Arvid's Fishing Report

Bud invited his Bosch BTS drivers for another day of fishing. We went out of Ballard’s Resort and again had Tim as our guide. We left the dock shortly after eight and when we saw that there were white-caps on Four-Mile-Bay we knew that it would be an interesting ride across the Lake. With most of our group getting regular chances to fish this end (south) of the Lake on the regular basis, it was the plan from the start to go across the Lake and fish something different. It was over an hour to our first stop, a little south and east of Little Oak Island. We anchored up in about twenty-six feet of water and jigged with frozen shiners and leaches. Fishing was steady and we caught about thirty fish in the morning, half walleyes; half saugers. About noon we went to a nice small beach that was wind protected on the south shore of Oak Island for a great shore lunch of sauger, fried potatoes, beans, bread and butter. After lunch we needed only ten fish for our walleye limits and that didn’t take too long. We released several saugers and smaller walleyes and two slot walleyes of 23″ & 24″. The wind eased up some in the afternoon and it was a nice ride back. Another great, beautiful day on the Lake of the Woods!

Bud, Sheldon & Tim, our guide

Jeff

Terry

Ralph, Arvid, Don – 24 inch walleye

Bud, Don, Jeff, Arvid, Sheldon, Ralph, Terry

A doctor’s appointment gave Diane and I an excuse to take a little detour through Wadena on our way to Fargo this past weekend. It was two years to the day that the tornado ripped through the west side of Wadena causing an unbelievable amount of damage. Diane and I were in Wadena that weekend for a school reunion and were, fortunately, on the east side of town when it hit. Much has been done to fix and clean-up Wadena. Many homes and buildings have been repaired and some have been torn down. Old trees have been replaced by little ones that will take years to reach the size of those they replaced. The memories of that weekend will last for years.

Fishing reports haven’t been all that good. Friends that I’ve talked to have been fishing the Lake; catching some saugers , but the walleyes are hard to come by. I fished the river last Friday evening and caught about a dozen fish; five small walleyes; the rest saugers. I kept four small saugers; enough for a meal and released the rest.

 Wadena High School just hours after the tornado hit – June 17, 2010

The new school, close to completion – June 17, 2012

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources sent the information on the tagged trout that we caught on our recent trip. The fish was tagged on October 12, 2005 on a spawning shoal off of Highrock Island in Whitefish Bay. At the time of capture it was 29.3″ in length and weighed 7.9 lbs. It was identified as a spawning male and aged at 10 years old.

It’s that time of the year when we usually get a turtle or two that come up from the Bay and lay eggs in the garden. Success is not very good. A couple of weeks ago a painted turtle laid her eggs on the edge of the garden and a few days later we saw where a skunk had dug up and eaten the eggs. This past Saturday morning there was a large snapping turtle heading back to the Bay after laying her eggs. The period of time it takes for the eggs to hatch varies widely. Neighbor Jeff said that the average is 55 days; could be as short as 50 days and as long as 120 days. I’ve staked off the nest and we’ll watch to see if they make it.

The fishing reports that I’ve been hearing are spotty; some good and others not so good. Diane and I went to the Lake on Thursday and spent the afternoon. We pulled some crank baits along Pine Island and also drifted using shiners. We kept eight fish; three walleyes, five saugers and release some little ones.

We finally got a good, much-needed rain, in the past twenty-four hours; 1.37 inches.

On her way back to the Bay

Her nest

Other than a few rain sprinkles on Sunday, we had three nice days on the Lake while Uncle Noie and Janice were here. We found fishing to be a little slower each day, but considering that we fished only the afternoons, it wasn’t bad. Sunday was almost as good as Saturday and Noie caught a nice 24″ walleye to take big fish honors for the weekend. Monday we kept one walleye and six saugers. We also release a nice walleye, two small pike and three or four small saugers. We had a nice fish fry and sent a limit of fish home with them. It was a good weekend.

Noie with a nice 24″ walleye

We are beginning the month of June with some nice weather. It’s good to be outside doing yard work, playing in the garden or doing whatever that makes this time of the year special.

Uncle Noie and Janice are here for a visit and a day or two of fishing. On Saturday, we put the boat in at the Zippel Bay State Park. The report I had gotten was to anchor up and jig a shiner in 26-28 foot of water. It was a beautiful day with a light northwest breeze that shifted to northeast mid-afternoon. Boats were coming and going, both drifting and anchored up in various depths from 18-31 feet. We started in 28 foot, kept moving in, tried drifting and anchored. We did best anchored up in 25 foot. We kept four walleyes, ten sauger and a jumbo perch. I think that we did about average and found out after we got in that the best bite was in 31 foot. we’ll have a good fish fry and try again.

Janice with a nice sauger

We just returned home for the annual Memorial Day weekend trout trip to Whitefish Bay. We were fortunate to have the same group of eight from a year ago. Two of the three days we fished, the weather was good. The third day was windy with some rain showers and day four looked the same to start, so we bailed out and came home.

Fishing the first two days was excellent. We arrived at camp about noon on Friday; unpacked and headed out to our favorite rock. Jim, Bill, Jonathan and I were on one side of the island and caught ten trout that afternoon. Tom and Steve were around the corner and caught two. Terry and George caught one trolling (11 lbs.). On Saturday, the four of us fished the same rock and caught thirteen. Tom, Steve and George changed to another island and caught twenty-two. Terry kept trolling and marking fish, but couldn’t get them to bite. Saturday with the weather change, it was only one trout and one small pike.  With a one fish limit per day, we released lots of fish. Most of the fish were around 30″ and there were three or four about 35″; all really nice fish.  We had a nice meal of trout each day and two fish would feed the whole gang. We had deep-fried trout, pan-fried in butter and onion and Terry fixed something he called gook food; a baked trout with a concoction of other ingredients that was a dip for crackers and was really good.

There was a very nice 35″ trout that we don’t know whether Jim or Jonathan should get credit for catching it. They both had a run about the same time and we thought that they each had a fish on. It turned out that it was only one fish and that fish had swallowed both of their baits. They were both happy to share credit for the catch.

Another interesting thing was that we also caught a tagged trout, it will be interesting to see if there is a little history with that fish.

It was a great trip. Everybody caught fish and the card games came out quite even. Hopefully, we’ll all be able to get together again next year.

The trout that Jim & Jonathan both get credit for catching

Bill with one of his lake trout

George with the only pike of the trip

Steve with a nice trout

Jonathan with a nice lake trout

Jim with a nice lake trout

l-r       Bill, Jonathan, Jim, George, Tom, Steve & Terry

The last week or so the weather has been nice; very windy most of the time, but nice. Fortunately, there are still some fish in the river, so generally, one can find a place out of the wind to fish. I didn’t fish opening day because of the wind. On Sunday, after working the pancake breakfast at the senior center, Willard and I pulled crankbaits on the river for a couple of hours late afternoon. It was again breezy and handling the boat was a little difficult at times, but we managed. We kept three nice walleyes and released three or four little walleyes and the same number of small pike. Diane and I fished Monday for a short time and kept two nice walleyes and release four small pike. Then, again on Wednesday, Diane and I fished the evening; jig fished and pulled crankbaits. We caught ten walleyes and kept seven; no pike for a change. It has been pretty good for the first week. Soon we’ll have to head for the lake.

It is very dry and fires are a problem. There have been two fires this spring that they used two CL-15 water planes that are stationed in Bemidji come up here to help put out the fires that are not too far from town. The planes pick up water from the river and it’s really an impressive sight watching them. They carry 1400 gallons of water each time and they make a round about every ten minutes.

Willard with a nice opening weekend walleye

Coming in for a load of water

Filling the tank with water

Diane and I were in Indiana last week for our granddaughter, Megan’s, graduation from Indiana State University. Graduating with her was her guy, Chase. They have been an item since high school and are going to be married this July. Megan’s degree is in Math and Math Education. Chase’s degree is in Chemistry. They both have gotten jobs recently. Megan will be teaching high school math and Chase will do research for a company that has a relationship with E.I. Lilly.  Megan was one of five seniors to receive the Hines medal that was awarded to students with the highest cumulative grade point average on at least 124 credit hours. They have both done exceptionally well and we are very proud of them.

When Megan was about ten years old, she began coming to Minnesota for about two weeks each summer. She would spend a week with Jonathan and Allison and then come to Baudette for a few days before Julie and Darlis would come to finish up the vacation. We would get in a few days of fishing walleyes and even a trip to the Blackduck area to fish bluegills. Megan was a great kid in the boat, a good fishing gal and we really enjoyed having her here.

Megan and Chase at graduation

Megan’s first walleye

Megan with a 19″ largemouth while fishing for bluegills

This afternoon I went fishing with neighbor, Jeff, and a friend of his, Pidge. It was the first nice day since last Friday; a little cool on the water and heavier clothing was appropriate. We fished the river by the airport and while the action wasn’t fast and furious, we were more than satisfied. We caught about 15 walleyes that included 3 slot fish of 21″, 23″ and 29″,  and three small pike. We kept our six eaters and released everything else.

The river current has slowed a little and the water seems to have cleaned up some. Walleye fishing should be good the remaining three days of the season.

Jeff’s 29″ walleye

Pidge with a nice eater

Some time ago, I came across the following quote by a Doug Larson: “If people concentrated on really important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles.” I don’t know the man, but he’s got it right.

I haven’t fished in four days and neither have many others. It’s been cold, windy and we’ve had snow flurries both yesterday and today. Only four days until the walleye season closes and it would be nice to get out another time or two. Fishing was good until the weather change.