Here it is Wednesday morning and I’m still in awe over how the Rainy Lake Houseboat turned out this past week. The weather started off a little dicey to the tune of 50 MPH winds, soaking rains and some pretty big seas on the way out to the tie up spots with the houseboats on June 1 but what was absolutely spot on “couldn’t have been better” was the company, all the laughs and the fishing!
On this trip I was accompanied by Jon Marshall, Joel Nelson, Dave Koonce, Dan Koonce and Mike Kuhns. As I told my wife when she asked me how the trip went upon arriving home… “if laughter and grins are good medicine I’m going to live forever.”
Tuesday night May 31 everyone gathered at Rainy Lake Houseboats to begin loading boats for an early AM departure the following day. Conditions were wet and dreary with a near non-stop rain although the conditions were fairly calm when we first arrived. The story of the first part of this trip was destined to be the conditions as the weatherman over the VHF kept warning of 50 MPH winds out of the west / southwest accompanied by heavy rains the following morning. As much as we all hoped the forecast would miss the mark… this was one time the weatherman hit it on the screws.
The rest of this recap will follow below.
This first shot is from the top of our houseboat overlooking the bay. Conditions were still calm but here comes the storm front!
Here’s a second shot from the top of the houseboat overlooking the bay. Everything glittered like diamonds as the last few rays of sunshine reflected off the dark waters!
The next morning was LAUNCH DAY and the Rainy Lake Houseboat crew decided, wisely, to hold us back an hour or two to allow the winds to calm dawn. Although the inner harbor looked fairly manageable with the winds hard out of the west they would be right at our backs during the entire trip down the lake. By 9 AM the winds started to die down and the boats were launched.
In this shot you can see the first few houseboats and associated fishing boats headed out of the harbor.
The travel was expected to be so rough that Rainy Lake Houseboats rounded up as many experienced drivers as they could muster to make sure our group got down the lake safely. RLH staff drove three of the big 50 foot houseboats. I was elected to take a turn at the big wheel since I had a fair amount of experience on these boats from previous trips. As a result Joel Nelson was elected to pilot my 2100 Skeeter out to the tie up spot.
In this shot here’s Joel in my 2100 alongside the houseboat as it leaves the harbor shouting at Mother Nature “is this all you got?!”
Of course the answer is “Nope, the wind can always blow a little harder!”
Here’s Joel with a big grin coming out of the harbor about to punish, or be punished by, the first real wave.
Dave Koonce (at the wheel) and Dan Koonce made the journey in Dave’s 619 Ranger. Everyone made it out safe and sound but nobody had an easy go of it regardless of their ride. Even the 50′ houseboats took water over the bow at times!
This shot certainly doesn’t due the conditions justice but I think everyone will get the idea… we had a “bit of a chop” that at times pushed 4 foot or more.
Thankfully everyone made it safely to the tie up spot and without any equipment damage of any kind. I do know a number of guys told me after the fact that the waves were the biggest they had ever dealt with. Happily the tough start was the last road bump this group would face and everything started to fall together nicely… including the fishing!
Here’s Joel and I with a Day 1 double. We didn’t keep track of the fish count on day one with any keen accuracy but I know I was in the 25 – 30 fish range myself with most of those fish in the 22″ – 25″ range with the longest pushing 27″.
What follows next is some of my favorite fish pics from this trip. They may not be our biggest or best shots but there’s usually a memory or something about each catch that sticks out that makes it uniquely special. Our “worst” day of fishing we boated 30, maybe 40 fish. Our best we knocked on the 100 fish day door but fell short of the triple digits mark! And the average size on the walleyes was excellent with most fish coming to the boat over 20″. Yup, most OVER 20″! As for species available… take your pick!
All of you living the high life during this trip. I guess never being on a Rainy Lake Houseboat adventure, its time to make the phone call to Rainy Lake Houseboats to get this set up.
Now, as for the top techniques for putting these fish in the boat a 3/16 jig and Moxie was the ticket for our boat. Chartreuse Orange Core on dark days and Oystershell with a Gold head on bright days. We fished minnows, lindy rigs, spinners and other plastics but nothing else even came close to producing the size and numbers that the Moxies produced for us.
For those not familiar… http://www.bfishntackle.com/4inch_moxi.html
Chartreuse Orange Core
Oystershell
As for locations… this was very predictable as well. Fish the windy shorelines. Period. If you don’t like fishing in some wind, Rainy early in the season is NOT for you. Now this doesn’t mean you need to put your boat in the teeth of the the nastiest blow to be found but if there’s two points in close proximity to each other and one is getting a 10 MPH wind blowing into it and the other is flat calm the windy point is going to hold 99% of the fish while the calm waters hold few, if any, active biters.
Shallow boulder flats that extended off from islands and shorelines to depths of 3′ – 8′ feet held the most active fish. And thankfully these areas aren’t hard to find as most of the shorelines and islands drop quickly into deeper water. A quick study of a Lakemaster map made it easy to spot these feeding flats. The wind requirement made it easy to know which ones to fish.
wow looks like a great time this will have to be on the bucket list!!!
As much as we enjoyed the quality fishing, it was the scenery and time spent with friends that truly made this trip special.
This shot is Rainy on the tow out with the lake laid flat. Cool breezes and the hum of a pair of IO’s put this guy in a peaceful mood!
Bare rock and pine trees are everywhere you turn! Rainy is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been fortunate enough to visit!
Endless islands and bays to explore with good fishing available around every corner.
The fishing and scenery was outstanding but time with good friends is what it is all about and nothing we did brought us more closely together than meal time. We all took turns cooking and we ate like kings!
On the menu… pork roast, pork loins wrapped in bacon on the grill… ribeyes…. the list goes on and on. Tell your friends you went on a houseboat trip and roughed it if you like but that’s not the way we roll!
Joel mans the grill on the front deck of the houseboat. I’m a big fan of medium rare and this guy nailed it!
Awsome, Awsome, trip. I can’t thank you guys enough for the opportunity and the help/tips.
Thanks again to you and all involved for all the work put into making this happen.
I can’t recall the joke but I do know I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my cheeks!
Here’s a tip for anyone that is fortunate enough to find Dave in the kitchen at supper time. If he asks you if you want Cheesy Potatoes you say “yes, please!” My vote for best side dish EVER goes to Dave for these cheesy-wunder tators!
I could go on with this for hours as we took hundreds of pics as a group but I know I should step aside and let the others share their memories too. Many thanks go out to Dave, Dan, Mike, Joel and Jon for making this trip one of the best trips I’ve ever been on at any time to any destination.
With that, I leave you with this… here’s a shot from the back of the houseboat with the Skeeter on a leash as we head for home. Talk about mixed emotions. One minute I’m laughing to myself. The next… sadness that its over. Thankfully there will be more chances at this in the future and with some luck this same group will be able to come together again.
For those that have never been on a Rainy Lake Houseboat trip, the next IDO trip is Sept. 14 – 18, 2011. We still have openings. Holler at me if you have questions about the trip.
I have been on a lot of fishing trips…
But this is no doubt in my top 3 ever
Real good fishing
Best of all was the connection we had as a group on our House Boat…
I wanna do it again and again and again !!!
As soon as I get some pix I will also post up some from my boat !!
This pike just hammered my KVD suspending stick bait.. We were on the Canadian side on Saturday, exploring some new waters. We came into this beautiful back bay that had Pike written all over it. This fish literally almost pulled the rod right out of my hand. She came slowly towards the boat until she saw it and thats when the fight was on !!
Were going to need the net I said
Were going to need the net 
Mike quickly reeled his in and manned the net.. 3 screaming runs later she swam head first into the awaiting net mike had readied and the fight was over
Great job Mike !!
I think this is my biggest pike to date… Definitely the most memorable for sure !!
This is a trip for the ages! I can do no better than to echo the comments of my friends by saying this was a great all around trip for both fishing and buddies. Usually, you put any 6 people in a confined space for enough time and there’s bound to be some disagreements, even minor annoyances. Not here, not this trip.
The fishing was incredible, bass fishing for walleyes (no offense to bass or walleye fishermen intended).
There were slow times, but when the weather cooperated, the final sum was a few incredible days on the water, and a few others that were good to excellent. Every time you drive that hook home, you know it could have true trophy potential, and that’s rare for most lakes.
The accommodations were wonderful, and after doing a trip like this, I’m not sure I’d fish Rainy any other way. It’s a funny hybrid mix of car camping and hotel’ing it, in a floating RV with all of the advantages and none of the problems. One thing it’s not is “roughing-it.” We ate like kings, slept comfortably, and the best part?…..you tie your fishing boat to the houseboat/shore tie-off, making going fishing and returning-from easier than even pulling up to a dock!
Plans are already being made for a 2012 trip, and looking back at the pictures, I’m almost sad I’m not still up there. Thank you Rainy Lake Houseboats, the shore lunch was incredible, and the entire experience is one I plan on doing yearly.
I’ll give another shout-out to the walleyes which cooperated oh-so nicely, with low water temps to boot.
Joel
I got to be Holst’s net-boy all too often.
Joel
One of several great fish John Marshall caught on the trip, this pike absolutely inhaled his bait.
Joel
Then it inhaled his hand.
Joel
James with a sunset walleye.
Joel
Released for next year, I can’t wait!
Joel
As I sit here and pour through pics (all 450 of them!) I can’t help myself but put up more!
If you recognize the three islands in the background or can find them on your next trip to Rainy any time you get a west wind… the fish will be waiting!
Jonny Marshall is a muskie guy at heart but there was a time on Saturday when he was lovin’ the walleye dance and went on quite the run fishing out the back of the boat.
Joel with a Day 1 walleye. As you can tell by the buttoned up rain gear we were fresh off of the ride in and we were still geared up for the rough conditions. Truth be told once we had the bumpy ride in behind us the conditions were pretty darn good.
Another Day 1 walleye on Chartreuse Orange Çore. I don’t think I’ll ever go into Rainy Lake, or any northenr MN lake for that matter, without some type of plastic in this color pattern. In stained water it flat out catches fish!
The condition of the fish varied quite a bit from fairly skinny to chunky like the fish in this pic. The good news is the baitfish populations seemed to be very good as we spotted large concentrations of bait in nearly every bay we fished.
Man, I love it when the walleye cooperates by flaring out his fins and showing those teeth for a photo! We missed the “full fin salute” with the camera by a fraction of a second but the opportunity was definitely there.
Fish are like people… keeping one’s mouth shut keeps us out of a lot of trouble. This fish obviously hasn’t heard that piece of advice yet and fell to a jig and minnow combo.
More day 1 fish. I got off to a fast start while Jon and Joel seemed content to play netman. Of course that didn’t last long and soon we were all taking turns scooping fish.
All I can remember about this one was Joel telling me to do something different with the fish to which I replied “here’s one for the trout guys.”
Not all our fish fell to jigs. Truth be told we caught fish on most presentations we tried with stickbaits regularly putting some nice fish in the boat including some of our bigger fish on this trip. Here’s Joel with a chunky 22″ – 23″ fish caught on an X Rap cast shallow and twitched back to the boat.
Some don’t like the Rainy Lake slot which protects all fish from 17″ – 28″. I for one LOVE it given that this fish (21″ – 22″) basically represents an average fish. And we definitely didn’t have any issues finding our eaters as long as we worked a couple feet shallower and fished less aggressively. On this trip our group had no trouble boxing quality eaters in the 15 – 16.75 inch range and our group of 30 ate well at the group fish fry held on Friday afternoon.
Fishing stickbaits shallow comes with some setbacks if you don’t like catching pike. I know I sure enjoy them. Here’s a nice pike that tried to take Joel’s X-Rap home with him. The short leaders we fished with our stickbaits kept bite-offs from pike from happening when throwing $6+ baits for eyes up shallow and the walleyes didn’t seem to shy from them one bit.
The fish were incredibly aggressive with most fish crushing the baits when they committed. Catching walleyes in shallow water on light jigs is my favorite way to catch fish, period. Joel is shown here in this photo with a dandy caught on jig and minnow.
Hold still, dang it!
These next few pics were shot a fraction of a second apart and show Joel in a no holds barred wrestling match with a walleye that just didn’t want its picture taken!
In the end I think we called the match a draw as Joel never was able to get the 3 count on him.
The boys with the cameras are getting stylish now with the fish in focus and the background blurred… which is my favorite way to see Jon in a photo.
I didn’t fish stickbaits all that much so my run-ins with pike when fishing jigs were usually over before they started. This one hit my moxi but failed to part the mono leader. I don’t know how many pike we caught each day but I do know we lost a LOT of jigs to them with only a small percentage of the pike hooked on jigs making it to the boat. If you go to Rainy in the spring bring jigs by the pound. Between the rocks and the pike… you’ll need them.
Jon had a handle on the toothy critters on this trip as he boated 2 or 3 of our largest pike by being prepared for them by keeping a bait caster spooled with heavy line and a leader handy when “pikish” water presented itself. Case in point… this fish came off of the windy side of a small cabbage bed that Joel and I peppered with small stickbaits. One cast by Jon with a Dunwright Perch… WAMMO! 38″ pike in the net!
Speaking of Jon’s way with the pike, here’s my chance to play extreme net man! This time Jon’s got a BIG fish hooked on a gold draggin jig rigged on mono. At this point we hadn’t seen what it was but the way it was fighting left left doubt…
It isn’t easy getting a 39″ pike in a net designed for walleyes when it doesn’t want to go but somehow we made it work!
The result was the pike shown early in this thread! Nicely done, JM!
Now of course we want these larger fish to release in great shape so Jon takes his time with the release making sure the fish takes off with a head of steam.
But there’s time’s when the fish don’t return the gentle treatment. This photo shows the very beginning of Jon 39″ pike coiling up for take off.
The good news is the fish released in great shape. The bad news is the pike tried to take Jon’s fingers along for the ride.
We’ve all seen worse and the fish got a parting shot which I’m certain was good for its moral.
In this next pic we just couldn’t figure out how Jon got a “red badge of courage” dot dead center of his forehead. Wear it with pride Mr. Marshall!
Caught… so many… fish… must… sit… down for pics.
OK… I’m done after this last one. Here’s a double shot by Jon and Joel. Thanks for the memories, guys!
OK you have me sold James, I was on the fist Raniny trip in the fall of 2009 but did not make it this year, sign me up for spring 2012 I can hardly wait!
What a fishery!!! James those pics are AWSOME!!!!!!! I have been up here (ifalls) for the last 26 hours and in 12 hours of fishing we boated 3 over 40 and 60+ eyes! I have to get on a house boat, looks like you boys had a ball!
Mike, Dan and I were taking so many pix of all the 20 to 23″ fish…we were like…. Ok… did we really get tired of taking pictures of +20″ fish ?
Yes We Did
What a problem to have 
These two pix…. Have you ever tried to get a professional roofer to smile
If you continue to catch walleye after walleye after walleye like these… You will smile
A couple of poomonk’s favorite pix we sent me were these two that have no fish in them..
This first pic is of Joel and Mike on our way out to the House Bout Tie Up location when the wave action was a handful for the most experienced operators… I believe the words that came from Joel to Mike were ” I really don’t know if I’m the right person to be driving this Big Skeeter” as he was jumping four footers..
The second photo is one Mike took from the back of my Ranger as we scoot across the lake at about 50mph… Way different from the day we headed out on day one..
From one bay on the canadian side of the line you could catch smallies like this
Hot tamale head… lol
One of the best lines of the whole trip!
and then catch walleyes like this
Even 50 sun screen couldn’t protect this ugly mug…
Ok.. that was good… but the RLSM took all $$
And how did my brother escape with out a new knick name ??
That’s a good point. Now he has to come back so we can come up with a moniker for him.
I am smiling, it just doesn’t look like it. This was one of the smallies we caught over on he canadian side.
Still on cloud 9 from this trip. I think I’ve fell of the ledge from ‘casual’ fisherman to obsessed.
Mike,,,You and my brother were two of the best boat partners I could ever ask for..
You two made this trip so enjoyable out on the lake. it is not easy to handle some of the waters we did and keep control as you two did..
Thanks so much for helping me out and making this trip do-able for me !!!
The ‘eyes really seemed to like the gold husky jerk I was using this day, up until a pike took it from me.
Thank you Dave for bringing us along. Was a dream getting to fish out of a boat like yours for a week and soak in all the knowledge.
Great photos guys. Looks like a ton of fun.
Im jealous! I gotta get up there and do that!
Sept 14 – 18 is the dates for the next trip.
Here’s the link to the info >>> IDO Rainy Lake Houseboat Trip Sept 14 – 18
So how booked up is the fall trip James?
We’ve got plenty of room yet. I’d have to check the roster for an exact count but I know we’re under 50% booked. It will fill but right now… there’s plenty of room for anyone thinking about putting together a group to attend.
As always, holler at me if you have questions.
Almost want to cancel my fall trip and head to Rainy…:)
Maybe next year.
Just curious, the jig in the picture, does it have a extra long shank or is it just the way it looks?
If extra long, what kind is it please???
Great pictures btw..whoa!
Al
Hey Al
Yup, it is definitely a long shank. As for what kind? Not sure. Shoot Joel a PM or maybe he’ll spot your question and respond.
Thanks, I’ve been making them, but painting them is a hassle for me, so buying them would be nice.
Al
I was really looking forward to my trip to Kabetogama in a couple weeks. After reading this I am down right giddy about it!
Allen:
Great spot! Like James mentioned, it’s definitely a long-shanked jig called the Northland Shiner Jig. They’ve since been discontinued. As their name implies, they work great with any larger minnow species, or even fatheads. In this situation, Jon and I were getting messed with at times by walleyes that would grab the back of the minnow and not fully latch onto the entire bait. That longer shank put a few extra fish in the boat for me that otherwise would’ve gotten only half of a minnow, instead of a hook, in the corner of its mouth.
Maybe you could find some on ebay or from another tackle mfr? Early season and for minnow fishing I always carry a few for those reasons.
Joel
Thanks, same reason I went to them, hook a shiner though the mouth, out the gill and back as far as you can and hook them again.
Maybe I’ll see if Northland will tell me what hook they used, or if somebody here knows??
Thanks much.
Al
James how do you pair up as to what guys you fish with and what houseboat , boats per houseboat , food ( etc ) ?
Pairing is actually pretty easy as it comes down to group size and where the anglers live.
Each houseboat houses six anglers, max.
The average group consists of 3 anglers. Some anglers arrange their own 6 member group and no pairing is needed.
When we have a 3 member group we match them with another 3 member group, often from the same geographical area to facilitate communications and even car pooling when traveling to and from an event.
Two man groups are also common… and we’ve had more than a couple “singles” attend.
Fishing boats are also easy… the average fishing boat fishes 2 -3 and each houseboat can tow up to 4 fishing boats. We typically have more “boaters” than “non-boaters” so even guys without a rig of their own have been able to attend in the past. Making that work simply comes down to finding someone else with a boat that wants to go and needs a partner and making the connection.
Food is really easy. Each houseboat plans meals as a group. Someone is designated to do the shopping. The bill is split 6 ways. Everyone takes a turn cooking or grilling at meal time. Plan on food costs to run $40 – $60 for the 5 days, per person, depending on how extravagant the menu becomes. Note – this does exclude drinks/beverages. Our recommendation is to leave that up to the individual as tastes and desired quantity varies wildly with the individual.
Honestly the pairing is one of the easier parts of putting these trips together and many tell me they’ve come away from the trip with great memories and a new fishing buddy or two afterward. Case in point… I had never met two guys on “my” houseboat before this last trip and would fish with either or both of them again in the future at the drop of a hat.
Let me know if you have any additional questions on this. In my opinion these trips run very smoothly.
Great report, James. We’ve been up on Rainy since Tuesday and are enjoying it thoroughly as we always do. Boated a personal best 28.5 incher today on a husky jerk in Brown Bay on the east end. What a porker. CPR of course. Someone else will get the privilege in the future I hope! Anyway, great stuff. Thanks for a super report on what was a super trip I am sure.
Still grinnin’ over this trip on this end! Glad to hear things are going well for you too. Drop us some pics or a wrap up report when you get back.
Pretty awesome pictures guys.
I’m more than a little impressed with all the fish you guys caught as well.
Having been there once already on the first annual fall RLH trip, I’m already a little familiar with some of Rainy’s charms. It certainly appears as though you guys have taken it to another level though.
This report definitely makes me want to go back again. Sooner rather than later would be better.
Fishing Rainy has definitely been an investment in time to start and get a feel for the nuances. Everyone that attends catches fish and usually quite a few but with every subsequent trip we’ve learned a little more, picked up a couple new tricks and added them to the arsenal and now we really seem to be falling into a rhythm.
Not that I’m saying we have the lake all figured out. Far from it. But we’re building on our understanding with each trip and it is really starting to show in the numbers and size of fish we’re catching. And we’re having more and more fun because of it. Which kind of makes it hard not to keep going. Rainy’s potential is simply amazing and I’m almost starting to look at these annual trips as an investment in a lifetime of fish catching happiness.
It just keeps getting better and better and better!
Wow thanks for sharing
. I really enjoyed the pics looks and sounds like a trip of a lifetime. What a beautiful body of water. Also the color of the walleye’s are alot different from the river eye’s im used to catching. Again thanks for sharing 
Also do lake walleye’s tend to be more skinny and longer than river fish ? Or is this just an affect from the spawn as it is here?
Few walleyes anywhere tend to be as heavy as our Mississippi River fish due to the abundance of forage but these fish definitely were lighter this time of year than what they’ll be during our fall trip.
Glad you liked the pics and the recap. I enjoyed putting it together.
James, That was a great recap and I loved the photos. I think we all wish we were there. I’m REALLY looking forward to the fall trip. I suspect that is not a shallow bite like the June trip. Is that right? What can we expect for the fall bite (presentations, structure, etc.)?
Hi Wade,
Yes our May/June bites will produce big fish in shallow water. Our fall bite typically will locate the bigger fish in deeper water (30-40 feet). Driving winds will move big fish on wind swept shorelines, but of course you have to be careful when asking for wind in September!! LOL!! I think we all remember the big blow we had last year.
All in All fall can produce our biggest fish of the year, and I encourage all anglers that seek the biggest and baddest to quickly reserve their spots for our fall excursion. I’ll be on the trip again this year and cannot wait to fish with the boys from IDO!
Hey Wade!
We’re going to have a blast, guaranteed~! As for how deep the fish will be during the fall trip based on what I’ve learned during previous fall trips I’d say from 3 feet to 50 feet and everywhere in between is a possibility.
We will see most of the fish have moved out of the bays and will be hanging on main lake reefs and mud flats so the majority of the fish we catch will certainly be deeper than what we saw during the June trip.
Last fall I caught most of my fish on a white moxie in 18 – 25 feet of water. Now if you really want to fish a shallow bite last year some guys in our group found a good bite on bigger walleyes up in the Rat Root River on jigs and minnows in 6′ – 8′ so that’s always an opportunity to check out as well.
As for presentations, jig and shiner, jig plastic, bouncer and spinner or cranks will be the dominant presentations with jigs seeming to outproduce all other presentations combined. But I have BIG PLANS to check out some new areas that caught my eye last fall that we didn’t get to fish due to the relentless winds. These spots should kick out fish in less than 20′ of water on jigs and plastics or cranks.
Of course everything depends on conditions.
Alright, Buddy! You’ve got me anxious for this trip!
I do expect we’ll introduce ourselves to some bronze beauties a time or two.
WOW!!! Great report and pics!
I don’t know that we could avoid the smallies completely if we tried.
Plan on getting an Ontario license and a RABC permit so we can go exploring. 
Thanks Shawn. Should you find yourself in need of a Sept. fishing fix… we’ve got plenty of room yet.
Sounds good to me, James. I’ve never fished Canada before and maybe this information would be helpful to others who are in my shoes, so let me check this out with you…
From what I can gather online I would need the following to fish the Canada side of Rainy:
1. Non-Canadian Resident Temporary Fishing Outdoors Card and Application only. Valid for three years. Annual licence tags must be purchased. $9.68
2. Eight-day Conservation Fishing License. $28.27
3. CANPASS Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC). The processing fee is CAN$30 per application. $30.00
For others who may be interested, here are the links to the sites that have the details:
Canada Fishing License
CANPASS Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) Website
So James, a couple of questions for you…
1. From your experience, is that all I will need (in addition to my MN license of course)?
2. Is the Eight-day Conservation Fishing License for $28.27 the best option for me to choose or will we be harvesting fish from the Canadian side? I assume we will not but want to clarify.
3. Do you recommend purchase of these items by mail prior to the trip or do you generally purchase these near Rainy Lake? I am assuming it is best to purchase in advance.
4. Last question (I think), before I drop some coin in the hands of our neighbors to the north, are you certain that we will fish the CA side?
I am in favor of the exploration myself! 
Thanks for the help, James! I’m patiently waiting for September!
Wade,
You’ve got it for canada. We got them for this june trip, the lic. and card we just called in. I got the lic. and a temp card in about a week, andthe permanent plastic card came about a week before the trip. Called in about 4-5 weeks before the trip, if I do it again Id probably call in sooner just to be safe. The RABC you have to mail in (i think), that came in maybe 2 weeks.
Thanks! I better get on it.