Rainy Lake 2022!

Well we are less than 3 weeks away from our annual trip to Rainy Lake, and needless to say the excitement is growing! We’ll be on 3 Sister site this year and planning on fishing more Canadian water this year. We’ve never ventured into Canadian waters in our previous trips and we are looking for any helpful comments. Are obstacles marked as well as the US side? I’m sure I’ll just be putting along through any sketchy areas.
As far as the fishing, I’d imagine it is no worse than the US side. Plus a lot of new water to adventure through. I’ve read the live bait ban and no booze in the boat. Have ID’s and fishing licenses available. Anything we are missing?

3 Sisters isn’t listed yet, but a lot of campsites and houseboat sites are closed due to flooding. Think warm dry thoughts! We are supposed to go on the HB after the 4th…

BigWerm wrote:

3 Sisters isn’t listed yet, but a lot of campsites and houseboat sites are closed due to flooding. Think warm dry thoughts! We are supposed to go on the HB after the 4th…

How do you find the list or what is closed?

https://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/permitsandreservations.htm

Found it. We have rainy lake Lost Bay R20 booked for 3rd weekend of June. Hope water goes down by then and they reopen the site.

Also note that AIS was found in Rainy last year so you need to jump through all the standard AIS hoops.

The Bohman landing / launch is closed right now. Best access will be VNP but remember everything is a no wake zone 300′ from shore.

I believe we will pass the 2014 flood levels this week.

We took the boat out last August because the water was too low at the dock. Now this year we can’t even get to the cabin by vehicle and the dock is almost unusable due to high water. What a fun 12 months.

Dutchboy wrote:

Also note that AIS was found in Rainy last year so you need to jump through all the standard AIS hoops.

The Bohman landing / launch is closed right now. Best access will be VNP but remember everything is a no wake zone 300′ from shore.

I believe we will pass the 2014 flood levels this week.

So water is still rising?

Red Eye wrote:

So water is still rising?

The water has passed the 2014 level and climbing. It’s almost into the parking lot at the park and almost across some of the roads near the park. I wouldn’t be surprised if they closed the access soon.

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Bohman is closed, they locked the gates at the park/beach in Ranier. Last I heard they expect it to rise another 7″ at least and thats not accounting for whatever rain we get the next couple of days.

I looked yesterday after Ron posted and the level on Namakan is over a foot higher than the high point in 2014 at Kettle Falls. Wow. And there was still about 5000 cu/ft per second of water more coming in than going out the dam.
Gonna be some interesting changes to some of the campsites up there. Luckily I dont have my first trip planned until July 2-9th, but staying at one of the docked sites for the week (Peterson Point) so will be interesting to see. On the plus side, there should be a ton of new driftwood for fires on the shorelines by then.

From: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/RainyRiverBasin?fbclid=IwAR0XN3pBPuTqPBVR12La0b4JLX7RFYcV0_ICbqnd78FKahB_xRsHXaxuUtQ

Rainy River Basin Summary Page

High water levels are occurring across the Rainy River Basin in far northern Minnesota and adjacent parts of Ontario. This is a historic flood that has already exceeded the records set in the 2014 flooding, and will likely break the current all-time records. It will take a long time for these levels to decrease once they peak (crest), and those experiencing flooding should be prepared for weeks of high water levels into June.

As of May 25, many of the major tributaries upstream (like Basswood River, Vermilion River, Kawishiwi River) have crested and are beginning to drop. However, this will only slow the rise of Namakan/Kabetogama and Rainy Lake – continued rises are still anticipated in the coming days:

Namakan Lake and Kabetogama Lake are currently at 1122.0 ft (341.99 m), which is 17.7 inches (45 cm) above the 2014 peak level. A rise of 5 to 7 inches (12-19 cm) is expected between May 25 and June 1 with continued rises into mid June possible. At this rate, Namakan Lake will reach the all-time record high level of 1122.8 ft (342.24 m) set in 1916.

Rainy Lake is currently at 1111.7 ft (338.85 m), which is 4 inches (11 cm) above the 2014 peak. A rise of 11 to 13 inches (27-33 cm) is expected between May 25 and June 1, with continued through at least mid June. At this rate, Rainy Lake is expected to break the all-time record high level of 1112.95 ft (339.23 m)

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We leave for our RLHB trip on Saturday 4th. They are still planning on letting boats out and something about makeshift spots for the boats. It’ll be an interesting year no doubt. Hopefully, the fishing isn’t absolute garbage with the record water levels.

marbleeyes24 (Larry) wrote:

We leave for our RLHB trip on Saturday 4th. They are still planning on letting boats out and something about makeshift spots for the boats. It’ll be an interesting year no doubt. Hopefully, the fishing isn’t absolute garbage with the record water levels.

2014 was a pretty good fishing year if memory serves, there’s more current which helps, and they were still up shallow in early July. If it stays open, they will have temporary HB sites setup like in 2014.

Will be up this weekend first time on Rainy can’t wait. Weather is not looking to great for this weekend.

Aboxy17 wrote:

Will be up this weekend first time on Rainy can’t wait. Weather is not looking to great for this weekend.

Where are you staying?

FYI if anyone is planning on fishing Rainy or the other border lakes, make sure to keep in contact with your resort, houseboat outfit, or check with the VNP on updates if you’re camping. Property owners on Rainy are being told to start preparing if they are staying put because there may be no fire protection, water delivery, or other access to services. Numerous county roads are covered in water in addition to HWY 11 at Sha Sha. Depending on the weather, there are plans to close HWY 11 if certain conditions are met. The County has placed gravel on some roads to try and maintain access but that will only last so long. Slow no wake within 300 ft of shore and also on some of the roads. There is floating debris throughout the system including peoples docks.

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Just canceled next week’s trip. Road access looks to be a problem and guide isn’t sure he will be able to put boat in or out.

Wayne Daul wrote:

Just canceled next week’s trip. Road access looks to be a problem and guide isn’t sure he will be able to put boat in or out.[/quote

Guide?? All the trips you take up and you are using a guide? Is that for every trip? Who do you generally use?

Any reports from this weekend? Both boating-wise with debris and fishing? We are still debating on cancelling our houseboat trip on Saturday

2 years ago I developed some heart and circulation problems sold my boat and house purchased a condo. At 77 age has slowed me down. I use Sam Dougherty a good friend for many years. He is a excellent guide who used to fish with me on days off as a dock boy at Thunderbird. We take turns picking spots and methods. It’s a little pricey but then operating your own boat isn’t cheap either. Funny thing the week with my buddy and is wife ended up just being another guys week, wife’s didn’t feel safe having a guide boat. I explained Sam isn’t one of those guides who always drive full throttle but they didn’t trust anyone but me driving. First year without a boat was tough but I’ve adjusted.
Still do 2 weeks at Rainy each summer. Plan on doing it as long as can stay mobile! Still hunt out west every fall just stay closer to Jeep then years past.

Wayne

marbleeyes24 (Larry) wrote:

Any reports from this weekend? Both boating-wise with debris and fishing? We are still debating on cancelling our houseboat trip on Saturday

Fish are biting at the HWY 53 and 11 intersection.

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blackbay wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>marbleeyes24 (Larry) wrote:</div>
Any reports from this weekend? Both boating-wise with debris and fishing? We are still debating on cancelling our houseboat trip on Saturday

Fish are biting at the HWY 53 and 11 intersection.

The amount of rain that fell in 25 minutes was amazing, then we got another round early this morning. My phone said 2.55″

Just got the notification all Rainy lake campsites have been closed until further notice along with the RL visitor center landing. Bummer!

Fish are biting at the HWY 53 and 11 intersection.

And I thought it was bad Saturday wow!

For those familiar with the Visitors center boat launch on Rainy, the water has covered the parking lot.

Launch is closed except for sandbagging operations.

Well as luck would have it I found a site on Sand Point lake, large site with a dock! Browns Bay View site. Now we can start digging into fishing that side of the world!

scottaheller wrote:

Well as luck would have it I found a site on Sand Point lake, large site with a dock! Browns Bay View site. Now we can start digging into fishing that side of the world!

We are headed up next tuesday the 7th and staying at Jenson Bay site (just east of you guys a bit). From what I have heard don’t expect the dock to be usable. We’ve done pretty well in the past in browns bay for crappies and have heard people trolling the south shoreline and catching some eyes (we don’t troll much). If you see a bright red full console lund come say hi and maybe we can figure them out!

Mojo we’ll stop by for a fishing report on Saturday. Where do you park for this trip? This will be our first time coming through Crane lake. Do you guys fish Canadian water at all? We all got Canadian licenses and are willing to explore!

We have always launched at the public launch just south of handbergs marina (they have ice cream cones if you need a boost one day). We called handbergs and they claimed that access is not usable and they are letting people launch for $5 and allow parking for $5/day. We also normally go back to them for gas once during the trip.

We have never fished the Canadian side since we most always have come cold ones with us and there is plenty of water I still have yet to explore on the American side.

Anyone been on Rainy lately? How’s the water levels and fishing been? Heading up in a couple weeks so just wanted to bump this up.