River Fish Habits

[Guest]

To anyone - I have been coming up and fishing the Rainy and it's tributaries for 7 years now, always in early August. I have always wondered about the fish that we catch(walleyes, smallies and occasional musky) in the tributaries(Littlefork and Bigfork for example). Do they stay in the smaller rivers all year round or do they run downstream to the Rainy or even the L.O.W. in the winter? If they do run in the winter and then back during the spring, will the Rainy River low water levels this year affect the number of fish in the tributaries? Thanks for anyone that has some insight into these matters.

[swamptiger]

I think most of them run upstream in the spring, and gradually work their way back in the summer & fall, but some stay right in the river. This is just my opinion, I don't know if there really has ever been any comprehensive study on this. But I do know the suckers run uprstream by the thousands early in the season.

[Guest]

I have always wondered about this. I have caught a 45 inch musky and have seen up to 50 inchers caught in the Rainy River and in the tributaries and have always wondered if they winter in the rivers or go all the way back to the LOW. Interesting, I wonder if a study has been done on this behavior like you said. Anyone know if a local DNR study has ever been done?