Conditions above the Little Fork River

[Liv2Hunt&Fish]

We have never in the Pelland area to I-Falls. Any reports on the fishing and is it worth the trip. Any info on the clarity from Birchdale towards the lake. We are planning on coming for some fishing Sat. and Sun. this weekend.

[Fisher J]

Well I would recomend checking out Clementson resort's page for river info. We have caught many many fish because we have checked out their page. I also believe Sandee is the mod for this board.

http://www.clementsonresort.com/

[Sandee]

Fishing the Pelland area, you are fishing in clear water. Clarity is about 3' to 4', you'll have to adjust fishing techniques normally used in this area. Maybe pulling raps or long-lineing those jigs? Dont' fish around the rock unless you want to catch alot of suckers!

The Fork rivers are finally receding along with the Manitou. The Rainy is silty, maybe you'll see better conditions at Birchdale this weekend. If you fish Birchdale, use bigger presentations, twister tails along with your minnow. Any thing white, maybe something that rattles a little?? Let us know how you do!!

If you do get any type of debris on your line, put a split shot about 18" above your presentation to collect the debris. Hopefully you wont' get any.... debris that is.

[Corey Heiser]

Just got back from fishing the Pelland area. We fished all day on Tuesday and until 2pm on Wednesday. The fishing was tough to say the least. We got got 11 on Tuesday. Most everyone we talked to had between 1 and 3. One other boat did have 7. Wednesday was even tougher. We caught two fish and didn't talk to anyone that had more than 1. The water was getting continually dirtier and by Weds afternoon all that had good clarity was the middle of the river. The shorlines looked like chocolate milk. I don't want to burst anyones bubbles, but I don't know how it could get better. Both the Little Fork and Big Fork are still ice covered and are both spewing pure mud.

[Lip RIPPER!]

Good thing you had those brothers along for some entertainment.

[Sandee]

This is the first I have heard that the water above the Little Fork was getting muddy. I checked the outflow from I-Falls and didn't notice any big increase. I called the Lake of the Woods Control Board. I was told it is the Ft. Frances tailwaters that increased in level and that could cause a washout from the shoreline. Once the Little Fork opens, which it did this morning, the levels should settle according to LWCB. I learn something new every year.

[srj]

Fished 11:30-4:00 yesterday out of Pelland. The access was full to the highway by early afternoon. Most of the boats were just above the Little Fork with others scattered on the shorelines. Most I talked to did poorly with some mentioning a short bite around 8:30. I caught 7 with 2 being sauger all on the edge of the channel. The water was rising--at least a foot while I was out--and the fish were moving closer to the bank as the day progressed. Clarity was about 1 1/2 feet. Not fast fishing but what an awesome day to sit in the boat.

P.S. ** The Canada Customs guys are on the river daily. Have your RBCP or............it looked like business was good for them yesterday.

Good luck

[ethan77]

whats RBCP? We are going up there in about 2 weeks.. never fished the river beofre... anything a new guy should know about? espically laws... how do you know the exact border on teh river? Do you get messed with alot by both dnrs to be sure you are who you are?

[walleyejon]

Remote

Border

Crossing

Permit

There are no markers on the river marking the border, so it's pretty much up to the discretion of the CO or Canadian equivilant where the half way point is. The Canadians are pretty particular about wandering over on their side. From what I've heard, they write quite a few tickets, and can confiscate your boat. There is a two fish limit on the US side, with nothing allowed over 19 1/2".

[LuckBites]

Walleye season closes 4/15 so you better bump your trip up a week...

[ethan77]

well we are actually going sturgeon fishing.. so should we get one of those permits? Would that help us or should we just draw a invisible line don the center of the river and stay on the us side... I don't want to end up staying in a canadian jail.. or loosing all my stuff to them....... would it just be wise to buy a canadian boat license and fishing license too? Can you buy them in minnesota or do you actually have to go to canada to get them? you see.... I can't croos the border.... I got one of those DWIs about 5 years ago.....

[crappiefishnfool]

Ethan-

If you have a DWI, you cannot cross the border nor can you get a RBCP. So you are just best off to draw the invisible line down the center of the river. Fishing i think is better on the US side in the pelland area anyways. As Far as the canadian boat license works, you have a MN license, you you don't need one. Fishing license.....you have to cross the border or go the the MNR website and get it online. Good luck fishing.

[panolo]

Jer I can't believe they still let you cross the border!

You must be buying all them Dudley Doright's refreshments at the watering holes

[Sandee]

This is from the web site "gocanada.home.com" which you will find a link on our web site about DUI's. Usually just the Minnesota license is enough, although when it's extremely busy with boats, then it's nice to have more room on the Canadian side. There are many differences in regulations you must be aware of, if fishing the Ontario side. I have alot of information on our web site if your serious about fishing both sides.

"DUI conviction makes it illegal for anyone to cross the border into Canada for any reason, until/unless you obtain a Minister's Permit of Criminal Rehabilitation. The permit cannot normally be applied for until 1,827 days (60 months) after all of the conditions of the latest sentence have been satisfied.

i.e. If you were convicted and were handed a 30 day sentence, the 1,827 days (60 months) starts the day after the 30 days have passed, even if you was given a conditional discharge and never went to jail.

The Up Side:

They MAY not specifically ask at the border if you have a criminal record, or specifically check your name against the database - there is that slim chance that they will be too busy, or forget, or just neglect to do so. You may enter the country unnoticed, albeit illegally.

The Down Side:

If they ask about a criminal conviction and you lie, the CCRA may already know about the conviction. When they find out you have the criminal record, you could be considered to be in the country illegally, deported and banned from the country for no less than five years, but the ban could be for life.

Best Advice:

Contact the closest Canadian Consulate and ask if they can suggest a positive solution to the problem. If the 60 months has not yet elapsed, they could issue the Minister's Permit on compassionate grounds (if there are any) or on extenuating circumstances - both situations you will have to discuss with them."

[Born2Fish-Forced2Work]

Quote:

---

Remote

Border

Crossing

Permit

There are no markers on the river marking the border, so it's pretty much up to the discretion of the CO or Canadian equivilant where the half way point is. The Canadians are pretty particular about wandering over on their side. From what I've heard, they write quite a few tickets, and can confiscate your boat. There is a two fish limit on the US side, with nothing allowed over 19 1/2".

---

Tomorrow I head up to the Rainy for my 3rd trip in the last 5 years (wish I could make it every year and more than once a year but what's a guy supposed to do?). This year I bring my Lowrance iFinder H2o GPS with the US/Canada "buoy" coordinates loaded in as waypoints from Birchdale to Baudette. I zoomed in on the "buoys" and keyed in the coordinates (WGS84/NAD83 datum) from the website below (Birchdale Landing is shown in this screenshot):

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=15&n=5388060&e=418660&s=24&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

As an example I have the border just east of the landing keyed in as: 48d 38.75m N / 94d 5.10m W

And just west I have: 48d 38.66m N / 94d 6.61m W

After this trip if my GPS and eyeballs are grossly opposed to where the center of the Rainy is I will post here again.

It would be nice if either or both of the Canadian and US govt machines would be able to provide a table with all of the "buoys" coordinates. I did some google searching and could not find anything from either that cut and dried. And BTW, my GPS accuracy resolves down to 7 feet normally. Worst resolution is no higher than 21 feet in good conditions.

Good fishing everyone, Born