Sturgeon on the Rainy, a chilling report.

With temps dipping well into the low teens and a 25 mph Northwest wind pushing super cooled Canadian air into northern Minnesota it was not the perfect day for boats or open water fishing. Although we would make it the perfect day as Jon Marshall from Marcum Technologies was stuck in Baudette after a youths ice fishing event had been cancelled at the last minute due to inclement weather and poor ice conditions. I had the boat sitting in Waskish ready and waiting for better weather when the call from Jon came in leaving zero excuses not to go. I grabbed my Snosuit attire, ran out the door and scrambled the boat down the highway like a fighter jet coming off the deck of a carrier. I was on my way to go fish sturgeon in harshest conditions I have ever faced over the spring river season and I was pumped!

To little surprise we arrived at the Rainy River to find ourselves the only ones at the landing. We shuffled into our Snosuits then slid the boat into the 33 degree water with ease as every last stitch of ice has left the main river from the Vidas access up, most likely this was due to the heavy current mixed with white caps rolling the river in two directions. Yes white caps coming up the river. A quick decision was made to find a deep hole on a corner, preferably a corner out of the wind. With a little searching on the Lakemaster map and the sonar we found just what we were looking for; a deeper channel with a rocky humps to help break up the flow and give the sturgeon a few resting spots and a place to eat.

We set ourselves up with 3-4 oz no-roll sinkers, circle hooks and a flat of crawlers as we set two lines down on the bottom awaiting the tell tale “tap tap tap” of a dinosaur on the end of the line and dinosaurs we found. Soon after setting up Jon was hooked up and battling a high forties Sturgeon in the current as reels froze and ice built up on everything exposed. A few quick pictures and we reset the rods for the next fish. Without a chance to de-ice from the first fish we had a second fish on the line; a very aggressive 56 inch tractor with fins pulling drag and bending the heavy fiberglass rod. This went on and on throughout the day concluding the outing with a total of fourteen sturgeon, several suckers or “suckdogs” as they became known as and one little eelpout with big intentions.

As I drove home from what I felt was a incredible day on the water realized I learned many things that I never really thought about. One was my Snosuit; I was in such a hurry to get out the door I remembered my Snosuit but forgot to put on my base layer or long underwear, I was fine in those temps and conditions for nine hours with just my Snosuit, Snosuit gloves, jeans and a hooded sweatshirt on…wow. I also was reminded that many times Sturgeon fishing can be classed as just a sit in the deep hole and wait game but we seen firsthand that with a little work with the sonar can pay huge dividends. Other boats did anchor around us for short periods before leaving without a single tap. That little bit of structure made all the difference in those poor conditions and that was very clearly demonstrated as we boated fish and others did not. I also learned that with the right gear, a good map, a little bit of thinking and a good deal of determination what appears to be the worst day possible can turn out to be one of the best.