River Conditions

The land walleye feels the strain of a heavy breeze and is in question! Lots of questions coming in on conditions, bite, and predictions!! I got the little boat out to tackle the first two! Conditions are as most outings fishing are... less than ideal!! That being said we are humans and we adapt to survive!! Same with fishing!! Often they don't bite the way we want them to and they ain't where we want them to be lol!! But with a positive attitude and little trial and error a guy can usually put some fish topside!! We did just that last night!! Hooowl!! The wolf pack was out with the god father of Dino's Mike Svir and in the few hours spent soaking bait, we managed to land 2 40" and under fish and a heart break when the line caught the corner of the boat and snapped on a good one! It was less trial and error for me! I just put last years tactics to work and The wolf pack put some work in on some Dino's!! I use the Kiss acronym when it comes to Dino's (keep it simple stupid) and it has always work for me!! Conditions were not terrible as most the big debris has passed for now!! We'll see what the next fews days bring, but am confident things will remain fishable!! The weather may require a bit of grit and determination..... but I've never been much of a fair weather fisherman lol!! The big fork may make a guy change plans and fishing places, but hey never not fishing!!

Little Fork, Rapid River, Sliver Creek all blew a couple of days ago and it is all cleared up already. The Big Fork (the last river we needed to go) blew out this morning and was already to Franz by 3pm and should be in front of the Dutchman's by tonight. There is less ice but more trees in the debris coming down. Kuttes landing is open now so if you want to stay up stream for a bit, that's a good landing to go to. 

Water temp has gone down again but it's holding at the mid 30's. 

Little Fork and Big Fork pictures courtesy of Darren Heidinger that's  staying with us! Thank you so much for the pictures, we all appreciate it! They are still holding but very patchy. It's anyone's guess on if they will hold until Friday but we'll see. Water clarity has been ridiculous clear and it will be interesting to see if adding in some chocolate milk will make the bite worst or better. I'm really curious on this because it looks like the first year we were up year and when they broke it was like someone dumped a big slushy in the river and that was it. Within a day or two it was back to normal. BUT each year has been different so far. 

Open water is up to the International bridge going into Canada and still making ground! 

Water temp as of last night was 40 degrees. Today is gorgeous and only getting warmer so I'm sure that is up by now. 

To recap open boat landings, you have Birchdale, Frontier and Vidas.

 As you all know Indus school needs our help! The Dutchman has called on everyone visiting the borderland for the spring season to do what they can! No amount too big or too small!! There are a few different ways to give to Indus school! saveindus.com is the link to their go fund me page, there is a donation box at holiday, you can stop at border bank and donate, or when you're heading to the landing or coming back from fishing you can swing by the Dutchman! Thank you to the gentleman who donated earlier today!! Let's keep the ball rolling and show the borderland what true Americans do!! They help each other out!!! For those about to fish, we salute you!! I'll see you on the water!! The Dutchman signing out!! 

 Open in front Vidas and to the West a mile or so, really rough looking ice up to silver creek area. Probably be in front of The Dutchman in 2 days!!! Birchdale and Frontier are the only landings in play so far though. 

Hello all! The forks are still looking good and with the cold temps ahead, they should hold. Ice pack is at mile marker 152 and is really patching for the next mile west, with large open pools. That's just 4 mile east of Frontier landing. From now until Thursday looks cooler so we'll see what all happens but we are still in the game 

Some fishermen were out today and it seems like it's been good. A guy was even shore fishing with his best friend at Kuttes. Looked amazing! Even though it was colder today, having the sun out really made it beautiful.

The Dutchman gets home tonight so I'm sure he will be itchin' to see for himself. Stay tuned and for those about to fish, we salute you!

The day's beauty wakes to frigid temps once again in the land of walleye!!! The Dutchman wakes up with cinnamon rolls and coffee!! The sounds of kids getting ready for school was my sound track for the morning wake up, and a smile filled my face watching them walk into school!! I truly am a wealthy man! 

The Mighty Rainy!!!! Everyone is watching close, and some seem even more eager than me to be afloat on it's heavenly waters. The good, the bad, and the ugly!! The ugly! It was an ugly sight hitting mile marker 162 and seeing more ice stacked up further than it was 2 days before! The bad! I was left with a bad feeling seeing no new progress in the ice pack, and my eyes were feeling the pain of seeing old man winters attack on the borderland with frigid temps had refroze parts of the Mighty Rainy!! The good! The refreeze was crashing and smashing into each other and making it's way too the head of the pack, and the crashing and smashing is just the bashing it takes to open the Mighty beast up! I also know that it can stall for a few days and then make a huge jump, so I am staying optimistic that the weekend will bring better news and better views for these sore eyes!! That beautiful ball of fire in the sky, and the some what warming temp's ahead of us may be just that push the Mighty Rainy needs to get us towards the levels of progress we are all praying for for!! Only time will tell!! 

Indus! The Indus school has a tuff road ahead! It's a crucial life line for the community we all love!! In the borderland we are stretched far and wide! To lose this would mean long commute to times for the area youth and may cause de population of this beautiful area! Without folks calling it home there may not be the means or the man power to perform the vital tasks it takes to get you on the water in the spring. As you get your boat and gear ready for this coming spring, think about the amount of we've blown on equipment to put fish in the boat! Think of your own children and the struggles you would face if your local school were to shut down!! This year when people ask how they can pay me for doing all the leg on the river reports, my response will be donate to save Indus school. Open your hearts and help the land you love to visit and have so many amazing memories to get carried away on!! I don't have the link for donating, but I will get it up and I bet we're all tech savvy enough to search it up! Let's show the true power fishing folks and lend a helping hand in shaping the future!! For those about to fish, we salute you!! I'll see you on the water! The Dutchman signing out! SaveIndus.com is the website to help Indus

 The land of walleye remains in a snow globe state on this day of green beer and corned beef and cabbage!! Old man winter in a last ditch attempt has riddled the borderland with frigid temps, high winds, and a blinding snow powder in the air!! The mighty Rainy, continues to live up to it's name and in an act of protest against winter and a display of it's Mighty brute force has opened it's self at least 6 more miles in the last 8 days. The river is hard to see between Manitou and Franz. Mile marker 162 is the last spot it can be seen from Hwy 11 until west of Birchdale. I see it was at least a mile further than that, but seen no open water looking East from Franz. So the ice pack rests around mile marker 161 or so. That's a sweet sound to a great many ears! The open water at Franz has made a very slight move to the east above the rapids!! Franz rests at Mile marker 157 and Birchdale at 156. At current rate I'm optimistic that there will be open water in front Franz and encroaching Birchdale in the next 4/5 days!! Only time will tell what it does once it reaches birchdale!! The forecast looks better starting middle of next week, not amazing but better!! With all the calls and messages seeking hope and optimism from The Dutchman for this spring season, I think it's safe to say that the Mighty Rainy has heard your prayers and is answering them!! 

 Like a Wolf covering the range of his territory, The Dutchman heads East along the Rainy in search of open water!! Along the way I stopped by every landing checking river conditions! All remain locked solid and snow covered. There is a trail opened up from below the rapids at Franz working it's way west down thru the rapids! This is typical there is no sign it will start working it's way east from the rapids and it was ice as far I could see to the east! The first signs of open holes was at mile marker 166 and the river is open at mile marker 169. It has been open from this point all winter, the only change is the open holes starting at mile marker 166. I went no further than the open water today. I intend to drive to Pelland this week and will report on the condition of the forks and Kuttes Landing. I'm not at all concerned with the forks at this moment, they will come into play later in the month! I have a picture of the map with key mile markers laid out on it. The open water sits roughly 13 miles from beautiful Birchdale. When the wheels of motion start spinning it won't take long to be fish on!! I'll keep you posted!! Would've had pics or maybe went live, but my hand me down phone is a piece! Don't tell The Dutchess I'm going phone shopping behind her back lol!! For those about to fish, we salute you!! I'll see you on the water The Dutchman signing out! 

The land of walleye remains in the grasp of old man winter!! The battle on the river between the ice and the open water has become a stalemate!! No movement of the open water has happened in the last 3 days now!! The open water still rests a mere 1/4 mile east of Birchdale!! What will happen and when will spring fishing on the Mighty Rainy finally be under way???! A crystal ball would come in handy right now lol! All I know right now is what the long term forecast says.... nothing good and nothing bad. Above freezing temps thru the day and lows down in the 20's at night. A lot of the snow has melted and lot more has just shrunk and turned into hardish ice piles that seem to be taking a bit more power to get any melt out of! The frigid temps over the weekend have taken there  toll and it's gonna take a bit to get the wheels back in motion!! Positive vibes people, better days a head!! Spring has old man winter in a choke hold, the stubborn SOB just won't tap out!! Stay tuned I'll keep you posted!! For those about to fish, we salute you!! I'll see you on the water. The Dutchman signing out!!