The clean up of the Rainy River in the 1970’s plays a big part in the success of anglers today. The Clean Waters Act amendments in the 60’s and 70’s reversed years of degradation from paper mills and other pollution. Sturgeon require clean water and as the river cleared, the numbers increased.

The area was once also known for commercial fishing and the sturgeon were a sought-after catch. With a strong commercial fishery, little regulation and dirtying waters, sturgeon numbers plummeted. This caused the bottom to fall out. When commercial fishing ended and the river cleaned up, the fish rebounded.

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According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, sturgeon numbers were 14,000 in 1990. With sound management practices, numbers increased to 92,000 by 2014 and is now a thriving fishery with some of the best opportunities to catch a lake sturgeon. In fact, during our SJR500 tournament in 2024, participants caught hundreds of sturgeon. 107 were entered, but many weren’t. At least two boats caught over 50 themselves with a 68″ beast caught by Jamie Dietman for first place.

Sturgeon fishing in general has become more popular in recent years and with a fishery like this, it’s easy to see why. It’s simple, it’s fun and you could catch the biggest fish of your life. While the Rainy has always been known as a spring destination for big walleyes, many anglers are forgoing light tackle for the heavy gear to do battle with a dino. All you need is an anchor, some weights, circle hooks and a gob of crawlers and frozen shiners. Lake of the Woods Tourism has an article about it here. We had 20-30 boats in close proximity to us last year with everyone hooking into fish. Music was playing, grills were going and whoopin’ and hollerin’ from successful anglers could be heard from shore to shore. If you were close to The Dutchman, you might have even heard a howl or two. See last year’s event here:

It’s the good ol’ days right now and if you like to catch big fish, you owe it to yourself to make a trip north and there’s no better time to do it than in the spring. Walleye season closes on the river April 14 and while most sturgeon anglers will wait until that closure for the area to quiet down, my favorite time to come is the week before. You have the chance to catch those big sturgeon and fattened, prespawn walleyes running up the river. It’s all catch and release so you can snap a quick pic of your trophy and get it back in the water.

If you can make it work, come up during the week. We’re back for the fourth year in a row hosting a two-day fishing tourney called the SJR500. It’s meant to be a fun tourney for anglers already up there or who have made this event a tradition. We base out of River Bend Resort and do prize giveaways each night. After the tourney wraps up on Wednesday, we do a live podcast at the resort and giveaway the prizes for biggest fish. It’s really a lot of fun and we’ve got some great prizes and a percentage of the entry fees to pay out. It’s hosted on FishDonkey which utilizes a catch and release method for fish safety.

We also pay out 25% of entry fees to Keep It Clean. With the amount of anglers spending time on lakes year round, it’s important that people clean up after themselves. This effort started at Lake of the Woods and has now spread to other major lakes in Minnesota. We applaud the movement and feel this is a small way we can say “thank you”.

This year, we welcome WavePro as our title sponsor. They make riding across the lake feel like you’re floating on a cushion of goose down. We also have onX elite memberships, RLVNT sunglasses, Heavy Hauler gear boxes and more prizes to give away.

What may be the biggest part of this year’s event so far is something completely unexpected: We made a music video.

I’ve normally been one to hold off until the last minute to use changing technology, but when I found out that I can craft AI generated songs, I had to try it. I found a site online, bought a membership and spent hours on the song for this tourney. After multiple attempts of writing lyrics, picking song styles and more, I came right back to the first one I made. As I type this, the catchy hook has been on repeat in my head! The video is at the top of the page, so if you haven’t listened yet, check it out and prepare to be humming it all day.

Make plans to join us April 8 – 9 at the Rainy River. River Bend Resort has a special lodging rate for us using the code SJR500. We fish from 8a – 4p Tuesday and Wednesday and the entry fee is $40 + a $5 FishDonkey fee.

More details can be found here. You can listen to this podcast to learn more as well: