IDO Member Trapsht Burns Drag with Rainydaze!!

Hats off to you Trapsht!! Not a bad morning with your 24, 25 1/4 and 26 inch walleyes gracing the Daze Fish Casket!! Put the heat to the fish this morning similiar to how “Ma Nature” was putting the heat to us by landing 40 fish before noon!! Had 4 close calls with monster gators tagging walleyes as we were trying to bring them to the safety of……….THE NET!! Gonna be a flat out BLAZING hot day today with temps reaching 85 degrees prior to the 12:00 dinner bell as we burned off the water. I’m simply not built to withstand 90 degree weather. Seems every time we get over 80 degrees I daydream of the Fall run!! We were dealt a No Wind, 90 Degree, Middle of summer, WALLEYE FRENZY morn!! Rainy Lake Baby!! Keep your toes out of the water kids!!

Great fishing with you today Justin!! Hope you thoroughly enjoy the rest of your trip on Rainy Lake, and Thunderbird lodge. Look forward to doing it again real soon!!

And Honestly if I would have known you were a DENTIST I would have never bit the Mono lead on my line!!

Nice Fish!!

Chris I am coming up to Rainy for a camping/fishing trip on Thursday. First time ever to Rainy, looks like you are still using jigs, what is the bait of choice?? Also is there anything going on Bottom Bouncer/Spinner or Crankbaits. I am assuming you are fishing reefs, what depth are you fishing normally??

Thanks !!

I’m using H20 Precision jigs , and don’t use rigs other than in conjunction with spinners. Rainy lake SELDOM demands a lindy rig with 8 foot snells, but may call for anglers to work jigs in different sizes and alternative speeds to trick the tanks. I catch a couple fish a day this time of year with line and hooks stuck in their guts. There future is clearly suspect, and I won’t venture a guess on Hooking mortality. The fish have been flat out stacked in 24-36 f.o.w. There are deeper pods of fish also, but when possible I will choose the shallow fish to try avoid bladder blow-outs which can be an issue on deep water walleyes. I’m personally not a real big fan of bottom bouncer set-ups on “Tight Spot” Holding zones on Rainy Lake unless working deep mud/gravel. Seems guys spend as much time re-tying rigs as catching fish. I’ve watched guys rigs often only to find their presentation in and out of fish while we stand directly on top of the fish on rock piles. More time on fish = more fish in my book. I haven’t utilized Crankbaits much this summer either, but there is little doubt they will work extremely well in the right situation. Plus a fun way to enjoy your lunch break while working big cranks. Windy shorelines and pods of baitfish holding big arcs will put scars on your cranks. Don’t be at suprised to be tangling with TANK Pike if you locate our large class of 2005 walleyes in the 11-13inch range. We’ve had some absolute Freaks chasing our Walleyes recently. I had one hooked up this morning for a short while before he let my SPOOKED 13 inch walleye live to swim another day. That ghost fish which I honestly never laid eyes on literally stopped my retrieve like a TRUCK in reverse!!

Keep in mind if you hook up some big fish with our warmer waters temps (72-75) take the necessary time to ensure that trophy fish swims away unharmed. The fish are a bit more touchy with the warmer water,and may need to be held upright at boatside for several minutes to regain the strength to pull out of your hands. Big fish simply tossed back will often float belly to the eagles.

Be Safe, and Good Luck!! Love to see pics from your trip upon your return!!

It is great to see the walleye are still biting up there. I also will be heading up there tomorrow am to lay the smack down on some rainy lake walleye. Will be staying at kettle falls so hopefully the fishing will be good onthe east end. I have never been down that far so it will be fun fishing new water.

Chris, thanks for the response, just to clarify, when pulling Bottom Bouncer and Spinner combos I am normally moving 1.2 mph to 1.5 mph and I cannot remember the last time I gut hooked a fish, they are normally right in upper part of the mouth. As far as bait goes with the jigs, Minnows, Crawlers, Leeches, Plastics?? anything working better than the rest of should we just plan to have the whole buffet ready? Only 2 more days As far as pictures goes I am not real good about that but I will post a report when I get back and hopefully one of the guys I am going with will have some pictures.

Thanks for the great morning Chris!! Anyone heading to Rainy definitely needs to hook up with Chris…a great guy and educator. He really helped me with my jigging presentation that I can use not only on Rainy, but everywhere. All of my future Rainy trips( and there will definitely be future Rainy trips) will start off with some time with Rainydaze.

I let you off pretty easy with the old biting the line trick…..Did you notice how good I was at “extracting the hooks”. 3 more days left of my trip…time to enjoy!!

As far as bait goes I’ve been using Crawlers, Shiners and Fatheads from the Rainy Lake One Stop Shop.

Had a great day with you also trapsht!! Look forward to your next trip, and enjoy the rest of this one with your family!! Trust me I’ve been clipping my line lately!!