Rainy River Spring Fishing Update
Fishing on the Rainy River this spring has been excellent. Those fishing for walleyes have reported overall big numbers of fish and keeping true with the spring fishing tradition, some absolute huge fish. With the river being open all the way into Lake of the Woods, reports of good fishing are coming in from all areas of the river. It is still fishing, so you have to find the fish, but there are a lot of fish in the river and as a rule, they have been cooperative. The spring walleye season rolls on through April 14th.
Sturgeon anglers are having some of the best sturgeon fishing some anglers have ever seen. With reports of over 30 sturgeon per boat for many and lots of personal best fish with sizes into the low 70 inch range for some.
Sturgeon fishing is relatively easy and very relaxing, until one of these big fish are hooked! If you haven’t felt the sheer power of a sturgeon, it is impressive.
Most anglers start out with heavier rods, reel and line. With fish reaching weights of 1oo lbs., it is good for the health of the sturgeon and health of the angler as well to be able to land the fish sooner rather than a long struggle.
The long struggles happen as sturgeon will often grab a walleye jig tipped with a minnow. Most walleye anglers will pull the anchor and follow these fish around. Normally, landing one of these fish with walleye gear will take 30 – 60 minutes, hence, heavier tackle when fishing for them is preferred.
The sturgeon season runs into mid May and closes until July 1st when it is open for the rest of the year. The sturgeon season dates are as follows.
April 24th – May 7th – Keep Season or Catch and Release
May 8th – May 15th – Catch and Release
July 1 – Sept. 30 – Keep Season or Catch and Release
If you are going to use your own boat and tackle, some ideas. Use strong rods, reels and line. Muskie gear or your strongest freshwater gear is a good choice. These fish fight hard and on walleye gear, the fight often times can last an hour. Heavier gear will allow you to pull in the fish quicker, which puts less stress on the sturgeon and ultimately is better for releasing.
Basically, a no roll sinker combined with a sturgeon rig will get the job done on the tackle end. A sturgeon rig is an 18″ snell with a 5/0 circle hook loaded with either nightcrawlers, frozen emerald shiners or a combo of both. Fish this set up on the bottom much like you would fishing for carp or catfish.
When a sturgeon bites, they don’t hammer it. It is often a subtle bit with taps or swimming weight. No need to do a hard hook set with a circle hook. Rather, tighten the line by reeling and moving your rod away from the fish. The circle hook is designed to hook the fish in the lips vs down deep where it can cause internal damage.
Equipment to have ready for sturgeon fishing.
-Use tackle that is suitable for landing a fish that weighs 100 pounds, or more
-Camera
-Large landing net
-Gloves, especially for handling small sturgeon that have razor-sharp projections (scutes)
-Pliers to remove hooks from fish. Sturgeon are almost always hooked in the mouth.
-Device to accurately measure the length of a long fish. We see fish over 80 inches long.
-A wet towel to place over the fish’s head when measuring. This helps calm the fish.
-Device, such as a seamstress tape, to measure maximum girth for weight estimation
-A pen or pencil and a pad of paper to record numbers from tagged fish that you catch
Spring fishing on the Rainy River. For many anglers, it is tradition. Whether it is the walleyes you are after or perhaps you are looking for that 100 lb sturgeon, if you have that itch to get out on open water, for many, this is just what the doctor ordered.
