View Full Version : Rainy - What happens if I "drift" onto Canada side?
We are fishing Rainy in a few weeks on the MN side. No intentions of going to the Canada side and this may be obvious once we are there, but how do we know where the boarder begins/ends on the water? Are there checkpoints?
Just don't want to run into any goofy problems.
Thanks,
NC
T Mac
04-30-2007, 04:51 PM
If you do....be sure you don't have a hand gun with you.
:popcorn:
But to answer your question.....You'd get a ticket or at the least....a warning.
GPS is the best way to avoid it.
It is your responsibility to know where you are.
My dads friend has a cabin up on Rainy on the american side near ranier and we stay there sometimes and i was looking across the lake and every few minutes there is a rather big boat cruising along in the same spot in the middle of the lake going back and forth. Im not sure what would happen.
dewyg
04-30-2007, 06:47 PM
A boat loaded with Canadians will approach you and offer you a beer, and welcome you to our country. Unfortunatley that is not true, you will be questioned by immigration and MNR and could be charged with illegal entry and fishing without a Canadian license depending what kind of mood they are in. I grew up fishing that area and have seen it happen alot.
bigfish1965
04-30-2007, 08:49 PM
You won't be charged with illegal entry since entry requires landing. You are also permitted to phone in your entry if you do land.They may check your ID and fishing licenses. We fish the border waters of Niagara all the time and have our passports and stuff ready when we see the boats coming.. If they're bored they'll ask us twice in the same day, but usually once is fine for the day.
Thanks for the replies. We do not have passports nor do we have Canadian fishing licenses. Basically I just wanted to check and see if it was obvious which side was Canadian. We will probably end up asking the resort owner where it is and keep our distance.
Prefer not to start an international incident!
tackleman
05-01-2007, 06:00 AM
for a few bucks you can purchase an ontario licence that can put your mind at ease and you can fish wherever you want.
Don't need a passport then? Any chance I can buy it on the MN side?
Mark R
05-01-2007, 02:20 PM
Not so fast my friend. When we fish both sides on LOTW we need a CanPass or Remote Area Border Pass to go back and forth on the water. They cost about $30.00 and you can get them at the customs office in Fort Francis and while you are on the candain side you can buy a license also. Call 807- 274-3655 and ask the customs in Canada they will tell you what you need.
Thanks. Hopefully fishing on the MN side will be so good we won't have to worry about it!
ChuckE
05-02-2007, 09:54 AM
The last 2 trips on Rainy all the boats in our party were checked. We had a CanPass (and Ontario licenses), so we knew we wouldn't have a problem.
They didn't even check our livewell, licenses, required boat gear, etc. They did ask when we entered Canada that day and when we intended to leave, and checked the CanPass and ID of everyone. I don't think the people that checked were from MNR.
Chuck
Chuck,
Can I get a Can/Pass on the MN side or do I have to go into Fort Frances? It would be nice not to have to go through the border but I doubt that is the case.
In your opinion, is fishing on the MN side decent enough and marked well enough we would not have to venture over?
Thanks again,
Mark R
05-02-2007, 12:13 PM
You must go to the Canada Customs and Immigration office in Fort Francis for the Canpass I suspect they may run a quick background check before they let you have one. You would need to cross over to get an Onatio fishing license anyway. If you don't have both be very carefull about which side of the border you are on. It's been a few years since I fished Rainy Lake but I don't recall any markings or bouys on the water showing where the boundry was at.
ChuckE
05-03-2007, 01:58 PM
Mark is right, there aren't bouys to mark the border. The boats that checked us were equipped with GPS, and we had ours as well. The maps are accurate enough, but GPS is better.
We got our CanPass through the mail, if I remember right it took about 5 weeks to get them. The form is on the website, or you can search Google for the direct link. I can't remember what the fee was for 2 year passes.
We fish a lot of smallmouth, and I can definately say the smallmouth fishing is better on the Canadian side of Rainy based on our past trips. It seemed that the shorelines, structure, etc. was just better on the Canadian side, and the northern coves on that side was a little warmer when we were there.
Walleye on the US side can be quite good, almost rivaling the Canadian side, but seemed to be a little more affected by wind, weather, etc. Depending on where you go on Rainy, (east end, west end, etc.) we found it a little easier to find the walleye on the Canadian side of the lake, and much less fishing pressure as well. Even so, the US side has some very nice walleye fishing on it.
...just our experience.
Chuck
walleyeduran
05-06-2007, 05:57 PM
Chuck, the border crossing permit is only good for one year now, from your birthday. You can get them through the mail by requesting a form and filling it out/sending it back in. (about 5 weeks). They used to let you apply on line if a few years back but Canada got out of the computer age and stopped offering this.
If you do not have a GPS and the US/Canadian border cordinates, you can keep track of what country you are in by keeping track of which reef you are fishing, if you read your map carefully.
If you make a mistake, chances are realy good that you will get checked for licence, border crossing permit, fish in boat, etc... by the wardens. I have been fishing the Ontario opener for the past 7 years and we get checked atleast once in the three day weekend if not more.
Oh yeh, you have a good chance of getting checked by the custom adjents in the boat also.
It is a good trip and if you have all your paper work in order, everyone is very nice. Sometimes the same wardens recognize you and wish you good luck.
Duran
MR NL
05-06-2007, 06:27 PM
when i called the border they said they would issue the CanPas while U wait. This is new from last year but thats what hey said.
We have GPS so I think we will just stay on the U.S. side as our trip is in 2 weeks and don't have time for the mail. We are staying at Woody's and I have a Hot Spots map along w/ GPS card for the depth finder. All in all, between the 3 of us we should be able to stay in the US!!!
Thanks for all the help. I truly appreciate it.