St. Louis River Fishing Reports

[Northlander]

Have you driven by the 23 bridge the 1st 3 weeks of the season? Hundreds of boats in site. That hasnt been a problem with people and thats been going on for way before any of our time. Yes there will of course be less fish in the system but to say that 3 weeks of good fishing will hurt the sytem? I dont think so. You dont think opener on the river is a "Trophy Hunt"? I talk to a lot of guys down fishing and nobody I have talked to keep anything over 19 or 20". No different than any opener on the river.

I would like all the guys that post their displeasure here to write the DNR are reps and let them know how you feel.

All the guys who are not in favor of whats going on on the bay. What do you want? Close it to fishing? Dont talk about it on the net? Slots? Shorter season? Take your ideas and get them to a place that can actually do something about it. DNR and Reps. To complain here really doesnt do any good.

Try to educate those you come in contact with on good CPR and selective harvest and thats all we can do.

The one thing I would have liked to have seen was way more DNR presence on the bay.

Oh and I am still in search of a trophy and always will be. Thats part of what keeps me going. The search for big fish. The day I dont want to fish and catch bigger fish you can get the shovel out and start the fire!

[OptimusPrime]

Jim - good luck, hope you get a big one!!

Poacher - Dont assume that I'm in the crowds with the rest of you, I'm not.

North - Yea the reason we all fish is for big fish and for that fish of a lifetime, I am with you on that one. But what happened to fishing where you find your own spot, explore, put in the time?? Now you log on, and your in the hunt for a trophy. Pretty sad.

[Northlander]

It aint that simple. Nobody that Im aware of gave anybody a spot or showed them how to fish. I do agree though that some people are just flat out lazy followers that dont want to do the work it takes to be consistant. Like I say "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again."

Im with you Optimus you wont see me with the crowd unless they swallow me at prime time.

Ill be out tonight as well. Ill be the little dot you see.

[fatfinger]

all this cpr stuff got me wondering.when you catch a walleye or any fish in deep open water, how does bringing them up to the surface suddenly, impact them?i hear that a big difference in pressure can cause inner tissue to rupture.is this true?it makes sense to me.my bro got a big one last year from 42'deep but it was only out of water for maybe a minute tops, probably less.we didnt see it floatin anywhere & were wondring if it made it.its belly was pretty hard.maybe someone knows the science of this.

[jim carpenter]

truthfully, your brother should have kept the walleye. they do not release worth a darn at that depth. however, it would have died for sure if he tossed it on the ice. releasing it gives them a chance; even at 42'.

[fatfinger]

thanks jim. it was last opener but we've been wondering for awhile.hes often wished he kept it for the wall but there will be more biggies to be sure.of course with replicas being as good as they are nowadays i figure its good sporting to let them go and keep chasing the "one".i really want to go out tomoro but am scared of a real big crowd.maybe ill try somewhere else like some small lake up north a bit or way back up the river.anyone been around spirit lake as of late?boy scout area?is river safe upstream of there?

[Heartman]

Northlander, as I've said in the past, many of us appreciate your willingness to share fishing information. Seems some forget that even if you know where, you still gotta catch'em.

Keep on fishing, brother. The experience is what we're after, not the limits...

[gardn184]

Heartman that last line is possibly one of the best lines I've read on here in awhile. Fact is you can have GPS Coordinates from someone and still get skunked. It takes a true fisherman to catch fish and bust @$# and work for them. Information on a bite changes day to day. No matter the info you get you still have to put it to use. Out there the biggest thing is to get away from the crowd, in my opinion things come to those who wait and follow, but only the things left by those who work hard. I've used this thread countless times to learn from more expereienced fishermen and I appreciate the help greatly. Fact of the matter is the people following the crowds out there are only gonna get lucky once in awhile. The rest of us on this site who follow the right info and work hard already respect the fishery and practice proper fishing ettiquete. Don't worry about the other !@#$heads and have fun out there, practice proper photo and release, and be polite to others. SIMPLE STUFF.

[lotalota]

Well, I'm not that young any more so hopefully I'm off the hook on Jim's post regarding the glaring young punk...

I don't mean to create tension, just some discussion. I suspect that if we were standing around a fire pit or taking turns on the smelt seine this wouldn't be anything more than a good BeeEss session. Maybe we'll take it up then.

lota lota...

[tweedlap]

Enough, already !

tweed

[jim carpenter]

I have fished off the boy scout area with my fishing friends twice in the last two weeks and have not had much luck. ALWAYS be careful when traveling; however - there is a lot of ice up there too. We did have one big fish on one day this week near boyscout but it got away before we could identify it.

Sure seems like the fish should be up there. Good Luck.

[biff]

I dont get what all the fuss is about. There are probably more fish killed in the first two weeks of open water season than there are all winter. There is 100 times or more the pressure then. There are lots of mid twenties and up caught then. They may not be full of eggs anymore but they are the same fish. Some people on here act like they are hauling out coolers full of big fish everyday out there, hardly the case. Probably more skunks hauled out than anything. This whole thing is waaay exaggerated in my opinion.

[Tom Linderholm]

Way exaggerated considering this is one of few trib's that get hit on the worlds largest freshwater lake.

On a side note, saw a boat off the pump station this morning. Springs a comin'!

[Northlander]

Well, I'm not that young any more so hopefully I'm off the hook on Jim's post regarding the glaring young punk...

I don't mean to create tension, just some discussion. I suspect that if we were standing around a fire pit or taking turns on the smelt seine this wouldn't be anything more than a good BeeEss session. Maybe we'll take it up then.

lota lota...

We better not smelt because there arent many left and everyone keeps too many. Dont talk about smelting on here Lota the lake will get smelted out. All those smelt coming on the beach to spawn dont stand a chance. Outlaw Siegns.

[PikePatroller]

where can i view a topograhic map of the harbor. i cant seem to find it online anywhere....how are people doing. have had many walleyes on camera but they just stare at my jig. my buddy did tie into a sturgeon the other night. what a fight! i was jealous. thanks in advance

[Northlander]

I think its NOAA that I found them on.

Slow night for almost everyone I talked to tonight.

[gritsnham]

Had a fairly slow day/night today got a few fish with some good ones mixed in but lots of lookers also. Had to jig in just the right way to get at least some of the fish to bite tonight. Will be hitting the bay tomorow morning so will report back then. It was nice to not see a huge crowd out there today...alot less people then the last couple weekends

[fatfinger]

went off the boyscout landing today with my sister.her second time ice fishing.her first time was a couple weeks ago on grand.we had a few holes in 10-13 fow & a couple tip ups in 8 & 7 fow.not a thing either.i still can smell the skunk now.a lot of current there- my jig kept drifting away from vexilar cone so i couldnt see it.didnt even mark a darn thing the whole time but we had fun.she thought ice fishin is fun despite the skunking & cant wait to go again.some poor folks in a green portable had a group of people pull up & set up shop rite next to em right at magic hour.otherwise there was only one other portable out there.alot of local bozo hooligans going about 60mph out there whippin lewies(donuts).gonna try the bay tomoro hoping everyone will be at home doin the valentine thing or at pike lake.also, the ice there was pretty thick at about 2 ft or so but be careful if you drive.never trust river ice.

[redryder]

There is a link to the NOAA chart on page 14 of the thread.

[jim carpenter]

the locals over by boyscout launch are a pain for the fisherman. we had about thirty cars and trucks race by us the other day. actually thought we were at the Daytona Speedway! darn kids - reminds me of how much fun we had whipping around on the ice in my 1967 dart.

[Philip Hart]

Lets ban people from fishing the river. I can't believe some of you guys. Do you even read what you right before posting. I have been skunked this year many times. So if you see my fish house don't assume I'm pulling in 28"ers every time.

Just from my experience fishing ,all the mass's that go out there are not catching much fish. There are fish caught and that is to be expected. Give me a break about this ruining this great fishery. I remember 10 years ago when I moved to Duluth and my father in-law pointed me to the river. I did great then and nothing has changed in 10 years. It will have up and down times, but it will always remain a good fishery. I'm old enough now to have seen many different lakes go through cycles. There are many other more realistic things that could wipe this river out and that don't include the ice fisherman.

[jim carpenter]

hey fatfinger;

little suggestion for you - when fishing current, cut a vexilar hole downstream that is seperate from your angling hole if you have the room or floor configuration to accomodate.

works good. strength of current will dictate the distance. Usually not very far in that area this time of year.

[Steve Foss]

hey fatfinger;

little suggestion for you - when fishing current, cut a vexilar hole downstream that is seperate from your angling hole if you have the room or floor configuration to accomodate.

works good. strength of current will dictate the distance. Usually not very far in that area this time of year.

+1

Works slick as can be.

[gritsnham]

Slow morning today one bigger fish and only a few other marks that front rolling through seemed to shut them down the wind was also blowing good this morning

[Northlander]

hey fatfinger;

little suggestion for you - when fishing current, cut a vexilar hole downstream that is seperate from your angling hole if you have the room or floor configuration to accomodate.

works good. strength of current will dictate the distance. Usually not very far in that area this time of year.

I ALWAYS drill a seperate hole for my graph. I hate having fish tangle in my ducer. After you lose a few nice fish to the ducer you learn to always cut a second hole for it. No matter where Im at I do this. On the river the second hole is usually only about 6-8" away.At times you may have to switch holes with the rod and graphs.

[fatfinger]

thanks for the tip guys.wonder how long it would have taken me to figure out on my own.probably a while- i grew up by a "slow children" sign.lol. thanks

[Northlander]

Only saw about 3 fish tonight and got 1 22"er.

[shogun]

We better not smelt because there arent many left and everyone keeps too many. Dont talk about smelting on here Lota the lake will get smelted out. All those smelt coming on the beach to spawn dont stand a chance. Outlaw Siegns.

Yeah we certainly better not smelt - they've all got the VHS and are going to kill all of our Minnesota fish

[bigswede]

Northlander,

Good to see you and hook up with you again. Onlky 1-6" for us tongiht. Lots of lookers, just no takers.

[BEAST]

PH

"Give me a break about this ruining this great fishery. I remember 10 years ago when I moved to Duluth and my father in-law pointed me to the river. I did great then and nothing has changed in 10 years. It will have up and down times, but it will always remain a good fishery. I'm old enough now to have seen many different lakes go through cycles. There are many other more realistic things that could wipe this river out and that don't include the ice fisherman."

You became a StL river fishery specialist in one year! Just had to point that out - You started this thread remember?