Last Call for Pre-Spawn Walleyes- Rainy River

Well, it has been a great start to the open water guiding season. I just wrapped up three awesome days on the Rainy River with two great guys who made the most of every minute out there.

Our bites were split evenly this year between a vertical jig and minnow presentation and a pitched jig and bright colored plastic. 

                                                            "Not bad...not bad."

It's certainly nice to get back into practice with boat control and netting fish.

I even got to catch a few myself. 

Larry tied his personal best for length, but this fish was heavy!

With MN Walleye season still three weeks away, I'll be doing C&R Sturgeon trips on the Rainy River (many dates are available). Also, it's looking like Leech Lake Crappie and Perch trips in the first half of May are going to happen this year!

                                                      Cheers and hook-sets,
                                                      Captain Phil

Thawing out, and reeling 'em in- Southwest Florida

Florida has some of the best fishing on the planet,
I was lucky enough to sample it once again. 

Fishing the shallow mangrove maze in a small craft for redfish and snook is my favorite.

                                      Brooks caught a leaping snook "all by himself". 

"Great Oden's Raven! What did I get myself into?"

This hammerhead was a bucket list fish for me. Wow was he tough. I traded a few thousand feet of line with this fish and grabbed hold of the leader 6-7 times during a dozen or more huge runs. 

Fishing with loved ones makes for an ideal vacation.

Dare I say it...snapper does indeed rival fresh walleye fillets.

Cheers and hook-sets!

Respect

Wow do lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) have heart, they just don't give up. What a great success story here on the Rainy and St.Croix rivers. Their ancestors may have been swimming lakes and rivers since the triassic period some 245 to 208 million years ago. They have been around as we recognize them now since the upper cretaceous period 136 million years ago, during the peak of the dinosaurs. Many live in excess of 100 years. Respect.

Book your sturgeon adventure today at  

http://www.outrightangling.com

Cheers and hook-sets!

Whatever Floats Your Boat- Kicking off the Open Water Season

Two of us arrived at the Rainy River just after noon, launched and set up in 14 f.o.w. Our first spot was a good one as we managed 20+ fish from that one anchor position in just a couple of hours, with half of them being 23-1/2"-25-1/2". After the bite slowed we moved around quite a bit with only a few walleyes and one giant sturgeon to show for our efforts. It was amazing weather and a great afternoon on the water. Besides getting our first walleyes and sturgeon of the open water season, I got to enjoy my first open water sunset as well while my fishing partner fetched the truck. Open water has arrived in the north country!!

Lake of the Woods Walleyes pour into the Rainy River in March and April to stage for spawning. 

Temperature, flow and fishing pressure can affect the bite and walleyes are not always a sure thing.

On this afternoon, we experienced a couple hour bite window followed by the fish completely shutting down for the evening.

   Jigs and plastics can indeed put more fish in the boat than minnows when the fish are on the chew.Longer casts and faster presentations can be made with plastics, making it far more efficient at times.

Big lake sturgeon are abundant in the Rainy and can provide an awesome change of pace from jigging for walleyes. 

                           My first open water sunset was a good one too. Cheers and hook-sets! 

Manitoba Dreamin'

Wow, what a fishery! We got spoiled once again by lake Winnipeg's fertile abundance. In search of a girthy 30+incher, I was lucky enough to pull three of my heaviest Walleyes ever through the Manitoba ice. Catching three fish over 30 inches, all with 17 to 18-1/2 inch girths was something I never even dreamed could happen. Truth be told, we struggled our first two days out and were slapped with temps of -25 F. It's easy to keep at it though once you get a sample of what is swimming below your boots.  

                                  Here's the longest fish of the trip that kissed 31-1/4"

                              I connected with this late-morning bruiser in 13 feet of water.

March madness has officially begun it seems.

Cheers and hook-sets! 

Late Season Panfish Success- Leech Lake

This past month has been a blast! I have had the pleasure to fish with some great folks and watch them ice some dandy perch, crappies and bluegills from Leech Lake waters. These fish can brighten the mood and bring a smile to the face of any angler, novice or avid. I feel very lucky to be able to make a living in the outdoors, each day is a true privilege. 

As the hours of daylight increase and the snow begins to melt off, I expect that the newly oxygenated shallows will hold more and more hungry panfish to search out. Right now, we are primarily fishing  mid-depth flats that sport 15'-25' of water for crappies and bluegills. 

Often a hundred or more holes in a day are necessary to locate the quality specimens, but the pay-offs are well worth the effort. Once we find them, they are usually more than willing to oblige us.

There are perch in shallow and mid-depth flats most of the winter in Leech Lake. It's often necessary to fish a variety of locations in order to find bigger "yellows". 

Since we catch-and-release all bigger fish, I like to stay out of the deep basins where bringing fish up from the depths can seriously injure them. Breeding sized walleyes are protected on Leech Lake but it's up to us to sustain the bigger panfish for generations to come. 

Cheers and hook-sets!

Captain Phil Bauerly- Leech Lake

Leech Area Ice Update

With a warm December I had a bit of a delayed start to the ice guiding season. To say that we have made up for it would be an understatement. Walleyes, Perch, Bluegills and Crappies have all shown up in both numbers and quality this season. With holes drilled now in the 1000's, many picture fish and fish dinners have been enjoyed by a variety of great folks whom I have had the pleasure to fish  with. Here is just a sample of recent catches.

Ice conditions dictated our fishing locations for December and much of January but we are mobile now and fishing the entire lake for these golden favorites.

Sight fishing for yellow perch has been a real treat too. Playing "keep away" from the smaller perch and engaging the bigger ones has really allowed us to increase the average size of our catch
.

I love turning youngsters on to sight fishing. 

A good morning of perch jerkin'...

..followed by some nice catch and release crappie action.

More to come! 

Cheers and hook-sets!