Rainy Lake, Mn fishing report 5-18-11

With opening weekend “Hoopla” behind us anglers can settle in on prime early season fishing. For those of you loooking forward to your May fishing trip here on Rainy Lake here is an update I hope will be of some help to your crew. As fisherman we know 2 things for certain when it comes to fish. They spawn and they eat. Spawning is often a variable when it comes to exact times simply because of our unpredictable weather influencing key water temperatures. Eating on the otherhand relates directly to the most readily available food sources in close proximity to spawning grounds here in May. Both Pike and Walleyes for the most part have finished up the exhausting spawn cycle. Many of these bigger fish will remain in shallow haunts as water remains cool picking off a variety of meals in the cool water.

So lets break this down a bit. Often times I am told guys coming up for the weekend get a bit of a false sense of security when it comes to fishing Rainy lake. I happen to believe our 220,000 acres of water might be one of the most complex fisheries in the state of Minnesota. Opening weekend had anglers fishing 50 feet of water and 2 feet of water. This mass of glacier cut granite can eliminate lower units as fast as a big pike can cut your line. The endless amount of “LOOKS GOOD TO ME” structure can leave you scratching your head while sipping a tea as Sha-Sha resort in the evening. I like to fish things that are different from the rest. If your throwing spoons I’ll work a stickbait. If your working a stickbait I’ll work plastics. If the bulk of the fisherman are working mud I’ll be found on rocks. What I’ve learned is the BEST bites are seldom or NEVER fished by a mass of anglers. When the “Hot Bite” hits the water cooler it is almost always tailing off. Currently most of the bigger fish have vacated much of our mud lined bays. Still these fish remain shallow. It is my belief the bigger fish are finding emerging bug hatches and crayfish on scattered boulder piles. It is submerged scattered boulder fields that will often hold the better hatches. The hatches attract Walleyes, Pike, Crappies and Smallmouth. Your job is now to locate the area with the best menu.

Cabbage beds in my mind are “Golden”. Cabbage often is simply in the emerging stage this time of year not visible to the naked eye. Cabbage also tends to be located amongst sand bottoms and scattered boulder fields…………”Hmnnnnn That’s Handy!!!” I assure you no matter how great of a fisherman you are the guy fishing where the big fish are will ALWAYS catch the most fish. It has been said a thousand times you cannot catch what isn’t there. This couldn’t be more true on Rainy lake. Yes we have WORLD CLASS fishing, but this is a massive body of water filled with endless “Ghost Towns” in May. So you need to do your homework when it comes to LOCATING the prime structure then and ONLY THEN will you enjoy the rest of your trip showing off your fancy fish catching ability you’ve learned over the off season to your pals. Wind “Walleye fishermans best friend” swept or current edge areas in close proximity to the above mentioned structure mentioned is precisely what we are fishing right now. Soon mud will also be warmed enough to trigger hatches. When these hatches take place they attract bait fish……….That is a BINGO BABY!! Of course we understand Bait Fish will attract Minnesotas “Golden Egg” the Massive dark gold walleye of Rainy Lake.

Despite our main focus on Walleyes in the last few days I must mention Rainy lake is arguably one of the best or the BEST Massive Pike fisheries in the state. We are coming off one of the best 2 week periods fishing MASSIVE “Jacks” of my life!! DO NOT miss this period if you like drag screaming action!! Remember our Pike season is open all year long baby!! CPR is CRITICAL. We’ve followed these pike from Spawning grounds to feeding grounds with tremendous success this season. We’ve CPR’d 18 Pike over 10lbs with 4 surpassing 20lbs already. These pike are consistently locating the warmer water of mid-day which also has food readily available. I happen to believe these pike are eating crayfish along with any fish that is feeding on bugs. This includes other pike, walleyes, pout, crappies…..You name it! This pike on our last pic is clearly at the top of the food chain here on Rainy lake. Stay mobile gentleman!!! Continue to follow the bait. We’ll see you on the water Team. We’ll be the boat with net in the water. For those of you looking to utilize a guide this summer I have joined forces with 2 other very good fishing guides. We are sharing critical information to only better our experiences for our clients. If I’m personally full on your chosen dates I will help you hand pick another quality guide as always. I also might suggest you plan ahead for lodging if you haven’t already for your Late June-October trips. We field many questions about lodging and will continue to help point you in the direction based on your wants and needs.