Cell Phone Coverage On Rainy Lake

[Coach Jeff]

We will be on Rainy Lake in the Island View area in a few weeks, coming up from Missouri. I have an iPhone and iPad with AT&T 4G cellular data and calling. How disappointed am I going to be in reception and especially the ability to use my Navionics charts up there?  Suggestions?  TIA

[h8go4s]

I camp anywhere from Dryweed Island west to Lost Bay and can get ATT the majority of the time, but seems to be better reception after the sun sets. Sometimes I'll get reception from Rogers Communications, which is out of Canada, so if you use that you'll probably get charged a small fee. Since I solo camp, I try to call my wife each night to let her know I'm OK. There have been a couple of times when I've just sent a short text because I only had one bar. As far as Navionics, if you have that area loaded on your phone or locator, you don't need cell service.  Navionics is ok for general navigation but isn't very trustworthy for depth contours, so be careful. Lots of rock hazards. Good luck.

[fins_n'_feathers]

The service up there is very spotty at best. I have AT&T and have a place in Sand Bay. At the cabin there is hardly any service and what there is usually comes from Canada. That being said a mile down the road it’s 4 bars of LTE. I can’t say exactly how service is at Island View but when we fish in Black Bay right around the corner there’s pretty good service. About as good as it gets on the lake. The farther East you go the worse it gets and fast.

[Coach Jeff]

Thanks for the info!  I only have a 40 hp so we won’t be getting TOO far to the east.  I was looking at cell boosters but the cost for using it for one trip isn’t worth the purchase price.  By the way, how is the fishing in Black Bay in early August? 

[fins_n'_feathers]

It seems like Black Bay always holds some fish no matter what time of year it is but there are certain times of the year where they can really pile in there but August isn’t one of those times. That time of year most of the fishing takes place on the mid lake reefs and humps. there are tons of them all over and traveling a long ways isn’t always necessary, just use your electronics and fish where the fish are. 

[Coach Jeff]

6 hours ago, fins_n'_feathers said:

It seems like Black Bay always holds some fish no matter what time of year it is but there are certain times of the year where they can really pile in there but August isn’t one of those times. That time of year most of the fishing takes place on the mid lake reefs and humps. there are tons of them all over and traveling a long ways isn’t always necessary, just use your electronics and fish where the fish are. 

 

I’m good with that!  Can stay away from rocks easier!