It was mostly a catch & release day on Thursday. Diane and I fished for a little over an hour before a cloud that looked like rain sent us for home. The bite was good, but mostly either to big or to small. Diane caught a nice 23″ walleye and I got one 25-1/2″. We did keep a couple nice eaters for non-fishing friends.
Diane with a nice 23″ walleye
A Nice 25-1/2″ Walleye
Wednesday afternoon I asked my favorite first mate if she would assist me in checking out the boat to see that everything was working properly. Other than a light on the trailer everything checked out. We took a ride down river by the airport and anchored up in 11-12 ft. of water. It was mid-afternoon, sunny and about sixty degrees; a nice afternoon. We must have stopped in the right spot because we had a good bite. In less than two hours we had our eight walleyes; all very nice. With the strong current, Diane was using a hammered gold spinner with 1-1/2 oz. sinker and she needed that much weight to stay near bottom. I was using the largest Swedish pimple that I had in my box. It was a toss-up; we each caught four, but I think she may have had a little more action than I did. It was good to be back on the river.
Eight nice walleyes
My “First Mate” with a nice walleye
A nice early season walleye
Mother’s Day weather was much better than Saturday; mostly sunny, but breezy. Fishing reports from Saturday were from good to excellent with the river being good and Four Mile Bay as the hot spot. I helped with a pancake breakfast at our senior center all Sunday morning and as we were finishing up Bill mention that he was going to fish the river for a while and asked if I was up to going along. I was and got to his place about 2:30 and we were fishing before 3:00. We fished a spot that was very good in the morning, but either the fish left of quit biting. It was slow; Bill caught two nice eater’s and I caught none. There were four or five other boats nearby and they were experiencing the same. There is a lot of current in the river; it takes about 1-1/2 oz. weight to stay near bottom and the water is dirty, but it’s getting better. It was good to get out and get some fresh air for a couple of hours.
Bill with a nice Mother’s Day walleye
It looks like a typical walleye opener in Minnesota; not very nice weather. The picture doesn’t show it very well, but it is snowing lightly and has been most of the morning. A few hardy souls are giving the river a try, but you can bet that it’s chilly and damp. Lake of the Woods is mostly covered with ice which leaves Four Mile Bay and the river as the likely places to fish; maybe the Gap if the north wind doesn’t push in to much ice. The river has quite a bit of water inflow and is dirty from runoff which may slow up the bite. A sure gauge as to how the bite was on Saturday is to see how many rigs are at the landing on Sunday morning. One or none probably means the bite wasn’t very good. The nice thing about living up here is that we don’t have to go fishing today.
The Saturday morning Walleye Opener
Tuesday, I went with Tom and Glenn, the last two Bosch boys that are here, two Reliable Transport drivers, Mick and Gary and George, our local Track Support guy, for a day on the Lake. We made arrangements with Adrian’s Resort for two houses and transportation up off Knight and Garden Islands. We arrived at Adrian’s about 7:00 a.m., loaded our gear on the track van and proceeded on about a twenty mile ride across the ice that took about an hour. upon arriving at the first house we were greeted by a beautiful Bald Eagle sitting on the ice picking at some fish left by some other day fishermen. The driver, Roger, augered open the holes and Tom, George and I elected to stay at that house. The others left for another house a couple miles north. We fished in the house for the first couple of hours until the sun got up high and the temperature warmed. It turned into a beautiful day and the temperature got into the forties. Fishing was just as good; both houses got their limits of walleye and sauger and I would guess that maybe twice that many were released. There were periods during the day that the fishing was slow, but overall it was a great day.
A Bald Eagle on the ice
George, Tom, Mick, Arvid, Glenn & Gary
George with a nice walleye & sauger
Tom enjoying the weather with four nice sauger
Big fish for the day; Tom with a 24-1/2″ walleye
I love her anyway!
Those weather forecasters are not alway right. I just got through snow blowing about 4″ of flurries off the driveway.
Saturday afternoon I went with three of the Bosch boys, Tom, Glenn and Brian to the Lake. We had two reports; one had pretty good fishing way out, like up to ten miles off Pine, but that bite is earlier in the day. The other had a bite in about eighteen feet out in front of the Gap and that’s what we had to opt for. We went out of Adrian’s access and took the road towards the Gap. We found the water depth we wanted and drilled our holes, but what we didn’t find was many fish. We ended up with three nice walleyes and six sauger; mostly small. I thought that we were going to have to spend the night, but Tom finally caught one and we were able to leave. We have to give Brian credit for letting the big one get away. It took his rod and reel while he was over visiting Glenn; consolation was that it was his poorest reel that he lost.
Brian with a nice walleye
Most fishing reports on the river of late the catch is one or none. On my two most recent trips it has been a lot of none. Sunday was a beautiful day and four of the Bosch boys, Tom, Earl, Justin, Mick and I fished for a couple of hours. Tom caught two walleyes; one to keep, the other was really little. The rest of us caught none. Monday, Tom, Earl, Glenn and I didn’t do much better. Glenn caught a perch and a burbot; I caught two little walleyes; nothing to take home. It was all Tom as he caught a beautiful 28-1/2″ Walleye. He lived up to his billing as I’ve heard a couple of the guys refer to him as Technique Tommy.
Tom with the only walleye to keep on Sunday
Tom with a beautiful 28-1/2″ Walleye
The weather has been very nice the past few days; sunny and around zero to start the day and in the thirties by afternoon. We might even refer to it as short sleeve weather.
The cold weather testing season will soon be over and a few of the Bosch Boys took advantage of the weather to skate and play a little hockey on the outdoor rink on the bay. A little exercise over the lunch hour is a welcome relief with the long days they put in. They skate at the arena when they are in town and enjoyed the chance to skate on natural ice.
I hadn’t fished in two weeks and felt like spending a little time outside so I took the snowmobile and went up river and fished outside for a hour or so before dark. I caught a small sauger and three walleyes; two nice eaters and one 28″; she was a dandy. She filled the 8″ hole, both coming up and going back in after a picture.
Most reports from the river are one; maybe none. I’ve heard of some good reports up across the lake, but not much going on this side.
A nice day on the Baudette Bay rink
A beautiful 28″ February Walleye
Thursday evening I met Glenn at the shanty for an hours fishing before he was to return home on Friday for a few days. I had three bites and caught three walleyes; 18″, 19″ & 26″ in the short time I fished before heading for home on the snowmobile. Glenn had only one bite when I left and decided to fish for little longer. He had one fish come by; a real nice 26″ plus walleye. The Bosch boys have a little contest amongst themselves for the largest walleye for the winter test season and I think this puts Glenn in the Lead.
A nice 26″ February walleye
Glenn’s 26″ plus walleye
