2018 Rainy River Ice Conditions

[Walleyehunter82]

Look at the temps, windy, mornings have been around zero degrees up there.  Who wants to fish in that?  I consider myself a die hard fisherman when it comes to spring fishing the Rainy. (this year will be my 15th consecutive year) This weeks temps and conditions, it would hard to leave the cabin. Nothing goes smoothly when its that cold.  We are fishing the river April 12,13,14 so we will see what happens.  Hoping more sun! 

[rschmidty]

Taken in front of the Pinewood Church looking west from earlier today.

[FilledLimitz]

Headed up tonight going to fish through Sunday. What’s the report sounds like frontier is where all the ice is forming? Or is Birchdale skimmed over in the mornings also?? 

[slammer]

I also passed on the trip this year....Just too cold.  Doesn't sound all that great yet.  Maybe next week if it warms up.  Less fishing pressure for one year can't hurt things either.

[Luzaich]

Birchdale has ice in the mornings

[LucasLongCaster]

Well we also decided to move our trip back a few days gonna head up on Tuesday now, were originally going to go today.

[evntam]

I'm up here now. Lotsa skim ice, icy landings, slow fishing.  Cold, etc. Sorry, but it's true. Water temps=32.0 degrees in the lowrance. At least we're fishing

[Luzaich]

Skim ice around 9 am? Did it clear up at all? Going tomorrow... should be interesting 

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Heading up on Sunday bright and early to fish through Wednesday. Keep the reports coming! Conditions, fishing, ect...  Is all the slim\slush ice  been clearing up by midday or so or are people having to dodge it all day with their lines?

Edited April 5, 2018 by YiGGiN4SLoBS

[byoney]

We’re up here now. Did decent yesterday. Walleyes and a bonus sturgeon. Flipping brutal conditions at the moment. Waiting it out in the motel room for now. Bring chapstick for your rod 

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Thanks for the update byoney. It's brutal down here in southern Minnesota at the moment!  Looks like Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will be a little nicer when we are up,fingers crossed.  Did you get any big girls  or mostly keeper size??  Good luck the rest of your trip

[Fish Head]

4 hours ago, byoney said:

We’re up here now. Did decent yesterday. Walleyes and a bonus sturgeon. Flipping brutal conditions at the moment. Waiting it out in the motel room for now. Bring chapstick for your rod 

What do you do with chapstick on your rod?  Do you put it around the eyes to prevent freezing?

[Wes Peterson]

There's been enough wind today to keep the ice under control and keep boats not so under control.  One word description today at Birchdale...brutal. +17 after a low of +3 and a 18-30 mph west wind. 

Another thing to note is the river is quite low right now so some new danger spots.

Good news is weather forecast is looking better for the last week starting tomorrow and it's highly unlikely the Forks will be out before April 14.

Third hand, but also heard a good ice fishing report from 4 mile bay.

[byoney]

Yes chapstick for the eyelets. Only the top 2-3 need it. Bad weather today-hoping to get back on track tomorrow. Mix of bigs and eaters

[Luzaich]

birchdale is locked up this morning 

[SPUD BAR]

I’m a die hard Rainy in the spring guy, but I’m seriously thinking about pulling the pin on this years trip. Weather report keeps getting worse for next week. 

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Locked up??? The entire river or just landing? We are supposed to be leaving early tomorrow morning and I really don't wanna drive 6 hrs to not be able to use the boat! More info please!

[slammer]

Buddies are up there now.  Tried fishing yesterday but everything on the boat was froze up.  River is freezing over at night,  ramps are icy,  etc.......  They are ice fishing the lake today

[Wes Peterson]

4 hours ago, YiGGiN4SLoBS said:

Locked up??? The entire river or just landing? We are supposed to be leaving early tomorrow morning and I really don't wanna drive 6 hrs to not be able to use the boat! More info please!

This was 0900 this morning.  Locked up and not moving.  My theory is the strong west wind yesterday kept the floating ice upstream at bay and when the wind went down last night the current took that ice through the rapids above Birchdale and then it got cold enough to freeze it since there wasn't enough current to keep it moving. 

From I Falls to Birchdale early this morning it was looked to be about 75% ice in some form. At noon on the way back it was maybe 50%. 

Of the 40 or so boats that showed up to Birchdale this morning, 3 or 4 put in and the others turned around and went to Frontier, home, ice fishing or ??. 

Low this morning was 4 and low of 1 is forecasted tonight so might have the same situation tomorrow BUT it's been the opposite from what I suspected a couple times in the last 2 weeks. 

I checked the river level on the USGS site last night and at the Manitou Rapids it's dropped 2 feet in the last week. 

https://www.facebook.com/wes.peterson.9/videos/10213702649058362/?t=22

 

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Thanks for the update. We are loaded up and ready to leave early morning tomorrow. Hopefully ice is mostly gone by the time we get there in the afternoon tomorrow.  We are bringing ice fishing gear in case. I would think with a few more degrees warmth the next couple days it should be fishable, I hope..... Gulp

[byoney]

Yeah it’s not good-we talked to a lot of guys today and the most fish we heard of was 6 with most reports being 0-2. Motor issues, busted transducers...mother nature kicked our tail. We did ok Thursday. Didn’t fish Friday, ice fished today. But it beats sitting on the couch at home. 

[Wally Lindner]

Birchdale. Yesterday 

[Wally Lindner]

Birchdale. This morning

[Poutwhacker]

I realize no one has a crystal ball, but can anyone, with more knowledge than me, shed some insight on what they think the fishability of the river might be this week? I know it is supposed to warm up, but am unsure as to how that will affect the river, the landings and the ice. Do you think the landings will all be open?                          Personal and equipment safety are always real concerns and issues and maybe are even more so this year, as it seems things are really in flux.                                                                                                                                                                              We're supposed to head up Tuesday and some of my guys come from quite a distance away, so just seeking some good intel in advance.                                                                                                                                                                Thanks

[PRO-V]

I love fishing but I don't know why anyone would want to subject themselves to the current conditions. I would ice fish or stay home. It's making my bathroom remodel almost seem fun comparatively.

[IceHawk]

Defiantely will be tough for sure with the conditions up there. Ive been going up there for at least 20 years.  It definitely is one of the best for putting big fish out for sure. But a person  definitely has  to take safety, fish ability, and some common sense in weather conditions into consideration before making a decision. Do you want to risk wrecking your boat ask yourself that. Been hearing stories of frozen boats on trailers, frozen water pumps, broken taillights and transducers etc. Been there done that over the years and definatley not worth it IMO.  We opted out this year as we have a few other times as well. Because of the conditions.  When conditons are like this or water is to dirty we always head to Redwing pool 4 to save our trip. Yah we don't get as many big fish but we usally catch our share. Plus its a lot safer just as much fun  and the scenery is awesome!

[Uncle Rico]

You can spin it any way you want, but the unfortunate fact is it will be a total gong show through the 14th.  The dam is pinched down so there will be little progress until that changes.  Icehawk is correct about equipment, etc.....plastic stuff isnt made for 20 degrees.

[w@lleye_rookie]

I agree with you guys, the last few days look like they have been brutal. There's no way I would want to try to fish in those conditions. But fishing in 40-45 degrees and low winds sounds wonderful. That is the forecast for Tuesday through Thursday. Most of the afore mentioned problems because of the below freezing air temperature won't be a factor. What I am afraid will be the problem is still having floating ice to deal with. I wish someone had a crystal ball on what will happen with the floating ice, I have never dealt with that before. Needless to say, I am going to give it a shot, the forecast sounds great compared to the last week. Each day should be a little better, and one positive is with all of the guys that have cancelled there won't be as long of a wait at the boat ramps and the walleyes haven't had any fishing pressure. I'm betting I can find ice free areas of the river to fish. Ice will be disappearing, not forming like it was last week. If not, I guess I'm out a little gas money, haha.

[Poutwhacker]

Being older and hopefully wiser, my group just cancelled our trip, also. I feel like a wuss, but the rewards didn't seem to be greater than the risks. Potential equipment issues and safety (along with the lousy weather) were the tipping points. Mother Nature won this time...

[w@lleye_rookie]

Okay Poutwhacker, you are probably wiser than me. Time will tell,  there is no sense in predicting what the river conditions will be. The forecast looks really favorable. Mother Nature hasn't won yet, I'm gonna be there with boat ready just in case. I've got nothing better to do, I can't be farming anyway.

Edited April 9, 2018 by w@lleye_rookie