camping on rainy

Planning a trip to the national park and just had a couple of questions for anyone with info:some buddys and i are heading there with the boat from south dakota at the end of july and just wondering about where the walleyes would be this time of year, what presentation whould be the best this time of year, where we should put the boat in at closest to the fish, where we should camp that would be closest to the fish and more supplies like ice, bait,ect. Also i wonder where i could get a conture map of the lake, map of the camp sites and resorts in the area for more supllies. Any info would be great, thanks Justin

welcome to IDO! theres guys on here that can give you alot of good info regarding Rainy Lake!!

Hi Justin,

Welcome to the Rainy Lake forum. You can pick up a contour map of Rainy Lake from the Rainy Lake One Stop which is located about 4 miles East of International Falls on Hwy 11. They will also help you with air packed bait for your trip as well as any last minute tackle, gas or groceries…. As far as a map for campsites you can contact Voyageurs National Park which has the maps available, or for that matter Laura at the Rainy Lake One Stop may also have those too. July fishing can be fantastic for numbers of big walleyes. Walleyes will locate themselves amongst the largest concentrations of baitfish available. Baitfish movements always attract the bulk of the bigger fish. When searching a contour map of Rainy you’ll quickly discover it ALL looks good!! Truth of the matter is most of it is…..AT TIMES!! Some summers certain reefs are dynamite, and at other years times they are void of fish. I concentrated most of my efforts last year fishing breaklines, and rarely had to contend with other boats pounding reefs that held few fish. H20 Precision jigs in the 3/16 oz size (Orange/Chart, Purple, and white) Bait of choice seems to change for me week in and week out mid-summer, but if on active fish most livebait will be effective.

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Planning a trip to the national park and just had a couple of questions for anyone with info:some buddys and i are heading there with the boat from south dakota at the end of july and just wondering about where the walleyes would be this time of year, what presentation whould be the best this time of year, where we should put the boat in at closest to the fish, where we should camp that would be closest to the fish and more supplies like ice, bait,ect. Also i wonder where i could get a conture map of the lake, map of the camp sites and resorts in the area for more supllies. Any info would be great, thanks Justin

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Hey Justin

Here’s the link to the One Stop >>> http://www.rainylakeonestop.com/

Give Laura a call and see if they have the maps you need. Also, if you plan to camp inside of the VNP (Voyageurs National Park) you’ll need a free permit. Here’s the link to that info.

http://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

There’s always lots of park rangers around doing spot checks so don’t try and camp in the park without one.

Here’s some additional information on camping in the VNP that will be worth a read.

http://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/park-regulations.htm

Let us know if you have any additional questions and be sure to report back on how your trip went.

Wow thanks for the info so quickly, its very helpfull so far. I just have a couple more quetions for you: the boat we are taking has the hummingbird 595c with the LakeMaster NE chip and im not sure if it has the boarder lakes on it, if not is there a place a guy can rent one so we dont have to buy a seperate chip for one trip? Also as far as licenses go, we are going to be fishing four nites and five days, do they sell a license longer than three days, or do we have to get an annual one? And lastly, the go-to presentation for us around here is usually bottom bouncers with crawler haulers, is this somthing that we will have succes with or should we try ancoring with a jig and minnow over a reef like i saw on the IDO show? Thanks again for all the info, Its just to bad that I have to wait a month before we get to go.

If you prefer to run spinners, here’s another show we did on Rainy Lake using that method in early August that should give you some good info to work from.

See more IDO Fishing Videos!

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Also as far as licenses go, we are going to be fishing four nites and five days, do they sell a license longer than three days, or do we have to get an annual one?

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Yep, they sell a 7 day non-resident license for $28.50.

Here’s the link. The One Stop can set you up with that license when you pull into town or you can pre-order it online. Laura at the One Stop has a very nice smile. I’d buy it from her since the cost is the same.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/licenses/fishing/index.html?type=fishing

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the boat we are taking has the hummingbird 595c with the LakeMaster NE chip and im not sure if it has the boarder lakes on it,

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Justin, I keep pretty close tabs on the Lakemaster products and I’ve never heard if a “NE” chip. I would recommend you double check that chip to see what you actually have.

The Lakemaster chip you want is the Rainy / Lake of the Woods chip. Here’s that link >>> http://www.lakemap.com/gpsfishingmaps-humminbirdwoodsrainy.aspx

The real question might be if that unit can actually read a Lakemaster chip. I’m not sure it is even compatible with the Lakemaster product line. I don’t see it listed on this compatibility sheet >>> http://www.lakemap.com/documents/HB_compatabilityPage.pdf

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if not is there a place a guy can rent one so we dont have to buy a seperate chip for one trip?

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Sorry buddy. I’ve never heard of anyone that rents the chips. Not saying you couldn’t find someone to loan you a compatible chip but I’ve never heard of a store renting them.

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Its just to bad that I have to wait a month before we get to go.

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And that Daze guy is going to make every minute of your wait heck on earth with all the big fish pictures he’ll be posting between now and when you leave.

grandmaster08,
Sorry for such a late responce,but it looks like James and Chris already lead you in the write direction. We do have a few campsite maps, i try to get up to the park once a week to get a handful.

Hey Laura!! Since you are the “ONE STOP” any chance we could get the park to keep you stocked up on these maps?? I know they are in demand for visitors, and might as well get them from you when getting bait. Actually I think it would be a nice idea for the park service to have a couple handouts at a satelite location. See you in a few!! Pick out some lucky ones!

Im sorry, I was mistaken, he has the Navionics chip NE i know the “N” word but thats the one he has, im not sure if that has Rainy on it. Sorry about the confusion. Thanks for the link of the show and all the information. Justin

I wonder which lake most people fish for walleyes on: Rainy, Kabetogama, or any of the smaller lakes around there? Im not looking for anyones sweet spot, just trying to figure out where we should camp, because we will be geting there just in time to find a camp spot and do some knight fishing and try to get some sleep for the power fishing we will be doing for the weekend or are they all pretty equal? Any advice is greatly apreciated thanks again for all the help so far Thanks Justin

Well here on the Rainy lake Forum your likely going to hear a biased viewpoint towards Rainy Lake, but of course LOTW,Kab,Rainy River and several other fisheries are also fantastic walleye factories. BTW might as well play cards at night as the walleye activity after dark is pretty much non-existant up here. You will however keep plenty busy slapping mosquitos. So where are you camping??

thats to bad about the night fishing, thats somthing we really enjoy. we were thinking about camping in lost bay or around there, theres got to be somthing that bites at night other than the skeeters right?

You certainly can try. Be careful out there. For the most part there is no bite that takes place at night on Rainy that I am aware of other than late fall at times in select areas.

thanks for the advice But i wonder what you meant by be cardful out there? are you talking about the bears eating us, or the underwater rocks eating the boat? I also wonder if a guy can camp on shore outside of VNP on the US side and have a fire? thanks again Justin

Rocks! The campsites inside the park are so nice and all have fire pits. I’d set you sites on inside the park.
Oh, and all designated sites have bear lockers.

Yes I was referring to Rock hazards. With the assumption that this will be your first outing on Rainy Lake night travel through the back channel would not be something I’d suggest with your personal safety in mind. Also be well aware that there are many umarked rocks, so exploring is best at low rates of speed until safe routes are established. Beyond unmarked rock hazards even the ones that are will sneak up on you. It would be advisable to keep your travel to daylight in the darkness of night. I run the lake most everyday, and don’t like nighttime travel. You always have to be concerned about the guy with no navigational lights. As far as camping goes you need to camp at a designated campsite which will be found within Voyageurs National Park, and will clearly be marked on your map from them. Lastly utilize the bear lockers (not just a suggestion), and be aware that black bears keen sense of smell. If you keep bacon on the fire, or food scattered around the campsite you could very well have an uninvited 4 legged friend.

thanks for the advice. yes this will be our first time to rainy, and your correct traveling at night is just a bad idea in a new place, especially on rainy. when i was refering to night fishing i was talking about from shore in our camp spot, sorry about the confusion, thats why we are trying to find a good spot that will be hidden from the wind and a nice break to deep water from shore. so what are you soposed to do if a bear does come? thanks for all the info! to bad you only have to put up with all this for a whole month heading out there July 29 but seriously i do appreciate all the advice you all rock!!! thanks Justin

hey Chris, jus saw your posts on deadliest catches. WOW!!!! Only 9 days left till our trip up there. you must be booked up for a while? Let me know. those photos are great!

We’ve been getting after them pretty good. Beat them up today before heading to Kettle Falls for lunch. Not sure exactly when your trip is, but I have July 30th and 31st open.