Rainy Lake Fishing

[Fishin_Opti]

Hi,

Just got back from fishing Rainy Lake with the hubby for 2-1/2 days. What an incredible fishery! I don't think I have ever caught so many Walleyes in a short ammount of time like that before. Especially in August! We caught/boated 101 fish in 2-1/2 days, just the two of us. For real! All but 4 fish were Walleye and Sauger. Now that is whacking them! We fished Lindy Rigs with 1/2 Crawlers blown up and a Chartreuse (bright yellow) or Bright Green Bead in front of a Red #4 Gamakatsu hook. 1/2 oz Lindy weight, 4-5' #6 Fluorocarbon leader.

More on that on the Rainy Lake Fishing Reports page if anyone is interetested. I posted a thread called "Rainy Lake - Awesome fishery"!

We stayed in a Motel, but after I saw how nice the Campsites were, we will defintily be camping next time. Alot of campsites even had a dock!

Highly recommended Walleye lake if you like to finesse fish. That is my favorite way to fish for Eyes, Lindy rig style and electric trolling motors, works great for that slow troll over the humps!

Heidi

[Sandmannd]

Great report. Sounds like you had a blast, that is a lot of fish to boat in that amount of time. I really want to make it up there one of these years.

[Lisa Almquist]

Wow Heidi!! Way to go! I bet you're arm is about to fall off and you're sick of looking at walleye snouts!!

Great report!

[reelemin]

awesome Heidi, what a fantastic weekend on the water.

Rainy is definity on my "have to fish" lakes, list.

I think it just moved up a notch -

[Fishin_Opti]

It was alot of fun, we had a blast, you all will have to try that lake sometime, great fishery! Big lake though. Bring a full tank of gas in the boat, you will need it. Alot of water to cover, just to get to the humps.

Heidi

[UdeLakeTom]

Sounds to me like a next spring GTG in the making.

[reelemin]

ya had to throw that into the mix didn't ya

Sounds like a great idea to me -

[Fishin_Opti]

I'll try to post a few pics.

A few pics are of the campsite, really nice dock, picnic tables, fire ring/grate, outhouse and a sandy flat area for the tents.

The one is a picture of the dock that came with one of the campsites, really nice!

[teresa]

Wow...looks awesome. Nice fish too!

[reelemin]

What campground Heidi? Looks great.

[Iambjm]

ya had to throw that into the mix didn't ya

Sounds like a great idea to me -

So when do we leave!!!!

[Sandmannd]

Those are nice looking eyes for sure.

[Fishin_Opti]

Hi Sandman, Barb and Tami,

Tami - it is Voyagers National Park, its not a campground that you drive to. It is "Boat camping" you reach the remote sites by boat, no roads, no cars, like the BWCA, but you can have motor boats. They have maps at the Voyaguers visitor center where the campsites are on the lake. The vistor center is really nice building, great boat landing, parking with overflow parking also, etc.

They also have alot of Houseboats on the lake, alot of folks rent a houseboat and tow their fishing boats behind or rent fishing boats also. Many Campsites are for houseboats if you like that sort of thing. Personally I would rather stay in a tent. One end of the lake is more commercialized near International Falls, then the rest of the MN side of the lake is park and mostly wilderness, like the BWCA. A very few ammount of cabins remain, as they were "grandfathered in" on the MN side within the park.

Rainy lake is a HUGE inland lake which borders Canada. In fact more then half of the lake is in Canada, we just fished/boated the MN side as we didn't want to deal with customs or a Canadian fishing license. The MN side has 33 campsites in the park boundries with is also a huge park. You bring your stuff in by boat, you can't drive to the campsites, boat only. Very remote similar to BWCA. But alot of water to travel, hate to say but might be a bit far for a Kayak. We probably put at least 60 miles or more on the boat last weekend. A person could put alot less miles on though if they were lucky enough to get a campsite closer to the central part of the lake, like Dryweed Island, etc. maybe 5 miles away, which is closer to where the visitor center/boat ramp is. We fished several areas of the lake, thats why so many miles. I like Kayaks and canoes also so don't get me wrong, I have been to Cornacopia Sea Caves on lake Superior in a kayak, gone down the Brule river in a Whitewater kayak, BWCA many, many times Canoeing etc. I like Kayaks and canoes also, but this is more of a motorboat lake, because of the massive size.

The campsites are first come first serve, you can't reserve a site either which is a bummer, as sometimes many/most are full I here on weekends, so if one site is full, you have to go until you find an open one, that is miles and miles of water.

Similar to the BWCA, but they allow motor boats as the lake so huge. I've boat camped several times, it is alot of fun and you can bring more things, easier then a BWCA camping trip.

Heidi

[teresa]

maybe we can just tie the kayak on the back of the boat? Sounds gorgeous, and worth thinking about for a gathering.

[Iambjm]

Might be a little tough towing the popup all over the lake!

[teresa]

that and the suv with tent might cost a bit in gas.

[Fishin_Opti]

Thats a great idea Teresa, and Kayaks are a blast! I am sure Tami is an expert at Yaks! Lots of small bays, etc. to go cruise around in a kayak.

Next year if you women do want to do this trip. I would bring my boat and I can take 2 fishing with me. It is a comfortable boat to fish 3 Lindy Rig style out of. 4 gets a bit crowded to Lindy rig.

Also have a great time this weekend, I wish I could of joined you but I will be out of town that weekend.

Heidi

[reelemin]

the houseboat deal is something we thought about for awhile now.

My grandpa was a fisherman on the Rainy and supplied International Fall with fish and ice cut out by hand in the winter. I would love to get up there again, haven't been there since I was a kid.

[Fishin_Opti]

Tami - really you were there when you were a kid that lake, awesome!

Tell you what next year if you want to go, hop in my boat and we will tow your Kayak, and I would be happy to take you fishing in my boat, I bet we would have alot of fun fishing. If you decide to do the houseboat deal, I am sure other women would really enjoy the houseboat (they even have showers!). All they are is a big boat like a floating cabin with an outboard for power, I heard not bad at all to get around to a campsite in.

I am a tent camper though. I can camp at a nearby tent camping spot, or there would probably be room at the hosueboat site.

[reelemin]

unfortunatly I never fished with my grandpa that was back in the 30's. But I still have many relatives in the Falls.

I would love to fish that lake, either houseboat, any boat, my yak, I'm easy. -

[Fishin_Opti]

I'm in for going up there again, thats for sure!

Any of you women ever Lindy rig fished before? If not it is easy, I will be glad to teach you. You need a very sensative rod tip though, to feel the bite.

In the spring it woud be a very good bobber lake for Walleye also I am sure. Shallow areas around points, etc.

[reelemin]

Lindy rigging is the best and most the fun way to fish for eyes. That and spinner harnesses with a big fat crawler. Bobber is fun, but boring compared to those two ways.

[Lisa Almquist]

Next to jigging, lindy rigging is the way to go for finessing walleyes. That is my preferred way to fish.

[Fishin_Opti]

Lisa and Tami, you two are sooooo....awesome! I can't wait to fish with you two!

Yes, Lindys are my favorite way to fish also, just hard not to get tangled in each others lines if have too many folks in 1 boat. But if all keep a short lead, like just barely off the bottom or on the bottom in sand, etc, then good to go.

Here is a link for more info. on Voyaguers Park.

http://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/index.htm

Note on that page you can print out the map that shows the lake.

I see there is also a link on that page for nearby car camping in a state forest also. But staying on the lake is way more fun.

If you go Lindy rig fishing on this lake, it would be best to have a Sonar with a GPS and a map card. And it helps alot to have an electric trolling motor, o.k. if not, but helps to work back and forth over the humps. We have a Lowrance unit with a good map, it shows all the humps, bouys, rocks, shoals, depths, etc. Lots of obsticles in some areas of the lake. Rocks out in the middle of nowhere to avoid, etc. But a good GPS with a map and you can easily see all that stuff. They have danger bouys on the really bad rocks.

[teresa]

I'm imagining Tami...in her yak.....in the wake of the boat, just like a knee board....watch out for the turns...could hurt. I think we just need to bring our calendars at each GTG and pencil in some dates for some fun fishing.