Arvid's Fishing Report

It has been called to my attention that the nice 25″ walleye that Jim caught is not the big fish for the winter test season. Nathan caught a dandy 27″ walleye in December and is the leader. I didn’t know he caught that fish and told him he has to make more noise when he catches a fish like that. It’s an honest mistake.

Some weather we’ve been having. From the mid-forties and melting snow to below zero in just a matter of hours. The fish don’t seem to know what’s going on either. On the river, a few little ones are biting and maybe a slot fish, but nothing to bring home. Spotty is what I’ve heard about the lake. It’ll probably get better once the weather straightens out.

Nathan with his 27″ walleye that leads winter test

The Official Measurement

Winter activities are in full swing up here in the north country. With safe ice, there are fishermen all over the lake and in some areas there are shanties and fish houses for as far as the eye can see. I’ve heard that there is near 20″ of ice on the lake and the ice road out of Adrian’s goes for seven miles off Pine Island. Fishing on the lake has been spotty. There is about 9″ of ice on the river, less than that in some places. Fishing on the river was quite good over the Christmas holidays and the fish were nice; many in the 17″ category and most of the time an evening would include a slot fish or two in the 21″-23″ size.

A number of the Bosch boys are back in town for more of the winter test season. It will be full-bore and pretty intense between now and the end of February to get their projects done. Some take a break near the end of the day and spend an hour or so in one of their shanties. It’s usually near dark and the best time for a bite is usually over with by the time they get started fishing, but they do catch a fish or two from time to time. Some years ago, a contest was started for the biggest walleye caught during the winter test season and bragging rights go with it until the next season. There always seems to be a little controversy as to when the season starts and when it ends, but it usually gets worked out.

After a really slow weekend, there were only lights on in five or six shanties by the airport on Monday evening. Jim and Steve were in one of the shanties and Jim caught and released a very nice 25-1/4″ walleye to put his name on the leader board. He also had a 18″ walleye and a smaller one when I left to go home. I guess that Steve was there for moral support.

Jim with his 25-1/4″ walleye. He’s the leader.

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.

Don and I spent Tuesday at the Lake. We went off Graceton Beach to about twenty-three feet and were fishing about 10:00 a.m. We found fishing to be like most of the reports I had heard from the weekend; not very good. The only good report I had got was an early morning bite that was over by 9:30. For about five hours of fishing, the two of us kept two walleyes and four saugers. We released several small fish and one pike. Not what we would expect for this time of the year

I fished the river for an hour each day over the weekend and didn’t bring a fish home. I’d catch two or three each day, but they were either two small or two big. There was the occasional report of a good catch on the river. Here’ hoping for a better weekend.

Don with a nice walleye

On Friday, I made a trip to the Bemidji airport for Bosch and for the number of fishermen heading north, it’s going to be a busy weekend. Travel on Lake of the Woods is with ATV’s or small Tracker type vehicles. After work and after fishing, Diane and I went with Don and Sue to one of the resorts for a bite to eat. We noticed that the fish cleaning house at the resort was full, so we could only assume that the bite on the lake was good. I fished the river by the bridge for an hour before dark. There were three other guys close by and for the four of us, there were nine walleyes caught and five were slot fish. I caught four; kept two and released a 20″ & 21″. For the most part, the bite on the river has been slow the past several days, with one or two fish the average catch.

There have been a few guys fishing pike on the Bay for the past couple of weeks with good success. Those I’ve talked to have done the CPR, (Catch, Photo and Release). Nick has caught the largest that I’m aware of; a dandy 42″ pike. There have been a few in the mid to upper 30″ range. They are nice fish.

Nick with a dandy pike

Gerry and I took a ride this Thursday afternoon to visit friends at Adrian’s. Stories on ice conditions can change depending on which way the wind has been blowing.  Tuesday, there was a strong NW wind. Wednesday a strong SE wind broke a large area of ice-free and a fisherman needed to be rescued with a air boat of some kind. Whatever kind of vehicle he used to get on the ice; ATV or Ranger, was still out on the ice or at the bottom of the lake. The story is that he didn’t even know that he was floating away until a small airplane saw what was happening and called in. Today the wind is from the WNW and apparently pushing ice back this way and up on Pine Island. Before coming home I stopped to get some gas for the 4-wheeler and I talked to a guy that just came from the Graceton Beach area and said they could see “lots of open water”. The lake usually has a large area of open water until we get some really cold weather so strong winds can really mess up the ice.

For the most part, it’s a lost weekend for the resort community. Many of the resorts were full as early ice fishing is always the best. When the ice will be safe to travel on is now the question.

There is ice on Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River, but not a lot. A friend at the Lake told me that there is from 2″ to 5″ on the Lake and, as with this early ice, it is not uniform thickness all over. She also heard that there has been a snowmobile and an ATV that have gone through the ice. My neighbor, Jeff, checked the river yesterday and had 3-1/2″ where he was. He caught two nice walleyes and two saugers. Baudette Bay has 4″ of ice and this morning there are some pike fishermen on the ice.

The next few days are supposed to be warm and that won’t add much ice. There are a lot of folks that are looking forward to doing some early ice fishing so be Cautious and Careful  if one is thinking about venturing out on the ice.

A nice walleye and a 3-1/2″ block of ice