Rainy River Fishing Report

[Mike Stark]

RD,

i have some questions about your place. can you please email me.

thanks,

mike

[Royal Dutchman]

Sorry for the brief report last night but short on time and wanted to get something out to you.

Talked to some on river & ramp that weren't doing so good but we picked up good fish in the 2 spots we fished. Depths ranged from 10 - 20' and the 27" coming from 20' and the 25" from 10'. Hows that for a trend for ya?!

Talked to 1 of our "old-timers" who picked up 50 by fishing 1 spot all day. They were actually catching up into 6' of water in evening.

The ones that we saw not catching were moving way too fast in my opinion. Whether up stream or down we were never getting downstream of our jigs going down and covering maybe a 100 yds/hour going up. I fished with 3/8 going down & 3/4 going up(felt like dragging an anchor). Carl ran a 1/2 oz going up & Down with no problem. Boat control was very difficult with the wind yesterday but I feel it is 1 of the most critical components for catching fish.

Carl started with plastic but after I had 4 or 5 in the boat with 1 being the 27" he quietly slipped on a minnow and caught up in a hurry. Some of our bait was 3 or 4 inches long and saw the "non-catchers" with what I'ld use for crappie. I say it over & over but here it is again; Don't stop a few bucks short of a good fishing trip! Get good bait!

Looking at the sometimes right weather reports, doesn't appear to be anything that would do a number on the forks. Even if the ice does break-out, it doesn't have any flow to speak of to stir things up. We would have to get several inches of rain (and could) to have any real negative effect right now.

Seeing lots of theories on the river this year and not really sold on any single one of them. The formula just has way too many variables to set into 1 explanation, especially when the basis for most of our theories is what we remember from snapshot observations of years gone by. Only thing I know and/or care about right now is; Conditions are excellent and the bite is on!

Looking for our 1st 100 count of the year by the W/E.

[DrStizo]

"Some of our bait was 3 or 4 inches long and saw the "non-catchers" with what I'ld use for crappie. I say it over & over but here it is again; Don't stop a few bucks short of a good fishing trip! Get good bait!"

Dutch where would you recommend we grab bait? typically we used Lucky's and its boarded up so we are looking for a new place to get it. Man i use to love Lucky's, shame that Gary got ran outta there, but thats another story....

[Royal Dutchman]

Another story is right! Think that was the beginning of the end for Lucky's! Don't think Gary contribution to that business was understood or appreciated.

Good bait right beside the Ranch House in town or stop & see Steve at Log Cabin if you're heading out to Wheelers Point.

[FISH AWAY]

If the bite is just starting about how long will it last? Coming up next weekend wish it was this weekend.

[Royal Dutchman]

If conditions hold we will be catching until midnight on the 14th.

[jseverson77]

Hey Dutchman, since the river is really stained there is no night bite correct?

[jwmiller33]

would a 15hp 14ft boat with 3 guys be sufficient for the river and the current?

[Royal Dutchman]

While it is not impossible to catch eyes at night, the odds really, really, really go down.

Saw a 14'/15hp outfit with 2 adults & kid catching fish on the river yesterday. Seemed to be working fine for them. Wind really kicked up so hope they were close to their landing though.

Wind was a big factor for us yesterday. Had to fish where we could, not where we wanted. Screwed up and didn't get a good charge on batteries which didn't help either but still found fish.

Carl spanked me pretty good with a FAT 28" and a strong finish after I jumped to an early lead.

[Sackett]

Was up yesterday and was only able to fish from 8 to 3. The two of us caught about 20 down by the resorts but we did explore some new stuff that took some time away, could have had as many as 40 on the top end I would guess. Did not see anyone in that area that I would think could have hit 100 fish day. Must be more up river. We did get a legit 30" walleye and a a few others 24-26". Saw some other nice ones getting photos taken. We were good with 3/8oz slip drifting with the current, wind made it a little tricky at times. Will be back next week for sure.

[hill7410]

Does everybody up here just fish the MN side or do you guys purchase your Canadian license too? Just wondering I am coming up tomorrow.

Thanks.

[ozzie]

most fish the mn side

[HOT SPOT]

Like Ozzie said most fish MN side. If you do purchace a CA license make sure you know the rules. I believe there is a thread on it.

My question is where are most the fish being caught? the river are the lake? Cant wait for tomarow. Good luck to all

Thanks

[walleyemaster08]

does anyone think the river will still be good in the middle of the next week? Thanks

[Bill Powell]

It should be good till end of season the ice went out of the rivers a couple days ago and unless we get a lot of rain it wont get dirty again this spring.

[rockpilemike]

fished Wednesday out of Vidas. Three guys, from 8am to 3pm. 32 fish with biggest 4 from 27' to 28'. Wind was forecast from ESE at 8....actually came out of the west at 12-15 with gusts to 20+. If you come up with a west wind forecast plan on backtrolling into the wind to stay with the current. Tiller motors with good splash guards are a must with strong west wind. Bring your bait if you want to use good size rainbows as local supplies are limited and small. Current at about 1 mph so no-wind conditions let you float with the current and have a nice straight up and down jigging experience. Suggest superline rather that mono to feel the bottom.

[Tim_Anderson]

Just returned Tuesday night from a two week stay up on the Rainy. I would say fishing was good overall. We had a few great days and a few tough days. I have not tallied exact numbers yet, but we caught something over 500 walleyes, with about 40 fish in the 25-30 inch class. We caught a couple of dozen sturgeon, a few dozen pike, and a few other stragglers like sauger, eelpout and suckers.

This has been one of the toughest years to predict that I can remember. The river conditions have been hard to predict, and the fish have been hard to predict as well.

My best fishing each year is often in the first 3-7 days after the river is open for big boats, so I went up there right away guessing that it would happen for me sometime in the first two weeks, and that if I was lucky, the weather and river clarity would hold for that time.

When I got up there, river conditions were rugged - 12 inches of visibility and rising water because all of the gates were open at I-Falls. The river rose 3 feet in the first 24 hours. In spite of it, we still caught 25 or more fish most days, with a number of big fish mixed in up to 30 inches. The reason that I did not report here was that it was a tough thing to duplicate daily because of the on and off weather, wind, cold, etc. We battled wind in the 20-40mph range most days. Three days of fourteen I would have called calm and somewhat pleasant. Water temps bounced daily from 33 to 37 degrees. The vast majority of the fishermen that I was talking to were really struggling. For the most part, the majority of the river just wasn't very good fishing.

We caught most of our fish in just a few spots as the vast majority of my spots were not producing much AT ALL. So, I used the spots that were producing and bounced back and forth, letting the fish settle down, or move in, whatever the case. In the middle of my stay, two of us had a 98 walleye day with 8 fish between 25 and 29 inches. We also caught 4 sturgeon and 8 pike. That was over a week ago. The next day was super windy, and our numbers were cut in half. The day after that, it was 5 above with below zero wind chills.

Producing best was a half ounce fireball jig (bright colors) with a stinger hook pulled upstream at .5mph or less. We tipped the jigs with 3-4 inch rainbows, most of which friends and clients picked up on the way up to Baudette. I found that drifting with the current was way too fast - usually 1-2 mph depending on where you were at. Slip drifting worked at times, but a slow upstream pull worked the best. When we located fish, I often held the boat in place and long lined behind the boat, just letting our jigs hover in the pocket where the fish were located. They were that spot specific. I suspect that anchoring would have worked too. Current breaks were an important part of our success. When we caught a big fish, I dropped an icon, and we were able to often catch more big fish of the same size class literally within feet of the same spot. This worked the entire time I was up there.

My last day up there, which was Tuesday, we did some searching on the Minnesota side, and finally found some fish up on a rocky flat that was 8-11 feet deep. We got 60 fish for four guys, and 8 of them were 25-29 inches. The best thing was that the fish were starting to hit on the pitch and the upstream trolling or vertical jigging became unnecessary. Nice to not to have to worry about boat control so much. Plastics like twister tails or ringworms produced too.

Sturgeon were tough for the vast majority of our trip. We were able to catch some really nice sized fish, but were just not able to get them in the numbers that I enjoy most years. We generally caught 3-5 fish when we stopped and tried a few spots. Our biggest fish was 62 inches long with a 25.5 inch girth.

Morning bite was definitely the best. We hit the river most mornings between 7 and 9 am, and caught fish immediately. We caught our fish throughout the day, but then the bite really tapered toward late afternoon or evening. By the time the sun hit the trees, we might as well have been done most nights (this has not been the case other years).

It was a very strange year for boat traffic. For two weeks, I enjoyed decent fishing, and never saw more than a dozen rigs at Birchdale or Frontier - even on the weekends. The campgrounds and accesses were the quietest I have ever seen in over 10 years. The river and all accesses being open lake to lake tended to spread out what little boat traffic there was.

Unfortunately my timing was a bit off, and I was unable to stay for another week or I would have! My contacts up there right now are telling me that they are catching good numbers of fish, and good numbers of big walleyes too. Temps are up and the fish are really getting active. There are still not huge numbers of lake fish in the river, and the fish are still really spot specific. If you go up, and if you find them, I would suggest just staying on them and working them throughout the day. Moving around too much seems to be a waste of time, and keeps your wheels spinning. If you catch a big fish, really camp out on that spot because there is likely more nearby. I am a firm believer that these fish travel in same-size-class schools.

I think that about wraps up everything I can think of to report. I'm going to do a separate post with a bunch of pictures on it soon to share some of the highlights from when I was up there.

Best of luck to all still headed up to fish. If the Little and Big Fork continue to hold, and the rain is kept to a minimum, I just might run up there for a couple of days again next week too.

Tim Anderson

[Silver Scale]

Big and Little Fork where 99% ice free on 3/31.

[jwilli7122]

Just finished 3 days (tues, weds, thurs) of fishing the wheeler point area. Was our first time ever on the river - stayed at Adrian's and would recommend. Can't beat the price right now - $30 per guy per night - and great people - very accommodating. The cabins are certainly not fancy, but they have everything a couple of dirty fisherman need, even wireless internet (depending on how close the cabin is to the lodge).

Fishing was outstanding, by our standards anyway. Between the two of us we caught about 30 walleyes over 16 inches, 5 of which were between 26-29. We mostly fished anchored, using jigs from 3/8 - 3/4 depending on the spot and day. Caught fish from 13-33 feet, but had the best luck from 17-22. Don't be afraid to move. Most of the fish came from a few spots. We went many hours without catching fish at times. also battled 10 or so sturgeons, including a 60 incher that we landed, and a couple others that felt big but got off. One snapped a rod and the other wrapped himself around the anchor rope and snapped the leader (17 lb XT). We had the best success for sturgeons in 40 ft of water, using 4 oz of weight and a glob of crawlers and minnows.

Considering that we were river novices, I was blown away by the fishing quality on the river. We will definitely be back.

[ANYFISH2]

My buddie Nate and I made a day trip yesterday back to the river. We are sure glad we did fishing was great. We fished out of vidas once again water temp started and 42 and was 43 when we left, weather was strange, windy as all heck in the morning changed to dead calm with a mini thunderstrom in the afternoon. We managed only to catch 46 fish on friday but the quality was amazing. We managed to land 1-21", 3-23", 1-25", 4-26", 4-27", 1-28.5, 1-29", 1-30.25", and also 5 more 19.5+ fish. That is pretty good day for two tried guys like us. I have never seen this many big girls being caught with this regularity in the twelve year i have been there, and not just for my boat. I would guess I saw 30 other 26"+ fish caught around us yesterday, we only fished a 200yd streach of river!! The numbers are just Ok/good right now but the quality can't be beat. The river is awsome!

[spinnerboy]

That gets me pumped up! I will be there monday. Hope the bite and weather hold up until then. Good reports, keep them coming.

[Royal Dutchman]

Five hours of fishing today produced ~50 fish. A dozen above 24", another dozen above 20", and the rest below. Had 2 Rainy Rookies from Iowa with me who are now ruined for fishing there for life! They each broke their personal best multiple times over the last 2 days.

Weather was nasty but no one complained.

Can't see this ending without several inches of rain to mess it up.

Slip drifted the entire time.

[cluelessfisherman]

We only managed 6 eyes today... fishing from River Bend to Schusters... didn't see much catching going on in the other boats besides the sturgeon. We just fished the last hour of the day for the sturgies & got 2 - largest 51".

What were we doing wrong on the eyes?? Jigs...rainbows...good boat control in the wind... worked 15-30 feet...

Guess we should have gone farther up river.

[gonefishing70]

Well we hit the river last sat. not so good 1 walleye for two of us then we went yesterday out of Birchdale and man what a change one week makes a differance The wind was blowing had a little snow some rain and ice pettets but the fishing was great 45 walleyes between two of us biggest was 28 inches, alot of fish between 20" and 25" the bit was very consitant we used jigs right on bottom but a floating jig 6" off bottom was the ticket.

[magnum mike]

We got to our camp near Winnie Friday afternoon and it was 72 degrees and beautiful. We almost made a camp fire but the wind was a bit much and there were some pretty dark clouds on the horizon. We were in downtown Baudette Saturday morning just after 7:00 A.M. and it was 34 degrees with a stiff NW wind blowing 20-30 according to the NOAA weather. It didn’t get much better throughout the day. We wound up with 3 walleyes and a very large northern pike. We fished the river from the Wigwam day marker to a few miles before resort row. Very few fish were caught that we saw. I was hoping the weather would not have that much effect since the fish are “task driven” this time of year. 17 FOW seemed to be the magic depth but a wicked ripping cold front like that is going to have an impact on the fishing.

[Fish Tales]

Fished Friday thru Sunday left at 1pm. Caught total of 170. Big fish all over many 26 to 30 inch fish. Water clarity was 18 to 20 inches didn't change at all from Friday to Sunday. Weather conditions were typical Minnesota. Sun and no wind to 20 mph with 3 foot rollers with rain and sleet. Outdoor adventures had great rainbows in Baudette. Used many different colors of jig with 1/4 and 3/8 ounce for size.

[HOT SPOT]

Fished all day Sat 4/3 from around 7:30 to 6. We ended up with 70-75 Walleyes and 2 stergons a 50 plus and a 37in.Walleyes 4 over 28in and probally around 25 - 30 from 23-27in. Boat control was a bit part. Want to keep your line just about vertical. Seemed like jig colors would get hot and then cold. If you arnt catching fish move. You get a couple work that area. We got fish from 8 ft out to 19 ft.

Good Luck I will be back fri night.

[Eyewitness]

Fished Friday, Sat., and 1/2 day Sunday from just above the resorts at Wheelers out to the gap. Sunday we even went a mile or so out in to the big lake, however only little saugers to be found out near the ice pack. Water temp in the river was around 42 deg. and 38 deg. at the lake.

We averaged about 35 fish a day, however we tried some unconventional spots for big fish and it paid off with at least a dozen fish over 25" and 5 of those were 27-1/2 to 28-1/2". We also managed a few incidental sturgeon with the largest in the 60" range caught on 8# test. It was my buddies first tangle with one, and it was a bruiser. He also caught 4 personal best walleyes over 26" and I bet he still has a perma-grin today. That alone was worth the trip.

We found fish mostly from 13'-20' deep, and spent most of the time anchored as the wind was a challenge for boat control with a full top up. Can you say parachute? LOL. Best color jig was the chartruse green Max Gap. Water clarity was about 26" (I measured). I've never seen the river so clear this early. If the conditions hold it should be lights out fishing until the close of season. These are the years we wait for.... If I could bale on work I would be there the next two weeks......If you can make it there, do so. Good chance it could be a trip of a life time!

[Walleyehunter82]

Fished last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and caught 249 walleyes! Around 20 were over 25 inches, the biggest was 30 1/4 inches and 11'2 lbs. Lots of sturgeon! This was my 5th season in the spring and it was our best ever.

[LipRipper!!]

WOW !! after these posts I can hardly wait till Friday!! The bite really has picked up from two weeks ago when I was there. Thank all of you for the inf and reports....

Ripper!!