Rainy River Fishing Report

[side_laker]

I will be fishing Friday. Not sure what landing to use yet. Hope it's not that dirty of water. Any advise would be great

[JacobG]

I have been up there when the forks blew out about 4 years ago and now the rapid this year. my guess is by Friday you guys will be just fine. My advice would be to fish the lake or as far up river as youd like. When the Rapid blew out yesterday it was instant chocolate milk and debris everywhere, and the bite was over....like is stated earlier, unfishable with the amount of debris and current. However, by the Thursday or Friday Id guess itll clear up significantly and the distance from the lake to the tributaries is pretty long and allows a lot of that debris and current to settle out. My advice......Fish from sportsmans on out, and be prepared to fish any conditions, 6-8oz of lead might be necessary to stay on bottom

[Mike Dumas]

Thanks for the info jacob! I will be up there thursday morning sometime, our group is leaving wed up to grand rapids area and staying the night at a family members (And to pickup the boat) to make it not that bad of a drive. I'm just curious what you mean when you say the rapids blew out? I have never been up that way before.

[Sackett]

I fished the weekend too. Sunday around 5pm we were swarmed by the ice chunks and logs down around Silver Creek from the Rapid River letting loose. Pretty slow travel to get back to Clementsen, I even took some video of it as I thought it was a pretty unique sight. Above Clementsen Bay though people were still catching fish when we got there, and the river looked to be in as good a shape as it was prior in the day leading me to believe Little Fork had not broken unless it was late in the day, though I do see the water levels are rising on the graph now. We were fine with 3oz of weight.

[JacobG]

Mike, Ill try to explain as best I can what people are talking about the forks or rapid blowing out. There is a large amount of water being restricted by ice. Over time that ice get eaten away and weakened and can no longer hold back that amount of volume and force. Then without warning it gives way and a huge amount of water, ice and debris comes with it. Usually the rapid isn't that dirty, however the initial push of water had been stirring up for weeks and was extremely dirty. When the tribs give way or "blow out" as we like to call it in reference to the rainy its never been a good thing. however I think by this weekend fishing would be just fine, might even be good today already. If I wasn't going back to work id be there tomorrow!

[side_laker]

Heading up Thursday night to fish Friday hope the ice chunks don't come down that day. Not sure what landing yet.

[uffdapete]

The Littlefork was open downstream of the Hwy 71 bridge with an ice jam upstream. Got a call from someone who lives near the mouth this morning that it went out.

The Bigfork was open Sunday too at Big Falls. Would guess it's open at the mouth as well.

I would expect muddy water in the Rainy below the forks for a few days.

[side_laker]

How is the sturgeon fishing out of the pelland landing

[fish_hunt_guy]

Me and my Dad will be up there Sunday and Monday. Do you just attach the lead weight above the leader on the line as to allow the leader and bait to float just above the bottom? I have 12" leaders set up on our rods. Also sounds like we should have an assortment of weights right? 3oz-6oz maybe?

First time at this, thanks for any help!

[fishuhalik]

Fish hunt guy, just think of it as a glorified Lindy Rig. Slip sinker, double loop swivel (DO NOT use a snap swivel, they love to break on these monsters) 12-18" leader & a good sized circle hook with a bunch of crawlers and/or fatheads. Don't over think these big, glorified suckers. Just do these 3 things & you'll catch fish.

1. Hold onto your rod cuz they bite LIGHT

2. Move every 45 mins til you find a concentration, trying different depths & patters

3. Try to find DTRO & his gang and fish AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to them

[vman11]

Me and my Dad will be up there Sunday and Monday. Do you just attach the lead weight above the leader on the line as to allow the leader and bait to float just above the bottom? I have 12" leaders set up on our rods. Also sounds like we should have an assortment of weights right? 3oz-6oz maybe?

First time at this, thanks for any help!

Yes, weights above the leader. Use the flat, no roll sinkers (flat, egg shaped weights).

Experiment with your leader length. I usually run around 18". Circle hooks are also suggested. Don't necessarly "set" the hook, but pull/reel with good pressure and the hook will dig in nicely.

[DTro]

3. Try to find DTRO & his gang and fish AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to them

LOL

We'll be in a very inconspicuous boat.

[Meat-Run]

"3. Try to find DTRO & his gang and fish AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to them"

That's my plan!!! haha

If you see a 18ft crestliner w/ two Hondas on the back make sure to swing by and say hi, just don't park to close we have a spud-gun!

MR

[Meat-Run]

All seriousness I've switched all over to "j-hooks" in the 5/0-7/0. My success with circle isn't that good ONLY on sturgeon because they dont have that typical corner mouth like a catfish or walleye and have missed fish. If you are going to use circle hooks I suggest a little bigger hook and when you get a bite leave rod in the holder and just start reeling. This keeps you from setting the hook 😉 that's just my

MR

[fish_hunt_guy]

Thanks guys I really appreciate the pointers! I found the last no roll sinkers in town at my last stop! Just thinking about this but being that sturgeon dont have teeth couldnt a guy get away with not having a leader at all?, just stopping the weight however many inches above the hook that you wanted to with a snap weight or something?

[fishuhalik]

You're not using a steel leader. You're using a mono or braid leader. 2 reasons you want a setup like this.

1. With a sliding sinker, the fish doesn't feel as much weight when it picks up the bait.

2. With crawlers, when you reel it back in, & while its sitting there in the current, they like to spin. If you don't have a swivel, you'll end up with a mess of tangled lines

[Whiskerchaser]

I'm headed up may 1st to try some sturgeon fishing. I know a lot of people fish out of wheeler's point but i was wondering if fishing can be just as good further upstream, even by say birchdale? Reason being is we are staying in my pickup camper and are hoping to stay right at an access. Do any of the other accesses between birchdale and wheelers have camping available?

[uffdapete]

Right now fishing is good in all the traditional spots from 4 mile bay to the dam in I Falls. I know of 1 boat, 2 guys, that boated 23 yesterday below the dam. Ad 76 were tagged down by Wheeler's Point yesterday also. LOTS of boats down there.

[Mike Dumas]

Lots was almost an understatement. There was a line about a mile down the road both sides of parked cars and trailers at wheelers point. Our group filled both tags. Probably the only year well keep a tagged fish but we all wanted to try smoking them.

[ProGuideEyes]

Fished out of pelland landing today 2 of us 8:30-630. Caught 27 fish biggest was 24" 4 sturgeon had 2 on at one time biggest was 73"!!! Midway!! River was very dirty about a .8-1 mph current too. Gonna give her hell again tomorrow fish were caught on 50/50 plastics,live bait. Deep water edges held fish

[GJBison]

how was the landing at Pelland? Did you have to go over any ice?

[ProGuideEyes]

Hey guy, Landing was very nice no ice at all.. fished today from 8-1 only caught 1 fish.. very very slow

[fishuhalik]

Fished out of pelland landing today 2 of us 8:30-630. Caught 27 fish biggest was 24" 4 sturgeon had 2 on at one time biggest was 73"!!! Midway!! River was very dirty about a .8-1 mph current too. Gonna give her hell again tomorrow fish were caught on 50/50 plastics,live bait. Deep water edges held fish

Pics or it didn't happen!

Just giving ya a hard time, but we'd all love to see a pic of that monster!

[ProGuideEyes]

Ha Ha Yeah about the pictures, only pic we got all day on wednesday was of the 24' eye. Every other Picture we took didn't turn out. Partners phone had water on the lens he thinks. Pretty bumbed about it. Was huge!

[busse3775]

Heading to the Rainy River for the first time with a couple buddies on the 11th and 12th of April. Have fished LOTW many of times but never the Rainy so was wondering if anyone had any advice. Such as accesses I should use..etc. Thanks! Tight lines!

[computerboy]

If you are fishing on a peak weekend like that, your biggest challenge will be just getting your boat in and out of the water. It's not uncommon for there to be a 2+ hour wait at the landings when the bite it on. If I were fishing that weekend I'd probably put in at Birchdale. The walleyes will (or should) have migrated to that area and beyond by then. Birchdale has twin concrete ramps which makes loading/unloading go a lot faster. It's also the furthest ramp East of Baudette that guys typically use, so they may be less inclined to drive that far if other options are available closer to Baudette. The ramps get icy if the temp dips below freezing, so watch your step.

As far as where to fish, start at the Birchdale landing and work your way West downstream until you find some decent spots. It will be pretty obvious where fish are holding based on the number of boats there are in certain areas. You may not need to go any further than a few hundred yards from the access. I would avoid going East of Birchdale though. There can be fantastic fishing that way, but the stretch of river between Birchdale to International Falls is littered with rock hazards, rapids, shallow water, sand bars, etc. I would avoid that entire half of the river if you aren't familiar with it.

For presentation, vertically jigging a 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig tipped with a minnow is hard to beat. Jig size will depend on the current. When the bite is on, color doesn't seem to matter much in my experience. Get rainbows or emerald shiners for minnows, and plenty of them. Make sure you have a valid MN fishing license, and stay on the US side of the river at all times. Be patient, and help out at the landing if a guy needs a hand. It's common courtesy to offer someone a ride to/from the landing if you see them walking to/from their rig. That should cover the basics.

Good luck!

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

So..... nobody is fishing? Heading up sunday for the final two days of walleye and just hanging on the edge of my seat for a new report....

..............crickets...............

[JakeJ_Mn]

I just got home from the Rainy. Spent Wed. and today fishing. Wed. I put in at Timber Mill landing in Baudette after they salted down the ramp from the ice and snow. It was very cold but not much wind. Fished up river to 4 mile with the better fishing in deep holes using rainbows and pink jigs. Walleyes were slow and seemed everyone I talked to told the same story. Today I fished from out of Birchdale - went down stream about 4 miles to a 12 to 15 foot deep area. A few walleye caught and the story from everyone was the same - slow. Only saw a few small sturgeon caught. It was good to be on the water. I expect this weekend with the warm weather to have better fishing and a lot more boats. Pink or green jigs with rainbows worked ok but I did catch a few walleye on the jigs tipped with pink or green ring twister tails. Hope this helps. Get to the bait shop early. Good fishing. Jake

[Pole Dancer]

Fished the past 4 days on the river. From Pelland to Baudette. Surprising for how good the conditions are how bad the bite is. By far the best was closer to Baudette. Seemed like when there was a school of fish around choice of jig didn't matter too much. Was actually planning to stay the weekend but the crew tired out of cold fishless (or not many) days. If you go I would contact the Dutchman or any of the other places closer to Baudette to see how things are going before burning too much gas to get up. With a slow winter and slow spring, I'm a little suspect on the status of the fishery. Two years ago we fished in 8 deg weather this same week and did real well in much worse conditions. PD

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

heard of a few guys doing pretty decent. Whats the water temp? once it gets into the low to mid 40's whatever is in the river should be moving and biting i would think