Heading up to northern Mn this weekend to try my hand at wild ricing. Anyone been out yet this year? Hows it been going. Guys Im going with got 150#s today. Hope the weather holds up for us tomorrow. Have never done this before so it should be fun.
Where are you going? I checked an area around Brainerd last weekend and it’s still a couple of weeks away from any being ripe.
Do you need a license to harvest wild rice?
Yes. It’s $15 for a day or $25 for the season I believe.
DT
That’s what I thought. The lake my brothers cabin is on has a nice plot of wild rice in the river that flows in. He told me you need a license to harvest it.
Amazing the size flocks of birds you would scare out of there motoring through the channel.
Bemidji. 6.5 sacks for the werkend. Two canoes. Only went in the drink once. Worms where thick
Worms?
So do you harvest them like how the Indians did?
Earned my feather and indian name this weekend. Swishing rice in a canoe with a couple of sticks while the neighbor push poled. Imagine hanging out in a canoe with a couple 5 gallon buckets of wax worms. That will get you close.
Plush i got to cruise around back county roads in a old amz eagle. Leaking gas tank and all.
Pics. Wish i could of got some on the water but no way i was bringing any thing in the canoe i didnt want to get wet.
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Vehicles.
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Felt like i was back in high school cruizing back county roads.
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Gross. So they are like maggots? Totally worth it though. I haven’t had wild rice in a while. Now I have a hankering, especially when the weather starts cooling.
What do you do with that much wild rice? Granted, it must keep for a long time, but that is a lot!
Yes, white like magots shaped like the little inch worms that come off the trees. Got off the water yesterday and shook off all my clothes. Finely said the heck with it and striped down to put new clothes on. Still found them crawling on me most the the way back to the cities. Last one I found was while sitting in the living room telling the wife about the weekend. He was crawling up my neck. All my gear is now out in the garage for the next few days to hopefully let them crawl out of it.
Good thing is the worms pretty much just crawl around. They will pinch onto you once and a while but dont leave any mark or irritation. Would guess at any given time there would be a hundred to couple hundred on me at a time. When we got wet and water in the boat it got worse. They all came out of the rice then and started looking for the highest point to get to. It was like worm races on your legs.
Did I sell you on ricing yet?
What do you do with that much wild rice? Granted, it must keep for a long time, but that is a lot!
Whats in the bags is just the start of the process. The guys tell me we will end up with less than half of whats in the bags when processing is complete. They start by laying it out on drying tables for a few days and clean the stay leaves out of it. From there it goes to the processor. They have to get the husks off of it, roast it or some thing while stirring with a canoe paddle and I think a few other things.
Im hoping my take from the weekends harvest to be 10 to 20#s. Thats still a lot of rice for us. Guess it will keep for a very long time if kept right. Im sure we will be sharing and giving some away at the holidays to. Looking forward to plenty of wild rice soup, hot dish, pancakes and so on this fall to.
That looks like fun, worms…not so much. I saw a deal on one of the public tv shows where they dried it put into a big copper kettle and did a dance in the kettle to loosen the husk. After that they had a screen framed would toss up into the air and the husks would blow away. After that they positioned the kettle half over a fire, half off and stirred with the canoe paddle till toasted. Always thought it would be fun to try to gather and prepare.
That does sound like fun. Did you hire some sort of guide service or just knew somw guys that knew how to do it? I guess I didn’t know of another way to harvest wild rice other than with a canoe the way natives did it. How else can you harvest it?
Love the AMC eagle. Haven’t seen one of those in a while. That’s high on my list for one of the ugliest vehicles I’ve ever come across but I have a strange affinity for them.
We went with my neighbors brother that lives up north. They had the canoes and gear we needed including that sweat ass Eagle. Filled it up to far with gas the first morning so had pretty good gas fumes in it cruising those dirt roads. Felt like some of the beaters we used to run around in back in my high school days.
Neighbors are heading back up for round two this weekend. As much work as it was Im a little bummed to not be going with. Might run up around Aitkin if I get some free time this weekend and do some scouting of spots.
Love the AMC eagle. Haven’t seen one of those in a while. That’s high on my list for one of the ugliest vehicles I’ve ever come across but I have a strange affinity for them.
Just about everything AMC made was ugly. Remember the Matador…or the Gremlin?
Anyway, if you’re looking for something good to do with the wild rice…here is a recipe from Outdoor News for “Walleye Wild Rice Chowder” I have made it several times and it’s always the best I’ve ever had. What’s not to like, it has walleye, wild rice and BACON!! 
http://www.outdoornews.com/2016/02/01/walleye-and-wild-rice-chowder/
Just about everything AMC made was ugly.
The Javelin and AMX were pretty sweet vehicles, and I have a buddy with a nice Hornet.
Worms where thick
My dad always called that “rice with a side of protein”. There were always worms and bugs, I remember having stuff crawling all over my clothing and I’d have worms crawling out of whatever I wore ricing for days afterward.
What do you do with that much wild rice? Granted, it must keep for a long time, but that is a lot!
We averaged about 30-35% yield of finished rice over every 10 years. So 300 pounds of “green” rice, would yield about 100 pounds of finished wild rice once it’s processed.
My father and I used to go every year, but we had to give it up after the closing of the last processing place that we knew of within a reasonable drive. Sandberg’s in Malmo finally closed up shop and we struggled to find another processor and finally gave it up. Hassle was just too much and I was strugging to find the time to commit to it every year. I miss it, though.
Grouse
Mike, I have a great morel/wild rice soup recipe!!!!
My brother has a cabin in Trego and there is more rice in front of his place than anyone can pick out. He purchaced a harvest license a few years ago and he ended up with 10 lbs maybe. The gal that processed the rice took half and gave him the other half. It is a lot of work to do by hand but she was a good and faster than any of us idiots would have been.
Mike, I have a great morel/wild rice soup recipe!!!!
My brother has a cabin in Trego and there is more rice in front of his place than anyone can pick out. He purchaced a harvest license a few years ago and he ended up with 10 lbs maybe. The gal that processed the rice took half and gave him the other half. It is a lot of work to do by hand but she was a good and faster than any of us idiots would have been.
Interesting. There is more wild rice in front of my place than anyone can pick out too. In Trego…..
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buschman wrote:</div>
Mike, I have a great morel/wild rice soup recipe!!!!My brother has a cabin in Trego and there is more rice in front of his place than anyone can pick out. He purchaced a harvest license a few years ago and he ended up with 10 lbs maybe. The gal that processed the rice took half and gave him the other half. It is a lot of work to do by hand but she was a good and faster than any of us idiots would have been.
Interesting. There is more wild rice in front of my place than anyone can pick out too. In Trego…..
Suzuki, he is on the south end of the flowage where Potato creek comes into the lake. I believe his cabin used to be a old campground lodge.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buschman wrote:</div>
Mike, I have a great morel/wild rice soup recipe!!!!My brother has a cabin in Trego and there is more rice in front of his place than anyone can pick out. He purchaced a harvest license a few years ago and he ended up with 10 lbs maybe. The gal that processed the rice took half and gave him the other half. It is a lot of work to do by hand but she was a good and faster than any of us idiots would have been.
Interesting. There is more wild rice in front of my place than anyone can pick out too. In Trego…..
Suzuki, he is on the south end of the flowage where Potato creek comes into the lake. I believe his cabin used to be a old campground lodge.
Cool. Very close to me.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buschman wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buschman wrote:</div>
Mike, I have a great morel/wild rice soup recipe!!!!My brother has a cabin in Trego and there is more rice in front of his place than anyone can pick out. He purchaced a harvest license a few years ago and he ended up with 10 lbs maybe. The gal that processed the rice took half and gave him the other half. It is a lot of work to do by hand but she was a good and faster than any of us idiots would have been.
Interesting. There is more wild rice in front of my place than anyone can pick out too. In Trego…..
Suzuki, he is on the south end of the flowage where Potato creek comes into the lake. I believe his cabin used to be a old campground lodge.
Cool. Very close to me.
Are you sure you’re not brothers?!?! 
Wild Ricing is definitely on my bucket list. I didn’t realize there were processing places previously or I probably would have checked that box. Good stuff!
Any of you guys got any old push poles or sticks for ricing? Need to get my own set.
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