As the the first cool mornings of fall are now only weeks away so are the tremendous opportunities at trophy Rainy Lake fish. Rainy lake has clearly benefited a great deal from a protective slot initiated several years ago. As many anglers know all 17-28 inch Walleyes must be immediately caught and released back into this fishery. Eater sized fish are anything under the 17 inch size. This allows the breeding population of walleyes to remain productive in our fishery going into the future while producing more and more elite sized fish each season. During the highly touted months of both September and October some absolute monster Walleyes and Pike become vulnerable to hook and line. These fish often tend to locate themselves slightly deeper for a period of time than during the heat of summer as they follow large schools of ciscoes. As always fisherman need to Catch, Photo, and release all protected slot fish effectively for maximum efficiency.
Many guides hear feel any fish that are caught deeper than 30 feet should be brought in careful to keep fish from blowing their air bladder. This means don’t bring them up as though your in some sort of Olympic Games reeling contest. If you catch a walleye that is in the protective slot that has popped a bladder into his/her mouth you can prick it slightly with a pin or even a hook allowing the bladder to retract. This will allow the fish to swim away. If this continues to be a problem I would suggest moving away from that school of fish, and locating fish in a shallower feeding position.
When releasing any fish please follow a standard procedure that will greatly enhance the overall survival rates. NEVER place fingers into the Red Gills……..NEVER. Take quick pictures and measurements and then get that fish in the water. I always say if you can’t hold your breath during the photo shoot either can the fish!! DO NOT throw the fish overboard. 
Hold the fish in the water upright. Allow the fish to regain needed strength. A slight side to side movement of the tail will often get the fish to kick out of your hand.It might take a minute or two….OR 3!! Take the time. Cradle the fish until it swims away. If you simply let the fish lay on it’s side it will often die. Take the extra time to preserve those large slot fish for our future.
Remember if your fortunate enough to catch a large walleye or pike. These fish often times wear themselves out completely during the fight. These fish quite often need extra time being released. It is those elite sized fish that quite often are the most vulnerable for a couple reasons. The first reason is per an anglers excitement; Fisherman tend to keep that fish out of the water FAR FAR to long for a photo shoot. Remember PLAN on catchig a picture fish; Have your CAMERA, and Hook Removal gear handy and ready to go. One guy can take a couple very quick pics and then slide that fish back in the water per the above description. Every anglers in the boat does NOT need cell phone pics as well as digital pics of the fish. Dropped fish in the boat will often lead to dead or damaged fish.
Leave the High 5’s, story telling and reinactments for after your job of CPR is complete. THEN GO CRAZY BABY!! Our fisheries are clearly in the hands of anglers and leading information gathering mediums like In Depth Outdoors leading future generations into the outdoors. PLEASE take 5 minutes to explain to a friend or another fisherman effective CPR. 
On a special note; KUDOS to the group of Rainy Lake houseboat anglers I had the pleasure of fishing with a couple days this week. Russ and Ken were the guys that set up the trip with me and I’d like to thank them personally for the fun time. On our second day the whole fishing team headed out behind “Sho-Time”. What a fun way to fish together with your friends.
This whole crew of fisherman were simply a great group of guys to fish with. Laughs across the board all day long and I clearly learned numerous new phrases to share with family and friends!! 
Still I was most impressed with the care taken to carefully release those big slot fish!! Great job MEN!! Look forward to next year and by the way Nice CHRISTMAS TREE on top of that Rainy Lake Houseboat. THAT BOYS IS CLASSIC!! As I’ve always said it’s Christmas everyday when your fishing on Rainy lake!!
