Red River Fishing Reports

[Ed Carlson]

My border crossing was moved to the 5th through the 14th...got me a little vacation time to burn and I need to decompress..I plan to do it on the ice.

I can't wait!!

[marine_man]

Good Luck Ed!

marine_man

[Scoot]

Rob, are you heading up there this year?

[marine_man]

No, it's not in the cards this year.

iffwalleyes and I decided that next year we'll be back for early ice action.

Good luck on your trip!

marine_man

[Ed Carlson]

Good Luck Ed!

marine_man

Thanks..But..Wish me Good Weather...I'll deal with the luck..Eh.

[marine_man]

Good, Consistent Weather Then!

marine_man

[Catmendo]

Fishing is good up here on the ake..very good..weather...well today was a real fun sucker...COLD WIND..BRRRRRRRRRRRR...BRRRRRRRRR..Brrrrrr!!

Looks like the storm will keep me here for a few more days maybe. Roads are closed to the south so I may be late getting back home this week.

Now if the wind slows up we can head back out of the big lake tommarow...Very..VERY.nasty out there today...Uf Da!

[Scoot]

Thanks for the update, Stu. I'll give you a call or e-mail next week to see what this change will mean for us. I'm still not sure if I'll be in the mix or not, but my crew will definitely be there as planned. Lots of excited guys headed your way next week...

[topcat3820]

That was Eddy borrowing Stu's computer, Scoot... I think he thawed out enough to get on the road home this morning.

Reports of 7 ft. drifts on I-29 between us, though!!!

[Ed Carlson]

Ahhhhhhhhhh..yup...sorry for the Stu imitation.

It was me..little Ol Backwater Eddy on Stu's computer, I didn't catch that it signed in on his name..... and not mine. My bad.

Not intentional....Stu is going to give me crude about that now...just watch.

The roads were good on the way back, but darn glad I didn't try to come back yesterday as planned.

Fishing was good...always is. No new PB for me but I caught my share of nice fish. Nothing under 19"..lots over.

I hope to snip on back 1 more time before the end of the season. Just gets better!

Thanks again to the REAL Stu McKay for his hospitality up at "Cats on the Red", as always Stu and crew do there best to get his guests on the best bite rolling. As long as the weather cooperates, the fish should too.

[Scoot]

Thanks for the report Stu... uh... I mean, Ed. Don't worry about the impersonation deal, Ed, we'd all like to be Stu!!!

I'm really foamin' at the mouth about gettin' up there. I hope I get to join the rest of my crew, but it may not be in the cards for me now. We'll see... I'll know next week if I'm going up or not.

[Ed Carlson]

If you do the weekend of the 20th...I'm think'n your timing will be good. Drop in and see me at work this week, and we can chat Scoot.

[Ed Carlson]

Has anyone been out to Kidder Dam yet and checked on conditions?

Do they have the Kidder Park gate open yet in Whap?

Thanks,

[Bassman55]

Nope i tried today, the gate is still closed. I don't know for sure, but i think that you could walk in.

[Ed Carlson]

How far out of it's banks is it yet. I see the gauge but is it out on the ramp parking lot still?

Thanks,

[Bassman55]

At Kidder it is mostly in its banks. There is still some water on the parking lot, but the road is completly dry.

[Ed Carlson]

She went vertical again I see, must be up 3 feet now?

[Ed Carlson]

The walleye are starting to go on the Red to the South. The more sun we get the more fun your going to have.

Lighter jigs 1/8 to 1/4, fatheads on white and pink jigs, and smaller white or pink twisters is doing the trick. Mostly spawned out males and a few nicer spawned out females in the mix.

Think tight to shore, very tight.

[Ed Carlson]

I C&R 18 walleye yesterday morning near Kidder Dam, 4 SM Bass, 3 pike. All on 3/8 Reel Baits flasher Penguin and Chartreuse/Orange jigs tipped with a fathead....no plastics. The added flash is what did it, ball style jigs alone produced NADA for me...El-Zipo.

Most of the Walleye were all under 19" and post spawn males...all empty. I got 1 female about 24" on a 3/4 oz Cotton Cordell Black/white shad pattern rattle bait, she was empty too. Rattle trap style baits do well on post spawn walleye on the Red.

Flow is still rolling along fairly fast, expect most of the fish to be in close to shore or tucked in tightly behind snags.

Should get good there soon. Need a bit more sun and stable weather and there off and running again.

Cats are starting to feed well in that region too, fresh cut sucker apears to be best.

[Ed Carlson]

Things are starting to stabilize fairly quickly now from the South to the North. Access will be a muddy mess for a long time to come and ramps will open slowly again from the South to the North.

The Headwaters region is very fish able now. Fishing will improve quickly in the South.

We will need our flood boots handy for some time to come. Watch out for that slippery flood sediments near steep banks, especially after a light spring rain!

The cats are on the feed for sure. Walleye fishing is improving slowly as they heal up from the rigors of the spawn.

Expect many walleye to be far afield from the Red. They covered some serious ground on the tributaries this spring. Some interesting opportunities will show up in previously unlikely fishing areas for the fisherman willing to do some leg work and maybe a bit of paddling.

[Ed Carlson]

The gates are now open at Iwen Park in South Fargo (AKA) Convent Landing on 52 Ave South. Not sure as to the condition of the ramp but if it's open it should be cleared for use.

[Ed Carlson]

Wahpeton, ND/Breckenridge, MN –

Public boat launching site, fishing pier

and bank fishing areas located off U.S.

Highway 75 to Minnesota Avenue in the

city of Breckenridge; west on Minnesota

Avenue to the Red River. Concrete boat

ramp, parking, and pier are also located

in Wells Memorial Park on the south

shore of the Ottertail River.

Moorhead, MN– Public boat launching

site located off 11th Street North at MB

Johnson Park, about one-half mile north

of the Crystal Sugar processing plant;

parking area for 15-20 car-trailer units

and double concrete plank ramp. No dock

or services. Bank fishing opportunities

also located at: MB Johnson Park, North

Dam, Memorial Riverfront Park,

Woodlawn Park, Middle Dam,

Gooseberry Mound Park, and River Oaks

Park (South Dam).

Fargo, ND – Bank fishing opportunities

at Fargo water treatment plant, Trollwood

Park, Veterans Hospital, El Zagel Park,

Tree Foil Park (also called Dike East or

Midtown Dam), North Dam, Oak Grove

Park, Middle Dam, Lindenwood Park and

Lemke Park (South Dam). Boat ramps

located at 52nd Avenue South (Convent

Landing) and at Midtown Dam above and

below the rock rapids. Canoe access at

Lindenwood Park.

Halstad Municipal Park, MN – Bank

fishing opportunities and earthen boat

ramp one mile west of Minnesota

Highway 75 on Minnesota Highway 200

in Halstad. Picnic area with water, shelter

and sanitary facilities.

Buxton, ND – Belmont Park east of

Buxton has a concrete ramp and bank

fishing. Camping, water and toilets are

available.

East Grand Forks, MN – Boat ramp

located central East Grand Forks off Hill

Street at Central Avenue. Full service

municipal park with camping, electric

and water hook ups, sanitary facilities

and picnic area. Parking lot for many

vehicles, dock located adjacent to ramp.

Lafave Park has good public bank fishing

opportunities on the Red River and Red

Lake River.

Grand Forks, ND – Concrete ramp and

bank fishing area located east of State

Mill Road approximately 1.5 miles north

of U.S. Highway 2. Bank fishing area

downstream of Riverside Dam located

east of State Mill road on Red Dot Place.

Bank fishing is also popular at Central

and Lincoln parks along the Red River in

Grand Forks.

Oslo, MN – Boat launching and bank

fishing site on north side of Minnesota

Highway 1 bridge near the water tower.

Concrete ramp with floating dock, no services,

parking for 10-12 car-trailer units.

Drayton, ND – Drayton Dam, two miles

north and one-plus miles east of Drayton,

has a concrete ramp and a bank fishing

area. The city of Drayton has a concrete

ramp and a bank fishing area directly east

of the city water tower.

Minnesota Highway 175 Crossing –

Boat ramp and bank fishing site 10 miles

west of Hallock on Minnesota 175 on

north side of highway bridge. Concrete

plank ramp and parking for 15 car-trailer

units; no services.

Pembina, ND – Pembina city campground,

located at Pembina and Red river

confluence, has a concrete ramp, dock,

and a bank fishing area.

(“Red River

Angler’s Guide” produced by ND Game

and Fish and Minnesota DNR.)

[aanderud]

Well got on the red for the first time ever today. We hoped to go out in Fargo but the water's too high. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to hook into some piggies, we decided last night to go to Buxton. Got up to the ramp this morning and there was a solid 40+ feet of mud between the last visible cement and the river. So that ramp is completely unusable at this time.

Drove up to EGF and launched from the same ramp as 50 other boats. There was a tournament up there today. I've never seen so many large boats on a river, but I guess with the consistently deep water and relatively little wood, it's perfect for those larger boats. It's nothing like what I'm used to upstream of Shakopee on the MN river.

Well onto the fishing report. Saw plenty of good sized fish weighed in at 3:00. All my buddy and I got for the day was a 5 lb drum and a couple dink channels, 3 lbs or so.

Was fun to get on the new water, I'll be back sometime.

[Ed Carlson]

It would be a fair assumption any ramp will be muddy this week.

The Red Jumped up and back down again about as quickly..and there will always be silt left behind to contend with after bumps like that.

[Scoot]

Yep, at the S landing in Fargo what Ed said definitely applies. It wasn't too bad, but a little muddy...

[aanderud]

It would be a fair assumption any ramp will be muddy this week.

The Red Jumped up and back down again about as quickly..and there will always be silt left behind to contend with after bumps like that.

Sure, one can expect some silt AFTER the river fluctuates up and down, but from the charts I saw, we were well AHEAD of the bump up/down up in Buxton on Saturday morning, and it was still a mess. It wasn't just a little bit of mud either, it was 40-50 feet of mud at least, and one could only guess that it was several feet deep down at the water's edge (didn't feel like checking, myself).

I've dealt with muddy ramps before on the MN river, but that was the worst I've seen. It wasn't even something you could try with anything but the smallest boat and the best 4wd.

[Ed Carlson]

Water down...mud up...same same.

[carpmanjake]

we were on the red river in wahpeton last weekend going for cats. but the water was higher than the previous weekend and the current was to strong. it was rolling our 5oz sinkers like nothing.

so is there any good shore fishing for cats going on on the red right now?

[Scoot]

Tons of shorefishing opportunities. The river is really taming down nicely right now and your five ounces will be way too much in most spots soon. It's a great time of year to be chasing cats! Here kermit, kermit...

[kingr]

Went out Saturday morning north of Fargo from about 7 to 11. 4 hrs 4 cats, nothing else, all averaged about 5-6 lbs with the biggest one about 8-9. Beautiful morning and no bugs. Had a doe and fawn walk down the bank directly across from us to get a drink.

Great way to start off the weekend!