Year in and year out the Lake of the Woods walleye make the traditional run up Rainy River to smaller streams to spawn, year in and year out we are on the river trying to intercept these fish as they move up stream. In my opinion you will not have a better opportunity to catch as many 27”, 28”, 29” and 30” inch pre spawn walleyes anywhere. Yes you have Pool 4, Green Bay, and even the Fox River in Wisconsin that will produce some absolute huge pre spawn walleyes, but you don’t have the numbers and huge schools like you have on the Rainy River in Baudette MN.
Fishing for these walleyes can be done in many ways, however catching the bigger fish for our group has always been pitching either ¼ oz blade baits or ¼ oz precision jig heads with any plastic made from Custom Jigs& Spins, colors depending on weather…Sunny day’s means darker baits, while cloudy overcast days brighter baits. Pitching blades or jigs is done with a braid line in the 10/2 or 15/4 variety prefer a brighter color so you can detect lighter bites by watching the line. The same traditional blade pitching/plastic pitching applications that is talked about so much here on Idofishing while fishing on Pool 4 is used up on Rainy River with great success.
Schools and school and schools of Lake of the Woods walleyes move up this river constantly throughout the day allowing many anglers to stay on top of active biting fish. These schools travel up river stopping in the depressions of the river to get out of the current to rest meanwhile hopefully your bait drops into the same depression. If it does typically you will experience some fierce strikes, that is what makes it so much fun! The collision between your blade bait and a pre-spawn LOTW walleye, is something you will remember as well as having you coming back year after year. Lakemaster does have 1’ contours of the river (LOTW Rainy Lake chip) which allows a boat to drift down a current seam or if necessary control the drift keeping the bait in the strike zone vs. just drifting aimlessly.
This migration of these walleyes has become a yearly tradition for our group simply because of numbers. This year has been an exceptional year for big size walleyes in big numbers. Typical day this past weekend yielded about 50 fish per day with for a boat with 3 guys, however about 35 of these fish all were over the 24” mark. The opportunity to catch big fish in numbers happens every year on Rainy River. If you’re looking to plan a trip that where you will have a chance to catch a bunch of big walleyes I would suggest the first week of April to Rainy River in Baudette MN.
Til next time…..
What a great read Calvin! Wish it was closer to home for me. Maybe next year. Thanks for the report!! Great looking fish.
Thanks for the update of Rainy, I may head over that way soon. Have you ever fished for the sturgeon there? I wanted to head that way and try for them.
Lee
Post deleted by Ben Garver
Joe Scegura and i will be up tomorrow thru Friday chasing some hogs! Thanks for the report.
Rainy part 2
Lee we don’t target the sturgeon unless the water is super dirty. We do catch a few by accident on the hair jigs or paddle tails. I did see a few guys anchored in the classic sturgeon holes while taking a break for lunch. They were also catching fish….
Tim…Look for Luke and Marshal in a red 620. Can’t miss them. 2 big fellas in a big boat.. They have been fishing with my dad all week and getting the same numbers of fish. They said they are dragging jigs back up stream due to higher winds the past few days….
Plus a few more, even thru in a sturgeon!
Awesome report Calvin, that has to be a blast
Great report Calvin, super looking walleyes
Wow! Those are some impressive fish guys.
Great excitement Cal !!!
I will be on the road Friday Morning…
Thanks for the boost
You heading up to Rainy on Friday, Dave? I’ll be heading that way with Jonny P. and BK for a sturgeon shoot then Granrud and I are going to chase the walleyes around early next week.
I’ll there thru Monday mid day !!!
then home and pulling cranks on the sippi all week with the handline gear…It is stoke’n up to be a Great Week !!
Cool deal. I’ll be walleye fishing w/ Granrud tuesday and wednesday. Where you staying?
Along the river bank someplace !!!
So I should look for the swirling vultures overhead as a tip off to your location. Got it.
Nice job guys!
We are heading up Friday after work and staying until Sunday at the Walleye Inn.
You guys sure have them dialed in!
Thanks for the fishfry and it was nice to see all the clan and drink a few beers!
Are you heading up for the weekend?
Let me know.
Cory
Anytime Cory….eventually the blade bite will kick into high gear for you…..Ryan is heading back up Friday night, I am in a wedding this weekend so I am out…might sneak a day trip next week before season closes….
Anytime Cory! Its always great after a day of fishing to kick back and have a couple cold ones
Ryan
Great Report Cal
Nice Fish
Wow Cal…thats all I can say…WOW!!!
Maybe next year….
Tremendous fish, Tremendous Report by a simply Tremendous fisherman!! Wouldn’t expect anything less!! Great job Pal!! And to the rest of your Team!!
Thanks again Cal and Company!! I wanna still be up there!!
Nice report, thanks