Anglers Adapt to Changing Spring Rainy River
“You should have been here yesterday”! This is a phrase most anglers really do not want to hear. This phrase rang true to many anglers this past weekend. After watching social media blow up with images of 100 fish days and dozens of images of smiling anglers holding walleyes 28 – 32 inches with huge bellies, anglers were hopeful. One thing about this time of the year, spring brings constant change to Rainy River anglers.
Starting Thursday of last week, the Little Fork river “popped”, meaning it broke loose and started dumping it’s ice, wood, debris, grass and muddy water into the clean Rainy River. The result, the Rainy River went from clarity of over 3′ to less than a foot. This makes it much more difficult to catch a walleye. Not impossible as many fish were still boated, but not nearly the numbers as seen with better clarity.
Just after the Little Fork broke loose, the Rapid River in Clementson broke loose. Monday, the Big Fork opened up. What this all means is the Rainy River has dirty water, for the time being. If you ever find yourself in a situation where the Rainy River gets dirty, there are options.
One option is to look for cleaner water. This would normally be upstream from feeder streams or rivers that broke loose or if available like it is now, fish in the lake. The Rainy River flows through Four Mile Bay, flows through the Lighthouse Gap (the area between Pine and Sable islands) and into Lake of the Woods. As of today, the ice is out to over 20′ of water and lots of walleyes are being caught.
Another option is to stick it out in the river knowing there will not be numbers but there is still a chance at a true trophy walleye. When fishing dirty water, try a larger presentation walleyes can hone in on easier. Another consideration is scent like a frozen shiner. Extra noise can be helpful. Examples could be a plastic on your jig with ribs and a paddle tail or maybe a propeller or spinner on your jig head.
If you are open to other species, there are good options. Sturgeon still bite well despite dirty water. Anchor up in a hole in the river with a 3-4 ounce no roll sinker and a sturgeon rig loaded with crawlers or frozen shiners and hang on. These fish are aggressive this time of year and many walleye anglers have been catching them unintentionally.
Another species that could be available is pike. Pike season on Lake of the Woods never closes. If some key bays are open, it could be “game on” for catching a pike over 20 lbs. Some key spots to consider are Bostic Bay, 4 Mile Bay and Zippel Bay.
Looking forward, the hope is for the Rainy River to clean up. With all of the major feeder rivers flowing, eventually the river will clean up and it will be unbelievable again. That could happen in a few days, time will tell. In speaking with a good local angler, he commented on a couple of years back when the river dirtied up for about five days and everyone gave up on it. He went out, had much of the river to himself and had some of the best walleye fishing of the year.
Believe it or not, some boats are coming in with 50 walleyes per day right now. I will let you only guess what part of the open water they are fishing, but just know there are definitely nice walleyes to be had. Many believe the big numbers of walleyes being caught so far are fish that were left in the river from the great shiner run this past fall and the mother-load of big walleyes from Lake of the Woods are still to come. Time will tell.
The spring walleye season continues through April 14th.
