Arvid's Fishing Report

Most of us local folks have been waiting patiently for the weather to improve before we go fishing. Rain, snow and wind doesn’t make for a lot of fun sitting in a boat. I have talked to a couple of  guys that have fished and they’ve caught a lot of small fish, but not many to keep. The minnows have not run; just a few of the little ones. It’s that time of the year and things should pick up soon.

There has been a little activity on the trail camera this past week. It’s fun to go out and see what has been passing by.

Three lined up.                       Click on picture for a larger image.

There have been some weather related school announcements because of snow for NW Minnesota this morning. Some are for no school and others for buses running late. We have no snow, but it’s in the forecast for today. It has been a long time since we’ve had a  good snow this early in October, but it happens.

Diane and I have just returned from a tour to the Canadian Maritimes. We had a great time, met some wonderful people, saw lots of beautiful country and even learned a little about their fishing industry. One evening there was a gentleman casting for Mackerel off a pier. He had caught some and said that he was going to sell them for lobster bait. We also witnessed a commercial boat come in with a heavy catch of herring. The Bay of Fundy was interesting with the high/low  tides.

We’ve been busy catching up so I haven’t fished, but a friend told me that regardless of what I’ve heard; there is fish in the river just waiting to be caught. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the weather to straighten out.

The Group

Beautiful Coastline

St. Martins on the Bay of Fundy – near low tide

Mackerel

I was on the river for a couple of short stints over the weekend looking for a sturgeon. There is not much time left in the harvest season; it ends on September 30th. Saturday morning I caught two;  30″ and 43″; neither big enough to keep. The larger one had a lamprey attached to it near the tail and the smaller one had a scar where a lamprey had been attached on top of the head. Sturgeon seem to be a favorite target of Lampreys.

Fall fishing is just around the corner. I’ve heard that the Lake water temperature is 58 degrees and some fish are moving closer to shore; some good fishing in 8′-10′ of water. There was also a report of fish being caught in Four-Mile Bay this past week. Like last year at this time, there is very little current in the river and the good fishing was later than normal. We’ll see what this year brings.

A 43″ sturgeon that had a Lamprey attached near its tail

There is a touch of Fall in the air. The nights are cool, the leaves are turning and a frost is not far off.

There are some fish in the river; lot of small walleyes and saugers. I’ve tried to catch a sturgeon a couple of times, but nothing to fit in the 45″ – 50″ slot.

The DNR has started their Fall Survey and the senior’s in the area are the beneficiaries of the fish that are caught. We get to clean fish for seven days and then we’ll have fish fry fund-raisers for the Senior Center and the Senior Boating Program. We will also have a fish fry for the senior nutrition/meals on wheels programs. We have enough volunteer fish cleaners so that it isn’t a big job for anybody and it becomes a social event each afternoon.

Grandma Diane got me a trail camera for my birthday and I put it out by one of the deer stands a couple of weeks ago. I went out today, changed chips and was pleasantly surprised to see the activity that it recorded. The pictures are of  those we like to have around and some we don’t.

A nice looking deer

A night time visitor

A nice fawn

This past weekend there was an AIM Walleye Tournament on Lake of the Woods. There were 42 pros that competed for a $35,000 boat, motor and trailer. It was a catch and release tournament whereby the anglers would photograph and record the catch, showing the measurement, then immediately release the fish. A formula was used based on the length of the fish; to a quarter of an inch, to determine the weight. The two-man teams could record all the fish they caught during the day and then enter their top seven at the “weigh-in”. Using this format, the teams would not have to worry how to keep fish alive and virtually all mortality is eliminated. Day one of the three-day tournament was eliminated because of weather. Sam Anderson was the winner with his two-day catch of 14 fish weighing 98+ lbs. The largest walleye ever caught in an AIM tournament was caught on Friday and was 32-3/4″ in length. This was the last in a series of AIM tournaments for the year and for the first time a women has won their 2012 Angler of the Year.

The AIM Walleye tournament weigh-in

The winner – Sam Anderson – two days – 14 fish for 98+ lbs.

AIM Angler of the Year – Marianne Huskey

A 32-3/4″ Walleye

A nice day it was yesterday and a couple of hours on the river after supper was relaxing. I trolled with Rapala’s for an hour without a strike and then anchored up east of town looking for a sturgeon. I have never harvested a sturgeon, but wouldn’t mind putting a tag on one for smoking. The challenge is getting one in the 45″-50″ slot to keep. In the short time that I sat there, I caught and released two small walleyes, a 40″ sturgeon and had a sturgeon break my line by the hook. Just as the sun was going down a species of Mayflies began coming up out of the river; it was like it was snowing in reverse and in no time they were covering everything. I’ve seen this at times in the past and it’s quite a sight.

Mayflies

A 40″ sturgeon; not quite big enough

July has been busy for us with a lot of road time. We’ve been to Indiana for a granddaughter’s wedding with lots of family and a great time. We have also had some travel time to see doctors and taking family to the airport.

Last week was a 100 mile trip NE of IFalls to pick blueberries with Don and Larry. There are no blueberries around here and somehow they survived a frost over there. There were a lot of berries, but small, only half the size that they would normally be, because it’s been so dry. It would really have been something had they gotten rain at the right times. I enjoy picking berries and it was good to spend a day in the berry patch. A bonus; very few bugs and no bears.

We haven’t fished for a while, but the past couple of days the weather has been great and I told Diane that we need to spend an afternoon at the lake. A friend told us that there is a school of nice fish off the Gap in 30-32 foot of water and that crawlers or downrigging were working well. Diane and I put the boat in at Wheeler’s Point and I had to park in the ditch because the parking lot was full. It’s a ways out to 32 feet where there was a good size fleet of boats, but it was a nice ride. We just drifted using a jig with a crawler. If there had been a little stronger breeze we could have used crawler harnesses. We saw fish being caught here and there and I don’t think those that were using downriggers were doing any better than the bait fishermen. We caught six fish; kept three walleyes; one sauger and released 26″ and 29″ walleyes.

We have had some rain this past week and how much depends on who you talk to. It varied a lot in just a short distanced. We got 2″ in three different showers and now the grass is green again and the garden is doing great.

Larry in the Blueberry Patch

A nice 29″ walleye

A Blueberry bush with 18 clusters of berries on it.

We have had a good run of weather over the past several days; plenty of sunshine and a couple welcome rains. There is plenty to do in Baudette over the 4th capped off by a spectacular fireworks. Baudette is definitely the place to be on the 4th.

Jodi is here and she, Scott and I have been fishing the river trying to catch a sturgeon. Scott would like to catch one bigger than the 37″ one he caught two years ago. Saturday morning Scott had a big one on. He asked me to help hold his rod and the fish kept taking line; it went under the boat and the line snapped. The line was new this spring, but used quite a bit and might have had a weak spot, but I should have used a heavier line. If you’re going after big fish, you better have the right equipment. Saturday evening Scott caught a 36″ sturgeon, the only sturgeon that we’ve caught so far. We have caught several small walleyes and saugers; four big enough to keep. Scott also caught a mooneye. We lost a number of crawlers and I think the mooneyes are the bait thief’s, probably along with suckers. We’ll have to ask the Sturgeon General to please have a big sturgeon come along the next time we are out.

Scott with his 36″ sturgeon

Scott with a Mooneye

We are having summer like weather here in northern Minnesota. It has been warm and a good rain would be welcome.

Steve and Scott have been in Minnesota for the good part of June, where Scott played some golf tournaments in the Minneapolis area. He qualified to play in a Junior National tournament in Pinehurst NC in August. They came to Baudette last Tuesday; then they went to Bemidji on Thursday and Friday while Diane and I went to Fargo. We spent a good portion of the afternoons on Wednesday and Saturday on the water. We put the boat in at Peace Park here in town and went to the Lake. Both days were very nice with hardly any breeze and on Saturday, Scott rode a tube all the way to the Lake; about 14 miles. Fishing has been a little slow for us. We tried drifting and pulling crankbaits off Pine and anchoring up in 30 feet of water. Wednesday we kept six fish; mostly saugers and Saturday we kept four and released a few small fish and one 22″ walleye.

Steve left for home this morning and Scott gets to solo with Grandpa & Grandma until Jodi gets here later this week. We’ll probably fish a time or two.

Scott with a nice 17″ walleye

Scott with a nice walleye

Getting a ride

This past Wednesday was, I think, the 15th annual Take A Kid Fishing day. The event is run out of Sportsman’s Lodge and approximately 100 kids are treated to a day on the water with a volunteer. For some, the attention span to fish is short and they would just as soon go to the beach on Pine Island and play or skip rocks. Others would prefer to stay in the boat and fish. The day is finished off with wonderful door prizes for all the youngsters and a great meal of fried fish, hamburgers, hotdogs and all the fixings.

The boats are scheduled to leave Sportsman’s about 10:00 a.m. and be back in at 3:30 p.m. It was raining that morning and some kids didn’t show and others came in late. For the past two or three years, I just wait around and if there are a couple of late comers and the rest of the boats are gone, then I go. That worked out quite well, because by the time I put the boat in, it had quit raining and was quite nice out. I had Jasmine and Jeremiah with me and we started by pulling crankbaits in Four-Mile-Bay. In about an hour of fishing the kids caught five walleyes; three little ones; Jeremiah a nice eater and Jasmine a 20″ slot fish. It was then time to join several other boats that came to Pine Island to take a break and play. After the break, fishing was cut short as another rain cloud moved in. Jasmine caught our only fish after the break; a nice 21″ walleye. We came in with only the one fish, but most boats had fish and somewhere between six and ten seemed to be the average. Some boats were jigging in 30′, some drifted in 9′ to 15′ along Pine and some pulled crankbaits in front of the Gap. It was another successful Take A Kid Fishing day.

Jasmine with her 21″ walleye

Jeremiah with his walleye