Rainy First Timer looking for Info

I am going to International Falls for work the second week of February and I am planning on bringing my fishing gear with me. I was wondering if there are any guides that offer “follow” services or if there are any resources to try and stay safe. I am unfamiliar with that body of water but in my experience any lake that size will have some nuances and I don’t want to find myself in a bad situation due to my inexperience on the lake. I contacted a couple of guides in the area and it seems the only options are rent one of their houses and you are there for the day, productive or not, or pay the full service rate using their equipment. I would like to use my own equipment, I plan on bringing my snowmobile and flipover so I am somewhat mobile. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I was just at the Thunderbird Lodge this afternoon. Snowmobiles / trucks and portables flying around all over. I read in the paper today the ice road is opened and plowed, $5.00 to get on. I would think you will be able to go where you want safely for the most part. By the time you get here in Feb we will have had another cold snap or two.

This isn’t LOTW so the costs should be reasonable. I’m not sure you need a guide.

Where are you working up here? Must be a project for the mill?

Dutch do you know where the ice road goes? A lot of neck down areas with current would sketch me out with a truck. Neat area for sure never fished it in winter however.

No I do not. As I have mentioned before the only ice i like is in my drinks. I myself won’t be driving a truck out there but I know others do. My concern is the same as yours, the current. I should have paid more attention to the article as I’m not even sure where it starts. I recall a guy named Thompson plows it I think, and there is a pay box where you go on the road. He only does the road, it’s up to the individual guy to plow there own pad if they need one. Or I suppose there is somebody you could hire. Seems like everybody up here has a plow on their truck.

The ice road starts at the VNP rainy lake boat launch. When it is fully opened it goes down to almost Cranberry bay. Right now the VNP website says it’s only open to the black bay ski trails. You can see a basic map of where it runs on the rainylake.org website.
I also believe that there is a private road plowed out of Rainy Lake Marine out onto Sand Bay. I’d give them a call to see if they have one this year.
With a sled you should be able to follow others trails to plenty of areas to fish by February. The official staked trail from the Falls to Kettle Falls is not open yet but may be by then.

Just talked to a Park Service guy this morning. The road is coming along pretty well but not yet out to Cranberry. He said they don’t plow until they have 12″ of ice and some parts of the lake have 8″ right now. Need to watch out for the current areas.

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Thanks for the info! I still need to sort out some of the logistics but it looks like I will be there on February 7th. I tried to call Rainy Lake Marina but did not get a hold of anyone so I will try again tomorrow. I am still trying to sort out all of the details but I will be up there working for 5 days before I will get an opportunity to get out fishing so I should be able to get a plan together during that time. We are staying in Ranier so I was hoping to find an access point somewhere nearby if I can find some time to get out in the evening after work. I work for a car company and we are doing some cold weather testing in International Falls. We typically go to Ontario but with the border situation we are staying in the States.

Rainy Lake Marina is likely closed for the winter but I’m not 100% on that. There are public accesses everywhere if you want to walk out. If so go East on Hwy 11 to the Borman Landing. You can park and walk out there. If you want to drive out continue East to the VNP entrance and follow the road to the launch. Thats where the pictures were taken. You can drive on there.

Send me a PM if you want something specific and I’ll see what I can find for you.

John Munnoch wrote:

We are staying in Ranier

There’s a public access right in Ranier, and some decent fishing can be had right out from there (at least in the summer). And some good booze too at Cantilever!

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>John Munnoch wrote:</div>
We are staying in Ranier

There’s a public access right in Ranier, and some decent fishing can be had right out from there (at least in the summer). And some good booze too at Cantilever!

I didn’t suggest that because I wasn’t sure of the currant situation there in the river.

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>John Munnoch wrote:</div>
We are staying in Ranier

There’s a public access right in Ranier, and some decent fishing can be had right out from there (at least in the summer). And some good booze too at Cantilever!

I didn’t suggest that because I wasn’t sure of the currant situation there in the river.

Fair point, but with him bringing a sled I’m sure there will be plenty of tracks laid down already that he can follow.

1976 Sears Diehard commercial.

Is there usually safe ice near the mouth of the river in Ranier? I see there is a public access there as well as the city beach that is on the other side of the point. Is the parking lot at city beach cleared plowed and available for access?

Give Woody a call at Move It Realty. He is a guide and owns property right there in Ranier. He will be able to help you with your questions.

Barry “Woody” Woods 218-355-0219

John I assume we can blame you for this artic weather?

Yes the arctic weather was entirely my fault. The forecast originally said that we were going to have decent weather this past weekend but that turned out to be false. I brought my sled and flip shelter and neither made it off of the trailer the entire trip. It wasn’t all bad though, I managed to salvage a day of fishing by going up to LOTW and renting a skid house for a day. I was able to experience fishing in a hard house and driving 22 miles out on the ice road with an 8,000lb truck which I have never done before. I caught some fish and had a great time. I am in love with the area and can’t wait to come back. The people are incredibly nice and for such a small town the food options are great. We stayed at the Cantilever and really enjoyed the stay. The food is great and the drinks are also fantastic. Coffee Landing and Chocolate Moose were also in our rotation and none of them failed to meet or exceed expectations. I would love to fish Rainy in the summer and as far as ice fishing is concerned I am not sure that LOTW can be beat.

Glad you enjoyed yourself. Let us know when you are coming back again.