Arvid's Fishing Report

The last week or so the weather has been nice; very windy most of the time, but nice. Fortunately, there are still some fish in the river, so generally, one can find a place out of the wind to fish. I didn’t fish opening day because of the wind. On Sunday, after working the pancake breakfast at the senior center, Willard and I pulled crankbaits on the river for a couple of hours late afternoon. It was again breezy and handling the boat was a little difficult at times, but we managed. We kept three nice walleyes and released three or four little walleyes and the same number of small pike. Diane and I fished Monday for a short time and kept two nice walleyes and release four small pike. Then, again on Wednesday, Diane and I fished the evening; jig fished and pulled crankbaits. We caught ten walleyes and kept seven; no pike for a change. It has been pretty good for the first week. Soon we’ll have to head for the lake.

It is very dry and fires are a problem. There have been two fires this spring that they used two CL-15 water planes that are stationed in Bemidji come up here to help put out the fires that are not too far from town. The planes pick up water from the river and it’s really an impressive sight watching them. They carry 1400 gallons of water each time and they make a round about every ten minutes.

Willard with a nice opening weekend walleye

Coming in for a load of water

Filling the tank with water

Diane and I were in Indiana last week for our granddaughter, Megan’s, graduation from Indiana State University. Graduating with her was her guy, Chase. They have been an item since high school and are going to be married this July. Megan’s degree is in Math and Math Education. Chase’s degree is in Chemistry. They both have gotten jobs recently. Megan will be teaching high school math and Chase will do research for a company that has a relationship with E.I. Lilly.  Megan was one of five seniors to receive the Hines medal that was awarded to students with the highest cumulative grade point average on at least 124 credit hours. They have both done exceptionally well and we are very proud of them.

When Megan was about ten years old, she began coming to Minnesota for about two weeks each summer. She would spend a week with Jonathan and Allison and then come to Baudette for a few days before Julie and Darlis would come to finish up the vacation. We would get in a few days of fishing walleyes and even a trip to the Blackduck area to fish bluegills. Megan was a great kid in the boat, a good fishing gal and we really enjoyed having her here.

Megan and Chase at graduation

Megan’s first walleye

Megan with a 19″ largemouth while fishing for bluegills

This afternoon I went fishing with neighbor, Jeff, and a friend of his, Pidge. It was the first nice day since last Friday; a little cool on the water and heavier clothing was appropriate. We fished the river by the airport and while the action wasn’t fast and furious, we were more than satisfied. We caught about 15 walleyes that included 3 slot fish of 21″, 23″ and 29″,  and three small pike. We kept our six eaters and released everything else.

The river current has slowed a little and the water seems to have cleaned up some. Walleye fishing should be good the remaining three days of the season.

Jeff’s 29″ walleye

Pidge with a nice eater

Some time ago, I came across the following quote by a Doug Larson: “If people concentrated on really important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles.” I don’t know the man, but he’s got it right.

I haven’t fished in four days and neither have many others. It’s been cold, windy and we’ve had snow flurries both yesterday and today. Only four days until the walleye season closes and it would be nice to get out another time or two. Fishing was good until the weather change.

After fishing last weekend with nothing to get excited about, I gave it a couple of days off. Then my neighbor, Jeff, and I fished the airport and Hattie’s Wednesday and Thursday mid-afternoon’s for 2-3 hours. Each day there was a bite for the first hour or so and then they just shut off. Wednesday, we caught four slot fish from 21″ to 28-1/2″ and had a camera with a dead battery. We also had four nice fish to bring home. Thursday, we caught four slot fish from 23″ to 27″ and three eaters, plus a 49″ sturgeon that was tagged. A call this morning to our DNR fisheries office got a little history of the fish. It was tagged May 6, 2005 in Four Mile Bay and was 37-1/2″ long. This was the first time that it was reportedly caught since being tagged.

I’ve heard stories the past couple of days that there is a good bite out at the lake and up river in the Birchdale area. Also, the bite seems to be better late afternoon, just before dark. This is a great time of the year to do some CPR on a big walleye or sturgeon; catch, photo, and release.

Jeff with 26″ walleye

49″ tagged Sturgeon, yellow tag is behind the fin in front of the tail

A 27″ walleye

In the last thirty minutes, it has changed from brown to white. We haven’t had large snow flakes like this all winter.

The river water level is up and it’s a little dirty. Fishing has slowed a bit. Ever since I was going to put the little boat in last Saturday the weather hasn’t been all that great. It’s suppose to be a nice weekend; maybe fishing will pick up.

What can I say; it’s March

Fishing has been good and in many cases, very good. Most everybody that has been fishing has been catching numbers of slot fish, many in the 25″ to 29″ range. Everything from now until April 15th over 19″ must be released.  There have been some big sturgeon caught, also. I took the river boat out of the garage and was going to fish a little on Saturday when it started to rain, got windy and turned cool. Being the fair weather fisherman that I’ve gotten to be, I’ll wait for a couple of days and then try it.

Bruce’s son, Chad, was up for a couple of days and fished the river near the Wheeler’s Point area. He caught a 29-1/2″ walleye and some other slot fish. He was just one of many fisherman enjoying good fishing.

Chad with a 29-1/2″ walleye

Ice fishing is done. The river has opened up and the Sheriff’s office advises that there be no travel on Lake of the Woods because of poor ice conditions. The nice weather has brought the boat fishermen up here in earnest. I’ve heard that the Big Fork River, one of the tributaries to the Rainy, opened up and that has clouded the water  a little. I was just at the airport ramp and two boats came in and they had good luck with a number of slot fish they caught and released. As I drove up I saw that Bert was out in the middle of the river and was fighting a sturgeon. I hollered out and asked how big and he said it must be 60″. There could be some good fishing for the next few weeks.

Bert fighting a big sturgeon

Diane and I just returned from a week in Phoenix with Jodi, Steve & Scott. We had great weather and played golf three or four times with grandson Scott. I mentioned during one round that the one thing better than playing golf with a grandson is fishing with your grandson. I’m sure that Scott must have thought that the one thing better than fishing with grandpa is playing golf with grandpa. For a ten-year old, he plays really well and whipped grandpa good.

When we returned home, the snow was gone and the ice was deteriorating. There are birds that have come back and trees are budding. Just a little over a week ago we were driving pickups on the river and this past Sunday afternoon, my neighbor put his 4-wheeler through the ice in 22 feet of water near Clementson. He and another guy were in for a swim and fortunately got out. Now it’s to figure out how to get the 4-wheeler out.

I’ve added a few pictures that I didn’t have from some of the last ice fishing. At the end of winter test, there were two Bosch boys here from Germany and they got to experience some ice fishing and a meal of fresh walleye. Tom set them up in one of the shanties and while he was showing them the how to do it, he caught and released a nice 23″ walleye.  Michael ended up catching a nice walleye, then as the story goes, there was this sturgeon that tangled three lines and it went back down the hole before they could take a picture. Anyway, you can tell from the smiles that they were having a good time.

The bottom two pictures are of Tom’s brother, Dan, taken when they were up for a few days fishing after the end of winter test.

Michael & Fred enjoying and evening in the shanty

Michael with his walleye

Tom showed them what they were after – a nice 23″ walleye

Playing golf with Grandpa & Grandma

Dan with a nice walleye

Dan with a sturgeon

Tuesday and Wednesday were the last two days for the group to fish before heading home. Tuesday, they went to Zippel Bay to fish pike. They had two flags and caught and released a 34″ pike. It was nice weather and they cooked a pot of chili out on the ice and had a good time. I joined them when they came back to fish the river for the evening bite. The excitement for that session was when Jim caught a 54″ sturgeon. He caught that fish not long after he had caught a 42″ sturgeon. There was not much else for fish that evening. Wednesday we all went to the lake; out of Adrian’s to the area where we had fished before. It was very windy; a bit chilly and a good thing that we had the portables along. The fish were not to aggressive and you had to work at getting them to bite. Those of us that had Vexilars had an advantage. There were nine of us and we caught about thirty, mostly saugers. We came back to town and three went down to fish the river; while the others began cleaning and packing up, getting ready for the trip home. They all had a good time while they were here.

Jim with a 54″ sturgeon caught on his first trip to Baudette

Earl with a 34″ pike