St. Louis River Walley's Report

[SKIPPERS KID]

Well it looked like a good opener from what I saw hope you all had fun. Well tell us how you Did .

[Northlander]

Wierd day. Morning started off ok. Not gangbusters but ok. Probably had 15 fish by 7:30. Biggest 23". Bite slowed down with so many boats in 1 area. Went down river by Oliver and stared getting into some untouched fish. The dang rock bass were everywhere! Some dang nice ones too.

River was clean above walleye alley but got muddier the farther down river you went until Barkers area cleaned up. Problem was water was much cooler than it has been. As low as 52. Had been in the 60ish range earlier in the week.

Nothing stood out as a hot presentation. Jigs n minnows and jigs and gulp crawlers caught most. Trolling sticks/cranks didnt do much at all.

Be very careful on the river the water is way low! I saw 2 boats hit sand bars at almost full tilt. 1 guy almost was ejected out of the front seat of 1 boat.

Once the water clears up and the lower part warms back up it should turn on.

Have fun and it was cool to see and talk to so many FMers and lurkers today.

Back at er hard early AM. Its a rough life but Im just the man to do it.

[longcaster]

was on the river all day targeting different species, ended up with 7 walleyes,(4 over 20") 12 northerns (with many more getting bit off) 2 crappies, and as Northlander stated many rock bass. My low water story - right before dark three guys in a boat going pretty fast hit a sand bar next to us. All three had to strip down to their underwear and push the boat off pretty funny site to end the day.

[ripstick]

Not to manyfrom the forum out there this weekend?

[Nate McVey]

Or are still out there

[SKIPPERS KID]

Or they are getting there Props fixed

[outdoor ran]

I was there Sat for half a day in the morning. The walleyes were biting good for the first hour but then really slowed down and it got tough. Our biggest was 24". A few northerns, perch, a smallmouth and a ton of rockies. Walleye numbers were way down for alot fisherman. Low water? warm temps? Alot of fish taken through the ice? Pressure from "crappie" fisherman or maybe just one of them days there just not biting that great.

Was still a good day fishing. I managed to make a late run and out fish my dad for a change Got to hang out around Northlanders boat for awhile with net and camera ready. Also got to talk to Lota and JKH for a while. Three top notch guys and fisherman.

My low water story. Watched a ranger bass style boat blast threw all the boats and nail the bottom. Just about a dead stop.

[Mistermojo]

Saturday we fished mainly mid-river between buoys 59 - 65. Action was slow, we were trolling spinners with minnows and crawlers, although out of the 7 walleyes (2 northern, 2 smallies, and a perch) all but 2 walleyes were caught on minnows. The crawlers finally caught a couple around 2pm or so when the sun was out, but in the morning it was minnows for sure. Sunday we went out in the same area, but because of fear of getting the evil eye if we missed sunday brunch for the mother-in-law we only fished from 7am to 9:30am. We picked up one walleye after about an hour, but the action was slow for everyone in the same area.

I would love to get out with one of you regulars to see where you fish and how you do it. My father-in-law is pretty set in his ways and doesn't like to experiment, when I know there's tons better fishing to be had as Northlander posted, and what I read in the Duluth paper this morning... 20 some walleye might be a slow day for some of you guys, but that would be a record day in our boat. My problem is I don't know the river and bay south of the clyde ave landing so I have to rely on him when we go.

[skunked_again]

ALways a good bet going near the 23 bridge area. Fish a fairly heavy jig and minnow in any main current area and you should do great.

[JAR JAR]

Seemed to start off o.k. . I was on the water by 5:45 am and had three fish in the boat by 6 am. Was kind of nice when I got to where I was going and found no other boats there but within an hour there was eight boats there and by the time I left at 9:00 am there were 15 boats there. I guess the big thing that pi$$e$ me off is that when you get a good trolling pattern set up with the other boats and you have one guy that has to drift right through the middle if things It just screws everything up. I guess thats my worst gripe for opener. I ended up with 12 fish with 5 over 20 in. and one that was just shy of 28".

I must have been the only one out there by myself in the oat. It amazes me when you see a 14' boat with 5 guys in it .

My low water episode was when a guy came around the corner by bouys 33 and 35 and went outside the bouys and hit about a foot of water and a whole lot of mud .

Jar Jar

[Monks]

Heres my report a whole lot of nothing !! The woman put me on lock down, first opener I missed in 24 years!!!

[hawgeye]

Tough weekend on the river. Didn't start fishing until 9 on Saturday, ended up with 6 fish. Biggest at 23". Caught one here one there, all on jig and minnow. Not a fish on crawler harnesses and I spent most of the time fishing with them. Sunday I battled the wind in the bay, and got notta. Anybody else find that jigs and minnows were out producing crawler harnesses? Good luck on the water

Dave

[Northlander]

SkunkedAgain I wouldnt go sending a guy who dont know the river to the 23 bridge area. Thats just asking for trouble. With the water at a all time low even those who know the river are having a "Fun" time getting to 23.

Even the 23 area is way slow campared to years past.

Hawgeye I didnt find anything that really stands out. Caught a few on crawler harnesses on a bottom bouncer and caught a few on jigs n minnows but the odd thing is I have only caught 1 eye on sticks/cranks. I just think the fish are post spawn and it will take a day or 2 to get going again.

[Northlander]

Judging from the lack of posts on here Im guessing everyone has had pretty slow fishing on the river. Not nearly as many people out this year. Maybe the low water or price of gas?

Today sucked. One front after another and we got off the water just before the golf ball sized hail pummeled us.

[SKIPPERS KID]

I was getting prizes to day and stopped at the Bear's Den and got my truck smashed by hail . Looks like some one took a ball pean hammer to the truck it was some thing to see in twig every one was looking what has happened to there ride . Well there is Colin's to help out on the dent's that is where I will go ..

[ripstick]

Scott from fishermans is out prefishing this eve trying to get the big plan for this weekend hope he knows where to go.

[Northlander]

Scott is fine except he needs to learn to read a ruler.

[Tom Linderholm]

I'll trade a good quality ruler for a livewell plug that stays put!!!

[RodNGun]

Monks you can't have that. You have to lay down the law and fish.

[Northlander]

Quote:

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I'll trade a good quality ruler for a livewell plug that stays put!!!

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How about a partner who can net his own fish?

[musky hunter]

Sorry for the late post, but I finally got a few moments on line from sunny Detroit after a hectic 3 day weekend, and now I'm stuck on an unplanned 3 day business trip that caused me to cancel at least one vacation day. I can see results have been spotty and judging from the responses, I did as well as any in spite of a severe handicap. On Saturday, my 3 day old fully charged trolling motor gave it up after 15 minutes. I was shocked to find one completely dry cell and a hole about 1-1/2" square in the bottom of the battery. So plan B was to head up to near 23 and anchor. Minnows and jigs produced, my son and I boated 6 fish, 20-26" and one 18" smallmouth. But it was far from the furious action of past years. Got two eaters on Monday but the funky weather had the fish down and it was a lot of work to get those two fish. I'll be back on the water this weekend. Don't know if it's even possible for me to get up above 23, and wonder if it's worth the risk of trying.

[Quickstrike]

Hey Steve, you should tell everyone why it was neccessary for me to net my own fish, on cheffreys rod that is. The 3 ft walls on his boat make it a little tough for anyone that isn't 6'6" like you.

[ripstick]

Get on cheffreys back or bring a step ladder. You could use the prota pot.