Greetings Fishermen!
The river is on its way! Just yesterday it was open in front of Sportsman’s Lodge! If the weather warms as it is supposed to, within the next few days it should be open all the way to Wheeler’s Point!
At this time, no travel on Four Mile Bay is advised. Public boat accesses that are open at this time include: Birchdale, Frontier, Franz Jevne, Vidas, and Timbermill Park.
Even with the walleye season closed, people are still out catching fish! Sturgeon are abundant in the Rainy River right now, and people are catching these massive prehistoric beasts every day. It is still catch and release season on sturgeon, but on April 24th, the season will open for harvesting. Please make sure you read the latest sturgeon fishing regulations, which I am adding to the end of this post.
There is still ice! As I said earlier, no travel is advised on Four Mile Bay, but if you go further west, the ice is still quite accessible. People aren’t needing to go out that far though, because they are bringing in some pretty monstrous pike right in shallow shoreline water. Live and dead bait are both working well.
Now it is a waiting game, to see what the next few weeks bring. Will we have much for open water when the season opens back up? What do you think?
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Info on Lake Sturgeon Harvest which opens on April 24th, taken from the MN DNR online 2013 regulation handbook:
Lake Sturgeon Tags
Lake sturgeon tags and mail-in registration cards are required for
anyone* who wishes to harvest and possess a lake sturgeon. The following
requirements apply:
• An angler may take and possess only one lake sturgeon per calendar
year.
• Lake sturgeon may not be possessed or transported without a tag.
Validate and attach the tag immediately upon reducing the fish
to possession.
• Tag must be attached to the narrow portion of the body in front of the
tail fin.• Tags must be attached so that they cannot be easily removed.
• Tags are not transferable and no duplicate tags will be issued.
• Registration cards must be completed and mailed within 48 hours
after harvesting a fish. Send to: Regional Fisheries, 2115 Birchmont
Beach Rd NE, Bemidji, MN 56601.
• Lake sturgeon must be transported intact (gills and internal organs may
be removed).
• Members of a fishing party may not take sturgeon for other anglers’
limits.
Note: Catch-and-Release can be done where seasons are open with only
a valid fishing license.
* Including those otherwise exempt from angling license requirements.
Dates
All calendar dates refer to 2013 unless noted otherwise.
Season Dates:
LAKE Sturgeon April 24-May 7 and 1 per calendar year.
July 1-Sept. 30
(Fish must be 45-50″, inclusive, or over 75″.)
Immediately upon reducing a fish to possession, you must validate and attach your sturgeon tag.
Harvested sturgeon must be registered within 48 hours.
May 8-May 15 and Oct. 1, 2013-April 23, 2014
Catch-and-release only. (No tag needed)
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