As the end of January rolls through Rainy Lake Ice Anglers are finding some pressured areas have fish a bit more finicky. One day they’ll snap for you, and the next will have them very negative. February and March can be some fantastic walleye fishing for anglers putting in their time. Big pike are really smacking baits right now!! Anglers have legitimate chances at landing 10-20 lb pike on each outing until these pike relocate. We’ve got our houses on locations that have a good mixture of big walleyes and pike, and a short distance from lots of portable structures to mobilize too.
We’ve had our customers switching between Lightning spoons in the 1/8 oz size, and 1/8 oz. H20 precision jigs fished with full shiners or fatheads. The fish seem to change preferences daily right now. This past week we landed a 20lb pike and a 10.5lb 30 inch walleye. The pike was ousted out of the pristine waters on a large sucker minnow while the Walleye fell victim to my summer favorite H20 Precision jig in the orange and Chart. Firetiger pattern with a full shiner!! The Pike nearly took off my thumb, and the walleye came up and down on my Marcum 5 times before hitting!!
As our temps have been moderating the Run and Gun method with the Otter shacks can be very effective in landing large walleyes and seeing NO PRESSURE. Snowmobiles are a must as Atv traffic is very limited due to some slush in areas. Yesterday we were out with a crew of 4 working some isolated structure, and landed some beautiful walleyes with the infamous Rainy Lake “Black Backs”!! I love the looks of these fish!! I fished with Billy D. the owner of Rainy Lake Houseboats for the day. He looks forward to Septembers Houseboat Excursion with all of the IDO Boys!! Better get your spot as it is once again filling up very quickly!!
I’ve noticed a big push to Rainy Lake in search of the biggest and baddest this year, and already many folks locking in prime dates for next years trips. We once again have been very fortunate to land a lot of big fish. We’ve landed 13 walleyes over 28 inches and 12 pike over 10lbs. I can’t begin to tell you how many close calls we’ve had, but nearly every customer I’ve fished with will surely confirm!! I encourage group leaders to get your dates together as early as possible and rally the troops. I have some good dates available for February, and at this point next January is already 1/2 booked for guide trips, and 1/4 for house rentals. I also would encourage people to consider the last 2 weeks of December as they can be unbelievable for MONSTER…….I mean Monster Walleyes!! Get back to Rainy lake!! We’ve got some awesome fishing ahead of us!!
Great report nice fish
Great read and Awesome fish as always Chris
Amazing reports time after time Chris. You live in Gods country for sure!
Great job Chris!!
For those of you without a portable fish houses and are thinking about getting one or for those of you who have one and are looking to upgrade stop on in to Rainy Lake One Stop to see our slection of Otter portable fish houses & accessories.
Otter Portable houses are ideal for Rainy Lake, they make it easy to pack up and move to another spot and are easily able to be towed behind a snowmobile or forweeler.
Another bunch of great pics. Those are some impressive eyes and pike.
Yes!! There is no better way to fish Rainy Lake than in the comfort of an Otter!! Plus they are built to last when traveling into nowhere land!!
Nice read Chris- How are those new spoons treating those walleyes?
YOU DA MAN, DAZE……
LOL!! Thanks Jack!!
Those Lightning spoons have been my number one Weapon Luke!!
Great report Buddy !!!
If a group of guys wanted to come up in March…When in March would be a good time to come up ? What would most likely be the targeted species ? What form of transportation would be necessary to get on the best bite ?
Many that are coming in March are open for multi-species trips. Pike are beginning to stage for the spawn, and can be targeted outside of known spawning areas. Walleyes are a lot of fun as it is much easier to mobilize with portables due to typically warmer weather. Of course here in borderland our seasons are open for walleyes until mid April. We also target Crappies on area fisheries. So…As I often tell guide customers we’ll be fishing the best bite I’m aware of. Transportation usually calls for snowmobiles. Atv’s might be OK, and I’d know closer to your trip timeframe. Sometimes I can even drive Truck. All depends on the bite location, and Mother Nature. All March Weekends are socked up right now, so mid-week in March would be essential. I do have the 3rd weekend in February wide open at this point.
Look forward to it boys!!