Are we reading different regs? I usually don't keep crappies from the river anyhow but I enjoy C&Ring the quantity neccessary to fulfill the "L word". No matter how many I find I'll be eating coho but if I were in the business of keeping crappies I thought I read that the "L word" was 25 for the river.

Ya thats nuts. Regs say 25 but limit in Mn is 10. One of the times they dont use the most restrictive rule? Crazy to have a boarder water with Wi having a limit of 25 and Mn. 10 and have the limit 25 on a boarder water. I just assumed it would be 10. I never even checked before.
Ya Im with you Matt nobody needs 25 crappies. Unless you have like 10 kids or something.
I guess Im going to have to read the whole regs book for both Mn. and Wi. again.

Short note on the river as far as landings.I know rhe river is up and fast but the landings are already backed up and slow. Northlander and myself sat at rices landing for a while and it was like the comedy hour. should be really good by next weekend . Can hardly wait.

Water was high, fast amd muddy up river today. No dock at Boyscout yet! What are they waiting for midnight Friday? Thats just crazy. People want to test boats and get out to island camp spots.
Anyhow I took the dog up river for a few hours and no boats but the top side of Vines Landing is packed already. Also the have the whole place with a sidewalk along the river with tie ups. Real nice but sideways boats get rocked and some serious dock rash. Also makes less than half the boats that they usually get can park there.
Oh well I dont now if Ill even go that far up with the bad color and fast current. Could be a great place to set up a video camera though. Im sure this year will add a new meaning to bumper boats up there.

Ah yes. I can't wait for all of the zany antics of opening day. So far the forecast looks fair for saturday but sunday might be wet. Just found out I have to head to the cities to celebrate my birthday and mother's day. Pretty big 'downer' but I won't feel too bad if the weather gets crummy. I do hope it's nice for everyone else though. Hopefully it comes down a bit. I'd rather have the water come down and stay dirty than clear up and stay fast and high. Either way there's a ton of fish and with some persistance and a lot of patience (mostly for all of the Einsteins out there) I'm sure it'll be a great day.

Steve no camping this year at the 23 bridge??????????????>>>later the load

Nope. Havent been there in a couple years. Seems like more partiers and drunks than fishermen up there lately. I sure wish the owner could keep that place quiet after 11pm so we could actually sleep.
I may put my boat in there on Friday though. Depends on the weather. If its raining I will just go from home early in the morning Sat.
Had the boat all the way to 23 today. Water is FAST and MUDDY. BIG anchor will be a must. 49 degrees in most areas with a few shallow bays being over 50. Temps arent too bad but water clarity is poor.
Looks like the hand lining guys will do ok again this year.
For me it will be big jigs, 4 oz bottom bouncers and spinners or small sticks.
Big, glowing flashy lures will be key. Im thinking my odds will be increased with big plastics as well. More time in the water and warm hands is always nice.

I have been out fishing crappies, catching some. The odd part was this was the first year I have caught a number of eyes and pike while doing this. I thinks it is going to be a hard hitting opener for eyes if im pulling them in by accident-fishing slabs!

P

no. they will hide when you deliberately fish for them. they are only biting now because they know they are not legal yet. i think as long as we dont get a lot of big rains the river will go down eventually and the fishing will improve. seen it before

Be very careful putting in at in at Vines Campground the concrete slab was pushed up over winter and people had to disconnect trailers to get them back. With the water like it is I would not even mess with the possibility of disconnecting trailers unless you have a smaller boat that you can push off dry.

Thanks for that heads up T. Maybe he should spend his money on that terrible landing and not the silly sidewalks all the way down the river banks. It looks good but he just took away at least half his boat parking room. That landing has been bad for years. I always try to use the upper side of the dock.

On another note there are no channel marker buoys out from just below Spirit Lake Marina on up so be careful running to your spots. Also watch out for logs and tree pieces all over the place. The area by where 61 ,I think it is, was the worst. I banged something fairly large up there yesterday. I took off my stainless and will be running the alum. until some of the junk clears out.
Wear your life vests and drive safe. Keep the booze on shore. Water is still cold and moving fast. You dont want to fall into that chocolate mess.

Steve....
So he's got the sidewalk running downstream from the ramp now? If that's the case, I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of guys getting [PoorWordUsage]'d about the lack of boat parking space. You can stack the boats when it's low;



But if the water is as high as you say and the current is raging that might not be an option. So are the conditions similar to 2 yrs ago?

Ya Duff all the way to the creek where he put up a fence so nobody can walk in and out from that way without walking the swamp. Ya there will surely be boat parking problems and some problems are sure to come. If he had like 40 docks it might be ok. I think Im going to stay away from there unless I need a bathroom break when Im up that way.
Its fast and high and mucky again. Not as bad as 2 years ago but now they are talking rain fri-sun.
If I wasnt in a contest for $1000 I wouldnt even hit the river I would hit Island Lake.
Are you coming up for the 23 opener again? Should be great fishing by then as long as we settle down on the rain.
Bring some big jigs. Ill be 3 way rigging a bit more I think.

Was up river again today walking the dog and the river has slowed down a bit. Still chocolate looking but slower than yesterday.