2020 Rainy Lake Fishing Reports & Conditions

[northernfishin]

Yes! And it also allows for other landing to not be so darn crowded. The water today appeared to be even lower. I was out with a friend and we went off blue berry island. Very slow. Looked like we weren't the only ones cause most boats near us kept moving every hour or so like we did.

I'm hoping to get into bass soon or even crappie, but could youse some pointers on how to target sallies. I'm used to fishing large mouth where you find some weeds and toss baits at it,

I'll try and post the current level and where it sits for the curve of last year once I'm at work and get a chance to pull it up tomorrow from the mill database.

[tcwin]

Almost the end of two weeks at Camp Idlewood -- a fantastic place to stay by the way-- Water temps on the west end are mid 70's with some of the bays at 80 degrees. We normally fish the bays for pike but have resorted to trolling the deeper water for pike. Have been finding them in mid lake structure at 20 - 30 feet. Most caught on Super Shad Rap and 10 inch Jakes. Not a lot of walleye fishing done by our group, but those we caught were mostly in 25 FOW on leeches. Camp Idlewood has treated us well and I highly recommend it.

Water must have dropped 12 inches in the 2 weeks we were here - still going slow around docks and homes.

Be back in September for more good times.

[SledNeck]

I caught tons of walleyes Thursday and had a blast despite a boatload of idiots that set up next to me and pushed me off a tiny one boat reef. I decided to be polite cause the wife was with me. I did trim up before I launched out of there though.

[northernfishin]

Went out just for a couple hours last night. Found a awesome perch bite! This was a few of the brutes I decided to eat for breakfast. Used a 1/4 jig dragged on bottom with a ring worm on it. Fishing partner used a jig an minnow.

[Mike Walerak]

Just fished Rainy for the last 5 days. While fishing wasn't spectacular it was pretty good despite the steady east wind. Found our best fishing 28-30 fow West of the Brule and 32-36 East the Brule. Minnows seemed to work best but we did get a handful of fish on crawlers and leeches. Found jigging to be most productive but lindy rigs worked some too.

Found many northerns, smallies and the occasional walleye trolling rapalas on the shallow rocks.

Have fun!

mw

[northernfishin]

How deep were you trolling plugs?

[Mike Walerak]

Generally 6-12 FOW with deep water close by. 6-8 FOW was best overall. The key was wind for walleyes and bigger smallies. The pike were there no matter what.

[SledNeck]

Caught between 30 and 40 walleyes today (2 guys). Was hard to fish due to wind direction, but we managed. Leeches/ chubs. Could have been warmer. Saw 3 fishing boats all day, can't beat that!!

[SledNeck]

Still catching em'

Some tactic changes, though

[clKiekhafer]

Fished Rainy with five other buddies for one week ending on September 27th. We had several personal best in the northern pike and crappie categories. The largest pike we 39" and crappies up to 15" with one weighing in at 2 lbs 2 oz. We fished Sand Bay and parts north along with areas near the Brule.

the weather was near picture perfect with highs near 80 degrees on Friday.

[tcwin]

Nice fish; looks like fun -- were you back at Camp Idlewood Chester?

That sure looks like a North Arm Pike.

Who would believe 80 degrees at the end of September?

[clKiekhafer]

Yep, we were back to Camp Idlewood. That makes 4 weeks there this year for me.

The northern pike was caught in the north arm, but we did get some mid 30" fish on the Minnesota side.

Looking at the weather this week, we certainly lucked out. Next year we could have the weather we are having right now. One just needs to pack extra cloths for all kinds of conditions.

The guys are already making plans for next year and it is possible to have several more in our group. Once the word gets out how good the fishing is and going with people that have many years of experience on the lake, we have to limit the numbers. But, then again more the merrier some same.

[NoviceFisherman]

Stayed at Kettle Falls May 15th (Friday Afternoon) thru May 19th (Tuesday morning).  Rick and crew were great hosts.  Fished the Canadian side (Stokes bay, Friendly Passage, Cormorant and Moose Bay).  Did very well.  Caught 40-50 fish per day as a whole within our boat (3 fisherman).  Largest walleye was 26".  Caught a couple 25".  Caught four northerns that were in the 35-36" range.  Trolled floating Rapalas.  As for Rapala size, the two hookers were better than the three hookers in my opinion.  Trolled near shore - shallower the better.  Trolled at 1.35 to 2.00 mph.  Just simply casted the baits behind the boat - not more than 35 feet behind the boat.  There was a good pile of fish in Slims hole just east of Hole in the Wall at the entrance of Friendly Passage.  Weather didn't really bother the fishing.  Caught fish before the cold front and after the cold front arrived.  We never fished before 9am and we never fished after 7pm.

[RoughFishin']

My and a buddy are going to try Rainy Lake for the first time ever, we are targeting bass and crappies but will take anything haha! Any tips/advice for a couple rookies to the lake?

[minten]

you guys have any ice up there im from brainerd where we got slushed out. looking to travel

 

[Cheers]

no

[IaYamo]

 Fish Tuesday through Friday of last week saw quite a bit of the lake water temp started at around 50 , pike were already startimg  to move out to the rocks from back bays upper 50s by the end of the four days of sunshine water temps were closer to 60 main lake. We caught bass on the points earlier in the week and by late in the week the Smalleys were to be found down banks near spawning  habitat but not on Beds yet had fun using stick baits,  had great trip.

[walleyemaster08]

Has anyone been doing any good fishing for walleyes east of brule narrows plan on heading over that way a few times this weekend and was just wondering how the fishing is. Any info is much appreciated thanks!

[northernfishin]

Put the boat in on the lake for the first time this year. Ice went out on April 18th. No markers yet, but word from coast guard is this weekend to next week providing weather is good. Water is very low. Lots of debris floating around. Found a 20' tree floating in the middle of channel in rainy lake city area. Pulled it to shore to save someone's lower unit. Water was 57 in black bay, 46 in main lake areas, 48 in the bays we fished. Pike caught we're laying eggs. Beautiful day to be on the water. 

[northernfishin]

Much different lake from a week ago. Snow on shores and ice in reeds. Water temps were down quite a bit. 42 in main lake 45 in shallow bays. Had a few followers on spinner baits but no hits. 

[IaYamo]

Did you fish CA or US side?

 

[northernfishin]

Canadian mostly. 

[snoozebutton]

Heading back in the morning after a week at Island View Resort. We were told when we got here that the walleyes were in 30 to 35 feet. Sure enough we saw tons of them at that depth but had a hard time getting them to bite and when they did, they were little ones. Yesterday we started focusing on 3 to 12 feet and did much better. Kept a limit of 16 and 17 inchers and threw back several between 19 and 24 plus a dozen northerns from 24 to 32 inches. I started catching them with either a pink or chartreuse jig tipped with with 4" smelt gulp and did see a need to try anything else. We had to search a lot of shore line to find them but when we did, we'd get 3 or 4 from each "good" spot.

 

All caught between the resort and Brule Narrows. We ventured all the way to Kettle Falls today and tried a few spots out that way on the way back but not too seriously and didn't come up with anything.

Edited June 10, 2017 by snoozebutton

[waterspaniel]

6/17-24 at LaBelle's Birch Point lodge in NW Bay.   walleyes seemed scattered--trolled crankbaits and lindy-rigged leaches.  cool, wet, windy weather half the week.  no bass.

[Poutwhacker]

Camped on the east side of Rainy the last 4 days. Marked lots of fish on the reefs, but had a hard time getting anything to bite, until we tried slip bobbers and a leech. Didn't kill the walleyes, but the simple presentation made for a successful and fun trip. Had plenty to eat. Biggest was 25".

Had great weather and a great family outing. We'll be back soon.

[city slicker]

After 4 days on a Rainy lake houseboat we managed a walleye fry 3 nights. They where on the deeper mid lake reefs which is no secret, but they wanted minnows. That was the hard part, finding bigger minnows. To my surprise I was able to land a few each afternoon on 5" plastic rigged. 2 boats, 6 people, 47 eyes where clicked biggest 24", smallest 6" and every stop in between. We did fish some bays and the pike were willing to play!city

[Mike Walerak]

Was up for the last 8 days.  Found a good mix of fish all over the lake.  Seemed the larger fish were on the West side reefs and the smaller fish were on the East end.  East end reefs had fish up to 22" but there seemed to be more fish willing to bite and the eaters were plentiful.   Best presentations were a jig/crawler or a lindy with leech.  It just seemed they preferred one or the other on any given day. Parrot colored jigs of 3/16 were the top producer.   Did find a few fish along shoreline breaks but the best action was on the reefs overall.  30-33 fow was the best depth.

We did pull some leadcore and cranks on the reefs with mixed results.

 

[bfisherman11]

Mike, real nice eye. I am headed up on 8/25, We just fish the US side now. I have a few spots I like near Shorty's and in Black Bay (points). Of course lots of spots right near where we stay NE of camp but still on US side.

 

Love the pic and just makes my wait to get back up all the less tolerable. Ha

 

My first trip to Rainy was probably around 1972 (yikes). We used to go to Birch Point Camp, now LaBelle's (great area as well). Anyhow, not sure what a summer would be like if I could not come up there to chill on Rainy.

 

Thanks for the post!

Bill

[Mike Walerak]

I've been going to Rainy annually since I was a baby. We stayed at Island View for many years until we migrated out to the islands camping.  I used to get up there 3 or 4 times a year but now it is an annual trip.  Just can't beat the scenery and fishing.

[Muskies]

Hey Mike,

Sounds like you have a great week. You were lucky enough to have great weather for camping. I grew up on sand bay but I only fish the Canadian side of the the lake now a days because that's where I live. I target mostly walleyes and had most of my luck between 24'-28' from 2-7 in the afternoons using a jig and minnow on mid lake humps. Always great to hear people enjoying the beauty of rainy lake.