Outdoors

The flood in the Fargo-Moorhead area has been keeping everyone busy with sandbagging, and pumping, in an effort to try and save their homes. Here in the Red River Valley, we have had everything from rain to snow lately. The rain melted a lot of the snow, and all the water runs to the rivers. This means open water on some small lakes, and almost all rivers.

I spoke about the Rainy River in the last article, and I do know some guys who are headed up there this weekend, but I think fishing is best when the water gets to be about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so maybe wait until not this weekend but next to head up there.
 
This also means that many other rivers are open, and if not overly flooded, worthwhile to try fishing. I can’t wait for all of the water to go down around here so I can fish the dams for walleye. I don’t fish the Red River as much as I should, but the time of year that I do fish it is coming up. As soon as all of this water goes down, Ill be out there with rubber boots, the long rods, and some fathead minnows for bait. The spring is a very good time to fish the river systems. Now, I’m not telling anyone to go out and fish the rivers in the FM area right now, it is too dangerous, and to be honest you probably won’t catch anything until the water goes down a bit.

When the water level does go down, you’ll find me at any dam on the Red River. Fishing with a jig and a minnow. There is one problem with river fishing: all of the snags. You’ll have to watch out for sunken logs, floating timber, etc. Bring extra tackle, and try not to get discouraged about getting snagged on something. You will have to break your line and retie your jig a few times, so bring extra tackle.

Usually, I get snagged three times or more for every fish I catch. Now, about casting: try to visualize what the bottom of the river looks like and cast your jig right where you would think a fish would be. Look for ambush areas. Little areas where the current flows differently, or swirls around. This is called an eddy and is a great spot to cast.

Other ways to fish is with a bobber and a plain hook with a minnow. This works well too, but you have to be careful on how deep or how shallow you have your bobber set. With the river always changing depths, it can be difficult to keep your bait where the fish are.

Another way to fish the river that can usually avoid snagging is with a floating jig and a weight about two to three feet up your line from the jig. This will allow you to cast your setup and just let it sit. The weight will be on the bottom and the jig will be floating up in plain view of any ambushing predator, like the walleye or northern. Then just set your rod standing up and grab a stick with a V-shape and set your rod in between the V of the stick—with your line tight—and wait to see a fish start pulling. This is nice, considering you can fish with two rods in North Dakota. So i always have a jig on one rod, casting all over, and a “dead stick” like I just explained with my other rod.

The rivers are full of many different species of fish. The ones that I know of there are walleye, sauger, northern, largemouth bass, small mouth bass, carp, bullhead, catfish, sunfish, etc. So be prepared for a mixed bag. You won’t be the only one at these dams, so bring some boots, some bait, and prepare to set the hook!