Rainy River Spring 2022

Appreciate it! Crazy how fast that thing can go when she wants to!

Pretty good bite today. Not many boats. Forks are still holding but look rough.

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Nice fish Mike!

Holy crap Mike! Nice job. We were fishing out of Frontier today. Caught two…all others we talked to caught zero. The river clarity was 6 inches with lots of debris. Where were you fishing?

Drive west until you find cleaner water. Get close to the lake.

Holy poop Mike, you have been nailing it. Sure wish we could have been up before the blizzard.

Well, our first trip to the rainy wasn’t all that successful. 10 fish Monday, 2 yesterday. Was still a fun experience and I’d do it again. Hopefully I can convince my son to come back. I think he realizes it can only get better.

We had really dirty water out of Frontier yesterday and we never saw water temps over 35 in our two days. I’ve been told 38 degree temps is when they really start going. It kinda made us feel better that we only saw two other boats catch a fish, so we knew it wasn’t just us.

When the water does get dirty, it sounds like the plan should be head west, per Charlie. Does that mean put in at Baudette? I didn’t do any research on the more western landings, and now I’m kicking myself.

One more question, I was told to fish current breaks, and I had a tough time finding any unless it was behind an island. I’m primarily a lake fisherman and have very little river experience. Is there a secret to finding these current breaks? I was expecting to find a little more structure, but the river seemed to be roughly the same all the way through. A few deeper holes, but otherwise depths seemed to slowly taper from 6-12ft. Hats off to all of you guys that can fish the river so successfully. Hopefully I’ll be a little better at it next time.

Thanks to everyone for their help with the river, especially Bearcat. I really appreciate it.

walleyevision wrote:

Well, our first trip to the rainy wasn’t all that successful. 10 fish Monday, 2 yesterday. Was still a fun experience and I’d do it again. Hopefully I can convince my son to come back. I think he realizes it can only get better.

We had really dirty water out of Frontier yesterday and we never saw water temps over 35 in our two days. I’ve been told 38 degree temps is when they really start going. It kinda made us feel better that we only saw two other boats catch a fish, so we knew it wasn’t just us.

When the water does get dirty, it sounds like the plan should be head west, per Charlie. Does that mean put in at Baudette? I didn’t do any research on the more western landings, and now I’m kicking myself.

One more question, I was told to fish current breaks, and I had a tough time finding any unless it was behind an island. I’m primarily a lake fisherman and have very little river experience. Is there a secret to finding these current breaks? I was expecting to find a little more structure, but the river seemed to be roughly the same all the way through. A few deeper holes, but otherwise depths seemed to slowly taper from 6-12ft. Hats off to all of you guys that can fish the river so successfully. Hopefully I’ll be a little better at it next time.

Thanks to everyone for their help with the river, especially Bearcat. I really appreciate it.

. Water was dirty clear out in 4 mile bay. We caught fish just not the really big girls. Lot of guys I talked to yesterday really struggled and today was worse I was told

walleyevision wrote:

Well, our first trip to the rainy wasn’t all that successful. 10 fish Monday, 2 yesterday. Was still a fun experience and I’d do it again. Hopefully I can convince my son to come back. I think he realizes it can only get better.

We had really dirty water out of Frontier yesterday and we never saw water temps over 35 in our two days. I’ve been told 38 degree temps is when they really start going. It kinda made us feel better that we only saw two other boats catch a fish, so we knew it wasn’t just us.

When the water does get dirty, it sounds like the plan should be head west, per Charlie. Does that mean put in at Baudette? I didn’t do any research on the more western landings, and now I’m kicking myself.

One more question, I was told to fish current breaks, and I had a tough time finding any unless it was behind an island. I’m primarily a lake fisherman and have very little river experience. Is there a secret to finding these current breaks? I was expecting to find a little more structure, but the river seemed to be roughly the same all the way through. A few deeper holes, but otherwise depths seemed to slowly taper from 6-12ft. Hats off to all of you guys that can fish the river so successfully. Hopefully I’ll be a little better at it next time.

Thanks to everyone for their help with the river, especially Bearcat. I really appreciate it.

Disclaimer – I have only fished the rainy two springs, but I have been out there enough in the fall and the patterns seemed to hold true last week.

Don’t kick yourself too much. Social media and resorts make the rainy look wayyyyy easier than it can be. You hit it after the warm weather of early last week and the forks loosening up. The water temp dropped significantly late last week and the added dirty water made your days tough.

Wheeler’s Pt. public access only opened yesterday and was iced up before then. Fishing in front of the resorts along the river is a good bet when you can get that far west. Again, just a timing thing.

Current breaks are not necessarily visible all the time. Sometimes just the slightest point or bump in the shoreline will slow the current enough to be noticeable (keep an eye on your trolling motor setting – it’s sometimes the easiest way to find slower current). Slower current and/or breaks companied with sand (some small gravel patches mixed in) is what I like out there. I tend to stay away from the really rocky and timber filled areas. That is what I looked for.

Mike is a river nut so hopefully he will add some of his secrets – he (and some others here) spent a ton of time there this spring.

Thanks Charlie. I’m pretty motivated to find fish this time of year. Keep moving and trying different things. Pay attention to river conditions. Pay attention to what you are seeing on you electronics. Rainy River fish can be very picky to presentation. Small details can make a huge difference.

Forgot to ad we got skunked today. Our 2nd boat caught three 29s. Our presentation was just slightly off their’s.

Mike W wrote:

Forgot to ad we got skunked today. Our 2nd boat caught three 29s. Our presentation was just slightly off their’s.

Love the honesty. I’ve known Marv Koep since the 70’s and I always liked it when he would say, “I wish I caught as many fish as people think I do.”

Only one walleye for us today. This big gator ended up being the last fish of our spring trip. 40+ inches. She also had part of a gill net around her head that we removed. Been a fun spring on the Rainy. Now the wait begins for next year’s trip.

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Mike W wrote:

Only one walleye for us today. This big gator ended up being the last fish of our spring trip. 40+ inches. She also had part of a gill net around her head that we removed. Been a fun spring on the Rainy. Now the wait begins for next year’s trip.

Do you think it was a poachers net? Is there legal netting on the US side of LOW? If not, did it migrate from Canadian waters to the Rainy? Lots of questions and mysteries with that fish.

Do you think it was a poachers net? Is there legal netting on the US side of LOW? If not, did it migrate from Canadian waters to the Rainy? Lots of questions and mysteries with that fish.
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I did not see the net but I know guys can net white fish in mn.

No idea about where it came from or if it was legal or not. Or how the pike got out of it. I wondered if the fish was cut out of a white fish net and maybe just left to die to keep it from eat fish out of the net.

Does anyone here know if the forks let loose yet?

They had not as of Thursday night. Upper parts of the big fork where still holding Friday. I’m no expert on those rivers but would think it’s just days before they ho if they haven’t already. Silver creek already let loose.

Picture of both the little and big fork Thursday night

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Anyone chase sturgeon yet this spring?? I’ve never done it but I live close enough now to make a quick day trip or two before opener. Any advice??

Any updates on the Littlefork or Bigfork Rivers. Have they let go?

My buddy said on Tues they did not look any different then my pictures above. Flow has not changed but visibility and debris has improved. The rain forecasted for the weekend might change things up.

Thanks for the update. Appreciate any future updates. Looking at a trip next Thursday thru Saturday, conditions permitting

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