Arvid's Fishing Report

Here we are, just past the middle of December and we’ve already had a winter’s worth of cold weather. I must be getting old because I don’t like fishing when it’s below zero even if I’m sitting in a warm shanty. I don’t think the fish like it either as the bite in the river hasn’t been what it should be.  Ice conditions on the river vary and there has been a couple guys driving their pickups out,  but that’s not for most of us; there isn’t enough ice for that. The river current has been quite strong and with the snow cover, it doesn’t make ice very fast. The river bite with first ice was quite good, but the last few days has been slow, like it’s the middle of January. Last night was typical; a nice 13″ sauger and a 20″ walleye that had to be released. Two of the Bosch boys, Jeff & Mike, were close by and after I quit I checked in  with them. They had caught one small sauger and as we were visiting, Jeff caught a nice 22″ walleye.

The Lake, I understand, has ice, snow, lots of fish houses and a bite that has been very good. The last week in December is usually the best of the winter.

Jeff with a nice 22″ walleye

The winter weather that we’ve had the past couple of weeks has made enough ice and we are now ice fishing. Jeff and I checked the ice by the airport  on Friday afternoon and found 5″ of good ice. We fished that evening in 11′ – 12′ of water and caught a limit of fish; no slot fish. The next morning we got my little shanty and pulled it out by hand to about 18′. Jeff has continued to fish the shallow water and I’ve fished in the shanty. We’ve both caught fish, but he’s caught more slot fish than I have. Saturday evening he caught a 21″, 26″ and a 29″. I wasn’t close by to get a picture. The biggest I’ve got is a 26″. There have been no vehicles, ATV’s or snowmobiles on the river and that’s good; not enough ice for that, yet. I’ve heard that there is 7″ – 8″ of ice on the lake and that there is a good bite in 17′ of water. Fishing is generally good with early ice and this coming weekend the lake and resort area will be busy.

Jeff with a nice eater

I am giving up on this “on again, off again” Fall fishing season and have put the river boat in winter storage. This past weekend was what I’ve experienced all Fall. Friday, I heard several good reports. Saturday was a beautiful November day with the boat landings over full. I fished the afternoon for a couple of hours and caught 8 walleyes; kept 4 and released 4 between 19″ and 22″. Sunday was mild, but very windy and considerably less fishermen were out. I fished about the same time as Saturday and caught 2 walleyes and 1 sauger. Maybe Saturday wasn’t so great for a lot of other folks. This coming weekend starts deer season and from the talk I’m hearing, it could be interesting. For the first time in years permits are required for antlerless deer and our group of five did not get any permits. I’ll just use the deer season as “passing time” until ice fishing.

Wally is in Baudette for the weekend for a little fishing and getting ready for deer season. Wally, Walt and I fished the river Thursday evening for a couple of hours without much success. We fished down river at the willows in about 19′ of water and kept four walleyes. Friday morning, Wally picked me up at 7:00 a.m. It was chilly; about thirty degrees, but not much wind, so as long as a person was dressed for ice fishing, it was quite nice. We fished for about three hours;  caught and released several small walleyes and sauger the first two hours. We kept 6 walleyes and 4  saugers. The last hour was almost nothing. There were about a dozen boats in the area and it didn’t appear that any of them were catching much. There have been some reports of a really good bite on a particular day, then a cold front comes through and the bite stops for a few days.

Wally with a nice October walleye

My friend, Terry, thinks he’s way to busy with work and all. I told him “just wait until you retire and you’ll find out what it’s like to be busy”.

We’ve been gone this past week. We were at Jonathan’s last weekend for a visit and watched grand-daughter, Rachel, play soccer. We were expecting to see more color on the trees, but southern Minnesota was still pretty green. From there we drove to Jodi and Steve’s vacation place in Wisconsin. Scott is on Fall break and he and Steve are there for the two-day  youth deer hunt (was not successful), some squirrel hunting and golf. The three days we were there, the weather was great and the Fall colors were near their peak. Diane and Scott played golf two days and we tried a little fishing without much success. We were fishing for crappies or pike, but only caught two little largemouth bass. There were a few squirrels around, but with all the leaves on the trees, it’s pretty had to see them. Scott did get one the day after we left. Now we have two squirrel hunters in the family. Grandson, Matt, has been hunting them in Indiana.

On the home front; fishing reports are good. I’ve had a couple reports from the Lake that were very good and the river has enough fish to keep most everybody happy. Now I just have to find time to get out myself.

Scott, the squirrel hunter

Scott with a little largemouth bass

There’s been talk of a sturgeon bite the past few days and with only a few days left until the September 30th close of the harvest season, I thought I’d spend a little time and try to get one. I’ve never taken a sturgeon and getting one in the 45″ to 50″ slot during the harvest season isn’t the easiest thing to do. Wednesday afternoon I went up-river for about three hours and caught four small walleyes and kept three eaters. I also caught two sturgeon; one to little; 30″ and one to big; 53″. The chart would have that fish at about 35-40 lbs. Late afternoon on Thursday, Don and I fished for a little over an hour. Don caught four small walleyes and released them all. I got lucky and caught the sturgeon I’ve been looking for; a nice 46-1/2″ fish; 22-24 lbs. I’ve heard that some minnows ran on Wednesday and river fishing should continue to improve.

Just right, a nice 46-1/2 inch sturgeon 

A 53 inch sturgeon; a big fish