Another spring Rainy River trip is in the books and this one was a doozy. We set a new record for participants in the 4th Annual WavePro SJR500 2-day FishDonkey tourney for sturgeon and walleye!

The event started as a way to celebrate our 500th episode of Sporting Journal Radio. It’s becoming a tradition to record a new podcast each year at River Bend Resort. You can download this year’s show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc or watch it on YouTube. In fact, I’ll embed it below. We’ll also have a vlog coming to the Fish Hunt Forever YouTube channel from our time on the water. You’ll get to see how we fished, what we used and more.

1st Annual SJR500 Sturgeon ‘Stache Contest

We had the biggest sturgeon in the tourney’s history. We also added a new contest this year, the “Sturgeon ‘Stache!” The competition was fierce and we had more entries than I expected. You can meet them all on the YouTube version of the podcast and see their ‘staches. Kevin Heinrichs, known as the “Dutchman” was crowned the winner of the first annual Sturgeon ‘Stache contest.

The Weather

We had planned for sunny, mid-50’s weather for the second day of our tourney. Instead, we ended up with 36° and snow. While Dan originally hoped for flip flops, we ended up wearing ice suits each day to stay warm. We took advantage of a BOGO deal on heated vests at Outdoors Again. This turned out to be an unexpected bonus. While we sure would have liked sunny and 50’s each day, anytime you catch fish out of a boat…in the snow…you’ll have something to remember.

We like to have our tournament during the week. There are a variety of reasons for this choice. One reason is that accesses are less busy. While you still might have a wait, it’s usually much better than on the weekends. In fact, we pre-fished on Monday and we didn’t have to wait at all. Only a handful of trucks and trailers were in the lot at Birchdale. We were the only boat going in when we got there. This was the first time we’ve actually parked in the lot and not along the road at the landing.

It was not the case on Friday after the tournament. During our drive home, we noticed that our social media feeds were full of videos. These showed packed lines and trucks parked out on the highway. The fishery is worth the wait, but we prefer the quieter weekday trips.

SJR500 Helicopters

We were checked multiple times by Conservation Officers during this year’s event and I have no issue with it. They were all great to deal with and I don’t mind them keeping an eye on the resource. I’ve seen them every year during our tourney. What I didn’t expect to see this time around was daily helicopter patrols by the Canadian Border Patrol.

We first arrived on Monday. We noticed the helicopter hovering over a few of the boats fishing on the Canadian side of the river. There are rules regarding fishing there and if you try it, be prepared to be checked. The helicopter flew over us Tuesday and Wednesday as well. But without boats on the wrong side of the border, they just kept going. I’ve heard that they’ve been doing it twice daily. I’d assume this is part of the new border patrol plans. It sure made for some interesting discussion among anglers. When I posted a short video about it on Facebook, it spread like wildfire, quickly amassing over 1.5 million views.

A New Record Sturgeon For the SJR500

Last year was unreal for sturgeon. This year was good. With fewer miles of the river open, there were more people fishing for walleyes. As a result, our overall sturgeon count this year was lower. However, our winner, Nick Shea, set a tourney record for size. Not only that, but his boat partner Beau Keagle was already battling a 59″ sturgeon. They ended up netting both fish at the same time! Pure chaos.

“Beau hooked up and I went to reel up, and I had hooked one,” Nick said. “We thought we had the same fish at first. Beau got his in the net and it was a battle to get mine in.”

Beau ended up catching four sturgeon that day, including the 2nd place fish that measured 67.5″.

While technically had the 3rd biggest sturgeon as well, our rules state that you can only win one place per fish category so Chris Novak took 3rd place with 62.5″.

SJR500 Top Walleye Winners

On the walleye side, the Amundson name was well represented, even if they weren’t all related. FishDonkey owner, Darren Amundson is a staple at the tourney and we have no relation to him. This year, Jon Amundson ended up taking 3rd place with a 27.5″ walleye and he isn’t related to us (or Darren) either. Jon had quite the showing with 5 of the top 10 walleye spots on the leaderboard. Wade Amundson, who happens to be my brother, finally put his name above his wife’s on the board. He finished in the top spot at 27.75 (technically 28″ by FD rules), while she had the #4 spot with 27.50, losing to Jon in a tiebreaker.

Our first place winners took home $720 cash and an onX Elite Membership. They also received a pair of RLVNT sunglasses and a Heavy Hauler Large Gear Box and Trays. Additionally, they got an onX Fish hat, an SJR500 hoody, and more. Second and third got a Heavy Hauler Medium gear box, Premium onX membership and more.

Paul Johnson’s 30″ northern pike finished first in the “Any other” category. He took home a DRC goose call from Mid Migration Outfitters, an SJR500 hoody, a premium onX membership, a Heavy Hauler hat, and a Make Duck Season Late Again t-shirt.

We also gave away a 3-day guided waterfowl hunt in western Minnesota with Mid Migration Outfitters! Each night featured door prizes and our drink special this year was an SJR500 commemorative tumbler that featured $3.50 refills of Coors Light. We’ll have something similar next year.

Special Guests At This Year’s SJR500

Special thanks to our new sponsors this year, WavePro, RLVNT, Heavy Hauler, onX, and Lake of the Woods Tourism. If you’d like to be a sponsor next year, let me know.

While growing the contest in numbers was great, we were really excited to see some familiar faces joining us this year. Fellow AGLOW members Pat Kalmerton and Jim Willes came over from neighboring Wisconsin and took part for the first time. Jared Petrie joined Pat in the boat for a couple of days and had cameras rolling. Jim Stevenson and Chris Philen were in a boat together fishing and represented the Minnesota Tournament Trail and Target Walleye respectively. Bill Lindner and Jim Edlund were also in the tourney and I was fortunate to get a few minutes to talk cameras and share stories with Bill at River Bend.

The SJR500 Podcast

SJR500 Special Thanks

It is easily one of my favorite events of the year and it keeps getting better and better each year. I want to thank Scott Stueber for allowing us to jump in his boat. I am grateful to Mike Grussing and Tony Crotty for cooking in the boats. I also appreciate David Eckhart for staying and not going to the Dominican this year. Thanks for the cookies too, Nick Trauba!

We want to thank Mel and Rhonda at River Bend for keeping us hydrated. Of course, Paul and Brandi Johnson deserve thanks for their hospitality. We had a special on lodging rates this year. We’ll have one again next year. Make plans on April 7th and 8th for the 5th Annual SJR500!

Photo Gallery. More pics to come. Send us yours to be included!