Arvid's Fishing Report

My friend, Chuck, is back in Minnesota for a visit with family and friends. He fished with his brother for a few days around the Ottertail area before making his way north to visit his sister and then to our place. We got in two days of fishing; Thursday, a very nice sunny day and Friday, a day of light rain. Fishing on the river wasn’t great, but good enough to keep us happy. We fished the middle of the river in 18-19 feet of water in the middle of the day, then fished the shoreline in 11-12 feet an hour of so before dark. We caught numerous little fish each time out and enough eaters for two nice lunches and a limit for him to go home with. We caught five nice walleyes in the slot that were from 19″ to 23″, but no big fish. We also caught three sturgeon from 30″-36″. Once we each had one on at the same time; that proved to be interesting and it was suprising that the line tangle was no worse than it was.

Chuck with a nice 23″ walleye; big fish for the two days

Last Saturday, Terry and Bev came up for the day. Diane and Bev spent the day at the church bazaar while Terry and I did some work out by the deer stands. Later in the afternoon Terry and I fished the river for about three hours. We fished five different locations at various depths and caught fish every place we stopped. We must have caught thirty or more;  walleye, sauger, perch and a northern; a little bit of everything, but nothing big enough to keep.

Sunday, I fished for a little over an hour before dark, thinking that a couple fish for a fresh meal would be nice. Like the evening before, the action was steady and I did catch a nice 17″ walleye and a small sauger to bring home.

On Tuesday, after a trip to Bemidji to take care of some Senior Center business, I fished for a while before dark. I started out fishing the middle of the river in nineteen feet and caught several small walleyes and sauger; then moved near shore in about eleven feet of water. I caught and released two walleyes, 19″ and 21-1/2″, kept three nice eaters and a couple small perch. It appears that a few nicer fish have moved up river; fishing was good.

An October evening on the Rainy

A nice 19″ Walleye

We old fogies sometimes wonder about these next generations, but what would we do without them? A couple of weeks ago I sat down to write a post, low and behold, I had no access to the server that my fishing report resided on. Nor could anybody else access the report. Well, thanks to Jonathan and a friend of his, we are almost back to where we were and who knows what the cause of the problem was.

Fall fishing has been slow to heat up. We haven’t had a good frost yet and the water temperature has not cooled off. Some shiner minnows have showed up in the river, but there is not much current to draw the fish in. The report I was going to post a couple weeks ago was when Willard and I went out one afternoon. We caught a few small saugers; a couple nice walleyes and I caught a 55 inch sturgeon. It was quite a fish and took nearly thirty minutes to land it.

I have been out once since then and fished near town. I caught a half dozen small saugers; a large perch, a small sturgeon, and two nice walleyes 16″ and a 24-1/2″. All the reports I’ve heard since have not been very good.

A 55″ Sturgeon (The chart would have it at about 40 lbs. and 28 years old)

Willard with a nice Fall walleye

With a follow up at the clinic in Bemidji this week, it created a nice opportunity to take the trailer and stay at the Lake Bemidji State Park for a couple of days. We went down on Wednesday and after Terry was done working we took his boat to a little lake north of Bemidji for an evening of bluegill fishing. The weather was great and so was the fishing. We must have caught over fifty bluegills plus a couple of rock bass and a bullhead. All but a half dozen of the bluegills were between eight and ten inches. We did mostly the catch and release thing; keeping a limit for a nice meal. It was like Terry said; “that was the best bluegill fishing I’ve had in many years”. Also, the follow up report at the clinic was great too.

Terry with a nice Bluegill

We did a double more than once

A Nice Bluegill

We have been having great weather lately in northern Minnesota. There has been plenty of sunshine with good temperatures;  don’t need to use the air conditioner. Depending on where and how you’ve been fishing, the fishing has been pretty good. Even the river has fish, but most of them are small. I fished a couple of times last week and caught a lot of small walleye and sauger and one that was 21″, nothing to bring home. The river current has slowed considerably; now a 1/2 oz. jig or sinker will do what was taking 1-1/2 oz. a few weeks ago. The sturgeon are getting active and it’s pretty easy to catch one if you want to.  We are in the season to harvest a sturgeon if a person wants to. The season ends September 30th and a special tag is required to take one. Only those between 45 & 50 inches can be taken. I’ve never taken one, but I might do it one of these day; they are great smoked.

August sunset on the Rainy River

A friend that I grew up with was back in Minnesota for a family reunion and I drove down for a visit and a day of fishing bluegills. On Tuesday afternoon, Chuck, his son Bill and I took a small boat and went to Dead Lake. It was sunny, but quite breezy. We went to a somewhat protected spot and found fish immediately. We must have caught about fifty bluegills and kept 3o in the 8-9″ range; not big, but nice. We also caught and released a small northern and a largemouth bass. A beverage and a nice fish fry put an end to a good day.

Bill with a nice Dead Lake Bluegill

Chuck with a nice Bluegill

Friday afternoon, Jodi, Scott and I went for a short ride on the river. We stopped and fished one of the spots for a little while. Scott caught the first fish; a nice 15″ walleye. After that it was seven little cigar size sauger and walleye; nothing to keep. The river remains high and the current is strong. It still takes about 1-1/2 oz. weight to stay near bottom.

Scott with his 15″ walleye