Anyone on the river yet?

[Guest]

I am coming up to the area in August and was wondering if anyone had gotten a chance to get out on the river yet due to the high levels. If so, is there anything biting? Thanks!!

[Tom Stay]

Fished the river below the dam at I'Falls on Friday. Did well casting spinner baits, husky jerks, rattle traps and shad raps along the shorelines. Mostly smallies and northerns. Caught a few walleye on crawlers and spinners as well as a few smallies that way also. The water is very high still so we had to work the shorelines hard and often threw our baits right up in the submerged brush on the shore or in the rip-rap that is along the shore up by the paper mill. Good fishing is what I would report, hope this helps and good luck.
Tom

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[Guest]

Thanks! That sounds like a blast, I basically target the smallies when I go on the river so that tidbit of info was great.

Does anyone have an idea as to when the river levels will return to normal? I saw on the Clementsonresort.com page that Rainy Lake is still way up. Is there any way to guess when they will slow the outflow?

[Tom Stay]

It's anyone's guess as to when the river levels will return to "Normal".
The water was really cooking coming out of the dam. If we get no rain to speak of for the rest of the summer then I think we should see some receding(sp) by fall, but mother nature has the handle on that, let's hope she cooperates.

p.s. When fishing the rip rap and rock shorelines for smallies, keep in mind that tube baits & plastics work great too, especially if you locate a concentration of them. Also a leech under a slip bobber or just fished with a jig can be killer as well.
Last Sept. just a jig and a twister tail was all we needed.

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[Rick]

I highly recommend you check out the tube baits and soft plastics and Millennium Lure.

Also, the Millennium Lure Rattlin Shads are awesome walleye and smallie lures, especially in the River.

You can see them at:
http://MillenniumLure.com

[Guest]

I was able to get down to the river just to take a look on Tuesday but will not be able to get back to fish until early August. I noticed the river is high but definately fishable. The water also looked a little clearer than I expected for such high water. What colors would you suggest for the smallies? Last year the chartruese spinnerbaits worked best, but we did get a lot of small northerns along with those, not that I am complaining, those are fun too! My cousin was throwing the tube bait in a minnow color but that wasn't as hot as the spinner bait. I like the idea of locating the fish with the cranks and spinners then slowing down with the jigs and tubes after I find a spot that is holding more than a few fish. Does this sound about right? Can't wait to get up there!!!

[Tom Stay]

Yep, that sounds exactly right.
Colors that work well for me are chartruse,
whites, oranges and light colors of those variations. Crawdad colors are killer also.

Fished the Birchdale area yesterday and did catch fish. Not gangbusters but not bad. We caught northern, smallies and walleyes.
The couple I was guiding had a great time.
The gal on board even caught 2 smallies at the same time on a crawdad colored No. 7 shad rap. Her husband was quick with the net and netted them both. They were about 14 to 15 inches but what a blast, 2 at once.

At the end of the day we fished sturgeon for about 1 1/2 hours. Boated 3, all very small,
but alot of good sized fish were jumping.
Also caught a mooneye, a couple of suckers and a few little walleye, while sturgeon fishing.

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Gonzos Guide Service
http//GonzosGuideService.com