So I want to plan my first ever Rainy River trip for early spring. I need to give work a lot of notice, so I’m needing to plan now. I’m a bit confused at the regs. Could anyone tell me when the walleye season closes in April 2022? I’m shooting to go around the 17th.
Side note…I’m assuming closure means no walleye fishing at all, not even catch and release?
It traditionally closes on the 14th of April. I haven’t check the refs but I’m gonna go ahead and assume this will be the case for 2022.
Just beware, being locked into specific dates will probably give you less than a 50/50 shot at seeing good fishing. In some cases, the River can become almost unfishable. Have a backup plan if things turn sour.
You best bet if you need to lock in dates is anywhere in the last two weeks. This time period reduces the chance of still having ice.
Thanks for the dates. Unfortunately, I have to lock in dates now, which puts me in a tough spot, but it beats not getting the chance to go at all.
It traditionally closes on the 14th of April. I haven’t check the refs but I’m gonna go ahead and assume this will be the case for 2022.
Matt’s correct, it closes 4/14/22, no walleye fishing after that not even catch and release and catch and release is the regs for the river as well now. April 14, 2022 is a Thursday, so you could take a few days off and finish the season out which would likely be fewer crowds. Or go around the last weekend which would be April 9/10th. Generally this is going to be the safest bet regarding the ice being off, but could mean your trip gets umm severely challenged by the Forks busting loose or just terrible weather.
I’ll maybe shoot for April 9-12th.
Next question, is it best to try and fish where the river dumps into LOTW or better by Baudette or Birchdale? If it matters, we’ll be trying for sturgeon as well.
Last question, are there any resorts on the river that allow you to dock your boat each night instead of going through the hassle of loading/unloading each day?
Thanks!
Next question, is it best to try and fish where the river dumps into LOTW or better by Baudette or Birchdale?
It depends, but I generally prefer and fish up river by Birchdale/Vidas.
Last question, are there any resorts on the river that allow you to dock your boat each night instead of going through the hassle of loading/unloading each day?
Yes, but they may or may not be available depending on ice conditions, plus when the ice is gone there is usually a decent amount of stuff flushing out. Most of the resorts with slips are in the Wheeler’s Point area.
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