Rainy lake walleyes - Rainy Lake - Rainy Lake

Hi Nitro,

One thing to keep in mind on Rainy Lake is that there definately are periods throughout the summer that has one presentation outproducing another. There are times that Leeches are worthless early in the summer. Nightcrawlers are hot and cold, and during certain periods will outproduce other baits 10 to 1. Shinners tend to be one of the only baits that I know of for “Live Bait” presentations that work May-October. As BB mentions slinging Xraps can have you on big fish depending on what parts of Rainy your fishing. We’ve got areas that have good Shallow water walleye bites as well as deep water walleye bites. Rainy covers 220,000 acres, and fishing here year round and 7 days a week in the summer I’ll tell you fish move day to day let alone year to year. The best information that someone could give you is to explain the types of structure they are catching fish on. Learning walleye movements and patterns will be much more helpful than sitting you on a spot. Rainy is flat out loaded with points, humps, channels, saddles, and neckdowns. Truth of the matter is the fish are going to locate themselves where the baitfish are. This ice fishing season I fished areas that I have flat out POUNDED the fish on for the past 5 years, and hardly marked a fish. That is the fun thing about Rainy, and one of the greatest reasons to fish Rainy lake. Just want to be real about Rainy Lake Fishing. I believe we have the greatest well rounded fishery in the state, and we all love it. With that being said it is likely unrealistic to think you can just jump out on a lake with 220,000 acres of water and jump on the fish. Most whom have fished it will agree getting on the right pattern will ensure a great trip. Being on the wrong pattern might have you cooking up crayfish for shorelunch!! LOL!!

One last thing is to fish jigs. I sling H20 precision jigs May-October. You will catch everything on them, and the fish mortality is drastically decreased vs. lindy rig set ups. I witness first hand 100 + fish killed by swallowed lind rig set-ups. There is no denying seeing something witnessed first hand. This does not mean everyone fishes Lindy rigs in this fashion, and there are anglers who are cautious in fishing them. Yep I catch hundreds of walleyes a year that have line hanging out of there mouth with hooks embedded in there guts. There have been many many articles written about lindy rigging, and here on a lake where on the Canadian side you can keep 1 walleye, and on the US side you can keep 4, but everything between 17-28 must be immediately released I think it is incredibly important we take it upon ourselves to ensure the healthy release of these fish. So here is my opinion on Lindy Rigs. If they are slamming lindy rigs you will load up on fish utilizing jigs. Fish caught via jig will have a much higher chance of not being gut hooked and floating away. If you are having a tough time catching walleyes via jig than don’t feed the fish a lot of line with a lindy rig as they absolutely will inhale crawlers and leeches and swallow them. I disagree that Jigs won’t produce year round as myself and clients do it year in and year out. Might take a little more concentrations and quick reactions, but isn’t that fun?? I really hope opening the bail and lighting up a cigar like my grandpa used to do and then setting the hook days are about over. When I was a kid we kept all those big fish, so it wasn’t really that important that the fish died. In todays conservation minded angling many have opted out of the Lindy Rig set ups OR fished them very carefully. Fisheries Like Rainy are GEMS, and are that way for a reason.

As BB states bring lots of anchor rope. I have 150 feet in my guide boats. Electronics are the best indicator of where or where not you should be fishing. You are going to flat out fall in love with Rainy Lake.