Rainy Lake late September?

I am blessed to get the opportunity to go up to rainy twice this year.

For the past 10 years we have either gone in early June and fished shallows or mid July and fished mid lake reefs. We have always out in at Ash River and portaged at Kettle and fished East of the Narrows.

That has been our experience on Rainy and for the most part we have always done well.

This will be our first ever fall trip.

Please share your experience if you can from past years for this time frame.

Where would you stay?

Where are the fish typically?

What type of bait do you find best?

Thanks guys/gals

Travis

I have been going up in early October for the past 8 years. We stay at the Thunderbird as that is the only resort open at that time but we also like it there.

When the wind allows it, we generally fish from the Brule Narrows and east of there work the reefs and humps similar to areas where people fish in August and September. We focus on walleyes and use jigs and minnows (shiners too if available)

Summer of 2020 and 2021 we also did a trip in early August (2020) and late July (2021) staying at Sha Sha. That resort is also nice, just not open after mid to late September.

I have to say after the amount of boat traffic on rainy last summer and this summer, I’m really looking forward to the fall trip this year

Thx Bigstorm,

I went back through several years of posts and read several that you had written. When you go east of the Narrows how far do you go? I know there are a bunch of humps just past the narrows and into the first big bay (drawing a blank on the name). Do you find your self going as far as Blue Berry Island and humps that way? In July we usually fish Blue Berry and all the humps down to Virgin Island.

We have been to Rainy in Mid to late September for 7 years. Fishing can vary, but it’s typically pretty good and we have always put some big walleye and plenty of eaters in the boat.

When you come through the narrows (from west to east), there is an inside turn edge to the east and a bit north that we have taken many walleye off of (especially when the wind is from the south and it’s rough there). Look 25-35 feet and be *very* careful of the canadian border – you’ll be within 100-200 yards of it and this is an area where I have seen a couple of boats get popped for fishing in canadian water. Some *big* northern pike here too – we’ve seen guys trolling big baits for them here too.

This is all called “Saginaw Bay”. There are a half-dozen or so good mid bay reefs as you venture a bit south and east towards Shelland Island and Blueberry Island. We’ve found that using our electronics extensively on these reefs is critical. 90% of the reef will have little or no fish, then you’ll find a pod of them and pick up 6 fish in 10 minutes. Spot-lock is super useful as well – it’s rarely calm in Saginaw Bay. Sometimes it takes parking right on top of the fish for 10 minutes to get them to go. We have had days where they bite *very* light and you bring up nothing but minnow head on the jig or a “skinned” shiner on the jig. We usually do not find any need to go past Blueberry and further east.

We primarily fish jig/minnow on a rod with braid and a flourocarbon leader tied on with a double-uni knot. Even in the stained water, having the flouro leader makes a difference. We hav also pulled leadcore with flicker shads over the reefs as well – usually this is if they won’t go on jigs and we need to get a reaction bite.

We get both “river run” chubs (they vary in size) and shiners. Sometimes pulling crawlers will be good, but we’ve usually done just fine on minnows. Sometimes shiners are very much preferred. Buy some of each and experiment early in the trip before laying in a supply is my advice.

Weather that time of year has varied from 70’s and tshirt weather to, more often, 40-50’s and wind and rain. Be prepped for the lousy weather with plenty of warm clothes and good raingear. Better to be prepared and not need…

Be prepared for lots of traffic on the water. It was usually a ghost town pre-Covid, but last year was nuts. No kidding – probably 10x the number of people and boats than we’ve seen at anytime in previous years. Maybe that will relax with the border being open now.

Good Luck!

Scott

Scott,

Thank you so much for the message. I am very familier with all of those spots. We have hit them many times in late July and had good action. I am glad to hear that our previous tactics sound like they will hold up for us on a fall bite as well. Good luck on your trip this year.

Travis.

eauclaireboys wrote:

Thx Bigstorm,

I went back through several years of posts and read several that you had written. When you go east of the Narrows how far do you go? I know there are a bunch of humps just past the narrows and into the first big bay (drawing a blank on the name). Do you find your self going as far as Blue Berry Island and humps that way? In July we usually fish Blue Berry and all the humps down to Virgin Island.

We usually dont go further east than Blueberry. We havent spent much time that far east to figure out decent spots to be honest

We’re going up in a few days. Our first time to Rainy. Looking at the map it appears that from Thunderbird to Brule narrows is about a 15-18 mile run? Is that about right?

Yes, that is about right. One piece of advice, pay attention to the wind. A strong west wind has 25+ miles to build up waves before they culminate at the Brule Narrows. There have been boats swamped there and lives lost there. I’ve been there when it was ugly and learned this one the hard way – it was not a fun ride – unsafe and stressful! Wear your PFD.

Good luck!

Scott

Scott Gergen wrote:

One piece of advice, pay attention to the wind. A strong west wind has 25+ miles to build up waves before they culminate at the Brule Narrows. There have been boats swamped there and lives lost there. I’ve been there when it was ugly and learned this one the hard way – it was not a fun ride – unsafe and stressful! Wear your PFD.

x100000, we had what we thought was a medical emergency on a Houseboat trip once, and I had to run a buddy back straight into the teeth of 25+ mph wind and at least 4 foot waves once. We were staying in Sag Bay where it was nice and calm, until I turned into the the teeth of it in the Brule. One of the scariest boat rides of my life!

There has been a few days over the years that we have stayed closer to the lodges rather than going to (or past the Brule) due to wind. I north wind can make for a rough ride heading east to the Brule as well.

Other times, knowing it was going to be windy, we would go east early and plan to stay in the Brule or on the east side of the Brule for the full day and come back late when the wind was calming down some

I’ve fished about 8 times June and August. September is on my bucket list. The lake seem to take a pounding this year and last with Canada closed. I was up in June. First bay I pulled in, I saw more boats than I typically see in a week. There was an additional House boat fleet I’d never seen before. Probably brought from Canada and operated from the US side. Can imagine the 3 big humps east of the Brule. Have few eaters and slots with a lot of knots on their heads from jigs. Maybe as water cools fish will move around. Hope Canada can stay open. So folks can spread back out. Fall is known for bigger fish. And not another place I’d rather be.

I grew up near the Chesapeake Bay. I hear you and thank you for the advice/warning. We fish smallmouth/northerns mostly. I want to get on a few Walleyes. Wish us luck.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Scott Gergen wrote:</div>
One piece of advice, pay attention to the wind. A strong west wind has 25+ miles to build up waves before they culminate at the Brule Narrows. There have been boats swamped there and lives lost there. I’ve been there when it was ugly and learned this one the hard way – it was not a fun ride – unsafe and stressful! Wear your PFD.

x100000, we had what we thought was a medical emergency on a Houseboat trip once, and I had to run a buddy back straight into the teeth of 25+ mph wind and at least 4 foot waves once. We were staying in Sag Bay where it was nice and calm, until I turned into the the teeth of it in the Brule. One of the scariest boat rides of my life!

Same thing happened to us this year in June. Fishing some humps just east of the narrows when a storm popped up, by the time we got though the narrows into the open lake we had 3-4′ waves to fight for about 4 miles back to camp. Scary how fast some of those storms pop up on the water!

Just got back from Rainy on Saturday. Already planning a return. Stayed at Thunderbird. Cabin 5. Needs updating. I’ll leave it at that. Very steep, rocky, rutted path to the dock. Very friendly staff. Fishing was tough for all. Guide or not. I’m not a bait fisherman. Caught 19 fish in two days. Northerns, and Smallmouth. Two nice ones. One of each. We will try a different lodge next time. Oh. It’s easy to find yourself in Canada if you’re not really paying close attention. Just sayin’.

By next year both new motels will be open. Another option vs a resort.

Glad you liked it enough to come back.

David G wrote:

Just got back from Rainy on Saturday. Already planning a return. Stayed at Thunderbird. Cabin 5. Needs updating. I’ll leave it at that. Very steep, rocky, rutted path to the dock. Very friendly staff. Fishing was tough for all. Guide or not. I’m not a bait fisherman. Caught 19 fish in two days. Northerns, and Smallmouth. Two nice ones. One of each. We will try a different lodge next time. Oh. It’s easy to find yourself in Canada if you’re not really paying close attention. Just sayin’.

There is not a lot of options for resorts on the MN side of Rainy. I stayed at TB several years ago in #7 it was basic but very comfortable for 4 fishing guys. Of course many, many years ago I stayed in a cabin in Canada that we brought our own screen and duct tape to put on the windows to keep the bugs out. Oh, and the door was plywood with a sole of a shoe for 1 of the hinges. The fishing was great!!!

We were up the middle of June this year and did 88 walleyes for 2 guys in 3 days. Was hooked and planned another camping trip from Oct 14-18. I am sure it is weather dependent, but does anyone know when the park service pulls the lake markers for the year?

marbleeyes24 (Larry) wrote:

We were up the middle of June this year and did 88 <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleyes for 2 guys in 3 days. Was hooked and planned another camping trip from Oct 14-18. I am sure it is weather dependent, but does anyone know when the park service pulls the lake markers for the year?

Usually around the end of September. I’ve been there when they are pulling them.

Scott

Im go up in early October every your for the past 8 years or so, I dont recall a year where the red/green buoys were not in yet, not sure about the buoys marking danger/rocks though.

I will be up there starting 10/7 for 4 days of fishing although we may take a day or 2 and go down river by Birchdale if the bite or weather is not good on the main lake