April 20th, 2007 - Sturgeon Excursion

[fiskyknut]

Pretty good advice Chris, sans the circle hooks though! They're in the same book as the Chubby Darter, aka, T.H.E 'tourist lure' if you ask me!!! I'll take a hook like the one tied on the line in that picture.

Sure hope the ice goes out soon. Current should be rather light this spring.

Tyler I will get a mail out to you this afternoon.

Hanson when you making it up here this time?

[hanson]

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Hanson when you making it up here this time?

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Dad & I should be on the water (hopefully not ice!) bright & early Thursday morning. The boat is coming out of storage this weekend and hopefully she fires right up and is ready to hit the water.

[Tyler Holm]

Great advice hanson.

I'll mention a couple more details. For a swivel, we're not talking the small panfish/walleye ones. Get the larger ones in the 50# range or more. I like 80 or even 100# ones. Ball-bering swivels are not necessary as they are spendy and you shouldn’t have twist issues.

For those that don't know, the bead is simply a cushion between the swivel and the weight. It prevents the weight from banging on the knot.

Another tip might be to make sure your weight does not have any spurs where the line goes through. These spurs are sharp and can nick the line. They can be filed or scraped off.

[iffwalleyes]

Great Tips Chris and Tyler. That is pretty much how I set up. After all it isn't NASA . Not much needed as far as equipment goes pretty simple setup.

[Random guy]

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Dad & I should be on the water (hopefully not ice!) .

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I was at WigWam and Riverbend today...river was pure ice.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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I was at WigWam and Riverbend today...river was pure ice.

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Uh oh!

[hanson]

Kind of nice that it was 80+ degrees 2 weeks ago but now we can't get above 35 to save our lives. Alot can happen in 2 weeks and when it goes, it doesn't take long.

[eyepatrol]

I've got my fingers crossed! Suppose to be in the teens a couple nights down here in southcentral MN.

[fiskyknut]

Has'nt been near 80 up here yet, we did see a day or 3 around 50 awhile back!!! Folks don't seem to realize our winter and ice usually hang in a bit longer up here then down south. I've seen the bay still locked in ice in May years past. We're having a bit of a more normal spring this year is all!!! Sometimes it does take that long! Hopefully the springlike weather coming next week hangs around for a good while and we don't see another cold snap right on it's heels like the last one!

fiskyknut

[Random guy]

Nice morning eh Fisky? 12 degrees with wicked nasty winds. What will help that river open up is some dang current. The water levels in the area are way down from normal years, a little warm and a shot of rain will make a huge difference.

Just to give you guys and idea I am looking at 2-3" of snow on the ground and everything is froze solid yet here in Waskish. Weather reports are calling for temps back up into the 40's and maybe into the 50's by Wensday of next week.

[eyepatrol]

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I've seen the bay still locked in ice in May years past.

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In 2003 my wife and I went to Rainy Lake over Memorial weekend and the resort owner said the ice just came off a couple weeks prior. It really is quite different from there to here.

[fisherking01]

Maybe we should be a keepin out augers and tip ups handy??? Big pike might save the day!!!

Texas Hold Em anyone??? Any ice smallmouth action to be had?? Options???

Ice Sturgeon, up river sturgeon??

[harvey lee]

Think positive, no ice and big sturgeon. This weekend will be the highlight of my year again.

[Old Guide]

Chris, you and Tyler did a nice job on the sturg. rigs. Now if you guys can send up some of that warm weather it would be great!!! Everything is iced up here in TRF. The geese are sitting on the ice wondering why the h... did we come this far north!! Pat

[fisherking01]

The coots packed up shop in my back yard last night and headed back south. 7 degrees now in central mn.

I'm better now, thinking positive, sun is shining, rods are ready, reels oiled, sinkers packed, STURGEON BEWARE! I WILL CATCH YOU!

I'm after that one (as immaginary as it may be) that floats the internet, 16 footer!!!

[hanson]

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Now if you guys can send up some of that warm weather it would be great!!!

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Warm weather? Its 17 degrees in the Cities this morning.

[eyepatrol]

Anyone up for some April early-ice pannies here in southcentral MN? The lake here in town is froze over again.

[harvey lee]

Eric

I have been trying to get to my lake for some panny action along with the river for eyes and some channels. I would really like to see some warmer temps.

[fiskyknut]

fisherking.....There will be plenty of fishable water upstream on the river and there are quite a few good spots to find them Sturgeonfish.

4-mile bay is the tourist hole everyone from afar fishes. Spots on the river have just as good of fishing, and some of those river spots in my book are usually even better.

So if the bay is unfishable don't be the least bit discouraged! Should be miles and miles of good river streches to fish by that weekend.

Woke up to 3 degrees in Roseau this morning, it's now 12. Supposed to warm on Sunday into 30's, and into the 40's mid week. Long way to go before it reaches the bay and it's gonna be iffy the way it's lookin these days.

Basscatcher, actually had a year back in the 90's when we were ice fishing on the mainlake on the May Walleye opener just outside of the gap!!! Was a great opener too!

fiskyknut

[fisherking01]

Thanks fiskynut, I have a good friend who lives on the river by I Falls. He used to own the house that Rainy lake houseboats now rents, "Casa Loma". I'm trying to put the word out that there are more good spots and that the Excursion should happen no matter what the climate. I really missed the "Coolcats" get together and am so looking forward to the excursion, I want to build as much interest as I can. Spring can be a really diverse time in your area.

Harvey lee, crawler prices are up!!!! There is at least 8 inches of snow on the ground in the Alex area!!!!

[harvey lee]

Brent, shoot me an e-mail.

[Tyler Holm]

We caught several fish in the Rainy River potion last year. Rain, shine, or ice... My group is going to the Stur Excur '07

The phrase "wouldn't miss it for anything" is in effect.

PS. The coolcats deal was a letdown for me too, but I understand why that event was canceled.

[DTro]

Has anyone checked out the 10 day forecast?

I am just as excited as the next guy (probably more) but with those temps there might not be open water.....anywhere.

I don't know the logistics of the river up there, but forecast shows below freezing temps (all day) darn near till the 14th

Someone start doing a warm front dance.

[Keith_MN]

fiskynut,

Should we end up fishing the river (rather than the bay) do you have any advice on what type of river structure holds sturgeon?

I'm a river rat at heart (ie Mississippi Smallies), but I doubt that my river experience will translate to sturgeon.

Any general advice would be appreciated.

[iffwalleyes]

From what I understand deeper holes(30 fow) in the river are key spots to try.

[eyepatrol]

I realize I asked this in a different post quite some time ago, but is there any place I can get a lake/river map of the area we'll be fishing? I checked the DNR site and the Sportsmans Connection and they didn't have anything. I even checked LakeMaster's site and they had portions of the lake for paper maps, but it didn't appear to have the area we'll be at (Rainy River area).

Any suggestions?

[fisherking01]

My suggestion: River fish are like you, me, and the other people. They follow paths of least resistance, challenge some tougher resistance, and rest in areas of literally no resistance. Because the channel is the deepest water, that's where most of the fish will be, but, don't rule out the backwater eddies, the differences in bottom, or the out of the way, relaxing areas. Because the features of the river change with the currents, and level of water, the only good a map will be is to avoid some potentially hazardous obstacles (rocks). My best advise without going through extreme preparation would be to show up, explore, and learn from that.

Brent

[eyepatrol]

Understood. Except that I don't want to be exploring around only to find out that my lower unit located a shallow rock pile. I wouldn't want to wander unkowingly into some potentially hazardous waters. I know I can watch my locator to see changes in bottom contours, but if I'm planed out going from point A to point B, it's going to be too late before I can get the boat stopped and the motor trimmed, etc.

Plus, (and my wife knows this all too well) I'm just one of those guys who doesn't like to "not know" where exactly I'm at and where exactly I'm going.

[hanson]

My Lakemaster Lake of the Woods GPS chip has the Rainy River on it. I believe it is mapped all the way to Baudette.

For the most part, the river is deep channel, 20'+ deep. I would be more concerned about floating ice chunks than I would be concerned about tagging bottom.

I would keep my eyes glued to your graph however. You can learn a lot about the bottom and should be on the lookout for the relatively deeper holes.

The Rainy River is definitely not the upper Minnesota River.

[harvey lee]

Eric

There will be plenty of FMers there that will be more than willing to help you with places to fish and direction. Its the trip of the year for me and I have only attended once.