Rainy River Fishing Report

[ccarlson]

Hit the water about noon today after driving up. We decided to start at Wheeler's point/gap area knowing the wind was going to switch soon. Tons of boats. Ended up walking from the log cabin bait to get back to the boat launch. Headed out to the gap area right away. On the way saw 2 walleye boated on the river out of hundreds of boats. Once we got to the gap area we got one walleye and one sturgeon and saw good sturgeon action going on for those targeting them but only a couple walleye boated within sight (keep in mind this is hundreds of boats). Wind switched and the cold air came in along with the fog off the lake. Headed back in the river towards the landing and beyond and fished for another hour and a half or so. In total we saw very few walleye caught but sturgeon action seemed fairly good. Our experience from what we experienced and witnessed by hundreds of boats was a very limited walleye bite going on (I see that this contridicts other reports so who knows??) so we decided to head up river to see what was going on. Trailered to Frontier where there were very few rigs left there by mid afternoon. Maybe 25 rigs parked at most. We found just as good of walleye fishing there (mediocre) but did manage to hit a few nicer 28" category fish which made the day worthwhile. Very limited pressure in this area by fishermen. Got checked twice by CO's and they reported very slow action today although the last few days had been very good. They said the river had certainly clouded up compared to the past few days and things should improve again fairly quickly. I would agree.

So, that's my honest, not so glamourous report. We hope to get more action tomorrow but still had a fun day today.

ccarlson

[evinrude19]

i just got back from the river and fished in front of wheelers access both friday and today and also try Vidas landing. we started out at Vidas in the morning friday and didnt see a single walleye caught for 4 hours so we decided to try wheelers point access and that was very very slow as well. today it was a little better but still very slow. did manage a nice 27.5 incher today but also agree with the sturgeon action seemed pretty good. heading back up wednesday night and fishing thursday friday and saturday. hopefully the fishing will be better. maybe all the rain we got up there kinda shut them down? water was around 48 degrees by wheelers point.

[lakesbison]

That cold front at 3pm shut that mouth by adrians down, but before that things were hectic

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[BartmanMN]

My buddies boat over the weekend boated a 30 inch. 11lb 2oz and a 30 inch 11lb 10oz eye as well a 60 inch Sturgeon. Unbelievable pictures.

[maxpower117]

That cold front at 3pm shut that mouth by adrians down, but before that things were hectic

Never seen so many dam boats. I personally wish theyd close the season and protect those spawning walleyes and gut those egg eating sturgeon

Pretty arrogant! These fish aren't here for your personal pleasure. You should learn a little more respect that that. You shouldn't even be allowed to purchase a fishing license!

[fetch]

lol the classic fm arguments.. seems you cant read a thread anymore without someone getting upset and now straying away from the complete topic of fishing reports that is this thread topic correct?

[ccarlson]

Day 2 for us was much better than Saturday afternoon. Not fast and furious but we managed good steady action with some nice fish thrown in. We did change up and went up river past frontier so not sure how that compares to down river by the lake. Lets just say we pretty much had the river to ourselves all day where we were which made it very nice!

Reports from the guys at the hotel etc. last night were very similar to my post from yesterday and what others are saying. The front shut them down. Of course that is right when we showed up. I think it will pick back up as today was a start to that process.

I made a reservation for around Easter weekend so I'll see what happens between now and then for weather and action etc. and will play it by ear and be watching for reports on here of course.

ccarlson

[CarpinMNRiver]

That cold front at 3pm shut that mouth by adrians down, but before that things were hectic.

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That is the dumbest thing i have ever heard.

The eyes slowed down a little bit for us upstream. We got a nice sturgeon. I wish it had eaten more walleye eggs so it was a little bigger. It was a little chilly today.

[tearin' lips]

Fished the last three days. Fishing was better towards four mile bay, we chose to fish some areas that we fish all year in the river. We caught 40-55 fish each day, and plenty of big fish. Finding the right color and presenting it slow was the key. The water was a little muddy from the rain, but I don't think it was enough to matter as the fish were still aggressive all weekend.

I may be preaching to the choir, but here it goes. The biggest thing that I noticed is that if everyone was more respectful of one another, and gave each other some room maybe everyone would have a better time and better fishing. There is plenty of water in the bay and in the river so spread out. Don't just drive around and drop a jig in every spot there is a boat. We tried five different spots all weekend and the fishing was better away from the crowds.

Also be careful, we saw a few trips ruined due to hitting objects in the river. This low water has exposed a few more hazards than usual.

I feel that there are many fish out there in the lake that are just starting to run, so it should only get better.

[DREZLER]

Just got back yesterday.

Friday was good, lots of big fish. Saturday was much colder and much much slower.

The best spot was inbetween Wheelers and town.

Sunday morning I woke up hungover to 20 degree temps and a livewell door that couldn't even be opened.

We didn't bother going out but from what I understood it was so cold the spray was freezing before it could even hit you

[Wiskers]

Sounds like I am missing out of some fun once again.. sorry for being away for so long.. Life has delt us a sour grape hand and we are working through it.

wife was diagnosed with Breat and Lymph Node cancer.. she is recovering well so far.

Im ready for some fishing one of these days before Kemo starts.. if anyone is going sturgeon fishing and has room in the boat please call or get ahold of me on Facebook. Thanks.

Rusty

[Lipriper84]

Fished on Friday the 23rd. Caught a lot of eaters early in the morning till about noon. Moved up stream past the Royal Dutchman. Hit a spot where we dialed in on a 30incher and 3 26ers among 10-15 20-24inchers.

Saturday We did good in the morning with some nice 20-24 inche walleyes and had 2 big sturgeon on. One got off, but my buddy got his in after 30 minutes. It was 57 inches long. When the wind kicked up fishing slowed down a bit for us but that could have been more because of a lack of boat contol on my part. We still managed a few 23 inchers but missed a lot of hit, They were bitting a little short. Lot of Minnow heads left on the jigs.

Pink and White 3/8 oz was what all the big eyes came on, other wise Gold and Pink and Pink and Yellow also worked well for us all in 3/8 to 1/2 oz

I would love to get up there with some heavier gear to chase those sturgeon around but still fun to tinker with on the lighter walleye gear.

We stayed at the Royal Dutchman over the weekend and it was great service. I would recommend them to anyone heading up.

[Mike_Top]

My fishing report from this past saturday/sunday:

BRRRRRR

That is all

[Lipriper84]

Nice Mike, haha

[Canam800]

Any reports for today? Thinking of heading up tomorrow to battle the wind and rain

[Hookmaster]

Wiskers, sorry about your wife's cancer. The technology to fight this disease is always improving. I wish your wife and you the best.

[Wiskers]

Hookmaster, thank you so much.. We are doing the best we can.. one day at a time.

[tjo]

For this weekend is a guy better off heading up river or spending time in 4 mile bay.

Thanks

[Matt Breuer]

Rusty, sorry to hear of the news... We wish you well!

For my river report... spent part of 3/26 on the water. Spent a couple of hours chasing sturgeon and got some good bites. Biggest fish was a 53". For walleyes we fished 23-28' of water and did okay. With the wind and cold I was happy with our less-than-blockbuster fishing. We managed around 20 'eyes in the time we fished. Nothing huge, lots of 18-20" fish with a couple over... Gold or green 3/4oz. and 1oz. Lindy jigs with rainbows was our attack. Had to be vertical or they would not touch it. Can't wait for next week, as it should heat up...

[Boar]

Rusty youve been hiding in salol all these years, whoda thunk, sorry to hear about your wife, will be praying for her an your family, hang tough bud. Later, boar Oh an nothing to report since I wont do the spring fling.

[walleye_boy]

Fished the river today, boated about 40 fish 90% were slot fish

[CraneMan76]

Fished the river today between Sportsmans and the mouth to 4 mile. 3 of us boated 40 fish. Biggest was 26". We started about 8:30. Came in for an hour for lunch. Fished sturgeon for 2 hours- I cought my first ever a 50" and it was tagged. Brother caught a 48". The rain drove us in for a couple hours to dry off and warm up. After it turned to snow we went back out. We had the river to ourselves and did really well. We had a couple of double hook ups and most fish were 20 to 25". We wete using 3/4 on gold propellar jigs with frozen shiners in 22' . Bounce off the bottom twice and hold 6" up. Very light nibbles.

[meathunter]

My report for day 1 of 8 Fished out of frontier sunup to sundown boated approx 25 walleyes 11 were over 25" and 6 were 27" heard of a few 30's caught towards the lake. The fish I was on were all lake fish and it should get better as the week goes. I boated all big fish with rainbows and could have caught alot of eaters with plastics as they were snappin! My first time getting fish on them up here mainly ringworms seen guys tipping with a minnow but all my fish slammed it without a minnow. The morning was slow until it cleared out for me but I also heard the mornings were good for some. Keep in mind I am fishing solo till wed so with 3 guys a 50 to 60 fish day. water temp right at 40 warmed 2 degrees during the day. Most big fish were at 15'. Water clarity about 18" very good and I was dragging 3/8 oz jigs not slippin like everyone else I think that helped me. If you slip 1/4 no problem. Watched a new ranger boat boarded by the mounties too bad we cant fish the whole river. Will post another report Sunday night.

[ANYFISH2]

Fished out of Vidas Thursday thru Saturday. Thursday was pretty tough for us and most others i talked to as fish bit ok early but got really tough after the the rain/snow/sleet moved in. Ended up only boating 6 walleye and 1 sturgeon.

Friday started good as over night, I swear the river got 6" clearer than the day before. And the walleye and sturgeon cooperated. The bite was never really fast but consistent all day. Boated 40 walleye and 6 sturgeon. Our big fish for the day were 3 walleye over 28, biggest 28.5. We however caught 21 fish over 23"(eaters took all day to catch). We also boated 3 sturgeon over 60 1/2"(the 60 1/2 was missing the top of the fork tail, so it should have been a few inches longer really, as we measured to the bottom of the tail.) The biggest was a 65"x30 1/2" beast followed by a 62 1/2", that was actually fought at the same time as the 65", interesting double to say the least. The third was the 60 1/2"x28 1/2". My 13 year old fishing buddy also caught one at 59 3/4".

Saturday was a beautiful on the river. The fish seemed to bite better on saturday, however we(myself leading the way) just struggled to get good hook sets all day. The bite had moments of where we would say it was fast, but we also had moments where it was nothing for an hour. After it was done we ended up with 49 walleye and 1 sturgeon. Biggest walleye coming in at 28". Saturday the eaters where a plenty, as we only hand 15 walleye over 20" and 6 over 24".

One intersting thing this weekend I hadn't noticed before was, how the walleye we keep went form the very pale/clear look to some of the prettiest shades of yellow/gold and dark they became while they sat in the livewell, never would have guessed they where the same fish.

I sure think the season is going to get really good, soon

[Jack Stasney]

Went up for the day. Started at about 9am til about 4pm. Hit the river for a while and then out of the gap. Managed a hand full of fish between 21-24in, limits of 16-19in, and several Sauger to boot. Gold. No big ones, but we had a couple that felt better that we popped the jig on.

[tjo]

Fished out of Vidas on Saturday and Sunday. Fishing was good. Vertical jigging seemed to be the ticket. I was using heavier jigs, 1/2oz to stay vertical in the current and wind. Colors varied between gold, green, white/pink and fireball. Each color would get hot for a while. Tipped with rainbows and a little plastic to bulk up the jig. Biggest fish was a 8 pounder. Saw some 10's getting caught. Tried a little trolling but could not get them going. Some boats were having luck trolling, looked like blue-chrome was there hot ticket. Lots of fish in the 22in-25. Going back this week, should be prime!

[Fishing Buddy 6]

I am going up to the rainy to fish Sturgeon over the weekend. I am wondering if the bay is getting hit hard by walleye fisherman. I like to fish the bay, but I do not want to anchor in the path of a bunch of boats drigting with the current.

[Lakesman12]

I am heading back to the River to fish Thursday and Friday (april 5th and 6th. I was there on 03/26 03/27 and fished in front of Boarder View with good results on big females on Monday, but Tuesday they had disappeared. Anyone know if they have pushed further up the river now? Not looking for any seceret spots, but a starting point would be great! Good Luck Fishing!

[tearin' lips]

Lakesman, Waves of fish continue to come up river. Those fish you were on are moving upstream, but more should be coming from the lake.

Here's my report for yesterday. We fished aways downstream from Fontier. No boats near where we were fishing, which was nice. Caught 30-35 fish in the afternoon. Any color jig was working. Biggest fish was 25.5" and we caught quite a few between 20-23" with a bunch of 17-19" fish too.

I tried plastics for the first time. Powerbait paddle tails were getting hits, but we had a hard time having them hold on and many of the fish were just short hitting on the tails. I will be out there again this weekend, this time with a wider variety of plastics.

[Tim_Anderson]

I was up last weekend and had a fabulous trip. We started friday am early, and by Sunday @ 2:30, we figured the 300th fish was a good place to stop. Of the 300, 30 fish were over 28 inches, and half were over 23 inches. Our biggest was 31.5 X 17.5. Perhaps over 12 pounds? All four guys that were fishing got a new personal best over 30 inches. We worked hard, fishing from sunup till after sundown, and got them on a variety of presentations: vertical, dragging, pitching and casting (we have a "specialist" in all three categories!). We definitely had our share of dry spells, but also were pounding them at times. The big fish were definitely roaming in packs, so when we found them, we stayed on them. 1/4 and 3/8 oz jigs were the ticket (all colors). Some of us used minnows with stinger and some used plastics without. I don't think it really mattered much as all caught fish, but the bigger plastics seemed to draw bigger fish. More currently, I continue to be in contact with friends who are up there and doing well. It may sound funny, but fish are both scattered and concentrated. In other words, you can fish all over the place and get a fish here and there - then find a small area that is "loaded" - so searching and moving is key. Mark your "big fish" catches well and fish those spots thoroughly and you should get good numbers and size. Good luck...