Arvid's Fishing Report

There was a time when fishing the mouth of the Baudette Bay was a very good spot to have your ice shanty. There were always six or eight shanties there and now there is only one. For some reason, whatever that may be, things change and it is difficult to catch a meal of fish there. I had my shanty there for several days and only once did I bring fish home. Most days I would catch something, but it would either be a slot fish or to small.

After a couple of cold days last week, I was comfortable in traveling the river on my ATV. There is now about 9″ of ice on the river. There are some full size vehicles driving the ice, but most park and walk out. A couple of days ago I pulled my shanty down by the airport and that evening I caught four nice walleyes, all in that 17″ range. That was a pleasant surprise as it has been some time since I caught a limit of walleyes. Saturday, I thought I’d give the morning a try. I caught one nice eater and a 23″ slot fish, but the story of the morning was that I lost three baits, including my favorite swedish pimple, to sturgeon. The first two, I barely got them up off the bottom when they broke off. The last one, I played for what seemed like an hour and a half, but was probably only half that time. When I finally got her up to the ice, her head wouldn’t fit through the hole and the line broke. All I know is that it was one huge fish.

A nice 23″ slot fish. Lot of this size around.