Arvid’s Fishing Report

An old friend, Dr. Charles, stopped by the house on Thursday, just as I was getting the boat ready for an hour of fishing. He was on his way home from his place up on the lake between the Northwest Angle and Kenora. The best way for us to visit for an hour was for him to come with me, so he got his jacket and off we went. We went down river by the airport and anchored in about eleven feet of water. The river is still rising and the current is very strong. A brisk south wind was letting up and it was quite nice out. Charlie promptly caught two nice walleye; one 19-1/2″ that he released and one 17″. We ended up keeping two walleye and a sauger. Fishing should be better for this time of the year, but it wasn’t too bad for the short time we were out.

Charlie with a nice 19-1/2″ walleye

My friend, Chuck, from Indiana is back in Minnesota for a few days visiting family and friends. He fished with his brother in the Ottertail area this past weekend and had some pretty good fishing, catching some nice crappies, bluegills and small walleyes. He came to Baudette Tuesday for a visit and a couple days of fishing. We fished the river Tuesday evening for a couple of hours in light rain and drizzle and then again on Wednesday, both morning and afternoon, in cloudy weather, but no rain. We had a difficult time catching fish to bring home. All three times out, in total, we kept eight walleyes and two sauger, but we did catch several that were released. We caught and released seven walleyes, 19″, 21″, 21″, 21-1/2″, 24-1/2″, 25″, & 26-1/2″, four sturgeon, 40″, 42″, 45″ & 48″, plus numerous little walleye and sauger.

Chuck with a nice 25″ walleye

Chuck with a 45″ sturgeon

A nice 26-1/2″ fall walleye

We have had some rain, maybe close to three inches, during the first two weeks of October. Areas east of here must have gotten more than that from the looks of the river.  The water level is up with plenty of current and it’s dirty.  Fishing the middle of the river is fruitless because your line is continually picking up dead grass and weed.  Fishing reports were not very encouraging; numerous “never had a bite” comments, but a couple of reports had boats picking up a few fish, fishing up tight to the river bank where the current and weeds were less.

It was a nice weekend in Baudette. We had some sun which has been almost non-existent the past couple of weeks. I asked Diane if she wanted to go fishing with me for a couple hours just to get outside. Not expecting a whole lot, we went down river by the airport and anchored up close to shore in maybe 11-12 feet of water. The water temperature was a little over fifty degrees, still to warm for really good fishing.  Fishing wasn’t great, but it was OK.  It’s the same old story; got out fished again.  We caught eight walleyes, a sauger and two sturgeon.  Diane caught and released a 19-1/2″ walleye and a 40″ sturgeon; she caught a 18″ walleye that we kept. I caught a 16″ walleye and a sturgeon about 30″.  Five small walleyes were released.  It was a good time.

Diane with a 19-1/2″ walleye

Diane’s 40″ sturgeon

Playing a sturgeon at sunset

It has been some weather pattern that we’ve been having. The wind blows from one direction one day and the opposite direction the next. We’ve had a lot of windy, cloudy and damp days lately. River fishing is a little bit like the weather; good one day; not so good the next and you really can’t tell which day you’re going to get.

Willard called Sunday afternoon and invited me to go fishing with him. We hadn’t fished together this summer and he thought that if we were doing to do it, we had better get with it. He acquired himself a used pontoon with a complete enclosed top to make fall fishing a little more comfortable for himself. We fished the river by his place for about three hours.  It was cloudy with a little mist in the air and a good breeze from the northwest. There were several other boats in the area, but we didn’t see much for fish being caught. We anchored up in about fifteen feet of water and fished with live shiners.  We caught about ten walleyes and sauger; kept six and a nice perch. We were happy with that and more importantly, quite comfortable.

Willard on the deck of his pontoon

Willard with two nice fall walleyes