Boat vs. land

[Dahitman44]

I have never fished the river with a boat. I am a little chicken about running into things or getting hung up on something.

I did fish from land last year and caught three walleyes in about seven trips. Mostly fished moorhead, by the midtown area. More than slow.

Is it safe to fish in a boat? where is is the best place on the Minnesota side to land a boat? In the south Fargo area?

Thought about going to Breck -- any thoughts on boat or no boat? Where to land it? Etc.

Thanks

[ibwhnt]

For that part of the River I would listen to what Ed has to say. I have never fished that far south, but I know they use boats in the Fargo area. Good luck

[Piker]

The convent road in Fargo (52nd Ave S Bridge Area) seems to be a nice place. I've never put a boat in the river here either, but it seems to me if you put it in there you can go south for a long ways before getting to the first dam. That's my plan.

[Ed Carlson]

From the Convent landing it is 4 miles to the North to the Fargo South Dam, and 29 river miles to the South to the Oxbow Dam. The Wild Rice River inlet is 14.7 river miles from the Convent Landing to the South.

From the North Dam at MB Johnson Park it is 129 river miles to the next Dam at Grand Forks. The first 8 are often tricky during lower water levels.

You can encounter stumps anywhere in the Central and lower Red, caution is well advised, and even then, you’re still going to bump a few stumps.

The Headwaters end has glacial rock on the bed of the river and it will knock chucks from stuff very easily during low water. The first few miles are high percentage miles and not too bad with a smaller boat.

From Grand Forks North the Red changed quite a bit. Less wood and more sand channels. The Drayton area especially has less woody structure in comparison to the headwaters and central Red.

Just take your time, learn a section at a time and keep your eyes on the water and not the electronics. You will hit fewer stumps if you learn to read the currents and learn to recognize submerged hazards ahead of time.

[Pro 175 CS]

I put in at both MB Johnson and the convent. I found the river to be too shallow (5'-6') for my boat on the north end. An aluminum fishing boat shouldn't have any problem though. South of town the river is a good 10 to 12 feet and deeper, 25' plus. I take my 18' boat south of townquite often and have never had any problems. If you anchor someplace though you need to pay attention to logs floating down the sides of the river that could get caught on the anchor rope and drag a boat under, etc. More people should get out and tour the river, lots of wildlife right in town that not many people never see.