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Rainy River ice conditions

bigwalts
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bigwalts Rookie

bigwalts

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I fished Rainy River out of Birchdale this past weekend. Unfortunately, it was in my fish house, not in my boat. There is at least three feet of ice in the middle of the river at Birchdale. It was fortunate that I brought my extension for my ice augar along as I needed it. I drove my four wheeler out there pulling a trailer with my portable fish house and fishing gear. No problem, I could have gone anywhere on the river without danger.

Now I realize the river can open up in a short period of time, but it's going to be awhile especially for larger boats. I'm as anxious to get on the open water with my boat as anyone else, but I have to wait until the landing is open for large boats as I don't have a smaller boat to slide over the ice. Reality tells me there is going to be a very small window of opportunity for me this year. The river level is low and the current is slow at this time.

I went from Baudette to International Falls over my extended weekend as I ice fished both LOW and Rainy Lake with good success in both places. Coming from the Falls west, the open water ends at the Indus area around mile marker 169 and is solid from there all the way to Baudette. Sorry for the bad report for us open water enthusiasts but unfortunately that is reality.

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trophyhunter Collaborator

trophyhunter

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So two weeks ago there was 30 inches of ice. Last week there was 20 inches of ice. Now we have 36 inches of ice. WOW!!!

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fiskyknut Grand Master

fiskyknut

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Thickness of the ice can vary from place to place on any spot, and area to area along the water in question. This is especially true on rivers with their moving water!

Thanks for the info Bigwalts.

fiskyknut

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bassbuster1 Proficient

bassbuster1

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Just drove from I Falls To Birchdale the river is open to about 4 miles upstream from birchdale,talk to some fishermen at Pelland landing catching eye's to 17".Lite rain ,12 boats with more coming in.The river is low looks better down stream, run off, dont think the river is going to muddy up much both little fork & big fork are real low and there is no snow on the ground I think we would have to have alot of rain to mess up the rainy river.Iam going out tommorrow.

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TKO_PUNCH Enthusiast

TKO_PUNCH

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Excellent report bassbuster! Let us know how you did, as I will be up there Monday. Good Luck

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