Arvid's Fishing Report

The seasons change in a hurry.  We have been gone for almost two weeks and when we got back home the snow was gone, except for a few piles pushed up by the snowplows. The river was wide open; the channel opened up under the bridge on March 16th, the second earliest opening since they have been keeping records dating back to 1934. It’s over a month earlier than in 2007; the year we were ice fishing the river near the middle of April. Regardless, it has been a nice welcome to spring.

When we arrived back home there was a noticeable absence of boat traffic. The reports I’m getting are that the fish have not moved  into the river. Yesterday I went out to the Timbermill Park landing and talked to a guy that had just come in. They had gotten no fish; had been all the way out to the Gap and didn’t see much for fish being caught. I suppose with the somewhat abnormal fishing we had on the river this winter, we shouldn’t be surprised when fishing isn’t what it normally is at this time of the year.

Don and I went to the lake on Friday; out of Adrian’s to the end of the road. We didn’t find fishing very good. Don caught a half dozen saugers; I, well, didn’t catch much. At one time, Don mentioned that a person should have a Vexilar for each hole; it would be easier than just one for both holes. I thought that would be ok, but it would probably be easier to justify having a his and hers. That way when Diane would come along I wouldn’t have to give up the one we have and if she didn’t come along; I’d have two.

This afternoon, Sunday, Don, Sue, Diane and I went to the lake and fished in front of the Gap in about twenty feet of water. It was quite nice out and the first couple of hours was slow. There was a little  bite in the late afternoon and we caught about a dozen walleyes and saugers. We kept four saugers and three nice walleyes. I talked to a couple fishing near us and they had been up by Bridges Island and had pretty good fishing on Saturday, but it was slow today.

Where are the fish?

Don with his catch

March has for sure come in like a lamb; we are having great weather. It has been sunny with low temps a little below zero; no wind and warming into the mid 30’s by early afternoon.

Sunday, after fishing the river in the early morning, Tom’s group went to Zipple Bay to fish Pike for a few hours. They caught a sturgeon, a nice walleye and a couple eaters that morning. After lunch I rode my snowmobile out to Zipple Bay to see how they were doing. I took the trail out to Pitt, then up through the Graceton swamp and came back to town via the river; about a fifty mile ride. It was a beautiful day and the trails were very good. Tom’s group had only two flags on their tip-ups and caught one pike, a dandy 38″, in the slot fish; released. They returned to the river for the late afternoon bite. There was a nice 24′ walleye, three eaters and a large burbot caught.

Monday Tom’s group went to the lake early; out of Adrian’s to the end of the road. They caught about thirty; mostly smaller saugers; three walleyes. They said I didn’t miss much. I was sitting on the river when they returned and that’s all we did was sit. Two small saugers was all that were caught; not a very good day.

Andy with a beautiful 38″ pike

Jessie with a 41″ sturgeon

Ronnie with a 26″ walleye

The Zipple Bay beverage and snack bar on the lake

The Bosch Boys are done for the season and last Wednesday was the last chance for Ken and Earl to fish before heading back home. It seemed like each evening one of them would get a walleye in the 26″ – 27″ range and maybe they would get an eater. On Monday Earl caught a 26″ walleye; Tuesday Ken caught a 26″ & Tom a 27″ walleye and Wednesday, Tom caught a 27-3/4″ walleye.

Tom is staying through early next week; taking a couple days vacation and is having some family coming up to fish with him. Saturday morning his group left for the lake; the ice road out of Adrian’s is now 14 miles past Pine Island. When I arrived, late morning, they had caught 7 walleyes and saugers and the bite had slowed; not much for nine guys. After an hour we moved down the road a mile or so and caught about a half dozen small saugers; nothing to keep, but one got the first fish money.  George arrived and the group moved back to where we first fished. George caught a nice 22″ walleye; I caught a 20″ walleye and one of the guys caught a nice sauger. Shortly after 3:00 p.m. Tom’s group packed it in and headed for the river near town. They caught two big walleyes; a 27″ and a 29″ and three eaters. George and I fished another hour and did nothing. On our way in we stopped and fished the Gap for an hour and George caught one eater. The days fishing wasn’t very good for the time we put in. Tom’s group was happy with what they did in the river and they ended up with enough for a fish fry.

The first fish; a $1 from everybody

Tom with a 27-3/4″ walleye

The Gap at Sunset

Three of the Bosch Boys, Tom, Ken, Earl and transport driver, Mick; when he’s here to pick up a load, have been fishing the late afternoons to finish out the long work days. Some days they fish the river for walleyes and other days the Baudette Bay for Northern Pike. The pike fishing has been so so with several small ones that are good to pickle and a few hammer handles that get released, but none in the 30″ to 40″ slot. Sunday evening after fishing pike for an hour and getting none, they headed for the shanty’s on the river and caught four nice walleyes; 13″ to 15″. The bite was late, even after dark. Monday, I went with them and we fished the river; Ken and Earl in one shanty and Tom and I in the other. Earl caught a nice 26″ walleye and a 40″ sturgeon. He thought he had first place and bragging rights until Tom gets a 27″ walleye. I caught the only fish to keep; a 14″ walleye. I guess that Ken was along to give Earl moral support.

Earl with a beautiful 26″ walleye

Tom with his first place, 27″ walleye

Earl with 40″ sturgeon

Ken with a hammer handle

The cold weather testing season is coming to the end. By the end of this week most of the Bosch personnel will have left and just a few will remain to close the facility down. I guess that must mean that warmer weather is not far off. The Bosch boys didn’t have very good fishing this winter. After work some would go sit in the shanty’s for a couple hours and maybe catch a little one; once in a while a nice one, but many times they wouldn’t get a bite. Last week, before he left for the last time, Mike caught a nice 26″ walleye and got a picture with his cell phone. It looks like that will be the big Bosch walleye for the winter and he’ll get bragging rights for the next several months.

This past weekend, Tom, Ken, Earl and I fished the Baudette Bay. We caught several Northern Pike; most were those small hammer handles, but three or four were in 26″- 27″. Those are really good to pickle. We didn’t get any in the 30″- 40″ slot that must be released.

Mike with his 26″ walleye

Tom with a Pike

Terry came up from Bemidji on Friday for a day of fishing. We went out of Adrian’s Resort to the end of the plowed road; ten miles once we crossed Pine Island. We set up a portable shanty and were fishing by 10:00. It turned out that it was one of those trips where we should have been there yesterday. We heard that the bite was good on Thursday, but it turned slow on Friday. We fished six hours and kept seven fish; four walleyes and three small saugers. We released a 21″ walleye and about a half dozen small saugers. We marked lots of fish; they would take a look and follow the bait up,  but they were not interested. One of those days; the fishing was great, but the catching was poor.

Terry with one of the walleyes we caught

Terry in the portable shanty

After some very nice, above average weather for a good part of January, winter has returned. As I write this we are patiently waiting for a very large storm system to pass. The past few days has had a little of everything; rain, freezing rain and drizzle, snow and wind.

Sunday afternoon, three of the Bosch Boys; Tom, Ken, Jeff and I went to the lake for a little late afternoon fishing. We went off  Graceton Beach out to about twenty feet of water. It’s a good thing that we brought a couple of portable shanty’s along as the wind picked up from out of the northwest and it began snowing. We fished for a couple of hours; until after dark.   The four of us caught about a dozen fish; kept 8 walleye and sauger. No one color seemed to do best,  but Tom had the hot hole and was using a orange/green jig. If you talk to Tom, he’ll tell you it’s technique.

Jeff with a sauger and Tom with a walleye

Technique Tommy with a nice walleye

We had great weather for January this past weekend, but the fishing was slow. On Saturday, Don, Sue and I went to the lake;  it was grandma Diane’s Saturday to work. We went out of Adrian’s; set up in about 32 feet of water and fished from about 11:00 to a little after 4:00. For our efforts, we kept three walleyes and four sauger. On Sunday, Mick and I fished two spots in the same general area and caught only two saugers. On both days we marked fish many times, but couldn’t get them to bite. They would come up off the bottom, take a look, then go back down. Others that I talked to were having the same kind of weekend.

Sue with a nice walleye

Mick, one of the Reliable Transport drivers, brought some of the Bosch vehicles to Baudette on Tuesday. He had Wednesday off before heading back to Detroit on Thursday. He and I left for the lake about 9:30 on what turned out to be a very nice January day. We went out of Adrian’s some five miles past Pine Island where there is thirty plus feet of water. The fish houses just keep getting moved further and further out into the lake. You can look in any direction and see fish houses.

The first two hours fishing was really slow. I even made a casual comment to Mick that maybe he was a jinx because we were not catching any fish. I had no more than said that, when he caught a nice sauger and a walleye. We ended up keeping a limit; 7 walleyes and 9 saugers and we released a number of small saugers. We never did keep track of who caught the most, but when we were about to quit and it seemed like he did catch the most; he looked at me and said “maybe I’m not a jinx”.

Mick with a nice sauger

A nice limit; four walleyes and four saugers