Murky Water and Fishing?

[EXTREME]

I heard that the river up by Birchdale was getting murky. How murky is it? Is it fishable. I got a report from a friend that got skunked up there yesterday and was wondering if anybody else was getting fish. The guy that was up there has a tendancy to turn the fish off somehow...so you can never trust his reports. Anyhow, will somebody let me know..thanks!

[certified jumbo]

if anyone could give another report on water clarity about birchdale by noon or so that would be great. just curious as to what it is like.

thanks

[Sandee]

Murky and now I just heard debris too!

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Clementson Resort
Fishing on the Rainy River
in Lake of the Woods Area

[Guest]

Fishing is shut down big time. was up last weekend and hammered em....nice sized fish too....yesterday fished for 10 hours and only picked up 3 fish all day! Drifted from Pinewood (The church) all the way to Clementson bay....only 3 darn fish....two 21's and a 24....it is much slower due to the murkiness of the water. I had a trip planned for this weekend and am canceling. Maybe it will clear up next week, but until the run off subsides, your going to be in for tough fishing....beautfiul weather, just tough fishing.

[goldeye]

I assume fishing down stream from Vidas will be tough going tomorrow as well. Was going to be the first time up, after reading this I feel like somebody just shot my dog!!!!

Is it still worth it coming up for the weekend to try it out, we are 4 hrs away.......planning on leaving at 5am tomorrow......boat and everything is ready to go?

Please help me make the tough decision.

Thanks

[Guest]

COME ON GUYS, IT'S FISHING. IT WILL BE GOOD TO BE ON THE WATER THIS WEEKEND. WEATHER IS GOOD AND ALTHOUGH THE FISHING IS TOUGH, WE'RE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. SPRING FEVER IS IN THE AIR. WE WILL SEE YOU ALL THIS WEEKEND REGARDLESS OF CONDITIONS. HAVE A GOOD ONE GUYS AND GALS.
SCOOT, ARE YOU AROUND? WE'LL BE UP THERE NEXT WEEK FOR THE LAST 5 DAYS AS WELL. I HOPE TO RUN INTO YOU THEN.

BRAD K

[d.roy]

So the water will be a bit murky this weekend - I've fished the rainy in the past with murky water and have also experienced very slow fishing. I imagine that the fish are still present but just have a more difficult time finding the bait - would this be correct? Are there any thoughts on what the murky water does to fish behavior - do they tend to use slightly different areas, prefer different presentations, or do they simply become much less active feeders? I would like to think that by understanding how the fish react to the change that we could change presentation to still move some fish. I still plan to give it a shot this weekend and will certainly enjoy doing so - I just don't have a whole lot of experience fishing murky river eye's - any thoughts on this?

[rms]

Since the fishes sight is dimished appeal to its other senses. Rattles and vibration may help your cause as well as slowing down your presentation. You may need to anchor and wait for the fish to come to you or try trolling with three-way rigs with something like a small husky jerk with rattles. The wobble of the lure will add vibration.

[widetrack]

Try a heavy bottom bouncer, and troll at a snails pace against the current with a big spinner rig, or floating crankbait.

Also check out eddies, as the fish will be looking for a reprieve from the current.

[This message has been edited by widetrack (edited 04-02-2004).]

[Sandee]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Update on conditions: Rick just got back in from a few hours on the river. It is muddy, although there is not the debris we normally get. He only had to remove debris from his line twice within a few hours. So this is better news.

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Clementson Resort
Fishing on the Rainy River
in Lake of the Woods Area

[Scoot]

BradK,

I'm afraid I won't be around. I'm stuck in Fargo this weekend and I won't get up next week at all. My guess is that things will clear up on the West end just in time for some great end of the spring action. Have fun.

[d.roy]

Thanks for the info and thoughts on the river - thanks to Sandee for all of the info as well! I'm headed to the river tomorrow and remain excited to give it a try - it should be good time on the water anyway. Sandee - how much snow, if any, is left to melt?

[EXTREME]

For all you guys that got skunked yesterday...don't feel bad. Just got off the phone with the guy who fished with Gary Roach yesterday at Birchdale. They never boated a fish. Even with that said, we are heading up tomorrow. We are going to treat it as a challenge.

[Sandee]

We still have a small amount of snow left, most of it has melted and very few puddles left too. The DNR pulled their graphic for amount of snow left, so I can't even post that.

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Clementson Resort
Fishing on the Rainy River
in Lake of the Woods Area

[beretta]

So do you think it will be getting better then? or will it still be a while? thanks

[Sandee]

Actually, we just had anglers stop in and said the water is clearer at Birchdale than it is here in Clementson. Hmmmm ....

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Clementson Resort
Fishing on the Rainy River
in Lake of the Woods Area

[EXTREME]

Is the debris from the Little Fork and Big Fork opening...or is it from just runnoff...or did IFalls let out more water? If it is from the rivers opening a guy probably can still fish Pelland or something. If anybody knows why it is cloudy, let us know...thanks

[K2]

birddog tells no lies, cause i was the captain of the boat. it has been many years since i have lost that many jigs in one day. we did chase a sturg for an hour and a half before the hook come out. a word of thanks to the others on the river who put up with the in and out of traffic while chasing the fish. never seen it but it was most likely the largest sturg i have ever had on, and i've boat some good sized fish.

K2

[certified jumbo]

goldeye,

i'm waiting for next weekend now, in the past when the water is muddy, i hate to say it, but i don't think it is worth fishing, you will probably not catch a fish or very very few.

just my 2 cents

thanks again clementson resort for the updates, you are great!!!!

[Matt Breuer]

Fished Birchdale today without any luck, we saw two fish caught all day, one of which was snagged. Talked to numerous boats while waiting at the landing, nobody caught any 'eyes, just a few reports of sturgeon, that's it! Birchdale wasn't magic today, that's for sure!

Sandee, how long before the clarity gets better and fishing picks back up? 7-10 days about right?

------------------
Matthew J. Breuer
Northcountry Guide Service
[email protected]
-----------------------
Custom Jigs and Spins
Phelps Tackle
Today's Tackle
Stone Legacy
Ice Leaders

[Guest]

Forget it guys... From Baudette to Intl. Falls, very few fish caught. We checked in at every place a boat could be launched..same result all over. D&R women told me out of 35 boats she had checked so far, not one fish caught!
For the effort expended, the return is not worth it,unless just floating on water is your thing.
Back to Duluth Friday evening...

[Capt'nJosh]

Just got back from 3 days on the river. Wednesday was ok, the morning started out good (7 fish) but by noon it was pretty much shut down. Thursday was tough, 3 fish out of 6 guys all day. Friday was a complete bust. We were everywhere from Birshdale to Baudette. Getting out in the nice weather made it all worth while still though, it was gorgeous out there. We talked to Gary Roach also and he was having just as much trouble as we were.

[Dr. Bob]

Thanks for the warning guys and gal .
I was going to head up on Monday but now I am going to wait until Wednesday or the following Monday or Tuesday.

[Guest]

We're heading out tomorrow. I'm gonna throw the tackle box at em'. If they don't bite, I'm gonna buy another tackle box and throw that one at em' too.

[Dr. Bob]

Good Luck Guy's.

Please give us a report when you get back.

[mwktrapper]

Sandee, Is it worth it for me to postpone a monday-thursday trip to a thursday-sunday trip, or would it be just as muddy still? I am not familiar with how long this dark water will stick around up there. Thanks

[Sandee]

To be on the safe side Thursday - Sunday would give the extra time to clear, athough you will be in the weekend. This weekend may be less crowded since it is Easter Sunday.

I hope it would improve by Tuesday at the latest up river and work it's way down.

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Clementson Resort
Fishing on the Rainy River
in Lake of the Woods Area

[98prosport]

I am going.... I am going to take full advantage of all the bad hype about a tough bite. Less boats is ok with me.

[Fish Head]

Does the water usually clear to the east first? I was planning on coming up Tuesday, but now I'm wondering what to do.

[d.roy]

Just returned from a very slow weekend on the river. Fished from birchdale to below vidas landing on saturday - 1 eye is it. Drove up to the access just past the little fork river today, much clearer water but no fish. We started by going down stream to the mouth of the little fork - lots an lots of mud, only 2-3 inches of clarity after the little fork drops in, it was crazy. Upstream from the little fork is 4-5 feet of clarity but with the bright sunshine and having trouble finding over 11' of water we struggled to hook up with any fish. At least the weather was a bit more enjoyable today. As for the rainy - every feeder and river between baudette and the little fork looked very dirty and the little fork was just filthy. Hard to say when it will clear, soon I hope. Anyway, here's some up to date first hand info on the clarity from baudette to 5 miles upstream of the little fork - hope it clears soon!