Who can explain this?

I have a couple of questions. I know there are Muskie in Rainy. It seems they are limited to certain bays which are on the Canadian side. I have read elsewhere that Muskie’s roam. So why aren’t they spread all over Rainy? Being a deep lake with lots of forage shouldn’t there be a large / healthy population in the lake?

This really, really baffles me. Why haven’t they gotten over the dam and into Kab. and Namakin?

OK, I understand guys being tight lipped. But, are there bays on the United States side where I could look? I’m not a big time hunter but would like to spend a few hours / days each fall looking for fish.

Please explain these things to me.

Thank you…

I am not well versed about Rainy. But LOTW is kind of the same.

1. Huge (HEEE-UUUUUGE) body of water.
2. Recruitment, good in some areas, poor in others. Likely a habitat issue, not forage.
3. Pressure??? Nobody thinks they are there, why fish them? Incidentals account for very few boated fish on well known musky waters, those where they are not well known perhaps even less.
4. Muskies on the Shield behave totally different than just about any other variety. So much so, that a book was specifically written about them by Dick Pearson. Makes them difficult to catch in any time other than late fall.

Just some thoughts… I expect Chris will have some real insight.

Thanks Dan, I have [censored] book “Fishing the shield” or something like that. I just can’t get my mind around the fact that the fish aren’t spread out more. It makes little sense to me. But that’s why I made the post. Maybe somebody can explain it so even I can understand it.

When you consider the huge amount of area on LOTW holding fish compared to Rainy????????????? I don’t get it.

I think Dan hit the nails solid on why. There are a lot of lakes that I have been on where pike are “dominant” but some bays are much better for musky.
1. Huge bodies of water really need to be sub-divided into mini lakes or habitats. If everything a musky needs is available within a few acres, why leave? Spawning grounds, shallow weed beds, deep weeds, deep structure, and preferred water temps/thermoclines; its all right there.
2. Location, location, location. If there is a known bay for muskies, the key is to identify what is available in that bay, that doesn’t exists elsewhere. Duplication is the key. Also, I’m just guessing that the available data for Rainy shows a very poor number of adult musky per acre. Keep in mind that data such as that refers to the lake acres. Break it down to “suitable habitat” acres to get a better handle on the available amount of adult fish. Again, find what the preference or offering is within that suitable habitat, and you’ll probably evolve into hammering some outstanding skies!

Just a comparison for a local lake & walleyes. DNR says very poor reproduction and minimal population. My dad bragged up catching huge walleyes at night while wading and casting musky lures. Once we identified what was so special about what he was using, and the very limited amount of cabbage weeds in the lake, we had it dialed in. Prior to that, we had so many worthless nights dragging crawlers, leeches, tossing undersized cranks…all to the wrong structure.

I’d say it boils down to 2 key factors. Lack of enough high quality spawning areas and high pike populations. The muskies that are probably present just can’t produce enough offspring to create a viable fishery on the American side.

“viable…on the American side…”
Now that wouldn’t be some kinda veiled reference to Obamanomics, now, eh?

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“viable…on the American side…”
Now that wouldn’t be some kinda veiled reference to Obamanomics, now, eh?

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If that was the case, there would be billions of $$$$ thrown at keeping the muskies dependent upon politicians

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4. Muskies on the Shield behave totally different than just about any other variety. So much so, that a book was specifically written about them by Dick Pearson. Makes them difficult to catch in any time other than late fall.

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Dan, could you explain what you mean when you say muskies on LotW are “difficult to catch in any time other than late fall.”?

some of the guides i know who spend the full season on LotW are in tune with seasonal fish movements…they talk about how the muskies start out near spawning bays, slowly move towards deep water areas by the peak of summer, and then return towards the spawning bays. and some fish never wander far from those areas all season.
i’ve never fished Rainy, but i’d bet that if certain bays are identified for holding muskies, it’s because those bays offer appropriate spawning habitat – something that keeps them nearby.

Sure, I can explain it, but I think you already did it for me. Easy fish to catch are those that typically always inhabit the same spots. For example, go up to LOTW and fish with a jig and minnow any time of year, on just about any pile of rocks deeper than 10 feet and you will most certainly catch a walleye, right? In fact if you find a pile of rocks with suitable forage, you may catch 50 walleyes.

Now muskies on the other hand, as you stated, start in one place early in the season, then move as water temps and forage dictate. Only to come back to the same spots they started at some time, again as water temps and forage dictate to spend their fall.

I didn’t say muskies were impossible to catch any time other than the fall, simply that it is difficult. So much so I know of guys, as well as guides that have gone days, if not weeks without actually boating a fish.

I believe the context of this conversation from the beginning was how a guy that isn’t up there every day, can find and fish muskies on the US side of the Rainy.

Fall, in any lake that has a Whitefish and\or Cisco population, most certainly offers the best chance of catching a muskie on shield lakes simply because the majority of a favorite food source is concentrated on very specific types of locations\structure. Essentially taking the much of the guess work out of musky fishing.

Happy to hear your guiding acquaintances are so good on LOTW, perhaps you would like to share their names and contact info should I ever want to venture up that way and catch a guaranteed fish.

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Happy to hear your guiding acquaintances are so good on LOTW, perhaps you would like to share their names and contact info should I ever want to venture up that way and catch a guaranteed fish.

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ouch, why the sarcasm? i was asking you the question because i was genuinely interested in your perspective. i’ve had the good fortune to become friends with some fairly decent fishermen/guides on LotW and that has helped me immensely, so my perspective is probably colored by that experience. i’ve only just begun to fish LotW (NW Angle) over the past 4 years in the summer, plus 1 fall trolling trip, so take that combination for whatever it’s worth. Lord knows we struggled in early July this year…of course, northern Minnesota was a tad bit tough then too.

it seems to me that the sheer size of the lake is defintely a factor…the fish can migrate larger distances (miles) in ways that aren’t possible on 5000 acre lakes. so yes, you do have to do some searching and some thinking.

however, i’ve found the fishing there to be more consistent than most anywhere else i’ve been. once you locate them, the sheer number of fish is astonishing, and they’ll actually engage and eat in a figure-8, which is awfully fun. a glance at the mid-summer Musky Hunter school numbers every year is pretty informative, those guys go crazy. the warm water activity levels plus big numbers of fish is a great combination. if i had one day to try and get someone their first muskie, i’d want to head straight to the Woods in mid-July.

it seems your opinion is different, and that’s cool, and it’s good to hear other perspectives. baitfish spawning in the fall definitely brings muskies around, particularly some bigger fish that may have been inaccessible/suspended during the summer.

to help narrow things down, one key correlation seems to be seasonal movement to/from spawning areas, and i would guess you could apply that to other similar systems such as Rainy Lake to find them in the summer?