Arvid's Fishing Report

Baudette received a good rain last Saturday evening; two and two tenths inches. The ground soaked it all up and there was no extra for the rivers or the lake. Even after the rain the Rapid River at Clementson had no extra water coming through the rapids. Water levels remain really low.

Fishing remains good on Lake of the Woods. Down riggers are still likely to be the most effective method in the 30+ feet of water, but some fish are being caught drifting in 20-30 feet of water using leeches and minnows. Red Lake is very slow with an occasional walleye being caught along with some drum and perch. My friend, Terry, fished Lake Bemidji Tuesday evening for league fishing and did well. He and his partner got first place for the day with a weight of 11 lbs. 10 oz. for four walleyes. They caught twelve walleyes for the night trolling rapala’s in shallow water.
The Rapid River at Clementson

The Bridge over the Rapid River at Clementson

Last weekend Diane & I met our children Julie and Jonathan and their families at the Lake Bemidji State Park for a few days of camping. We had good weather except for Sunday when it got really warm. On Saturday afternoon, my friend Terry, who lives on Lake Bemidji, came over to the Park in his boat. We visited and had a beverage while we were setting up camp. I told him we were having a fish fry for supper and invited him. He thought it would be appropriate if he went out and caught one so off he went while we finished our chores. He was back an hour or so later and had caught two nice walleyes and a perch. He spent some time looking for perch, but couldn’t find them. He caught the walleyes trolling Rapala’s in 9-12 feet of water. After a late supper, Terry, Jonathan, Grandson Matt and I went out for an hour. Terry caught a nice walleye, maybe 17" and that was it. It was a nice evening on Lake Bemidji.

Reports are that fishing on Lake of the Woods continues to be very good fishing with down-riggers in 32 feet of water. Reports from the River are spotty, but should improve as we get closer to Fall. Sturgeon season is now open to the end of September and that continues to increase in popularity both to harvest a fish and just to catch and release. To harvest a sturgeon requires a $5 tag and you can keep one per year that is between 45-50". 

 
Terry with a Lake Bemidji Walleye

 
Sunset on Lake Bemidji

When the temperature reaches 94 degrees in Baudette the boat landing becomes a popular spot to take a swim. The temperature has exceeded 90 degrees for the past few days; that’s warm for Lake of the Woods.

On Saturday morning, Mike called and an hour later we were on our way to spend a day on the lake. We put his boat in at the Zipple Bay Park and went out three or four miles to get to the 32-33 foot depth of water. One successful method of late has been to anchor up or drift in that deep water. We didn’t have to anchor because there was hardly a breath of air. It was a good thing his boat had a top so that we could get out of the sun. We drifted around for quite a while using leeches and crawlers and caught two walleyes; one was 26″, the other about 12″. We released them both. We then set up the down riggers and pulled some crank baits. The action wasn’t fast, but we did catch about a dozen walleyes and sauger. We kept seven walleye and three sauger and released a 25″ walleye and a couple of little ones. It was a good day on the lake.

The boat landing becomes the swimming hole

A hot summer day 26″ walleye

Our former neighbor, Betty, had her family home for the July 4th, Baudette Centennial celebration. Her son-in-law, John, and I went to the Lake for a while on Friday. We have had a lot of windy days lately and Friday was no exception; strong and gusty out of the southwest. About the only thing we could do was drift fish. There were a few fish being caught in the 17-18 ft. of water, but we couldn’t get them to bite. I don’t think that we had the right bait for the day. We had crawlers and leeches along, but I think we should have had minnows. There were two young boys that were doing well and I found out later that they were using minnows. We ended up with two fish to bring home and John caught them both.

John with a nice walleye

Friday afternoon Steve, Scott and I launched the boat at the Wheeler’s Point access about 4:00 p.m. We were back at the dock before 6:30 with a limit of eight nice walleyes between 14″ & 17″. The only thing different from the day before is that the fish were a little deeper. We caught most of the fish in 12-13 ft. of water and used crawlers for bait. It’s good fishing for this time of the year on this end of the lake.

Papa Arvid with Scott & Steve

Daughter Jodi, son-in-law Steve and grandson Scott are here for a visit from Arizona. Late Thursday morning with near perfect weather, we took the boat and went to the Lake. Not expecting a lot we were pleasantly surprised. We fished the outside of Pine/ Curry Island back trolling with crawlers in 9-11 feet of water. We found fish almost immediately and they were on the bite. We had three nice walleyes in the boat within minutes. We must have caught 20 walleyes and kept 8 in about two hours of fishing. Six of those we kept were in the 14-1/2″ to 16″ range. Scott, who is four, enjoyed reeling in several. It was a great day.

Scott with a nice walleye

Steve & Scott with a 16″ walleye

Steve & Scott with limit of walleyes

Diane & I spent the weekend at the Lake of the Woods Campground with Gerry & Monica, Mike & Jean and Wally & Olivia. Wally’s little guy, Nolan, is having his second birthday and that was a good excuse to get together. We had beautiful weather all weekend. Mike had his boat along and we fished a couple of times on Saturday and again on Sunday morning. Fishing wasn’t great, but we did get enough for a nice late lunch on Sunday. On Saturday, between Mike, Wally & I we caught between 15 & 20 walleyes and kept 7 with Mike doing most of the catching. On Sunday, Mike and I caught about 20 and kept 8 with Mike again doing most of the catching. We caught the fish on crawlers and most in the 9-10 ft of water. It took a while to find them because fishing had been best in the 18 ft range.

At the campground store they had several flavors of hard ice cream and I was all prepared to enjoy a cone when we were done fishing on Saturday night, but I missed out when the store was closed when we got back. We were delayed when two Conservation Officers, (and ladies, no less, a blonde and a brunette) pulled us over as we were returning to the dock. All was fine with licenses, fish, life jackets, etc. but then things got a little tense when the conversation started to turn into a debate about the enforcement authority of the no wake zone on international waters. She said that she could fine us $150 for going to fast, but she didn’t. The delay only caused me to miss out on getting an ice cream cone.

Mike & Wally with a nice walleye at sunset

Wednesday was the ninth annual Lake of the Woods Take a Kid Fishing day and a successful day it was. Approximately 110 kids were treated to a day on the water followed by a cookout at Sportsman’s Lodge.

The weather almost cooperated. It was windy with a few rain showers, but really quite a good day. Because of the wind most boats elected to fish the river and I was no exception. I had two 10 year old boys with me, Carl Pederson and Levi Marken. We came back to town to launch the boat and then went down river to Senske Creek. We anchored up for awhile; trolled a little for pike and cast a few baits for whatever might want to grab them. We ended up catching seven walleyes and kept six of them. Four were nice eaters; two were small but were hooked bad. Levi caught and released a small 24″ sturgeon and Carl caught a nice 15″ smallmouth casting a spinner bait. When all the boats were in, I think we did as well or better than most. Fishing has been good in front of the Lighthouse Gap and I’m sure all the boats would have caught more fish had we been able to fish the Lake.

Levi holding Carl’s 15″ Smallmouth

Levi and Carl with a 14″ Walleye