Super User Dwight Hottle Posted May 22, 2018 Super User Posted May 22, 2018 I have always wanted to try Rainy Lake on the Canadian side so a small group of four guys decided to go. Three of us drove two days to get there & one guy from Atlanta flew to Duluth Minn to meet up with us. We pulled one boat up & rented a 2nd boat up there. We stayed at LaBelle's Birch Point Camp on Northwest Bay. The accommodations, food & boat rental/guide service was great. Ice out was May 5th & we arrived on the 11th. Water temps were 47-53 during our six days of fishing. The bass were confused as to where they should be location wise with the three week late ice out. We searched & searched & searched looking for them. We tried points, bays, humps & islands all over. Most days we ran 20 miles out & 20 miles back. Weather was cool & sunny and mostly dry until we left. We had three days of high wind but fishable. We found one or two fish on most spots we tried but no schools or concentration except for one day. Our best day gave us 55 smallies for our boat that day. Most other days were 20-30 fish for the boat. We caught lots of snot rocket northerns & some walleye mixed in. Walleye season didn't open until the day after we left so they were released rather than eaten. Early successful baits were tubes dragged on bottom or just off. As the water warmed my favorite bite started to shine. I only fished jerkbaits & a few flukes the rest of the week. Our biggest fish was 4.5 lbs. Five pounders are considered trophies up there. The camp owner has a 6.5 lber to his credit over 30 years of fishing Rainy. Typical good days on Rainy average 50-75 smallie per day to a boat during normal conditions. If you want to try a Canadian smallmouth trip Rainy Lake is a good choice. 11 Quote
ArkansasMike Posted May 22, 2018 Posted May 22, 2018 Headed to Rainy this weekend. Hope the smallmouth are on fire. Great pics and hop we can duplicate. Have spent years fishing the BWCA and decided to do Rainy on the last minute. 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted May 22, 2018 Author Super User Posted May 22, 2018 1 hour ago, ArkansasMike said: Headed to Rainy this weekend. Hope the smallmouth are on fire. Great pics and hop we can duplicate. Have spent years fishing the BWCA and decided to do Rainy on the last minute. Good luck. I heard from a friend that is there this week that fishing is improving. Quote
walleye13 Posted May 25, 2018 Posted May 25, 2018 Good report Dwight. We are at LaBelles now. The bass are on fire and moving from points to spawning areas quickly. Last couple days have been great on top waters...lost count after 70 fish each day. Through 4 days 2 of us have 9 fish over 19" (19.75", 4-10 best) and 17 over 18". Good jerk bite today, finally got some wind and clouds. Water temp up to 65 everywhere today. Full moon Wed, fish will be on beds shortly. 3 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted May 25, 2018 Global Moderator Posted May 25, 2018 65 degree water up north already? Pretty cool. Just for comparison, the Tennessee river is 59 degrees in downtown Knoxville right now. Update: now 61.5 Quote
ArkansasMike Posted May 28, 2018 Posted May 28, 2018 Just finished 3 day trip on Rainy. Water temps from 68 up to 74. Saw no fish on beds. Caught some nice fish but not huge numbers. Caught about 15 walleye per day on Ned Rig fishing for bass. Several over 20 inches. Should be hot in next week or two 1 Quote
Turkey sandwich Posted May 31, 2018 Posted May 31, 2018 On 5/25/2018 at 11:00 AM, TnRiver46 said: 65 degree water up north already? Pretty cool. Just for comparison, the Tennessee river is 59 degrees in downtown Knoxville right now. Update: now 61.5 I was on a lake above the Poconos here in PA and the water temp was already mid 70s. I appear to have missed the spawn in PA completely. Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted June 1, 2018 Global Moderator Posted June 1, 2018 On 5/30/2018 at 11:34 PM, Turkey sandwich said: I was on a lake above the Poconos here in PA and the water temp was already mid 70s. I appear to have missed the spawn in PA completely. Well I would rather fish anything but the spawn, that’s when they bite the least. We have fish spawning from March- July sometimes. Just got a 76 water temp a few clicks north of Mobile Alabama yesterday. Sept-February is where it’s at for me!!! 1 Quote
Super User Jar11591 Posted June 2, 2018 Super User Posted June 2, 2018 Nice report and fish Dwight. Trying to plan a trip to Rainy Lake soon myself. 2 Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted June 12, 2018 Super User Posted June 12, 2018 Good report Dwight, looks like you had a good time on a fun lake... From living near this part of the country - and knowing the harsh and unpredictable weather - if I were coming from far away, you take a risk in Spring and Fall going to Rainy. Yes, you can catch some of the best fish of the year then but you can also get a front, hypothermia and no fish just as easily. My recommendation is August/Sept. Fish could be deeper but you usually have more consistent weather and time to figure it out. You can always get another guy to go in on renting a guide the first day to learn where they’re at and then fish on your own the rest of the week. Some of those guys that win the Fort Francis tournament, guide throughout the season too. And yes, you can catch big fish that time of year too... 1 Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted June 12, 2018 Super User Posted June 12, 2018 On 5/22/2018 at 11:07 AM, Dwight Hottle said: I have always wanted to try Rainy Lake on the Canadian side so a small group of four guys decided to go. Three of us drove two days to get there & one guy from Atlanta flew to Duluth Minn to meet up with us. We pulled one boat up & rented a 2nd boat up there. We stayed at LaBelle's Birch Point Camp on Northwest Bay. The accommodations, food & boat rental/guide service was great. Ice out was May 5th & we arrived on the 11th. Water temps were 47-53 during our six days of fishing. The bass were confused as to where they should be location wise with the three week late ice out. We searched & searched & searched looking for them. We tried points, bays, humps & islands all over. Most days we ran 20 miles out & 20 miles back. Weather was cool & sunny and mostly dry until we left. We had three days of high wind but fishable. We found one or two fish on most spots we tried but no schools or concentration except for one day. Our best day gave us 55 smallies for our boat that day. Most other days were 20-30 fish for the boat. We caught lots of snot rocket northerns & some walleye mixed in. Walleye season didn't open until the day after we left so they were released rather than eaten. Early successful baits were tubes dragged on bottom or just off. As the water warmed my favorite bite started to shine. I only fished jerkbaits & a few flukes the rest of the week. Our biggest fish was 4.5 lbs. Five pounders are considered trophies up there. The camp owner has a 6.5 lber to his credit over 30 years of fishing Rainy. Typical good days on Rainy average 50-75 smallie per day to a boat during normal conditions. If you want to try a Canadian smallmouth trip Rainy Lake is a good choice. I see you either pulled or rented a Lund for the trip... that’s about all that’s available up here anyway but not a bad thing either. With all the rocks and rugged shorelines aluminum tends to fare better. Curious what jerkbaits/flukes worked best for you? I use many different colors of those myself but for some reason have always done best with pink on Rainy. X-Raps in Hot Pink or Hot Head, and Caffeine Shads in Bubble Gum. Funny, those colors don’t seem to work very well for me anywhere else...! Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted June 12, 2018 Author Super User Posted June 12, 2018 57 minutes ago, FryDog62 said: I see you either pulled or rented a Lund for the trip... that’s about all that’s available up here anyway but not a bad thing either. With all the rocks and rugged shorelines aluminum tends to fare better. Curious what jerkbaits/flukes worked best for you? I use many different colors of those myself but for some reason have always done best with pink on Rainy. X-Raps in Hot Pink or Hot Head, and Caffeine Shads in Bubble Gum. Funny, those colors don’t seem to work very well for me anywhere else...! Anything white or off white was the best color for us. The pike liked metallic brown best. I did best with a pointer 128 & an ima flit with upgraded hooks size 5 & larger split rings. We used white zoom flukes rigged on an owner twistlock light 5/0 hook with 3/32 weight & screw lock. 1 Quote
Super User Swamp Girl Posted July 8, 2018 Super User Posted July 8, 2018 Dwight, that's where I fish. Not Rainy, but smaller, nearby lakes, better suited for canoes. 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted July 8, 2018 Author Super User Posted July 8, 2018 Pretty countryside. The fishing is pretty good too. Quote
Super User Swamp Girl Posted July 10, 2018 Super User Posted July 10, 2018 Yeah, it's my favorite place on Earth. Nothing like having your own lake. Quote
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