The anglers coming in tonight had mostly the same to say. Fishing has slowed down from muddy water. One group said they caught 50 walleye yesterday and 1 today. However, the sturgeon have been active. Another group said the same, and their plan tomorrow is to fish for sturgeon. Others plan to try Peland, which is an option most will try when the river muddies up. Sandee sent me an email she recieved a couple years ago from a person on muddy wayer fishing that she thought might help. It reads "Having fished the river now for the past 10 tears I have come to learn a few tricks when the water is high and murky. First of all, drift fishing can close down and be less productive due to the limited visability. I generally look for pockets or structures that hold fish and attempt to double anchor over them. I then will dig out a big lizard and put it on a 3/4oz-1oz jighead with slow presentation off the bottom. This has been very successful for me and worked well last weekend. True, the fishing was slow but my wife and I still boated 10 walleyes on Saturday and 15 on Sunday in a half day. The idea is to put something that makes alot of action in front of the fish and wait." The water temp reportidly dropped today about 2 degrees. Better weather is exspected this weekend. The anglers here haven't given up, their just getting more crafty.

We had some anglers come in about 12:30pm today, they reported that the Forks haven't let go yet but the river has muddied up. The rain proved to be too much for the river. We still have anglers on the river and we'll let you know how there day was as soon as they get back. Anglers we have seen today have still been catching fish today.

The Forks continue to steadily rise. We're not in danger of muddy water yet, but the next couple days we'll have to cross our fingers. Last night we got 0.62 of rain. Total in the last 24 hours was 1.18. Last night we got reports that the fishing stayed good despite the weather. Anglers reported some murky water on the Canadian side of the river, they said most likely run off. The middle and Minnesota side were still very clear. Highs today only in the upper 30's-lower 40's.

Went up to Little Fork today to have a look. It's still iced over and Big Fork is as well. Both rivers are rising though and I am watching closely. Today the water was still clear however the skies weren't. We had over cast and drizzle all day. Temps were in the upper 30's. Tomorrow sounds like the same. River now has open water to Baudette. The Clementson Bay is showing signs of opening as well. Vidas ramp looks real good. You can launch big boats as well as small now. Anglers coming in tonight report still good fishing despite the weather.

We had a last minute cancellation for a 2 person cabin this weekend. Friday and Saturday night. It won't be open long give me a call to reserve.

Looks like tomorrow may be more of the same weather, cooler high of only 40. The weekend perks up, sorry thought it was tomorrow we'd see sunny skies. Got too excited for nice weather!

Let's all try to take our turns this weekend, karma has strange way of getting you back.

We had some maintence issues yesterday, but we're back on track today! Yesterday was sunny and beautiful, then last night it started to drizzle. Today it's raining and it looks to be a little rainy all day. Tomorrow should be nice again. The Little Fork is rising now, last night it showed it's first signs, but nothing dramatic. I will keep an eye on it closely. Today I'm heading that way to try to get a good picture of it so you can see it for yourself. We have availability at the begining of April just give us a call, it's not too late!

What a catch!! Eric Dahl caught this beauty today. It weighed in at 11lbs 8oz and was 31 and a half inches long! Way to go Eric!

Doug Carel also had a nice catch with this 26" walleye today.

Jeremy Carel with a nice 28" walleye

Little Fork and Big Fork are still holding steady levels. Today was beautiful, we almost hit 50 from our gauge. Their forcasting rain for Wednsday and Friday, but temps are said to remain in the mid to upper 40's. We now have open water about a mile west of Clementson, seen a couple anglers out there too. Also seen anglers where the Clementson Bay enters the river, but the bay remains frozen for the time being. Water temp was reported to be around 38 degrees. Fishing is still very good, females are begining to make an appearance. We've also had reports of large Sturgeon and Northern.

We have open water by Clementson now! How ever the bay is still frozen over. We went to Vidas Landing to see how the ramp was and I got some pictures of some brave souls launching an 18ft boat with a 75hp motor over shore ice! I'll be putting them up later today. I wouldn't recommend big boats at this time but Vidas is ready for small boats for sure!

Greg Rosier had another good day with this 30" walleye he caught on a rapala!

Aaron Crimmins party reported fish were biting on 3/8oz jigs and rainbow minnows. They thought they might be too heavy but 1/4oz had no results and stuck to 3/8oz. They said for sure, don't forget your stingers! Another group said they were drifting with similar lures and doing well, but they said they noticed alot of different techniques out on the river today and the fish were biting on those as well. Weather is exspected to stay in the upper 30's to lower 40's. Water temp today was reportedly between 36 and 37 degrees.

Here's Brady's 29" walleye caught yesterday using a white jig and minnow. Today Brady and Mike boated 50-60 walleyes, most 15"-20" range. There was reportedly alot of boat traffic today. Many groups noted more than usual.

Brady Kjos caught his biggest walleye yesterday at 29", 10.5lbs! Him and buddy Mike Padula said they had over 40 walleyes, mostly 15"s and a few over 20". Most of their fishing was done between Birchdale and Frontier. I'm having a little trouble posting the picture, but stay tuned she's a beauty! It was cloudy this morning but the sun came out today for a great afternoon.

Welcome to our new site!

The river is seeing alot of action already this weekend. As I've been getting pictures I've been posting them to the "Hall of Fame" page which will soon be known as the "Brag Board" as we know it better as. Reports are that they've been hitting on minnows. One group reported going through their bait so quickly today they had to switch to plastics for about an hour to save on their live bait. The river temp today was between 33.3 and 33.9. Water level remains steady at Little Fork, Big Fork and Manitou Rapids. Temps in Baudette remain in the upper 30's to low 40's.

The river is open just past Frontier, with just small boats over shore ice at this time. Again, Birchdale has been plowed and you can use the double ramp for boats of all sizes. Not sure when Frontier will be plowed, will let you know. No big changes in the levels at LF, BF or Manitou so the melt is stable. Weather forecast doesn't look to be a great warm-up, so the melt should remain slow. We are currently booked up for the pre-spawn season, any openings will be posted here.

Koochiching County plowed!! Woo Hoo!! More updates later! UPDATED: Posted pictures of Birchdale ramp, dual launching, Thank You Koochiching County! Frontier is opening, there were already anglers going over shore ice. It's breaking up West (down-river) from the ramp. Next stop VIDAS! Will update any fishing reports we get. Now that Birchdale is open for all sizes of boats, call us, we have room!!

River is open to mile marker #150, just about 2 miles to go to Frontier. Possibilty to launch over shore ice by this weekend at Frontier. Usually by the time it is open for small boats at Frontier, Birchdale is open for bigger boats, meaning the county has plowed. With the river being open most of the winter, the ramp was not used for a access road, so there shouldn't be deep ramp ice. The last picture posted today is the Birchdale ramp, and it looks to me like they could plow it easily. Hopefully you can launch bigger boats by this weekend. I would expect to see bigger boats this weekend, regardless if the county plows or not. I've seen them bring shovels and move the snow themselves! We will update any new information as it comes in.

Talked to Koochiching County today and was told they haven't scheduled the time to plow the ramp at Birchdale. It appears to be "plowable" at this point, so hopefully it will be done before this weekend. As in the past we post the contact phone number for plowing information. (218) 283-1128. I went to take pictures today and for some reason my camera wasn't working, even with new batteries. Will try and get a picture posted tomorrow, just to show the condition of the ramp. The river is holding at mile marker #153 which is a shallow area, normally it holds for a day or so there.

Fishing was better yesterday afternoon as reported by a group of anglers. They stayed this morning to fish and reported slow action, although another group said they limited early. It's all in the presentation and the area your are fishing.

The river is open down to mile marker #153, so that's a good 3 miles it has opened since yesterday. Won't be long until Frontier has some open water. We will take pictures of the ramp at Birchdale tomorrow and let you know when we think the county can plow it. Won't be long before you can put in big boats at Birchdale. Warm weather today should continue the melt! Call us up before we book up!

As you can see from the pictures it is opening up-river and at the Birchdale Ramp. There is a ice jam West of the ramp, with ice that is not very thick. We have some "meltable" weather coming up and with the little amount of ice formed it shouldn't take long to open down to Frontier. An average is about 3-4 days to reach Frontier after Birchdale opens. No fishing reports at the time of this report, will update if we get one. Art and I are OPEN and ready for business. CALL US AT 800-433-6085, don't miss out on the "first ice-out" fishing time.

Again, we will keep checking conditions and let you know when you can launch the bigger boats. Hopefully the county will plow as soon as it is feasible. We'll keep you updated.

UPDATE: Anglers put in over shore ice today at Birchdale. Our guests in camp didn't do well this afternoon, although another group reported fairly good fishing. There are ice chunks coming down from broken off shore ice, so drifting would be best. We will keep you updated on the ramp conditions at Birchdale also. The first picture is the Birchdale ramp looking East, and the second is another view from Birchdale. Stay tuned . . .

C'mon UP, we have availability!! Call 800-433-6085 and join in the fun of FIRST ICE OUT ON THE RAINY RIVER!

Checked at Birchdale today and there is no change from the picture posted yesterday. We will be checking again tomorrow. Warm weather coming, and remember the ice only formed last month, not much to melt off!

Welcome back to the Rainy River Update. The river is busting open down to Birchdale. Historically when you see open water up river, it opens to Birchdale within 2-3 days. You can fish out of Franz Jevne now, which some prefer this area during 1st ice-out. Watch for continued updates and pictures. The first picture is the Birchdale ramp and rapids. The second is the Birchdale ramp looking up-river.

Opening water down to Birchdale. It's not shore to shore but that won't take long. There are other areas of open water too, river is slushy. Art and I will be checking again and posting pictures.

Things are looking good for open water fishing soon. Pictures taken today show open water down to Franz Jevne, which is only 1 mile from Birchdale. This is where it can hang up on the melt to Birchdale in a normal winter. With the river being open most of the winter season, and with the little ice depth it should go faster than it normally would. Art and I will check the river at Birchdale again and update with any changes. It looks to be opening up river from the Birchdale ramp. We will have availability, give us a call before we book up!

Warmer weather coming and rain tomorrow should help open the river. There is open water by Indus, nothing close yet to Birchdale. We should get a few pictures by the end of the week for you. We are getting alot of calls, anglers are getting ansy to get out on that river and we are ansy to accommodate you! Stay tuned . . .