Rainy Lake, Minnesota fishing report 7-31-11

Here on the last day of July fisherman must simply tip their fishing caps to the past couple weeks of walleye fishing. The earlier extended Mayfly hatch of July made fishing a bit more difficult, but the bite really juiced up after the flies were gone. This year we’ve noticed in our guide boat an increasing assortment of fat “Shorelunch” fish mixed in with the highly advertised slot fish. Limits on of nice 15-16 3/4 inch fish have been nearly commonplace over the last few weeks. I’ve always said if a guy comes in with a 4 person limit of (16) 15-16 3/4 inch fish you can be sure they were flat out HAMMERING the walleyes. Those fish are simply the toughest fish to come by. One of the many great things about July and August fishing that so many visitors enjoy is the concentrations of fish. For much of the year our smaller class of fish is located in an entirely different areas than those big Rainy lake Tankers. This of course can further complicate the fishing for groups of anglers looking to rip drag on fish, yet at the same time enjoy a nice fresh walleye dinner. Here between the months of July-September you truly have the best of both worlds!!

Lets get straight to the Nuts and Bolts of our fishing as of yesterday. we’re blitzing the bigger slot fish with an H20 Precision jig and crawler. I’ve hammered the fish with a purple and white 3/16 oz. H20 Precision jig and frankly am just about out!! www.customjigsandspins.com There truly is no better jig for fishing a crawler than BfishN tackles H20 Precision jig. We’ve also had great success with the “Firetiger” spinner blade from Jolly Roger Tackle slow rolled with a crawler or fathead. Many of you know I’m a flat out jigging fool this time of year, but this season I’ve dabbled with spinner rigs as well. I would consider myself a structure fisherman, and if possible would prefer to work schools in tight spots versus gravel bar scattered fish or fish on mud flats. This often times makes trolling spinner rigs less effective for me. So this season with our I-Pilot in place I’ve utilzed the effective spinner rig triggering presentation in a cast and retrieve method. I had Shawn from Jolly Roger Tackle customize my rigs to a shortened 30 inches. I’ve then simply taken a sliding egg sinker and placed it above the swivel. This allows me to long cast my spinner rig precisely over the fish instead of trolling over the tightly holding school of fish every so often. Having seperate rigs laced up to work the same school of fish has without a doubt allowed us to land more fish out of that single pod. IMHO anglers normally will pull a few of the more aggressive fish out of a school and then move on. This season we’ve tried to work the same school of fish a bit more effectively. What I have found is a few of those walleyes will fall victim to a jigs and crawler. A few bigger fish on a Jig and Shiner, and then of course different applications with Spinner rigs and so on. Don’t thinks for a second that your same slinging of a jig and minnow has fooled all the fish. Sometimes you just need to work a different presentations to maximize your catch rate on each pod of fish!!

As always the fish seem to be on several different pieces of structure during the heat of summer. Reefs are producing fish as well as breaklines. Shallow water also continues to kick out both big walleyes and Pike. cabbage beds are now at the top of the water and looking very robust. The summer patterns always amaze me with many big walleyes found in a mere 3 feet of water. I believe the bog stained water of Rainy lake allows some bigger fish the ability to locate shallow nearly all summer long. It is also my theory that there are traditional shallow water fish and Deep water fish. Not all fish will spawn and then migrate deep. With this being said large numbers of shallow water fish being caught would be a rarity. We’ve focused our efforts on the largest concentrations of both big slot fish and nice eating fish. These fish have been located in 26-36 feet of water, and seemingly heading deeper. As of late our best spots are pieces of structure not marked on either Lakemaster or Navionics Chips. Surely just a coincidence!! LOL!!

So that’s what we’ve found as of late. Here is what I believe anglers can expect over the next couple weeks. Walleyes will likely continue to show up in deeper water. To catch nice walleyes consistently in shallow water you will likely need a brisk wind to further push some bait fish. Without wind you will have to focus on deeper breaks or the bottoms of food funnels. Leeches and Crawlers will continue to be very effective while shiners will become the dominate minnow presentation in our guide boat. Getting yourself away from the normal summer pressured fishing locations will greatly enhance your catch rates for the day while fishing less educated walleyes. Fishing will continue to be outstanding here in August, but remember you still have to do your homework to have great fishing. Rainy Lake fish seldom just jump in the boat for picture time. Boat control remains a critical skill to effectively catching fish, and these fish can be a bit touchy with sloppy boat handling. Good Luck out there!! We’ll be the boat with the net out!!