Fishing Report!

[tearin' lips]

Ladies and gentlemen it is time, once again for me to keep you updated on the great fishing oportunities in Northern Minnesota. I am back for the summer and more ready than I have ever been to tackle the waters of Rainy Lake and Rainy River.

One noticeable difference this year is the water levels on the Rainy River. Boater be careful...there are rocks out there in that river that I have never seen in 20 years of fishing it. Not to mention the big pine logs that are hiding just beneath the surface.

Another noticable difference coming into the 2007 fishing season is the degree of difficulty in catching the walleyes. Today was the first official day on the water for me this season and fishing was slow. Probably due to the weather conditions. We had a low barometric pressure and a storm front move through that dumped some hail, severe cloud to ground lightning, and strong winds. When the storm came the wind switched a 180 in a matter of what seemed like 10-20 minutes.

Not much however changed in the patterns. With the water low find areas of deeper water. The channels are a great place to start, but the best places have been areas where there is a shift in current speed. Bright jigs are working best as usual.

Big northern are also to be had up in the same areas, except in a little shallower of water. We tried out some of my new muskie tackle today and had some really nice northerns accept out offerings. #1 bait seems to be a bigfork lures topcat. A fast retrieve with a five second pause was killer. They would hit it as soon as we started moving the topcat again.

Bass are not active yet. We caught most of ours in the deeper water today and they were few and far between. The best lure right now is a small white tube or a twister tail.

Today was also great for sturgeon. We had a ball fighting these prehistoric monsters today. We boated two in the mid 40's, a 51, a 55, and lost one that was an honest 60-65 inches at the boat. Remember today(05-15-07) is the last day to fish sturgeon until July 1st!!!

Take Care and Good Luck Fishing!

[littlerobbie]

Thanks Bill, keep the reports coming!!!!

There are those of us who can not fish Rainy Lake everyday and we are counting on you guys to provide us with information we can use to be successfull when are granted the priveledge to fish the lake. I really appreciate this forum and the regular contributions that are made by a truly great group of sportsmen. Thanks again!!!!!

[troutchaser]

We will be stopping by tomorrow about 12:30 or so tomorrow for bait and ice. Will you be around the shop?

[tearin' lips]

Yes sir I will be there! I will be looking forward to meeting you!!!

[swamptiger]

Sorta quiet on this forum. Has the water level in the river came up any since the recent rains?

[tearin' lips]

No, still around 8' low... Many, Many rocks and other hazards in the river! It's gonna take alot more rain than what we got to do anything to the water levels.

I will keep ya posted!

Take Care Guys and Good Luck Fishing!

[swamptiger]

Wow! - 8' low... They must still have the locks closed on the dam. Has the level in Rainy Lake come up any yet?

[tearin' lips]

Yeah the dam is locked up pretty tight...they are not letting any water out. The lake hasn't come up much either. Things look pretty grim.

[CHM]

A bunch of us are coming up June 8 - 15. Should we just skip the river and go to LOW or is the river fishable?

Thanks!

[tearin' lips]

The river is fishable, its just that you have to be more catious than normal. Areas with current will be producing fish and we are starting to see and increase in the river levels as well. The fish have been really active when you get on top of 'em. I was down a little ways from Birchdale the other day and did o.k, but fishing was better up by the rapids. Trolling shad raps has been an effective way to cover lots of ground and find those active fish.

Bass will be spawning as well and will provide good fishing opportunities, especially with topwater baits.