Devils Cascade

[pikehunter461]

Has anyone been to the extreme north end of the lake by Devils Cascade? Is it a very dangerous area? I assume there is some current- any comments related to how safe/unsafe this area is? How about the fishing? The area seems interesting, just wondering if I am wasting my time checking that area out. Also, for clarification, the rapids at Devils Cascade exit Rainy or empty into Rainy? I am assuming they exit.

Thanks

[fftoday]

Hey pikehunter,

I've fished the upper north arm quite a bit. I'll be going up there again at the end of May. The Cascade falls actually empty into Rainy Lake so the area is very safe. We don't fish alot in that extreme north arm... we tend to fish Ash & Paddy bay alot and some other areas on the west side of the Manitou Sound. All in all, its pretty good fishing up there with great scenery.

[tearin' lips]

Welcome aboard Fishing Minnesota guys! Glad to have you with us here on the Rainy Forum.

Pikehunter,

As fftoday mentioned, the cascade does enter Rainy. And as he also mentioned it is a very unsafe area to try to venture around. The as you know ice is never safe, and that is especially true around current areas. However the scenery is fantastic and the fishing is very good up there as it receives little if no pressure, especailly during hard water. Be extremely careful if you venture up to the area, all the narrows and areas where current gets deflected or accelerated is starting to open up.

Take Care and Good Luck Fishing!

[1850 ashbay]

I was up there the weekend before easter. Open water by the buoy (SP?) About 100 yrds away there was about a foot of ice. Be careful!

[pikehunter461]

Thanks guys- I was thinking of fishing the area once there is open water. Seems quite dangerous this time of year on the ice.

[fftoday]

Just to clarify... when I said the area is "safe" I was referring to conditions after ice out.

[CaptJohnWI]

My very first trip to Rainy Lake was in 1971. I brought along my new "bass" boat and ended up staying at the Devils Cascade Camp. They picked me and a bunch of other anglers up at Five Mile Dock and towed me back to camp so I wouldn't get lost. I had a whole cabin to myself for $8/day !! I told them I felt guilty about hogging a whole cabin but they said it was alright as nobody else coming that week.

In the photo (from a few years later) you can see the cascade in the backround. Picture taken on their dock facing south from camp. Back then I kept everything but rarely keep any fish now.

Didn't know where to go and the rapids looked good to me. Big school of minnows right under dock! Put the electric motor in and eased over into current and anchored. Proceeded to catch bass and walleyes on every cast. Nobody else fishing there right in front of camp!

Around supper time, a bunch of guys came back in from the lake. They saw I was catching fish and started to troll spinner rigs and minnows around me. No luck for them. They saw I was throwing everything back and asked "why?". I held up my stringer and told them I already had my limit. They had spent all day down lake and had even portaged in to another lake without much luck.

They asked if I was alone at camp. Yes was my reply. They said if I would give them my fish from the stringer, they would feed me the whole time I was at camp. Well all I had brought along was a can of Dinty Morre, some lunch meat and a loaf of bread so sounded like a good deal to me.

The picture is from a few years later (1974-75?) when I had a buddy along and same bass boat. The morning we were supposed to leave, a tornado hit the camp and tore it up. I cannot locate the after-tornado pictures but still have them someplace. Only the big camp boat and my bass boat surrvived undamaged. All the guest boats were blown out into the lake and were floating upside down with motors all soaked. We spent the morning retrieving boats.

Will post pictures when I find them.

[pikehunter461]

CaptJohn:

Very interesting. When was the last time you were up there? Is the camp still there? Thanks for the story.

[CaptJohnWI]

October 2005 was my last trip up there. Same owners and we reminisced about the tornado. Their son was camped on island in front of resort when it hit. Every tree was stripped off the island but kids not hurt as they hid under canoe which got squashed a mite.

Dog got blown out into lake but came swimming back home about an hour later!

[Berng]

Captain John

Great story! I just love hearing stories about Rainy Lake lore.

Thanks for your post.

Berng

[bitz]

I have been fishing the north arm since about 61 (first trip at 5) have fished from the cascades all the way to the reefs out from 5 mile dock and it is very good the entire length. We stopped by last summer and looked at the camp, it doesn't look much different then in the 60-70s and didn't seem to have anyone staying there. There are some marked rocks the last mile or so and a few that are not marked, so it pays to have a good lake map to avoid the rocks and find the places to fish. The entire time we had the cabin on little canoe, every day, the boats from devils cascade would go up the litte canoe and portage into Vane Lake. We could never figure that out, since some of the best of Rainy is between the camp and the river. With a good boat/motor, you can cover the north end and Ash narrows/Paddy bay and the area all the way to Woodchuck and stay a couple of weeks and still not hit all of the good spots. As many have said, the area is great and a lot less pressure than the american side or even the lower end on the canadian side.

Bitz

[Super Black]

I have also been going up to the north arm of Rainy for the past 20 some years. And needless to say it alway's amazes me. You can get skunked or you can come home with some of the best fishing memories. Yes the camp is still open and the same people still run the place. I know them very well and keep in touch with them often. Hey Capt, thats a great story and I love the old pic. I'll have to ask Bob and Steve about the tornado!!! I'm sure they'll give me a story or two.. SB

[CaptJohnWI]

Super Black,

Please send me an email

[email protected]

[eyepatrol]

My wife and I have taken a couple of "scenic drives" up to the cascade these past few years. A good map will definitely help you out. But it's very pretty up there, not much traffic and the fishing....well, I didn't do much of it up there except to cast a rapala over rocks for smallies. Never caught any huge smallies, but there sure were a lot of them. There were 2 instances where I had two little smallies on the same lure at the same time.

I've always wanted to take time to fish it thoroughly, but we've had the kids along and they typically have had enough of the boat by that time. We'd drive there from LaBelle's in NW Bay.

[bitz]

Hey Basscatcher, are u heading to NW bay this summer. We are staying at AMIK lodge (Vince Allen) for the first time. The place we used to stay at the north end has closed and we are trying the nw bay area and wondered if you could provide some ideas for smallies there. we will be there the last 11 days of June...

Bitz

[eyepatrol]

Hi bitz. Some of my family will be there again this year from 7/13 - 7/20, however I'll be missing the trip this year due to other vacation plans. I haven't seen too much of Amik Lodge, but it looks to be tucked back in a small bay and nicely protected from the wind & waves. As for the smallies, I don't fish them too often, but the south side of 3 Sisters has put out some nice ones in the past, the 3 islands just south of Moore's has put out a few too. Other places we've found them is off the point that is east/southeast of 3 Sisters, Shelter Islands, the south end of Turkey Island and then we've found decent numbers on the smaller islands surrounding Woodchuck. Most of these fish we've ran into by "mistake" while fishing for 'eyes. I wish I could be of more help, but this is what we've found over the years while fishing for walleyes in the first or second week of July. And, as you probably know, trips to Alexandria, Ash and Paddy Bays can be well worth it if you're after smallies. Just the view and scenery are amazing!

Have fun and good luck up there!

[John-Di]

Bitz, I have had luck around the boulders of Northwest Bay and there sure is an abundance of them. Try the western edge of the bay that Amik Lodge is in. The humps in the bay sometimes produce a smallie. Try around Birch Point. In my opinion some of the best action is up north in Alexandria Bay. Be cautious of the mayfly hatch it can modify your fishing technique. You should be getting there about the time the hatch is over but it is sometimes difficult to predict.

[bitz]

thanks guys for the tips, i have fished alex and ash for years and will for sure head there, but don't want to always want to run that far... so the local area you guys are refering to is great... I am already excited to try it. We have a good friend that has a cabin just to the south and west end of woodchuck, so will be fishing there some as we go to visit.

Bitz