Rainy River Fishing

[Sandee]

I started a new topic for fishing reports, since the river is open past Clementson. Fishing today was still slow, however big walleyes were caught this morning. Our anglers saw Al Linder fishing and he caught a 10-pounder, and they weren't even filming!! They said they saw quite a few big ones caught in the morning, but no numbers of walleyes caught. Sunny and windy today, it was cold on the river. Temperatures tomorrow in the 20's.

[Sandee]

Bill Johnson caught a 55 1/2" - 44-pound sturgeon today. 45 minute fight finally landed him in the boat. Anglers are reporting better fishing today, no bigs ones, but more eaters sizes than yesterday. Air temps 20's, water temp 32-35 degrees. Current and clarity the same. No run-off, as we did not get any snow or rain. With cold overnight temps there is skim ice on the river early a.m., but not a problem for launching or fishing. Breaks away easily. Till tomorrow . . .

[Sandee]

Johnson's group did not do very well today, although another boat in their group caught a 28" this morning. Dominise group came in and said they caught at least 40 fish today. So there you go . . . We got a dusting of snow today with light flurries on and off. No fishing report on Wednesday, as we only have one boat left in camp. Thursday we have more coming and will update Thursday night. Only 1 truck at the Vidas ramp today!

[Sandee]

Bialke's group fished today up by Frontier and did OK. Nothing to celebrate, but more fish that have been caught lately. Sneen group told me last night that they did fairly well yesterday, where another boat quite after 4 hours, another fished all day and caught a few. Northern and sturgeon have been biting also. Warmer temps should help, longer days, the walleyes should start soon up the river. We want it to gradually warm up so the walleyes don't get confused. Till tomorrow . . .

[Sandee]

Ice is causing some problems for anglers to get to the spot they want to fish. If you like the area around the Church, you may have to wait a day. Ice has formed and been broken off at the ramps when anglers are launching their boats. This ice is going down river, catching ice that has been broken at other ramps and stacking up shore to shore in some spots. You can fish Birchdale down 5 miles past Frontier. Fishing near the Vidas ramp was harder, due to ice. Our point had a lot of ice this morning, by evening, there was very little. Warmer temps and less wind for tomorrow and warmer on Sunday should help. Hope it helps the fishing. It has been slow, a few walleyes being caught, biggest was 26". No great numbers yet. Soon. . .

[Sandee]

Fishing is improving on the river. Some anglers limited today and caught and released a few nice "lake" walleyes. The run has begun. A few small "lake" males were caught also. What I mean by "lake" walleyes, is that they are light in color, almost silver compared to resident river walleyes. Nice day on the river with a high of 50. Water temp probably increased by a degree, we are thinking it is about 35 degrees. Hope to have someone give this information, since we can't get out fishing until next week. Ontario and MN DNR are patroling the river and giving fines, please be aware of the regulations on Ontario and Minnesota waters. Fines from Ontario can vary from $100 to $1000, so be careful. Till tomorrow . . .

[Sandee]

Better news everyday. Anglers are catching walleyes and sturgeon and northerns. 40 fish a day for 2 anglers today and another 60" sturgeon caught and released. Small northerns, nothing big. River is in good shape, as is the ramps, with the exception of the ramp at Frontier. Just watch the drop off when backing down and you won't have a problem. Many, many anglers over the weekend made the ramps a very busy place. Big fish today was an 8 pound walleye, 5 in the 6 pound category and 17-18" in length. No report on water temperature. Any one fish the river this weekend and have this information, please post here or email me.

[Sandee]

Fishing is still improving, 3 anglers caught at least 75 fish today. One youngster in camp said him and Dad caught about 20, no big ones, but he did see a few 10-pound size caught. I am not getting a lot of information from anglers, sometimes you get the "quiet" ones, but then they know we report the fishing too. 3 cabins check out tomorrow, maybe they'll give me some information. We want to fish on Friday or sooner, then we can give you our report. Weather looks like it will hold for a few days, it was overcast and 40 today.

[Sandee]

River fishing continues to improve. Anglers are reporting 50 walleyes plus a day and some 8 and 9 pounders. Big sturgeon again too, at least 2 from one group. River temperature 37.4, current low, level low, clarity good. I hope to get out on the river tomorrow, with a camera!!

[Sandee]

Fishing is still good on the river. One angler said it was his best day ever. 80 fish is the most I heard today. Biggest was not brought into the boat, but one of them said "I have a 12 1/2 pounder on the wall at home, and when I saw this one my jaw dropped." I can only imagine. All depths were working today, all colors or jigs and bait and even some twister tails produced a 12 pound. Lots and lots of boats out there today. Probably less tomorrow if the rain comes. It is raining now here in Clementson. Watch the border on the river, they are ticketing heavily and taking fish from live wells and putting them back into the river. Small jigs are good, current slow, level low, clarity is good. Temperature is probably about 38 degrees.

[Sandee]

The wind did a number today on the river. Anglers were catching fish, but it was a struggle. Some stated less fish but bigger ones. Others said they had a good day yesterday, and headed for town for the day. Gary caught a 26" today and a 24 1/2" was also caught in his group. Sturgeons are still biting and a lot of big ones too. River level up 2 feet today due to the wind, by evening it was almost back to normal. The wind may haved stirred the river up some, will know tomorrow about clarity. If it was bad there would have been no walleyes caught today.

[Sandee]

Wind, cold and vertical snow this morning. The snow stopped but the wind remained all day on the river. Some anglers decided to stop fishing early. Jon's group did good today, with John catching a 24", 20" 19" and they also caught some 16" - 17" walleyes. Dave's group did well, with one hooking into a monster that they lost before boating. River was "cloudy" yesterday. There is a little grass and twigs in the river, not causing any problems with fishing. No debris on your line. The problem has been the wind. Vidas ramp is reported to have a drop off to the side when you use the ramp, we will check it out tomorrow and report. They fixed Frontier ramp with some gravel, launching is much better. Ramps at Wheeler's Point and the Baudette airport is open for all size boats. Some fished out of the airport ramp and caught some walleyes. Only 6 vehicles at Wheelers Point. Resorts have availability for the weekend anglers. Call 800-382-3474 for lodging.

[Sandee]

3 boats reporting today, slower fishing than yesterday. No change in current, clarity (maybe less cloudy said Paul B.) or level. Highs in the upper 40's today, little wind and sunny. In past spring fishing, we have had the "hot" spots move from our area to Frontier or Birchdale. None in our group fished other than Clementson area, so I don't have a report for up river. I am sure we will tomorrow. Walleyes in the 21" - 23" were more common today.

[Sandee]

Cloudy skies, high today 40. Wind out of the W-NW. Al caught a 31" a 27" and a couple 24" walleyes today on the river. Waiting on anglers to come in to get full report. Big Fork and Little Fork are now open according to US Geological Society, who track water flow. Conditions remain the same on the river, with the less of the "cloudy" conditions from a few days ago. Another 31" caught last night on the river. Remember, if you fish the Gap on the lake and catch a female in the 5-9 pound range, release her, she is in the group of females that are most productive during spawning. Thanks.

[Sandee]

Rain and cold wind didn't keep anglers from fishing the Rainy today. There were numerous big fish caught. Near Clementson Todd 29" and their group of 3 limited on walleyes in 2 hours this morning, Perry 28" Al 24 1/2", Pat 25", Matt 26 1/2", Jay 28" & 25" and Bill with a 26". According to the anglers Frontier was the place to fish for more fish, with a few bigger ones. Clementson was the area for bigger ones, with less numbers on the eater sizes. Water temperature dropped to 36 degrees from 38.5 yesterday. Rick and Jeff with their 2 boys joined us for a couple days of fishing. They had fun, but the weather could have been better. The boys, age 8 and 10 were troopers this morning out in the rain and cold. Forecast for tomorrow is wet, either rain/snow then in the 40's on Tuesday with partly cloudy skies. No report for LOTW, will see if I can update tomorrow.

[Sandee]

Darwins group came in about 8 p.m. after a windy day on the river. Dale caught a 26", Craig a 25" and 27" walleye. Last fish was also caught by Craig, a 39" sturgeon. Total for the day, about 45 walleyes. Conditions remain the same on the river, current, clarity and level. Better forecast for tomorrow, you can bet we will be in the boat by 3 p.m.

[Sandee]

Anglers caught a few big fish today. Biggest was a 28" by Al. Brian caught a 27" that weighed about 9 pounds. Many in the 23" - 26" range too. Average of 20 - 30 walleyes today, slow day for anglers. Weather was windy this morning, with a high of 40. It did settle in the afternoon. Water temperature at 38.5. Clarity, current and level remains the same, even with the Big Fork and Little Fork open for a few days.

[Sandee]

Only 6 days left of fishing the Rainy River. Anglers are out fishing again today with a south wind, partly cloudy and temperature of 42 degrees. Rick caught a nice 29 1/2" walleye yesterday afternoon drifting over a 20" hole. Cold temperatures yesterday drove the walleyes into deeper water. Conditions remain the same on the river, i.e., current, level and clarity.

[Sandee]

Fishing was slow for the majority of anglers today. However, there were also some that had a good day. Chris Dolan and his Dad Richard caught 25 walleyes today with a 25 1/2", 26" and a 27". Jack Swangers group also did well, with a few limits of 17"-19" walleyes. Jack caught a 26 1/2", Steve a 26 1/2" and Jim a 27 1/4". They were using a chartruese collar on a lindy set-up with night crawlers or leeches. They were able to get them about 2' off bottom and pounded the fish. We fished, only one for the stringer but caught about 6 saugers, 3 eelpout and a small walleye. It was cold. River is cloudy again, but as you can read in this report, it did not slow fishing for some. The wind has been brutal, hard to anchor or drift. Hopefully better for the next 5 days of fishing. Mixed forecast in the weather, I like the one that says dry for the next 4 days!

[Sandee]

The last 2 days of the season gave anglers some of the best walleye action in the last few weeks. Even with the snow yesterday, you couldn't keep them off your hook. Today season is officially closed, since midnight on the 14th. Spawning did not start as of yesterday, walleyes need favorable temperatures to start the spawn. At 52 degrees (water temperature) spawning ends and the walleyes will gorge themselves for the trip back "home". We are looking forward to a good openers in May. Also Northern Pike, sturgeon and smallmouth bass are open continuous on the Rainy River. Watch for updates for fishing the river here or on our web site at www.ClementsonResort.com.
See you out on the water!