Rainy Lake, Minnesota fishing report 6-29-11

The final days of June will soon be ushered out with a sonic Boom of sorts on this Fridays "Canada Day". Here in "Borderland" we’re treated with not one, but two magnificent sound and light shows illuminating the skies over the majestic waters of Rainy Lake. As sort of a special edition to our weekly fishing reports here is a little tidbit of information you might not have known. Did you know…..The old Hamms Beer commercials "From….. the land of Sky Blue Waters…Waters" were filmed on Rainy Lake?? Well now you know, and you can’t say you didn’t learn anything from this weeks report!! The 4th of July weekend traditionally has lakes throughout our great state of Minnesota teaming with boaters. Families and friends alike get out to share in the fun on the water. Of course with the weekend’s influx of traffic at the landing we need to be on our best behavior. As a gentle reminder PLEASE make safety a top priority this weekend. Let’s be sure the only "Ear Piercing" Banging noises heard are in the skies, and NOT "Boat to Boat" or "Boat to Granite" contact. A full-blown ejection into Rainy Lakes Jack pines surely will sour your weekend festivities. SO…..If you choose to "Set Sail with Captain Morgan" or go down deep into "Margaritaville" Please be sure the "captain" of YOUR "Water Corvette" featuring that impressive "Bangin Jukebox" is not under the influence. As always here in borderland as well as the rest of the state we’ll receive extra enforcement on the lake throughout the weekend. Show your Red, White and Blue best over this holiday by helping out a fellow boater at the landing. Try to remember NOT EVERYONE gets to dip the boat in the water everyday. They MIGHT not be as efficient in doing so as you. This is NOT tournament day. Try if only for this one weekend to take the "Laid Back" approach while leaving the stressers from the "Hustle and Bustle" of todays world back at the office. Surely these "Stressers" will patiently await your return visit to reality island. It’s officially….. summertime in Minnesota Baby!! LIVE IT, Yet say a LITTLE "Thirsty my friends"

OK!! Back to fishing!! Rainy lake continues to kick out a "Parade" of both eating fish and TANKERS!! Believe it or not it appears SUMMER has arrived in "Borderland". Heck yesterday reached 70 degrees, and daringly I put my Frabill "Snosuit" into winter storage. Our Mayfly hatch once again appears to be scattered into July….Go Figure?!? Anglers should expect to fish amongst a smattering of fly husks. These fish remain catchable, but must be fished methodically if fishing within the "Flyzone". We’ve focused our energies within active pods of walleyes that appear to be knocking down loads of mayflies. We’ve boxed beautiful limits of walleyes by dragging jigs and minnnows through fish rubbing their bellies. Seasonal movements find both big "TANKERS" and smaller "HOT OIL BATH" candidates joining forces. The congregation of the big and small in July can truly provide awesome fishing!! Often times anglers ask us about livebait for the trip. There simply are several ways fisherman can catch actively feeding fish. Shiners, Fatheads, Leeches, and Crawlers will all turn fish when fished correctly….Pick your Poison. Our guide service happens to believe Rainy Lake offers a tremendous minnow bite all season long. If our fish get "Moody" we’ll lace up a crawler, but for the most part give me box of minnows and we’ll turn it into a box of walleyes. It truly is magical!!

If your a jig fisherman I assure you this is your time!! It truly is "GO TIME" Baby!! Oh how I love to work jigs!! I’ve always felt even though most all of us have more tackle than we can effectively store; The guy that can utilize a pocket full of jigs will most always land fish the most consisently. We’ve centered our search for walleyes on "Inside Turns" holding washed up forage. The reference to the classice inside turn is often used, but seldom completely understood in nature. This "Fish Cup" which we like to empty holds the most bait on a piece of structure. The forage fills the cup when bait is washed into it through the "Funnel" or the natural currents of your fishery. The paradigm of a walleye fishing location in my book is when current flushes a buffet of food into a frontdoor "Inside Turn" while the days directional winds blow in additional food through the backdoor. I assure you if you want to become more consistent placing yourself on top of feeding walleyes invest the time to understand what concentrates walleyes on certain pieces of structure. Simple structure scanning on what looks good is a very daunting task on this 220,000 acrew of water. A growing number of anglers are beginning to realize especially on complex bodies of water like Rainy lake…A good fishing spot is temporary in nature. A true understanding of fish movements will boat you the best fish for a lifetime! Look back and count the days of even 2 day stretches featuring the same wind directions as of late. Pretty hard to find the consistency that can provide fisherman with massive schools of fish. IT IS…..WHAT IT IS!! Thus we’ve fished current funnels that provide big walleyes a daily meal despite "Ma Natures" fury or crabby ways.

As yet another week burns by faster than the 300 ponies pushes us in our Skeeter WX2100 "Sho-Time". Once again I’d like to personally thank each and everyone of our customers. I believe we have the best customers in the world!! It is our faithfull customer base that continues to make our job one of the best in the world. Our week has been filled with limits of walleyes and lots of big fish for pics. Life is good here on Rainy Lake. We look forward to fishing with you soon. We’ll be the "Skeet Retreat" with the net out!!

A special congratulations to our "Honeymooners" Chad and Gretchen!! These two newlyweds started their lives together the right way….FISHING ON RAINY LAKE!! May your lives be as full of joy and happiness as our livewell was packed with walleyes.