Rainy Lake Info

[Mickey]

I want to get as much info as possible on this HUGE body of water. Canadian or U.S. side for best resorts?, best fishing areas?, friendly & helpful owners?,etc. I would target walleyes & smallies in that order. THANKS TO ALL IN ADVANCE !!! Mickey

[Carmine Santoiro]

Fished Rainy lake last year and it'd does have the right name out of 10 days it's rained all but five hours can't talk now but will write a letter about location Sunday afternoon we stayed at rainy lake lodge everything was a Ok if morew info needed please E mail on my Web Page JIGGIN-N-A- Crankin .com Thanks Carmine

[Mickey]

Does anybody know if the "HotSpots map" for Rainy Lake is available in the Madison WI. area? I have looked at Gander Mountain but I haven't seen it yet. Thanks again for the help!! Mickey

[Justin]

Go to cabelas.com you can order them there. Also if your looking for info on the Canadian side of the lake I would be more than happy to share some good spots with you. Just shoot me an email if you are intrested. JJJURK@AOL.com

[AquaMan]

You can order it right from HotSpots and have it delivered to your door. They have a new map for Rainy Lake with GPS. You can also order it on CD.

http://www.fishinghotspots.com/fhsinet/

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.·´¯° --- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"

Eric@crowncomputerinc.com

[800proX]

www.rainylakehouseboats.com

they usually have some very detailed reports. we have been houseboating and i bring my 620 with for over 5 years now. it is by far the best fishery in MN IMHO. i fish mille lacs all the time (not now) and LOW and can say that i would take Rainy any day over those 2. look for other boats and watch, this will give an idea, and there all all ways to catch them on this lake. last year, we pulled #7 Shads through a school of suspended fish 20' down in 80'+ water and caught about 50 walleyes in 3 hours between 2 boats - awesome. other times you will be able to jig and pig them on the shallower rocks, or work rigs off the windswept points always produces on the whole lake.

jeff

[The Great Guide]

Rainy has excellent fishing. Personally, I think that fishing Rainy before Memorial Day is a waste of time. Although, some will disagree. The Canadian side has the best fishing in the Spring. Seine River and Grassy Bay are good choices. Red Pine Narrows on Red Gut, entrance to Porters Inlet, Span Inlet and Snake Narrows are all good early June areas. Canadian side allows only one walleye per day for US citizens. Two of us fished these areas for 3 days over the Memorial Day weekend and three more days June 1-3 and averaged 100 fish per day and approximately 50 of those were 20 to 25 inches.

As summer progresses the walleyes start migrating to the reefs in the main bays and walleye fishing slows for a time. By mid-July the fish are solidly relating to the reefs and can be had quite easily. This is when the US side gets hot. However, many a fisherman is foiled because they don't adapt to the conditions that is particular to Rainy. A key to consistantly taking walleyes on Rainy is understanding that reefs are surrounded by deep water with depths over 100 feet. These reef dwellers will deep-six themselves and rest in depths of 50 to 60 feet. The mistake is made when a fisherman only attacks the reef tops and ignors the deep dropoffs.

Because this is big water, you must always be prepared to fish with the wind. Fishing with waves of 3 to 3 feet is very common, but don't sacrifice your safety for the sake of a few fish. Know your boat's limitations. Because of the frequent wind, a drift sock is very handy. Using the sock will slow you enough to keep your bait verticle over the deep water. If you're pulling lindy rigs speed does not matter as much.

Bait presentations:

Early June Light Jig Minnow vertically jigged or slowly drifted.

July - Mid September Reefs Long leaderd lindy rigs with a crawler over the reef tops. Drifting jigs and big minnows over the deep dropoffs. Leeches also have their days, so be prepared.

Mid-September to Mid-October Verticle jigging and drifting minnows. Pulling crank baits with baitwalkers over the reeftops. Also pull cranks well off the dropoffs over the deep water 200 yds or more and many times you can catch the suspended walleyes. Long lining lindy rigs also work.

Did I mention smallmouth bass fishing?

TGG

[Mickey]

Thanks for all the tips for finding walleyes on this lake. I wouldn't have thought to fish deeper than 30 feet, (after all, a shallow fish is a feeding fish right?)so to know that the fish can be MUCH DEEPER than what I'm used to will help me a lot !! I truly hope that this "family vacation" is as much fun as what I have read about, I really hope the wife & kids catch more fish than I do, to see them smiling while having their rod bent would make everybody happy !! Thanks again & GOOD LUCK on the water !! Mickey