Fishing on River OK?

[TAndrews]

I know of someone that will be heading up to Red Lake without a boat. Can they expect to catch some walleyes in the Tamarack by the boat launches? Any suggestions?

[Jim Panfish Uran]

Absolutely.

[tkettel]

Not sure I would say "absolutely". I have been up to Red twice this year and armed with the info that the river can be very hot, I have kept an eye on it. When we went up Memorial Day, my son threw out a bobber from one of the docks a ways up the river and caught a 3 lb eye within in 5 minutes. But we did not see another one caught the rest of the weekend. This past weekend 6/26 we worked the river hard as the wind was not allowing anyone on the lake. I did not see anyone in a boat land a fish. We did camp right on the river at Big Bog and I saw a young boy at the campsite next door pull in one eater and then there was a lady next door who I originally didn't believe her story. She said that she had been up to Red three previous times this year and caught several fish from the docks, she even had a little notebook with dates and sizes to prove it. Well we watched her fish most of the day without success and then we headed out onto the big lake for 3 hours of non-productive fishing last friday and when we got back she had 5 nice fish on the stringer and caught the sixth about 30 minutes later. She did say that the first 5 all came within 20 minutes of each other, otherwise she sat on that dock along time. We also chatted with a DNR officer who told us the river had not been producing this year. So, for whatever it is worth, I think a very patient person can catch some fish right now in the river, but nothing like the stories I have heard about last year.

[walleye101]

Next time you see that lady you may want to remind her that the limit on the Tamarac River is the same as Red Lake, four fish per day and in possession.

[tkettel]

She actually was fishing with a boyfriend or partner and they were well within their legal rights. She was the one doing the bragging and showing us the proof so I kind of focused on her. I actually thought she was full of [PoorWordUsage] until I saw them produce the stringer. Seriously, in Big Bog, there are tons of people trying to fish from the docks and launchs, and they were the only ones I really saw produce and I think it was just being patient and waiting for that school of walleye to cruise through. With the winds as bad as they were sat/sun plenty of people were trying to get the river to produce. We did notice a lot of people started bailing out saturday night and by noon sunday the campground was wide open.

[Jim Panfish Uran]

I'd still say it's safe to say it's worth there time to try it out! I was up last July and the kids outfished me from the campgrounds, when I went out on the lake.

[Queenswake]

We were up there in August 2007. The wind was so bad that we didn't feel safe going out in our 16 footer with an often undependable motor. So we spent most of our time trolling rapalas up and down that river. We caught plenty of eaters and a few pike as well. This was in August when you'd expect most of the fish to be out in the lake.