How's The Fishing?

[FullTilt]

We'll be fishing Rainy later this week and we were hoping to get an idea of what to expect. We'll be fishing the east end from Anderson Bay to Kettle Falls mostly. Any thoughts on depth, color, or presentation would be greatly appreciated. Has the bite been good on reefs, have the fish started to concentrate near usual structure? We've mostly fished with lindy rigs and minnows this time of year. Has anyone had luck with crawlers or leeches? We're not picky with the presentation so any info would be greatly appreciated.

[FullTilt]

Anyone been out?

Heading up tonight, any thoughts would be appreciated. I'll be sure to post how it went next week.

[WalleyeWeather]

Good friend of mine was just up there from Wednesday - Sunday. They took a guided trip each day and out of 5 guys came back with only catching 3 fish!

They still had a good time but, were pretty bummed about not catching much. Especially with a guide.

[Mickey]

What happened to the fish? How can 5 guys WITH A GUIDE catch only 3 fish in 4 days on a WORLD-CLASS LAKE? Wow, with all of the other reports of the fish being caught I don't understand why you're friend did so poorly. Can you tell us if this was a local guide or give us some clue as to NOT HIRE if you wanted a guide? Something isn't right about this scenario, and if true, others should be made aware so that a "once a year fishing vacation" is a pleasant memory instead of the "bummer of a trip" your friends experienced.

[Good Time Ranger]

3 of us were out on the 18th. we fished by Blueberry Island. Found a hump that came up to about 15 feet and graphed many fish. I caught a Blue Walleye about 24 inches. I have read about them but have never seen one in real life. Didn't make the slot and had to release. We ended up with 2 fish. Used Leeches & Crawlers on a plane hook. Weather was unbelievable. Left to go back to the Visitor Center about 1:30 PM. I have never been in waves that big. I'm guessing they were between 8 & 10 feet high. Saw the houseboats having lots of trouble. Glad we got back safely. Sure hope no one ended up drowning.

[uffdapete]

I was up there on business Monday and glad not to be on Rainy then! You must have been rockin' from Blueberry back yesterday afternoon.

From what I heard fishing has been good in the right spots - outings that slow with a guide would have been frustrating for everybody.

Bet the pre-tourney sm bass guys are getting more than 3 a day - bass or walleyes.

[fishmeister_86]

HI F.MERS.,

3 OF US FISHED TONIGHT, CAUGHT 12 KEEPERS-14 TO 16 1/2", RELEASED ABOUT 6 SMALLER FISH & 5 THAT WERE IN THE SLOT TO 24". ALSO CAUGHT 6 SMALL CRAPPIES & 1-13". AS FAR AS THE EAST END, FOR THE MOST PART THE WEST HAS STILL BEEN PRODUCING ALOT MORE FISH., BUT THE EAST END HAS IMPROVED & WILL ONLY GET BETTER. ALL FISH TONIGHT WERE CAUGHT ON SHORT LINDY RIGS WITH LEECHES.

SINCERELY,

FISHMIESTER

WE HAD 1 RANGER IN THE BOAT WITH US TONIGHT!!!

[rainy dude]

Yep, the smallmouth tourney group are banging the walleyes. Most of the fish I have heard about, plus experienced, have been caught on jerkbait minnows. Rapala's and such, in water less than six feet. Eaters and large fish. I ran an Aqua view with bass teams the last three days and there are big numbers of walleyes living in the sparse ribbon weeds next to the deep forest of kelp type weeds. Both in the south and the north. Numbers of walleyes far from the mainlake basin also. There are still walleyes in their transistional locations. Just like the small mouth.

R_D

[illy]

We fished a 60 foot basin in which we found several humps topping out at 15'. The walleyes were at 25'.

We caught 25 15 inchers on a live bait rig with small minnows. We released one 21".

Sunny and a slight breeze. Water temp was 75 degrees.

[smalljaw]

Hello Rainy Dude,

I am interested in your experience on Rainy with the Aqua Vu. I fish Rainy in the North Arm for smallies and fish the south side and Red Gut for a combo of smallies and eyes. How well does the Aqua Vu work in these different waters, clear and tanic, and at what depth is the camera capable of giving good image? Many times I mark fish and wonder what they are when I can't get a bite going. Should I be getting a camera for Rainy? If so, what model?

Regards,

Wayne

[backlash 1]

walleye weather

did your friends guides name start with Mick??? Had some real bad luck with that guy once.

[GoodToGo]

I've used an aquaview on Rainy, it was quite educational. After fishing those jagged rock reefs all my life, I was quite surprised to find out they were just boulders and sand. A lot of sand. Although stained the water is fairly clear I suppose you can see 4 feet or so? Distances are hard to judge. I don't think it's a must have for that lake, but it sure is neat!

[FullTilt]

We fished Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last week with mixed success. We fished from Blue Berry to Kettle Falls. We managed to boat three 24" that were very healthy. Also caught a lot of really small saugers and walleyes. We had a hard time coming up with solid eaters. Most of the fish were deep. Had the best luck in water 30'-42' that was between a shallower area or reef and an even deeper area. We did catch a few random fish on the reefs but not as consistent as the deeper water. Yellow and green jigs seemed to be the best. Also caught fish on lindy rigs with minnows and red hooks.

[fishmeister_86]

HI F.MERS,

FISHING THIS YEAR HAS BEEN MUCH BETTER ON THE WEST END OF THE LAKE., NORMALLY AFTER JULY 15TH, I BELIEVE THE EAST END GETS BETTER. I'M SURE THERE ARE MANY VARIABLES, WATER LEVELS, WEATHER, ETC., BUT THIS NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, FISHING SHOULD GET EXCELLENT ON THE EAST END. I THINK THE WEST END HAS ALSO BEEN FISHED MUCH HARDER THIS YEAR, BECAUSE OF OUR HIGH GAS PRICES.

AS FAR AS THE AQUA VIEW, I'M NOT IMPRESSED WITH IT ON RAINY, ITS SO DARK. I HAVE USED ONE 3 TIMES AND 2 OF THOSE I COULDN'T SEE 2 FEET. I WOULD MUCH RATHER CONCENTRATE ON USING MY VEXLIAR IN THE WINTER & MY LOWRANCE IN THE SUMMER.

SINCERELY,

FISHMIESTER

[rainy dude]

Smalljaw,

I do use the camera quite a bit on Rainy. It's tough to fish and camera at the same time. Thats the problem!

Clarity is not an issue with me, but I do not fish any deeper than thirty feet on Rainy. I run a Velxilar flasher, Garmin raph, Lowrance chart plotter and the Aqua View all mounted on the dash. I pull up to structure and sometimes sweep over and around it with the electronics and camera.

I can relate to you that Graphs and Vexilars miss fish all the time. The cone is quite small and boulders hide fish.

Transistional zones stand out and such. So yes, If you want to know whats really out there, get one.

P.S. make a mounting system to mount your camera in a quick usable location or it will just take up space.

Rainy Dude

[smalljaw]

Thanks Rainy Dude, Good To Go, and FM for your opinions on the Aqua Vu. Paula and I have taken the big leap and picked Rainy for our summer retirement spot. We are closing on a cabin in Hopkins Bay this weekend. Half the fun of fishing is learning what's going on with the fish and finding new spots. I'll get a camera and post what I learn. Do you think it makes much difference what model is used? Looks like the options past the basic model are temperature, depth, and direction. I would think it would be easy enough to mark the cable for depth.

Regards,

Wayne

[rainy dude]

I upgraded to the model with temp., depth, and direction. I use the temperature and depth. I like the depth because I like to use elastic bands on the camera to make it look straight up. The depth reading keeps me from burying it in the mud. I look straight up to see what the suspended fish are. Quite interesting actually to how high some species will suspend.

Chances are your other electronics will miss them.

Rainy Dude

[GoodToGo]

I actually have the Marcum, not the aquavue. I really like the motorized camera. The ability to pan the camera, even while moving, is terrific. I would not buy a camera that did not have that feature. I think the Marcum's unit is packaged a little handier as well, but it's the motorized camera that is important to me.

[smalljaw]

Rainy Dude and Good To Go,

I put in a bid on E Bay for an Aqua Vu DT. Did not win the bid as I was chasing brown fish in Red Gut Sunday afternoon. The top water bite was great!

Regards,

Wayne