Arvid's Fishing Report

We have had a minnow run this past week and hopefully that will bring some fish into the river. River fishing continues to be spotty. The Rainy River, Ontario, fishing tournament this past weekend had 90 two man teams; fishing only the Canadian side of the river and most had tough fishing. The fishing on the Lake out in front of the Gap and Pine Island in 26-28 feet of water continues to be good.

We have had some beautiful and unseasonably warm weather the past few days. On Wedneday morning, Diane and I put the boat in across from the house and took a ride down the river. The leaves are turning color with lots of yellow and gold mixed in with the green. We went out through the Gap to 28 feet where there was a group of boats; most all were anchored up. We fished for a short time and with not much going on, we moved west a mile or so where there was another small group of boat. Same thing, so we pulled anchor and moved towards shore to just under 27 feet. We were all by ourselves and when is was all said and done we had caught close to twenty walleyes and saugers. We kept four nice walleyes and eight saugers. Diane had the hot hand, using a purple jig with big glassy eyes tipped with a frozen shiner.

Diane with a nice 16″ walleye

A nice September walleye

It has been a run of great weather we’ve been having lately; high temps in the 80’s and no rain. That’s going to change this week and there is a good chance we’ll get some frost over the next couple of days.

The Fall season is here and there is always plenty to do. It seems like each day there is something from the garden that needs to get done; pickles, tomatoes, corn, jams and jellies. The last few days a group of volunteers have been cleaning fish that senior groups in the area receive from the DNR’s Fall survey on the U.S. portion of Lake of the Woods. The resulting fish fries are well supported and are looked forward to each Fall.

Sunday afternoon, Don, Sue, Diane and I went to the Lake. A couple of reports had some fish being caught out from Pine Island in 27-28 foot of water. We put Don’s boat in at the Wheeler’s Point access and were fishing sometime around 4:00. There was hardly any breeze so we didn’t bother dropping anchor. The sky was hazy and it was difficult to make out the horizon; maybe the result of some fires up in Canada. There were boats in the area; some downrigging and some anchored up. We jig fished with shiners and crawlers and found the action steady enough to keep us happy. We ended up the 8 saugers and 5 walleyes; all nice fish.

River fishing has been slow; not even much of a sturgeon bite. There have been a couple reports of some minnows in the river and maybe the change in weather will bring some fish in. A lot of us are waiting, hoping for some good Fall fishing.

Sue with a nice walleye

Some of the fish cleaners

A Hazy Skyline

After spending all of Sunday working the pancake breakfast at the senior center, I was ready for a little fishing. Monday morning, I picked up Willard shortly after 10:00 and we put the boat in at the Wheelers Point access. Not many “rigs” at the access; it’s that time of the year when fishing can be a little slow. We went out through the Gap to about 25 feet of water; set the downriggers and started for deeper water. We marked lots of fish, but it wasn’t until we got close to 30 feet that we started to get some action. There was maybe a dozen other boats scattered about in the area; a couple anchored up bait fishing, a couple drifting and the rest downrigging. We saw a couple of nice fishing being caught by those bait fishing so that was encouraging, as that has been quite slow recently. Over the next two hours, we caught nine walleyes; kept eight and released a nice slot fish. That’s not bad for August and right out in front of the Gap.

A nice August Walleye

Diane and I were in Bemidji for a couple of days earlier in the week and I had a chance to fish with Terry and Charlie on Tuesday evening. It’s what they call their League night. They don’t fish League any more; they just fish each Tuesday for whatever and wherever they feel like fishing. Diane and Bev ran a couple of errands and went out for dinner. We went to Gull Lake in search of bluegills. It was after 6:00 before we had the boat in the water and it was still really breezy and a little chilly. We tried three or four spots before we found some. Maybe it was the spot or the time of the day; maybe a little of both, because the later it got, the better was the bite. We kept our limit of five each and released that many or more. They are nice bluegills and it was fun fishing them for a change.

Terry with a nice bluegill

Charlie with a Gull Lake bluegill

Saturday, Diane, Julie, Matt & I went to Blackduck for the annual Wood Carvers festival. We took the boat along and after having lunch, Matt & I went to Gilstad lake and bobber fished for bluegills for a couple of hours. Fishing was a bust. We tried several places that I’ve fished before, but couldn’t find any.

Sunday was the last day that Julie and Matt were to be here and a beautiful day it was. After picking the raspberries and delivering some eggplant to a friend, we put the boat in across from the house and had a nice ride to the lake. We went out in front of the Gap to 28 foot of water; set the downriggers and fished for a little over an hour. We caught five nice walleyes (released a 21″) and three saugers. We  went in to Pine Island; had a snack; then headed home for more garden chores.

The Mother/Son contest is over with each claiming a victory. Matt’s 34″ sturgeon ended up being the largest fish and Julie caught four more fish than Matt did and claimed the most fish category.

Julie & Matt on Pine Island

A pair of Loons with two chicks on Gilstad Lake

There were some thought about going bobber fishing for bluegills on Friday, but as the morning wore on, it didn’t happen, so Julie, Matt and I were on the river again. Matt had never caught a pike and was disappointed last year when he didn’t catch one. After sitting up by Hattie’s for close to an hour and catching nothing I suggested that we put on a couple of crankbaits and see if we could get Matt a pike. When the smoke all cleared, between the early afternoon and evening sessions, Matt & Julie caught and released 12 pike, 5 smallmouth and 1 small sturgeon. The biggest pike was 25″ and three of the smallmouth were 14″-15″. Julie had a big pike bite off her bait as it turned away from the boat and it was big; definitely bigger than anything we’ve caught this past week, sturgeon included. Matt was sweating bullets for a few seconds; knowing it could put him in second place in the Mom vs Son big/most fish contest. He is in second place at the present, by two, in the most fish category.  It was a fun and exciting day.

Matt’s first pike

Julie’s 15″ smallmouth

Julie, Matt and I have been fishing a little each day; sometimes the river looking for a sturgeon and twice we’ve been to the lake. Yesterday, we fished Four-Mile-Bay and the outside of Pine Island and caught a perch, walleye and a sauger; nothing to bring home. This morning we took the boat to Zippel Bay and went out to 31 foot. We caught six nice walleyes and a sauger with the downriggers and a nice walleye drifting with a crawler in a little over two hours. The wind kept getting a little stonger and made it uncomfortable to stay out there so we headed back in. This evening on the river we caught a little sturgeon along with a small walleye, rock bass, redhorse and a bait stealing crayfish. That has been a typical catch on the river the past couple of days.

Julie has been keeping very close track of who is catching the most (all species) between her and Matt. Through today they are tied with 10 each and Matt still has the biggest sturgeon.

Matt watching his rod

Bait Thief

Fishing can bring out the competitive nature in a person; like who catches the first, the biggest and the most. It appears that we may have a little of that going on with Julie and Matt; the mom vs son.

Monday was to breezy to go to the lake so Julie, Matt and I went sturgeon fishing for a couple of hours in the late morning and again after supper. The water has cleared up some after the storms of last week and there is a little bit of a sturgeon bite. We caught two sturgeon in the morning and three in the evening along with a rock bass and a small sauger. Matt has caught the largest so far, 34″. Julie has caught one 33″ and the rest have been those little two footers. Julie’s gave her quite a fight and there was real disappointment when it came up an inch short of Matt’s.  There is still a few days to go.

Matt with his 34″ sturgeon

Julie’s 33″ sturgeon

This past weekend we had some family come to Baudette for a get together. Brother-in-law, Bob, drove here from Colorado. Nephew, Joe, and his family came from New Jersey. Niece, Sarah, and her husband came from Denver. Julie and grandson, Matt, came from Indiana. Granddaughter, Megan, came from Illinois and Jonathan and his family from downstate. Jodi, Steve and Scott, along with my sister, Margie and her husband, Eric, had planned and were hoping to be with us, but illness and travel didn’t permit that and we missed not having them.

On the day that most of them arrived, storms rolled through the area and some much anticipated “good fishing” didn’t happen. The water got riled and that seems to shut down the bite for a few days. We went to the lake one day; fished Four Mile Bay and the outside of Pine and found only one small sauger. Fished the river one day when it was to windy to go to the lake and a big sucker was all that we could get. Most everybody left on Sunday and Megan and I fished the river for a couple hours before taking her to IFalls to catch a plane and she caught two little sturgeon.

The time that we were together went by much to quickly. We had a wonderful time seeing everyone and are looking forward to the next time that we can get together.

Laura with a sauger

Kurt with a big sucker

Megan with a little sturgeon

The warm weather has reached us here in northern Minnesota and along with it, high humidity. Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. the humidity was so high you could hardly see across the bay from the house. It would be a good day to go for a boat ride.

Diane and I put the boat in about noon and headed down the river. We took a dozen crawlers and thought we’d see if  there were any fish along Pine Island. When we reached the Lake there was a good off shore breeze that made for nice drifting. For the next 2-1/2 hours we made several drifts from twelve to seventeen feet of water. The action was good enough to keep us satisfied and we caught four walleyes; three saugers and a pike. We kept three nice walleyes and released all the rest that included a nice 25″ walleye.

Diane had an interest moment. She was bringing in a small sauger when, all of a sudden it got heavier. When she got the fish to the surface, what we thought was a nice walleye turned out to be about a 25″ pike. We netted it and the pike immediately spit out the small sauger that was hooked on Diane’s crawler harness. They are both still swimming around out there with the sauger nursing some teeth wounds.

Diane seems to always catch more fish than I do and now she’s catching two at a time.

A little sauger that was saved from a pike

A nice 25″ walleye