Rainy River Fishing Report

[iceman16]

im goin to to pick the boat up next week and get it ready for the river run. cant wait to pull them monster walleyes and sturgeon in this year. april 8th-12th cant come soon enough.

iceman

[ac777]

Never fished the river, but would like to give it a try. Was wondering if a smaller boat as in a 14'er would work ok on the river? How strong is the current? Ive been on the Minnesota with it, and it handles fine.

[fishing-g]

ya you will be just fine. i have seen 10 -12 footers out there before with 3 guys in them. for me tho that would be a little spooky when a 20 footer with 250 goes roaring by. going up my self april 10-13. good luck

[firefish_12]

I had my 14 footer with 25hp and worked just fine last year

[BronzeBrother]

Right now I would avoid going on any river in a small boat with the current all cranked up from the spring thaw. Saw one guy going up stream today with a 40 hp and he was barely moving. When the river calms down then you would be fine. I have done it in a 12 footer with a 9.9 hp during normal summer flow.

[jwmiller33]

bronze what river was that?

[fishinfey8]

Last year we fished three out of a 14ft. with a 15hp for a day or two. But, there wasn't much for current last year either. What size motor are you thinking about taking ac777?? The only reason I ask is b/c with three in the boat, we maybe hit 7-10 mph going upstream . It is nice to have a little bit of speed to run a couple miles up or down river, even if it isn't needed, it's nice more or less to find some elbow room.

[ac777]

Right now I would avoid going on any river in a small boat with the current all cranked up from the spring thaw. Saw one guy going up stream today with a 40 hp and he was barely moving. When the river calms down then you would be fine. I have done it in a 12 footer with a 9.9 hp during normal summer flow.

Was this on the rainy?

[ac777]

Last year we fished three out of a 14ft. with a 15hp for a day or two. But, there wasn't much for current last year either. What size motor are you thinking about taking ac777?? The only reason I ask is b/c with three in the boat, we maybe hit 7-10 mph going upstream . It is nice to have a little bit of speed to run a couple miles up or down river, even if it isn't needed, it's nice more or less to find some elbow room.

It's only a little 10 horse, but we wouldn't be running all over the river with it, most likely trailer as close as we can to our spot and go from there. I wouldn't be expecting too much out of the boat.

[fishinfey8]

Meh...I say go for it. Like I said we only had a 15hp and it worked with the boat loaded up with gear and people. Unless the forks let loose and the current starts ripping, you should be good.

Bronze - the rainy is a whole different ball game...totally different from the ssippi and MN rivers.

[Fish Tales]

You will be o'k that is what alot of people fish with. They can unload at the closest access to baudette going over shore ice while bigger boats have to go further down river.

[Random guy]

Thanks for the update, hope for the warm weather to stick around for while. A little anxious to fish the river in the boat.

Ah the “when can I go to the river” topic. I am lucky as I have the best river indicator around. The highway through Waskish; once the duck boats and 14" boats start rolling through town I figure it’s about 7-10 days until I can put the guide boat in the water.

[ozzie]

yep completly fine set-up for the rainy

[ac777]

ok good to hear. Im excited to make my first trip to fish the river this year, should be fun!

[@kkellywalleyes]

Just received word from Koochiching County that both Birchdale and Frontier landing were cleared today for Big Boats. Thanks to everyone who contributed to getting these open.

[Weigel44]

Thanks for the update!

[Eyewitness]

YeeHaww!!! Let the games begin!

[Random guy]

Seen it with my own eyes today, they are cleared nicely.

[Fish Tales]

Just got of the phone with a good friend. Started fishing today at 8 am fished until 7 pm. They caught 56 with 26", 25" 1/2 and 25 inch fish being 3 biggest. Not a great day but not to bad either. Water clarity is 2 1/2 to 3 feet. The river is open 3 miles down river from Frontier landing. 1 degree when they got to landing, river was not refroze over. The ditches are froze over so fishing will only get better with warmer temps.

[fishingchef]

We fished the river all day Sunday, and from 9-2 on monday, the bite was o.k. to poor depending on what your standards for the rainy river are. If the fishing isn't "stupid good" I am let down.

Lake fish didn't seem to be up the river in any large numbers, felt like we were targeting resident fish.

Fish were being caught as seen in other reports, but mainly 17-19 inchers with mid to upper twenties here and there. The spots holding fish would continue to produce but seemed to slow as pressure increased.

Hopefully the weather will warm a bit to trigger some movement out of the lake.

We were fishing pretty aggressively, strictly fishing plastics no meat. Can't say we did any better or worse than those fishing minnows or those fishing vertically with minnows.

Water clarity was awesome, and warmest temps we saw was just shy of or at 36 degrees. Actually think the water went down a bit from Sunday to Monday afternoon.

Overall I think the bite is good enough for most to make the trip, you can grind it out and have a good day, but the silly, awesome fishing that keeps me awake at night this time of year hadn't started yet.

Haven't talked to my friends still up fishing to see if water temps have changed or the bite and quality of fish have increased yet.

Plan on heading up again Sun/Mon, if things kick in this weekend. I guess only time will tell, sure as heck hope those fish start to show up, don't know how long I can test my patience.

Any current water temp updates would be greatly appreciated.

[eyelife_MN]

Use this link. Gives active reading (near the lake)

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_000...ite_no=05137500

[bassbuster1]

Nice report ,warmer temps next week,its the overnite lows that really hurts.

BB1

[TyGuy02]

I was wondering the same question. I have never been on the Rainy (or any other river for that matter) and only have a 14 foot with a 15 horse. Is it mostly anchor fishing on the Rainy? I know someone will probably roll they're eyes after me asking that. I'm just wondering since I would prefer not to drift aimlessly across the border, or too close to other boats being such a busy fishing frenzy.

[IcecoldMN]

you have both drifting/trolling and anchoring. I personally due both pending on how many boats are fishing around me and how much of a hastle it is to weave between boats. You should be fine. Once your there you can watch others and see what they are doing and if you want to change who is stopping you... Goodluck and it can get to be a disease this time of the year....

[_point_5]

TyGuy, just a little help, in the frenzy, you might have many boats doing drifts, one after another through the same area, if they're biting good. It can be tough to tell who is doing this sometimes, but if you anchor in someone's drift, it can possibly lead to some upset folks. I'm just giving you a heads up. There is plenty of room on the river, and people can shorten their drifts as well. I have seen small boats anchor more frequently. Some boats are anchored up to catch Stergio as well. I would say in my time on the river the past five seasons for the Pre-spawn, I've seen more people doing drifts, but as I said previously, small boats tend to anchor more often as well (IMO).

[Random guy]

Well first off I have to say something as I got the rest of the story tonight from a farm owner on the river and it’s a classic.

A great rule for fishing rivers that are breaking up is do not get ahead of the ice flow where the open water gets skinny. Today in the binoculars I seen a boat in the distance and I was wondering just how he got in the open water on the other side of the ice jam or if it was a couple maple leafs that dropped in from the north…nope, red blooded Americans that drove there early AM before the river jammed full as it does.

After a steady ice flow this morning he was reenacting a mini version of Deadliest Catch with his fishing boat. To be honest I’m not sure if they ever did get out but the farmer said he had a good time watching them try to find a way out today. He said it was just like scared piglet trying to get out of pen. Nothing they could do as the banks are pretty steep in that area so they would have to wait it out. I noticed as the day wore on the ice jam started to move so they may have lucked out. Needles to say don’t get ahead of the ice flow.

As for the fishing I was concentrating on Sturgeon today and did decent, nothing great and nothing very big but I did catch fish with my biggest a 46”. I also took a break and popped 3 walleye and a few saugers before heading in. From the walleye anglers I talked to today it sounded like it was pretty slow. With a few boats hitting the thirty something mark and a few that were just plain grumpy by 2 pm.

I left the river about 3pm and the water temp was climbing into the 36 degree mark along with some pretty slow current. I was able to run 4” grub tails and Gulp minnows for walleye on a 3/8 oz head with ease and could have even lightened that up a bit. Sturgeon sets a 2 oz. no roll will hold it down rock solid. Water is very clear for this time of the year with ZERO debris in it. I am guessing from Frontier up we have to be running out of icebergs soon.

The landings are in decent shape. Frontier is scraped clean wide enough for big boats and the shelf ice around the access is going quick. The guys I talked to mentioned Birchdale was in good shape also.

The river is wide open about 3.2 miles down from Frontier and gaining fast. The ice jam was in the S curves before you get to the Church corner and it “looked” like that poor soul was driving around in the open center pretty close to the corner before the church. The ways things are moving it won’t be very many days and Vidas should be open.

Tomorrow I take the infamous Doc & Shaky sturgeon fishing for the first time, I should have a good story by nightfall.

[Random guy]

Anchor up and enjoy yourself. I anchor for sturgeon about 90% of the time, yes I get a few comments and ugly looks but tough cookies so sad to bad they can go around as anchored has the right away. I had a guy today told me to get with the program, there was three boats in a 1/2 mile circle. He just forgot to look where he was going and the trolling motor is hard to run for thirty seconds.

What really gets guys torqued is when I have my iPilot in spot lock mode and no anchor rope sticking out but the boat isn't moving. Had a guy growl at me for trolling up on him. It was hard to explain I hadn't moved from the ice pack in forty minutes as he slowly drifted closer and I had to bang net handle so he noticed me.

Drifters get in a zone and figure everybody is drifting and forget to look where they are going sometimes; that’s why I keep a ten foot dock pole in the boat to prevent scrapes and dings when I'm anchored. Also be careful when you pull your anchor rope in as it will be full of walleye jigs when it’s crowded.

[iceman16]

great report thanks jonny! cant wait to get up there!

iceman

[bak2MN]

Well the ice fishing stories are hilarious so I can only imagine what it will be like in a boat with those guys. Cant wait to here the report.

[ILLIFIED]

Great report Jonny! Not sure if you'll read this before you leave tomorrow am but I'll be up with my buddy in a Warrior 1890 tiller. We're focusing on walleye but bringing sturgeon gear. Come by and say hello if you see me.

Any place from Bemidji on north have crawlers?

See ya

Phil