Royal Dutchman's 2015 River Condition Reports

[RoyalDutchman]

March 9th, 2015:

We went and checked the river conditions today. We had a customer let us know that the river was open 2.5 miles west of the Little Fork River on his drive home last night. This was the best picture of the end of open water we could get because of the trees in the way. It is one mile east of the Big Fork River which makes it 26.9 miles east of Birchdale (Nelson Landing).

Picture was taken at 2:21 pm and the temperature according to the car was 46 degrees. Last year we started checking the river March 16, 2014 so we are 7 days earlier this year and almost in the same spot as last year (difference is about 3 miles further east this year than last year). It might be a few days til we check the river again as it is 100 miles round trip but we will make sure to have a report by Thursday evening.

[JacobG]

Love it! Like everyone else, i cant wait!!!!

[RoyalDutchman]

We have a friend that travels from International Falls to Baudette and then back to International Falls a couple times a week. He said that he figures it opened up about a mile and half compared to yesterday when he saw us yesterday taking pictures. Just a reminder the plan is to go Thursday so hoping it opens up quite a bit with the warm weather we had today and the next few days. Stay tuned...

[TheWarrior]

Never been up for open water fishing.. What kind of boat would be best.. 18ft warrior no good or is more duck boat style.. Nelson landing a good area to go from..Is there guide services. Any help would be great.. Thanks and be safe

[Jarrid Houston]

Alece? is this you? We would love to come up and stay.. Keep us posted on conditions, thinking maybe next weekend...

[fishuhalik]

TheWarrior, you'll be fine with your 18'. Just watch out for floating debris & keep your speed down. Debris isn't usually too bad, just gotta be careful. & there's plenty of guide services

[RoyalDutchman]

As soon as the river opens up in front of Birchdale the county goes down there and opens up the access so bigger boats can get in and out with no problems. There are guides in the area that do this pre-spawn fishing if you would like some names feel free to contact me.

Yes this is Alyse again My husband loves to go with and check the river when he can but for some reason he thinks I am faster at getting all the information up so I try to keep everyone updated and ask him what to type sometimes when I am at a lost for words

[RoyalDutchman]

March 12th, 2015:

I went and checked the river and found open water around 12:50pm. It is now 17.5 miles east of Birchdale Landing. It was 51 degrees and the sun is finally shinning. I stopped at a nice couple's house and they were kind enough to let me take pictures of the River. They have a beautiful view there. Since Monday when we check the river it has opened up 9.4 miles total. There are a lot o f brown/yellowish spots on the ice also between Frontier all the way to the open water. There is a 40% chance of rain tomorrow morning otherwise it looks like a gorgeous weekend and hopefully it will be open in no time.

Here is the picture I took showing the end of the open water it might be hard to tell in the picture but in person it was still frozen to the west of this spot:

Also I stopped at Franz Jevne to see what it looked like there isn't as much snow there as Monday and you can see the ice it is not open yet:

March 11th, 2015:

We did not check the River today but International Falls Covention and Visitors Bureau posted this and they said I could use it, "Koochiching County has cleared the Kuttes Landing access. This provides access to open water on Rainy River ten miles west of International Falls at Pelland Junction. Border Waters regulations allow for walleye fishing until April 14, 2015. This is a great opportunity for open water fishing, especially given the mild temperatures in the immediate forecast."

Picture taken by International Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau:

[Catfish_Nuggets]

Anyone think that Birchdale will be open by Monday?

[slammer]

The big question is if the fish will be there when the ice is gone.

[Jarrid Houston]

There "should be" fish, but Im willing to bet that next weekend things will really start to ramp up. We caught a male eye here the last weekend of the season on the St. Louis river that was already in pre-spawn mode. Yep white stuff.... crazy year this will be

[RoyalDutchman]

March 13th, 2015:

We were unable to go check the river today because we were working on the dock. It stayed in the high 30s today, we had some misting going on this afternoon, and it has been cloudy all day. One of our friend's that was heading that way for work said it was just over 13 miles east of Birchdale. We will be going to check tomorrow mid day so be sure to watch for our report.

Fingers crossed that boats can push off the ice on Monday but we are not holding our breath. Let's hope for warm weather and lots of sun to get this ice out of here.

[RoyalDutchman]

March 14th, 2015:

Last night our temperature reading was around 25 degrees and by early morning it was back in the low 30s. It has been sunny all day so far with the temperature around 46 degrees when we went to check the river at 1:20pm. This picture was about the only good one we could get as there are a bunch of trees in the way. So it was taken just a little bit to the east of the where it ended. The river is now 9.9 miles east of Birchdale Landing, 7.8 miles east of Franz Jevne and 34.4 miles from our place. Tomorrow they are talking a high of 59 degrees with it being cloudy early and partial sunshine expected later in the day.

Here is the picture of the open water from today just a little bit east of where it ended:

[TheWarrior]

Do you think this coming weekend would be a good one for the boat or is it typically better couple weeks after ice out on the river thanks a lot for your help..

[RoyalDutchman]

Everyone has their own opinions on when the best time to come is. Some people like to be out there right away and push their boats off the ice, and others like to wait for the ramps to be open to big boats, and others like to wait til the week before the season closes. I hope this helps and if anyone else has any better answer for you I hope they post it.

[RoyalDutchman]

March 15th, 2015:

The temperature was 63 degrees at 3:43 pm when we went to check the river. We stopped at Manitou Rapids and it had open water and it was going to the west as far as we could see. We did find a spot on the road where we could still see open water and stopped to take a picture. It is now 8.3 miles from Birchdale Landing and 6.2 miles from Franz Jevne. It is suppose to be around 37 degrees for a low tonight and stay in the mid 30s and low 40s all week. There is a chance of snow tomorrow morning.

Here is 8.3 miles east of Birchdale Landing:

[bassbuster1]

There were boats being put in at Ifalls and at the Pelland landing today.The river is a little low.

BB1

[RoyalDutchman]

March 16th, 2015:

We went and checked the river about 1:00 pm today the temperature was 35 degrees so a lot cooler than yesterday but the sun is finally shinning as it was cloudy this morning. The wind is NNW at 15 to 25 mph today with the high getting 40 degrees and the low for tonight is 23 degrees. We saw open water 5.1 miles east of Birchdale (could see open water going to the west of the picture also) and in the picture it was hard to tell but we could see ice floating in the water on the Canadian side. We also went to 6.1 miles to see if we could see more open water which we did. So the river is now around 5 miles east of Birchdale.

Here is 5.1 miles east of Birchdale Landing:

6.1 miles east of Birchdale Landing:

Franz Jevne:

[GJBison]

Go baby go!

[Fish Head]

I can't wait. Re-spooled 4 reels last night.

[RoyalDutchman]

March 17th, 2015:

Grant went and checked the river earlier this afternoon while I was at my part time job. The high for today is around 40 degrees and the low being around 22 degrees. I was amazed when I left for work that my windshield was frosted over and that the river still opened up as much as it did. You can now see open water from the Birchdale Landing Grant is thinking it was less than a mile. Franz Jevne is open with about 40 yards of shore ice.

Looking east at Birchdale you can see the water:

Looking straight out at Franz Jevne:

Looking to the west at Franz Jevne:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 18th, 2015:

Grant went and checked the river about 1:30pm today and sadly it did not get in front of the Birchdale Landing. It is still less than a mile from the landing and he said it moved a little bit closer but got wider. It is about 36 degrees at this time with the high reaching 46 degrees and a low of 28 tonight. Hoping tomorrow we will see open water in front of the Birchdale Landing. Boats are pushing off at Franz Jevne today.

Looking east at Birchdale:

Franz Jevne:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 19th, 2015:

We woke up to it snowing this morning and the river in front of our house was completely white again. It quit shortly before we went and checked the river at 12:45 pm and there was some open water in front of the Birchdale Landing. You could also see open water on the Canadian side straight out from the Birchdale Landing. It was about 37 degrees and the high is suppose to get 49 degrees with a low of 29 degrees tonight. There were 4 boat trailers at Franz Jevne when we stopped to check there. It looks like there is less shore ice here than there was yesterday.

We talked to one group last night that was fishing up by Pelland for the day and they caught 27 walleyes and the biggest being 24 inches. They also caught some sturgeon with one being 73 inches hoping they send a picture to share with everyone! Hoping the fishing is good!

Straight out in front of the Birchdale Landing:

Looking to the east at Birchdale Landing:

Franz Jevne:

[GuidoSarduchi]

I just want to personally say thank you for your updates. For a lot of us your posts are the most reliable and current reports. Just wanted to let you know how much we all appreciate it. We'll be seeing you shortly.

[RoyalDutchman]

March 20th, 2015:

We headed east and got to Birchdale around 12:45pm this afternoon the temperature was 31 degrees. There were about 5 boat trailers that had pushed off from there and there was about three at Franz Jevne. There is open water about 2.5 miles west of the Birchdale Landing but we are thinking that it might be froze up still in between as we didn't see any boats in this part of the open water. The high for today is suppose to be 32 degrees with a low of 9 degrees tonight.

We talked to one of the groups that is staying with us this morning and they said fishing was slow for them yesterday. Doesn't sound like any big fish were caught. When we were at Birchdale checking the river conditions a group was just pulling their boat out of the water and said they caught their 2 walleye each but no big ones either. It is cooler on the river today as the temperature was only 31 degrees when we were there but with the wind felt a lot colder.

Looking straight at Birchdale Landing:

Looking to the east at Birchdale:

Looking to the west at Birchdale:

Open water 2.5 miles west of Birchdale Landing:

Franz Jevne still has some shore ice:

[RoyalDutchman]

Your welcome for all the updates

[RoyalDutchman]

March 21st, 2015:

Grant went and checked the river about 12:30pm and found open water 2.7 miles west of Birchdale. The temperature at the time was in high teens with the high for the day reaching 29 degrees and the low of 12 degrees for tonight. There is still shore ice at Birchdale Landing so boats are still pushing off and hopefully on Monday morning the county will be out there to clear it out. There was less shore ice today at Birchdale Landing.

Birchdale Landing:

2.7 miles west of Birchdale Landing at the wayside rest stop:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 22nd, 2015:

We went and checked the river and found open water 4.6 miles west of the Birchdale Landing around 2:00pm. The temperature was 32 degrees and the high for today is suppose to be 35 degrees and the low around 23 degrees tonight. Tomorrow is suppose to be a high of 41 degrees and looks like it is going to be cloudy. There is still some shore ice at the Birchdale Landing and hoping the county is out there tomorrow to break it lose. Also Franz Jevne still has some shore ice.

Our group of 5 did good again yesterday with the biggest being 23 inches. They were going to go out for a few hours this morning before heading back home. Hope to have some more fishing reports soon!

4.6 miles west of Birchdale Landing:

Birchdale Landing:

Franz Jevne:

[RoyalDutchman]

March 23rd, 2015:

I got word about 10:00 am that the Birchdale Landing is open to all boats. I got there about 11:00am to get pictures and check to see how close the river is to Frontier Landing. The Landing in Birchdale is open to all boats both ramps are open. Just to give you an idea we are about 17 days ahead of last year (April 8th, 2014 is when Birchdale was open for all boats). It was 34 degrees and cloudy when I was there and the high is suppose to be 41 degrees and cloudy today and a low of 30 degrees tonight. Tomorrow looks to be a gorgeous day as the high is suppose to reach 48 degrees and be mostly cloudy but chance of sun. I did go and check Franz Jevne and there is still shore ice there and looks the same as yesterday.

The river is open 1.8 miles east of Frontier Landing or 6.2 miles west of Birchdale there is some ice build up in between the spots of open water from about 2.5 miles east of Frontier to the 1.8 miles east of Frontier.

For open water to get to Frontier it needs to open up 1.8 miles, to get to Vidas it needs to open up 11.8 miles, and to get to us it needs to open up 18.3 miles.

Birchdale Landing:

This is taken 2.5 miles east of Frontier:

[eskimo9]

Thanks for the updates Grant! See you Sunday!