the afternoon. I guess winter just doesn't want to leave yet! Let's hope this weather misses us and that the fishing is better today!

We did talk to some groups last night that were out fishing for the day and they said the morning was the best and the afternoon was very slow. Sounds like shallower water was the best.

Frontier Landing looking straight out:

Frontier Landing looking to the east:

Frontier Landing looking to the west:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 25th, 2015:

Grant went and checked the river about 4:30pm to see if he could find where the open water ended. He figures it is somewhere between 2 miles and under 3.6 miles west of Frontier. He went to a house and that was 3.6 miles west of Frontier and it was still frozen. There are 10 miles between Frontier and Vidas landing. There is also less shore ice at Frontier today and boats are pushing off. Grant did run up to Franz Jevne to see if there was still shore ice and there is and he said there is about a 2 foot drop off from the end of the ice to the water level. Last night it started raining a little after 10pm and when we got up at 7am it was snowing. It snowed most of the day and then the wind picked up after noon today. The high was about 30 degrees with a low of 17 degrees tonight. Tomorrow's high is 26 degrees with some clouds in the morning and then mainly sunny in the afternoon!

Frontier Landing:

Just west of Frontier Landing showing the cold wet day we had:

[maxpower117]

Is it gunna be busy up there this weekend?

[IceHawk]

I would assume so most of the motels are booked in the area. Our group will be up there FRI-Mon will post a report when we get back.

[SPUD BAR]

We'll be up Mon- Thurs. Cant wait!!!! Like to see vidas open by then. More river to work with.

[RoyalDutchman]

I have a feeling there will be a lot of people up here fishing this weekend as it is suppose to warm up and now there are 2 landings open to all boats which will help.

March 26th, 2015:

This morning was a little cold with some snow flurries but cleared off to sunny skies for most of the day with the high reaching close to 26 degrees at our house. The low for tonight is 10 degrees so could make for a cold morning tomorrow. The high for tomorrow is 35 degrees with sun and some clouds. Grant found open water 4.3 miles west of Frontier around 4:00pm where the white church is on the Canadian side but couldn't find the end of it. He also checked at Vidas Landing and didn't see any water there yet. Frontier landing was opened up today for all boats by the County, we would like to thank them for their hard work and getting these landings open for everyone!

Frontier Landing is open to all boats:

The white church on the Canadian side is about 4.3 miles west of Frontier and has open water:

Look at those deer keep an eye out for them while traveling:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 27th, 2015:

This morning started out feeling cold but it did warm up to 33 degrees today making it feel a little bit better. The low for tonight is 18 degrees and tomorrow's high is 46 degrees and partly cloudy. Grant did find open water 3.3 miles east of Vidas Landing and is guessing it is open 2-3 miles east of Vidas Landing. Hopefully tomorrow there will be some open water in front of Vidas!

Grant talked to some people that said fishing was a little bit slow today but they were still catching fish. Most of the fish are mainly males and it should just keep getting better as the warm temperature warms up. A group that I talked to last night went out just after noon and were back here just after 6pm and caught 20 fish with the biggest walleye being 24 inches.

Picture just west Frontier Landing:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 28th, 2015:

Grant's dad went and checked the river earlier this afternoon and said that some boats had pushed off at Vidas Landing and there was an ice jam just to the east of Vidas Landing and he could see quite a few boats. It was wide open to the west of Vidas Landing and hopefully by the end of this coming week we will see open water in front of our place. Today the high was 44 degrees and very windy there is a 80% chance of rain later tonight with the low being 36 degrees. Also talked to a group that said they averaged 25-30 fish a day for the last 3 days with the biggest walleye just under 28 inches and a nice sturgeon was also caught.

[RoyalDutchman]

March 30th, 2015:

Yesterday morning was raining for a little bit and very windy but that didn't stop them from fishing. We were not able to check the river but was told that last night there was about 10 feet of shore ice left. The county did come and clear it out today so Vidas is now open to all boats! We can also see open water just to the east of the bend by our place. There are lots of open holes in front of the dock and I am guessing by this evening there will be open water in front of our place. The sun has been trying to shine most of the day and looks like the rain they were forecasting is going to miss us. Tomorrow the high is 48 degrees and Wednesday's high is 65 degrees!

Vidas Landing:

Looking just east of our place you can see boats now:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 31st, 2015:

Last night before dark there were a bunch of open spots on the river in front of our place and this morning when we looked out it was wide open and boats fishing already! The dock still has ice around it. Sounds like the water is open to the International Bridge as of this evening. Also the fishing was slower today than it had been the last few days but we did hear of some slot fish caught and some nice sturgeon. Today it reached about 50 degrees and tonight it is suppose to get to 36 degrees. I am excited for tomorrow with a high of 64 degrees it is going to feel like summer for a day and then get cooler again and windy on Thursday. Hoping the fishing gets better for everyone and that some big ones are caught.

Just after 8:00am this morning I took this picture off our porch with my cell phone:

Fishing Report

March 31st, 2015:

I talked to some groups earlier this morning when it was cloudy and a little chilly on the River and they said they weren’t catching fish and they didn’t see many people around them getting fish. Sounds like this afternoon was a little bit better but still not getting many for the day. A few slot fish we did hear about. Grant’s dad caught a 27 and 3/4 inch walleye and a guy fishing with him finally caught his first sturgeon so he was very excited! Hope that the fish bite tomorrow with the warmer weather and hopefully it will be sunny all day.

March 30th, 2015:

Some groups did good today and sounds like everyone had a lot of fun on the River. We have a young boy here who was so excited to get out there fishing and was hoping to catch a sturgeon and it sounds like he got a nice one at 58 inches and even a slot walleye too! I love seeing young kids so excited to go fishing! Heard of a few other slot fish but sounded like it was about a 15-20 fish day for most groups.

[RoyalDutchman]

On the Facebook page for Sportsman's Lodge, "Open water within 5 1/2 miles from the lodge now on the Rainy River at Wabanica Church!"

April 2nd, 2015:

We have received some fish pictures from earlier this week be sure to check them out in the Spring Fishing Pictures. Grant's dad was out fishing this morning for a few hours and caught a 27 inch walleye while waiting for some friends to get here. I talked to one guy that came in early around 2:00pm that was fishing by Vidas and said that it was really rough there and caught a few northerns so he was going to try closer by us. Another group that left today fished until about 1:15pm and they said they did the best just east of Vidas Landing today. This afternoon it was windy, sprinkling and snowing a little bit. Hope to have more reports this evening! Also we have been calls about the river being dirty from the groups I talked to it doesn't sounds like it was muddy/dirty where they were fishing.

April 1st, 2015:

Today was a beautiful day with the sun shinning it did make it into the 60s but it was a little windy throughout the day. Fishing was still pretty slow for most groups it sounds like the average was about 20-25 fish a boat with the biggest being around 25 inches that I heard of. The sturgeon are still biting a friend had on the biggest one of his life and fought it for an hour and half before it got tangled and they decided to cut the line since it was dark out. The weather is suppose to change so hoping that doesn't mess with the fish too much.

[RoyalDutchman]

April 6th, 2015:

The Wheeler's Point Access is open to all boats as of this afternoon. Sounds like the water is open past Wigwam Resort and we have heard reports of the fishing being better towards the west than heading east.

I talked to one group that came in after fishing for a few hours this afternoon and they headed just east of us and caught a 24 inch, 22 inch, and a 19 inch.

Another group fished just west of the International Bridge and figured they caught about 35 fish today with about 20 of them before 11:00am. Their biggest walleye so far is just under 27 inches hoping tomorrow they can get above that number.

A group of 2 guys caught just a few fish today but they didn't fish very long as they drove during the night and figured they would get a good night's sleep and then fish hard tomorrow. They stayed closer to town for the day and just checked out a few spots.

[RoyalDutchman]

April 8th, 2015:

We woke up to a nice white blanket covering the ground this morning. It did all melt this afternoon with the high getting in the 40s and hardly any wind today. Tomorrow is suppose to be a high of 54 degrees and partly cloudy with winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. The water temperature by our place was reading 38 degrees this afternoon hoping the weather warms up so that river will warm up and get those females in here more. As I write this our groups are still out fishing hope to have a report to post tonight or tomorrow morning.

April 7th, 2015:

Today was very windy for most of the day but everyone spent most of the day out there fishing. I talked to a few groups that said the water temperature was around 37 to 38 degrees in spots. They said fishing was a little slow with some walleyes in the mid 20s and some sturgeon were caught. I did talk to some groups that headed east of us and they were catching some slot fish so hope that's a sign they are moving in. One group ended up with some nice eaters that were in the 17-19 inch range. They are calling for snow 1-3 inches for tonight and then it is suppose to start warming up again.

[RoyalDutchman]

April 10th, 2015:

Today the sun was shinning most of the day but the wind did pick up for a little this afternoon making it feel a little cooler. I just talked to one group that had a very good day over by Vidas Landing with most of their fish were slot fish with the top 3 being a 27 inch, 29 inch, and a 30 inch that weighed about 11 pounds! Hope to have pictures soon and will post them as soon as I get them. We had quite a few boats in front of us today and saw a few catch some walleyes while we were outside for a little bit watching. Tomorrow is suppose to be a gorgeous day with a high of 66 degrees and lots of sunshine with winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.

April 9th, 2015:

Grant's dad and some friends were out fishing in the nice weather we finally had and they had their best day so far with about 40 fish for the 3 of them. They caught one walleye that weighed 10lbs and 11 oz and the biggest sturgeon was 20 pounds. Another group said they had a good day of fishing with quite a few slot fish and they were trying all over the river yesterday.

[RoyalDutchman]

April 12th, 2015:

Today was another nice day with some wind this afternoon but settling down towards evening. While cleaning rooms today every time Grant came back up by the office he would see a boat catch a fish. We spent the afternoon outside and watched quite a few people land some nice looking fish. We talked to a few different groups today and they all said they had a good day. One group of 2 caught 10 walleyes over 25 inches today and quite a few 18 inch small mouth bass. Sounds like most groups had the best fishing from the airport to about Vidas.

April 11th, 2015:

Today was a beautiful day and we wish we were on the river fishing with everyone. We watched people fishing in front of our place catch a few fish when the wind wasn't blowing crazy. Sounds like the fishing was better all over the river with quite a few in the high 20's being caught and even heard of a few 30 inch ones. One group told us they caught 7 walleyes over 27 inches.