Red River Report Headwaters and Central Region 4-2-03

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Red River Report Headwaters and Central Region 4-2-03.

The Headwaters region of the Red River and it's associated tributaries is largely ice free and warming. Water temps were in the upper 30's to mid 40's as of yesterday in the PM. Fishing has been fair to good but the cold snap has slowed the bite a bit in recent days. Jigs and minnows has been the best overall producer, fallowed by floating jigs on rigs.

Central Region of the Red River has residual ice pack on channels but rapidly clearing. Water temps are in the mid 30's from Brushvile North to Fargo. Action will increase as the water temps warm. Residual ice flows would make boating in this region hazardous at best at this time. With some sun we should see a ice free channel in a week, God willing? Some action has been seen on dams, yet it is slow overall yet. This will change quick once the sun pops out for a day or so. Then it will be peek spring walleye action on much of the Central Red River basin.

Overall flows are low for this time of year and without a substantial shot of rain likely to remain slow and low. This may impact movements of fish into tributaries and concentrate them more on the main Red throughout the spawning cycle, time will tell on that.

We are into spring, ever so grudgingly, but headed in the right direction. Better days and better bites are surely on the way. With the robins and Killdeers patrolling my yard I gain a wider smile by the day.

Slip on the mud boots and sneak out some early fishing action SOON coming to a river near you.

Enjoy!

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Backwater Eddy (edited 04-02-2003).]

[Guest]

4-12-03

We should see a descent walleye bite from Wahpeton up to..OH..dang near Grand Forks this weekend, by the looks of the water temperatures.

Try pocket areas and shallow backwaters near the dams or off bridges. Areas where the sun heats up the water quickest are best. Most of the rivers that feed into the Red will be doing well too. The Sheyenne is one very good option in the fargo region. It has some new flow and has shown a bit of promise in the past few days.

Jigs have been best for me. I like 1/4 white or yellow tube jigs tipped with a big sumo fathead minnow. You gain bulk that allows for a good target to be seen in murky water, plus it slows the fall and the retrieve rate down.

Slow is key, hang that jig in their face as long as you can and they will more likely take a poke at it. A float may work best on some slower backwaters, try tail hooking the fathead so they struggle more, this gives off low frequency vibrations that help predators key in on prey in murky water.

A Phelps floating jig works well too. I prefer a 3-way rig for this as it allows for the bait to stay up out of trouble, and in the walleye's face. Try leader lengths ranging from 8-20". Lime green/yellow and glow blue/white work well for me.

Don't worry about the middle of the river, you will just feed the river and not the fish that way. Odds are better the walleye are at rods length from shore. I caught five nice fish last night with less then 4' left hanging from my rod tip. They were tight to structure on the shore! Warmer waters will tend to hug the shoreline and so do the walleye during early spring. This is where they expect to find food too, in or near cover in the shallows.

Good luck.

Catch all you want, keep only what you need.

Be sure to know the regs..Eh.

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson
Backwater Guiding

[Guest]

Of course North of the border we are under complete closure (in the southern angling region) until May 10th. Water levels are significantly lower this year. On Saturday when I was down visiting Stu at Lockport I saw that two curtains were open --- the rest were closed. I find that on lower water years the cats are a bit more localized, making angling a bit more localized (if you can imagine them being more localized than they already are!). The walleye may stick around in the warmer river waters this spring (for a while anyways) as commercial fishermen were reporting 6+ feet of ice ---and break-up is a while away on the lake in some areas. Suckers are running and many folks are out getting their supply ready for the upcoming cat season.

------------------
Dan Kiazyk
Cat Eye Outfitter
http://www.geocities.com/dkiazyk2000
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by dkiazyk (edited 04-23-2003).]

[Guest]

Dan we had a good shot of rain on this end over the last week, it is on it's way to you boyz now.

We need more for sure, it could be a low water season, not sure yet?

Sounds good for the opener up there on May 10th. I hope to be in the neighborhood about then too.

Piggy time!

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

Backwater Guiding "ED on the RED"

[email protected]

We..We..We....><,sUMo,>

[This message has been edited by Backwater Eddy (edited 04-23-2003).]

[Guest]

Cats are-a-chew'n, and so are the walleye!

Picked up well during the rain, watch your step, slippery Eh. I did a gainer off a bank onto some rock last night, kinda sore today to say the least. UF-DA!!!

Boooo...Hooo!

Looks good, slip on the slop boots...We-We!

[This message has been edited by Backwater Eddy (edited 05-05-2003).]