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River Bend Report: 1/26 - 1/27


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Well my buddy and I made it up to fish out of a sleeper house we rented from River Bend this weekend. Long story made short, the fishing on Friday was moderate until power hour where we could hardly keep 2 lines down, then the cold front blew through Friday night on into Saturday and it's still cold! Fishing slowed tremendously Saturday and this morning, but we did pick up a few more fish. All in all, we caught approx. 25 walleyes and missed nearly as many. I had one fish on where all I could do was basically hold on for the ride. Fought it for 10 minutes with all our other 3 lines getting tangled in, so I put some pressure on the fish and snapped my 4# line. Was either a huge pike or a remote chance it might have been a sturgeon. Whatever it was, it was huge and it would have taken a lot longer to even come close to landing that fish.

Most fish were in the 14" - 16" range, some dinks between 4" and 12", some very solid fish at 21.5", 22" and 25.5", and then a couple brutes at 28" and 29.5". All in all, it was a great weekend for us, especially compared to other reports we heard of people only catching 3 fish all weekend a couple hundred yards away. Oh yes, and I can't forget the 4-5lb pouts we caught along with some tullibees. tongue.gif

Glow red jig with fathead dominated the weekend, however my friend did catch a few with a 3/4oz buckshot rattle spoon, I got a couple on a 1/16oz silver forage minnow tipped with the head of a fathead, the rest came on plain red hooks.

A couple of quality 16" 'eyes.

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A very solid 25.5" 'eye my buddy caught.

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A stocky 28" 'eye I got Friday night.

28inchqj7.jpg

And tying my all-time best in length, but definitely my heaviest, 29.5" honey caught late Friday morning! grin.gif

295inchkw5.jpg

All of the bigger fish were released in good health, ready to do battle again for future anglers. cool.gif

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I bet you took the long bomber ride out of River Bend. At

this time of the year things can slow down in the pack. Only

a couple of resorts make the trek to untapped fish, River

Bend is one of them.....

Curt

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Actually we didn't Curt. We stayed in the sleeper the whole time which was near the pack, but a bit off to the side from the main pack. So we were on the outer edge which I was happy to see when Charlie took us out there. Fishing is usually better away from the crowds and that's what we were to a certain extent.

We almost decided to do the 20+ mile trip to their day houses out on the rock reefs (Knights Island?), but we decided against it knowing full well we wouldn't be in any kind of shape for getting up at 6:00am. wink.gif

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Basscatcher, them some funny lookin bass? Senkoes wigged wacky? Good fish, and good thing you made it Friday because the high front kind of dampened things for most folks over the weekend it sounds like. I was out on Friday too and the fish were just plain snappin!

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Thanks guys! Those fish went very neutral/negative after that front wooshed on through. We had fish staring at our lines all day long, but very few takers come Saturday and Sunday. Some would sit there for up to 2-3 minutes with what seemed to be their noses right up to the minnow, but then they'd go back down to the bottom and they were gone. I don't think we caught a single fish on Saturday and Sunday morning while jigging. Set bobber lines worked the best after the front moved through.

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Yepper when the barometer is going up like that your bobbers don't go down near as often! Small offerings tight to the bottom may coax a few to bite, and you may get that crazy Kamikaze fish to swim in and hit anything. My hopes for a frenzied bite rarely materialize when the big high systems roll on in, so I usually just stay home till the weather pattern is more favorable!

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Nice fish!! How comfortable are those fish houses to sleep out of? Did you have any furnace/heat issues?

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Pretty comfortable. Just bring your pillow, sleeping bag or blanket and you'll be just fine. No problems with the heater even when the wind blew 30mph. You can turn it into a sauna if you prefer. smirk.gif

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Bass: ARE YOU HOOKED YET ON A RETURN TRIP ?????? Nice fish, thanks for the report. I know you've been pumped for a long time, sure glad to see that you caught some piggies. Charlie emailed your pictures to me at the office this morning. I also noted in one of the pictures that you have the spoils of the day lined up in front of the cook stove, way to come prepared. Glad you had fun, hope to cross paths up there with you one of these times. But then as Fisky says, he and I have been like two ships passing in the night for several years now. Bill

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Hook, line, and sinker Bill!!!!! cool.gifgrin.gif That 29.5" walleye was the first 'eye of the day on Friday. Came at around 11:30am. Can't start it off any better than that!

Oh, and as for the "spoils of the day"....oops! blush.gif I should have cropped that out of there. tongue.gif We're already committed to another trip up there next year. wink.gif Hopefully we'll be able to cross paths some day, but if not, it'll be fun sharing our experiences right here on this site. Only "disappointment" of the whole trip (if you can even say there was one), was by the time we got to the lodge on Sunday for breakfast, they were out of bisquits & gravy. Still, they fix up some wicked good eggs & hashbrowns! smile.gif

I especially want to thank you for all the info you provided prior to our trip. Was very helpful! Oh, and one more thing....next year drop off an additional calendar at the resort so I can grab one! wink.gif

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I have been kind of neglecting my after fishing hours refreshment stops this season too Bill. I've been over on the westside for the most part the past 3 weeks and it's almost a tradition for me to hit Springsteel for the Dbl cheesburger/bowl of Wi cheese soup, complete with barley pop stop, and I have'nt even done it once yet????

Sounds like I'm maybe Perch'n out that way tomorrow so perhaps it'll happen yet??? One must catch those fine foodfish too now and then! Need a pic of a 15+ incher for the In-fish MA, thats about the toughest one for me to get of the fish I target thru the seasons.

fiskyknut

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Basscatcher,

Did you see all those ATV's with portables race around the area friday night, and then start drilling holes at 5:30 PM?

I thought about getting in my truck and running circles around them. mad.gif

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Gosh, to be honest bobberal, we never saw them. However, at that time Friday night we were pretty busy trying to keep up with the fish. Could hardly get a fish off and re-rigged before the other line would go down. smile.gif

Where abouts were you?

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grin.gifgrin.gif All our beers got spilled down the right hole - the hole in our rosy-red faces! wink.gif
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Well thats good to hear.....Spilling it while windmilling fish would be alcohol abuse!

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Basscatcher: email your mailing address to me at [email protected] and I will send you one. Still have a few left. I just ordered my supply for next year already and will put you on my office list. Too bad about the biscuits and gravy, it is good stuff.

Fisky, how come you're not fishing today? But then you might ask why am I not in the office this afternoon, as I type this from home.

Bass: Once you get hooked on that lake it will affect you for life. I am really glad you had a good time, it is so much fun to take a newbie up there or read your reports on your first trip. Its almost, almost as good as catching fish myself.... grin.gif Bill

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Quote:

Fisky, how come you're not fishing today?


All Lake and no Home makes Mrs fisky a lonely housewife....LOL!

Been wanting to get over east and move that 8x16 again but it's not happening as we are'nt making it too much past Warroad these days.

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Quote:

Only "disappointment" of the whole trip (if you can even say there was one), was by the time we got to the lodge on Sunday for breakfast, they were out of bisquits & gravy.


Curt Q must have eaten already, eh? smile.gif

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Basscatcher,

I was in one my houses about 300 yards from two riverview sleepers that were in close. We were having about the same success catching as you were. I was thinking you were one of those.

Anyway, these clowns came in Friday evening and raced around and drill a bunch of holes between me and the two sleepers.

You might not have been in one of those.

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Nice fish Basscatcher!

The bigger fish don't seem as lethargic as they usually are this time of year. Seems to be large numbers of these hogs that are very active for the 1st of Feb. Any thoughts or opinions anyone?....Gregg

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