Arvid's Fishing Report

It was a busy July 4th weekend in Baudette. With lots of things going on there wasn’t much time for fishing. Julie’s family arrived late Wednesday and Thursday morning, Darlis, Matt, Megan, Chase and I fished the river for a couple of hours. We had two lines out for sturgeon, but were looking for anything that would bite. At our first stop, Chase caught his first walleye, 19″ on a sturgeon rig and Megan caught a 13″ eater. We moved up by the airport and after a short time moved once more. We no more than set up and we got a hit on one of the sturgeon rods. It was Matt’s turn and he did a masterful job playing the fish. It was interesting, because the landing net we should have had was back at the house, but we managed and Matt got his sturgeon, a dandy 51″ fish and joins the 50″ club.

Friday, there was no fishing. A number of family members went for a ride on senior pontoon boat in the morning and then had a get together and fish fry at Timbermill Park.

Saturday, grandson Scott and I fished for a sturgeon for a couple of hours. Scott caught a mooneye with the only bite we had.

Sunday; no fishing; Anniversary party at the senior center.

Monday, Julie’s family stayed for an extra day. It was very windy all day out of the northwest and the river was rough. The wind began to let up after 6:00 so Darlis, Matt, Chase and I fished by the bridge for the last couple of hours before dark. We caught a duke’s mixture; one rock bass, one white sucker, two sturgeon; 36″ & 38″, and three walleyes; two eaters and Chase caught his second walleye, a dandy 26″ one.

A great weekend.

Matt’s 51″ sturgeon

Chase’s second walleye, a 26″ dandy

Darlis with his first open water sturgeon

Wednesday was the 18th annual Take a Kid Fishing day where 114 kids were treated to a day of fishing and fun on Lake of the Woods. The event is run out of Sportman’s Lodge where the kids register in the morning and are assigned to boats all run by volunteers. They spend 5-6 hours on the lake and the day concludes late afternoon with a great meal of fish, hamburgers, hot dogs and all the trimmings for the kids and their parents. The weather was perfect and I don’t think we’ve ever had a better day. Fishing wise; there’s been better days and there’s been worse days. I think all the boats caught fish; some did better than others. The last few years, I’ve been used on stand-by waiting to see if there are any late comers. True to form, after all the boats had left; a call came in that two more boys would be there in a half hour. I put the boat in at the Wheeler’s Point landing and came back to Sportsman’s and picked up the boys. We went to the Morris Point washout and fished with minnows and hammered gold spinners in 6-7 feet of water. In a little over an hour we caught and released a number of small walleyes and kept a nice walleye and a smallmouth. Then it was off to Pine Island for some fun on the beach. After playtime we fished for an hour before coming in and only caught three small fish. The best bite seems to be between ten and noon and it does slow in the afternoon. It was another very successful Take a Kid Fishing day.

Jadon with the smallest of several little fish released

Justin with a nice smallmouth

Taking a break; time to play and there were no bugs

I’ve fished twice this week. On Monday, Jeff and I went to the lake early and were on the outside of Pine Island by 7:30. There was enough of a breeze that made for nice drift fishing. The action was not fast and it took us all morning and into the afternoon to get a limit of nice walleyes and one sauger. We did the best with a hammered gold spinner and a shiner in 5-8 feet of water. Jeff caught the only slot fish, a nice 23 inch walleye.

On Tuesday, Jonathan and two of his friends, Doug and Paul, along with their three daughters, Rachel, Erin and Sophie came for two days. They are taking in the Women’s Soccer event in Winnipeg. They had two games Monday, including the US Team and they’ll go back for two games on Friday. On Wednesday, late morning, we went to the lake and fished for a few hours. The action was ok for a little while. We ended up keeping four nice walleyes; released a 20″ slot fish and several small sauger. Paul caught the nice fish; a beautiful 20″ smallmouth that was released. Weather was good and we really had a nice time.

Paul with his nice 20″ smallmouth

Erin with a nice 20″ walleye

Rachel with her walleye

The Dad’s, Jonathan, Doug, Paul & Daughters Rachel, Erin & Sophie

Jeff with a nice 23″ walleye

Uncle Noie & Janice were here for a visit and a couple days of fishing. Always watching to see what the weather was doing, we did get to fish the lake twice. Both times we put in at Zippel Bay and we didn’t have to go far; just anchored up out front by the big rock in 21 feet. Day one, the action was immediate and steady. We had seven fish, mostly sauger, in the box before I started fishing. In a little over three hours, we kept 11 sauger, 8 walleyes and 1 perch. Released numerous small fish and one 25″ slot fish. Day two was much slower, but we did keep 7 sauger, 4 walleyes, released a bunch and got off the water just before it started to rain. We had a nice fish fry and sent a limit home with them. A good time.

Noie with a nice sauger

Janice with a nice walleye

Diane’s 25″ walleye

Here it is, two weeks into the season and I finally got fishing. Opening weekend both Diane and I were fighting a cold that many folks have been dealing with for weeks. The second weekend we received between four and five inches of rain that has the water dirty, both the river and a long way into the lake. Reports this past week were poor. Yesterday, Sunday, I got a couple of good reports. There was cleaner water west of Zippel Bay and the bite was good. River conditions have begun to improve and I fished the river late Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours. I caught three eaters; that’s better than many of the “not a bite” reports I’d been getting.

It’s Morel season and that’s a little like the fishing; spotty. Willard and I have been out a couple times and have found a few; deffinately a below average year for us. The morels can’t figure out when to come up. We’ve found a couple of spots where we found a half dozen and there would be two or three that just came up and some that had been up for several days. It’s a great time of the year to be in the woods and the ticks haven’t been bad.

Morels

The 2014-2015 walleye season is over. It ended on a picture perfect day; sunny, warm and unlike the day before, no wind. Bill invited me out for the morning bite. Daylight is about 6:00 a.m. so it’s up early to be on the water by then. There was good action for the first half-hour and then it slowed. We moved up river a mile or so and caught a few fish, but it wasn’t fast. We did manage to get our four walleyes to take home by mid-morning and released nine slot fish; the largest was 28″. With the walleye season opening on May 9th, the fish won’t get much of a rest. A lot can change, weather wise, in the next three weeks, but river fishing could be good on the opener.

The two week spring sturgeon season is from April 24th – May 7th. To harvest a sturgeon, a special tag is required and the fish has to be between 45″ and 50″ or over 75″. One over 75″ would likely be the State record. Could this be the year?

A pretty 28″ walleye

This past week has been something, especially this last weekend with the number of fisherman on the river. They are up here for a couple of days on the water before the walleye season closes and a chance to catch a big fish. Unlike most years when the water gets dirty shortly after ice out and the bite shuts off, conditions have remained good. The water is very low and there is virtually no current. The boat accesses to the river were full and the time to get your boat out of the water after a day of fishing could probably be hours, not minutes.

Sunday was the monthly pancake breakfast at out senior center. Bill and I were talking fishing while working and he said that he had just put his pontoon in the water on Saturday and had caught six fish; four being slot fish. Bill lives on the river and he leaves the boat in the water so waiting at a access was not an issue. He was going to fish later in the afternoon and invited me to come along. We fished almost three hours in two different spots. The wind came up and switched to the NW. The pontoon, with a top on it, would move around quite a bit, making it a little difficult to fish. It took a while to get our four fish to take home. We caught nine slot fish; most were between 24″ & 29″. Two more days and the walleyes get a break for a month.

Bill with a nice 27″ April walleye

There was a lot of activity on the river Easter Weekend and reports that I heard was that fishing was slow. Another indicator of the slow fishing is when the boats are moving a lot, trying different spots. With the Wheelers Point access not open there were a number of boats that went from the access in town to the resort area only to find a patch of ice blocking them from going further.

With Sunday being quite nice; about 30 degrees and light wind, I went out to Graceton Beach with thoughts of walking out and fishing late afternoon for a bit. When I arrived at the lake, Mark was just going out with his ATV and offered to give me a ride and suggested that I fish with him. He and his son had fished a couple of times over the week and had done ok late in the day in 18 feet of water. I was surprised at the few people fishing. There were five other small parties widely scattered. The bite for us was quite slow. In over two hours of fishing, we kept three walleyes, a sauger and a perch. We released a half-dozen small walleyes and caught no slot fish.

Mark with a April Walleye

Boats up against the ice at Wheelers Point on Saturday

It’s Good Friday morning; a bit chilly at 13 degrees, but still a half dozen boats fishing by the bridge. I sure hope they are dressed warm. The to-do list had one thing out by the lake and I was curious how far the ice was out. I stopped at the Wabanica church and there were two boats in the river and there was open water as far as I could see towards the resort area. I drove to the Wheelers Point access and the river was still covered with ice. When I stopped at the marina to get a filter for the Senior pontoon motor, I was told the river was out at Sportsman’s. That’s not far from the access so it might be usable this weekend. As far as the bite goes, I heard one good report and one that was no good. I did talk to a friend that fished the lake earlier in the week. He fished 17 feet and caught two one evening and three the next. He said there’s still lots of ice and needed an extension on the auger. About a third of the ice is candled and ATV’s are being used to get around. Still need to be careful at this time of the year.