I started at just before 6am inthe snow and cold caught nothing.. this evening picked up a few pike and 1 eye not very good opener here.

I had a good opening weekend fishing here in town. I was down below the spillway fishing at midnight Friday night/Saturday morning. I only had one scoop of minnows and ran out of bait by 1:30am. I kept 3 walleye to eat(19"/14"/13") plus caught a couple more that were about 14" inches, but had to let them go because I landed them right before midnight. Over-all I ended up catching 11 walleye I think, and A LOT of big rock bass.

Saturday night, from 9:00pm till about 12:30am, I caught one walleye measuring about 13", and several smaller ones (8"-10")...all fish Saturday night were released.

Sunday, I fished during the day down river a ways, and caught several small Walleye, numerous little Northerns, and ended up keeping an 18" Walleye and a 13-14" Walleye.

It wasn't fast and furious, but persistence paid off this past weekend. Cast,cast,cast, then boom a fish, then cast 40 more times with nothing, then I'd catch another fish. That's the way it went, during the day of after dark. I was using a 1/8oz jig with a minnow, letting it bounce along the bottom.

That's my report.

I'd say that's a good opener for anyone. I had about the same luck over in Grand Rapids, except I picked up a dandy 26 inch fish as well.

I'll be on the water below the dam tomorrow evening after work if anyone wants to join me.

I may even go down for a bit late tonight. Sounds like a few fish are active around bed time!!! Call me if anyone wants to go. 612-581-1204.

didnt try nightfishing guess i may have to.

Yep, I'm not gonna say for sure that the night bite is better than the day bite, but from what I experienced this past weekend, it's atleast just as good! Extremely clear water combined with the low river levels I think are making for some good after dark fishing opertunities.

Good luck fishing. If you're fishing below the spillway after dark, here's a helpful hint (location)...Try the east side of the river where the sidewalk is, just on the south end of the "rail area". You can see where the water from the brick building comes out and hits that shoreline before swirling back to the spillway and down river. I have had the best luck casting right into the are where the water sweeps back. It's a shallow bar, but worked good this past weekend after dark.
Just remember to cast, cast, cast.... Small jig and minnow, and I'm pretty sure you'll eventually catch some fish.

Talk to you later.

Lee, are you interested in fishing this evening? I'm planning on a bit of night fishing tonight - if the weather isn't too bad.

I might be? I was actually thinking of putting my boat in the water...I might have heard of a location where they have been catching Walleye above the spillway in town.

What time are you gonna be down there? What side of the river? Even if I don't fish (I probably will) I'll stop down and introduce myself. I get off work at about 6:00pm.

The weather looks pretty good, there shouldn't be any rain tonight and temps should be in the low 40's. With the cloudy skies though I wonder if that will affect the night bite? Might be a good "just before dark bite" or right after dark. Might even be good during the day? But then again who knows it was cloudy on opening day @ midnight and I did good?

I was thinking around 8:00 - 8:30 p.m. I'd probably start on the west side just below the power turbines.

Black leather jacket, hooded sweatshirt. I forgot to bring my fishing clothes this week.

Call my cell if you want to hook up. 612-581-1204

I don't mean to impose, but if you guys don't mind, i might swing down there too...i didn't make it out at all this weekend, and it's driving me nuts

CSP, don't worry you're not "imposing". Sorry if I missed you guys down at the spillway, but I was busy catching fish from my boat up river. How did you guys do down there????

CanopySam, nice to meet you. I did end up walking down to the spillway at about 9:45pm. My wife and I walked our dogs down there, but she didn't want to get close to the people fishing with our dog she was walking (he's kinda hyper)...Were you the guy standing on the wall below the "turbine" building? It looked like you, but it was to dark to tell for sure, or I would have tried to talk to you some more...and of course I didn't have your phone number on me...duh.

Anyways, I did fair up river. (I swore to "someone" I wouldn't come on this site and give "the spot" away, so I won't say where) But, if you pay any attention to other fisherman, it's probably not too hard to figure out?? CanopySam knows where it is...ha,ha,ha!!!

I didn't catch anything big, not even close to being big, (did see a couple caught) and for the first hour or so it was actually pretty slow with just a couple 10" inch walleyes caught. After a while I moved out to 16ft of water and started to eventually find "my groove". I stopped trying to keep count after about 20 fish, but caught a quite a few, all pretty small, the biggest fish I caught was 13". Like it or not, I kept a limit of 12"-13" walleye's for supper...and boy were they good. I threw back a bunch, but after a while, they started to make my mouth water, so I said what the heck, when your ice fishing it's o.k. to keep walleye's this size, so why not. Plus a limit of small walleye's makes for a pretty good portion of fillets for one guy...it filled my tummy!

That's my report, A jig and minnow is all it takes. In all honesty I would bet that the fish are biting the same just about everywhere on the river. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I think I'm gonna put my boat back in the water after work and try some other areas with the same depths I was fishing today and see if I can catch some fish there. I'm not a bettin' man, but if I was, I'd bet I'm gonna catch some fish.

Good luck on the water...I'll talk to ya'll later.

CML,

That was you walking the dogs? I wasn't quite sure who was walking who. They must be the hounds lounging on you in your avatar.

Yes, that was me below the turbines. On my third cast I stung a little 13 inch walleye and I thought, "Hey, this is on!" I spent the next two hours fruitlessly beating the water to a froth.

I'm glad to hear you nailed a nice mess of fish. I saw a couple kids on the other side of the river walk up with two nice keepers and a handful of cigars. It's interesting how many small walleyes there are in the river. I'm really curious to know if they are Red Lake walleyes.

Perhaps we could fish together this evening? I'd be free again around 8:00 p.m.

By the way, I love the signature at the bottom of your post.

i must have just missed you both....i fished untill around 8:15 last night.......only had one bite, and i set the hook too quick and missed it.....i'm going to hit it again tonight with my boy (4 yrs old), so i'm sure i'll get at least a half hour in before he gets bored....lol.
I was just using gulp alive last night, i think i need to get some live bait instead.......maybe we'll see you guys tonight.

Catman, keep the net down where you were fishing or that spot you were at last night will look 4-mile bay on the opener. I swung thru there on Sunday and never had a bite.

Sam, so you like my new signature...too bad I can't take credit for saying it though! I found it in a book and liked it, plus my wife is a youth director at a local church, so I figured it might get me some extra "points" with her! I always tell her I'm closer to god when I'm on the water fishing or walking through the woods than when I'm in church....yah, my dogs aren't the most obedient when on a leash. I can handle them fine but my skinny little wife has her hands full with our 100lb Lab/Pointer.

Are you gonna be fishing below the spillway again tonight? You could jump in my boat with me if I'm still fishing come 8:30pm. I loaded my boat at about 8:30 last night, but was still catching fish at that time. Like I said I'm gonna try some different areas so I can't guarantee that there'll be any fish caught, but chances are good. If you are gonna be fishing below the spillway, I'll swing down there and try to catch some fish.

Lip Ripper, I didn't even have to use my net, they were all too small! I hear you though, that's why I fish this river...to stay away from the big crowds. Besides that location probably won't be really good like it has been for long. Last year I caught a lot of fish that were a little smaller than the ones I was catching yesterday in the same general locations, I think those fish last year have just grown up a little. The next couple of years should be really interesting.

Talk to you later. my cell number is (218)689-8688...Feel free to call me if you want to jump in the boat, otherwise I'll see you below the spillway.

I was just giving you grief about the net. I saw you land one as I went by.