The time to go varies on the ice.The earlier the ice goes the better the fishing,the water has more time to warm up before the season closes.One of the most popular areas is the Birchdale landing.I don’t think you will need a guide ,there will be a lot of boats on the river and it’s really not rocket science.Jig and minnows work as well as anything,soft plastics are fine too.The higher the water the farther up stream they come.( it has been my experience) as far as place to stay ..pm me…last year with late ice there was really a short window of time to get on the river. Can’t wait
BB2
One more thing unless you have all the paperwork stay away from the Canadian side.

The lindy darter in fire tiger has been hot,also it seems to me that a white jigs works real well too.
BB2

Very nice
BB2

I had a couple of guys who were at lotw the past few days and just hammered them eye’s
BB2

This is so typical of the people in charge ,could it also be that all those slot fish are eating the the small eyes too!This is just to unbelievable to comprehend,blame the smallies and the pike and not mention the nets,so the next step is to up the limits of pike and bass and destroy that fishery also!
BB2

Well ,we tried very hard but we couldn’t get into the oxbows…there was to much slush the closer we got to the river,we tried to get around it but couldnt.We did a lot of exploring seen a lot of neat country,did stop and get some nice eater walleyes ,put 140 miles on the sleds.We knew when we headed out that it was gonna be hit or miss.I had a great time going on a scouting mission with Woody ,it is always quit an adventure,
Iam looking forward to next time.
BB2

We will ,packed camera,and Larry is headed to lake of the woods.
Thanks
BB2

I sold mine last September,and bought my new one in October.I thought I got a good deal as it was a new boat that the dealer wanted to get rid of before the new models came out.
BB 2

Yes,it is open year round.

Nice fish

Plastics….flukes…..white

i called the outdoorsman all they have is big shiners….pike size.
BB2

Upper fifties
BB2

The fishing on Rainy has been spotty,I heard guys were getting walleyes on the American side deep around 40 fow.One day they are biting like mad the next you cant buy a bite.The eyes are in there full fall pattern hanging around the deeper humps moving up on top of them in low light conditions.The big pike are in the same places as the walleye’s. Bass in the North arm are on the humps too,seems like they are a lttle bit shallower than the eye’s, we have been getting them on plastics along with a few eater walleye.
The leaves are falling and the grouse hunting is starting to get better.
BB2

I agree with your report,we were out ,some good days then some real slow ones.The days we hit them, there were in 12 feet of water on the break.We were dragging 4 inch swimbaits just ticking them off the bottom.
BB 1

The fishing was good on Thursday,we were after bass ,but the points that had wind blowing in were also holding feeding walleyes.The bait fish are still shallow we seen lots of smaller minnows jumping out of the water when we would reel in.The falls pattern really haven’t started yet in my opinion there are still a lot of fish on the first break off the shoreline.

They are still there and will be till the water temps start to drop.
BB2

I use fireline ,Iam a bassman fireline seems to get less wind knots than the other brands I do lots of casting.
BB2

I have never caught any crappies in NE bay.The walleye fishing is very good in that area, it fishes like the rest of Rainy,work the windy sides of points,search the humps with your locater,after today we are expecting a bit of a cool down,2 weeks ago the wallyes were biting real good in NE bay on the shorelines,they have seemed to pulled off and be staging in 18 to 22 fow. Hope that help.
BB 2

If it was me I would come later ,the fish really start to feed as we move further into the Fall.,With that being said weather also becomes an issue,But with only a week differance probally wont matter.
BB2

These places are all ok to stay at,the thing you need to be more concerned about if you are searching for smallies is the area on the lake you plan to target.The lake on the American side west of the Brule Narrows can be a little tough for bass .Theres a lot of good looking water that just doesn’t hold bass in numbers,you need to target the South arm.