Rainy Lake, Minnesota fishing report 6-17-10

If I were to describe June fishing to new anglers in the borderland area this year would be a model year. Fishing can be simply fantastic, yet the everchanging wind directions keep anglers on the move to stay on top of good fish. Map study doesn’t take into consideration baitfish movements which are simply critical to success. Fish relate first and foremost to MEALS!! Yesterdays success or failures can be almost meaningless with variable weather patterns. Sun to clouds or wind reversals will have fish locating on different feeding areas. Our mayfly hatch is in full force with a pretty good smattering of flies on the surface, and apparently still hatching as I’ve picked them up on the Humminbird 1197.

Some anglers continue to have a bit of a tough time putting a mid-June Pattern together. Truth of the matter is transitioning fish are seldom found in as large of concentrations as mid-summer fish simply because it is never a universal movement out or in for that matter. Some Tankers make early moves to traditional summer haunts while others are compelled to linger behind, and still some are in between where they seldom get targeted by any anglers. Weather can of course complicate the process for “Bait huckers” producing tricky situations such as reversing water temperatures, and spooky cold fronts which can at times send fish in a retreat. We’ve been fortunate enough to keep customers on big fish on a daily basis, but don’t think for a second that this has not come without some trial and error by yours truly. I’ve been told on several occassions this season that June trips are highly educational for customers as they get a firsthand understanding of how Rainydaze Guide Service puts the puzzle together on any given day of where big fish move. I’ve said if before, and I’ll say it again….We like to target the biggest and baddest!! I tend to get antsy if we’re catching a boatload of “Dinks”. As a fishing fulltime fishing guide I feel my job gets a bit easier as the season progresses where I often times can ride a bit of a “Milkrun” working the big and dumb fish that aren’t making such drastic moves day to day. Extremely “Moody” fish can give any angler a headache, and I’m no different.

I’d like to commend the anglers I’ve run into on my travels on the lake so far this year. Each year I seem to witness anglers with a little more respect for other anglers, and that is very nice to see. I’ve had several trips this year where anglers have looked to create safe navigational routes to and from fishing locations which many have found to be a pretty nice insurance policy up and above the fishing knowledge gained from our trip.

We’ve mixed in more large pike in this Mid-June timeframe than in years past, and it is my guess that many pike have focused some energies on eating smaller walleyes. It is no secret that big pike prey on walleyes, but it seems there might be a bit more of this taking place this summer. I’ve found when we get in areas that have 16-20 inch walleyes there is always a real possibility of having rod taken out of your hand by a Tank Pike. This year we just reached our 40th pike surpassing 10lbs 2 days ago. Typically speaking our monster pike catches drop off as the Pikes relationship to our targeted walleyes begins fall apart. Our slot walleyes have been beautiful this year, and with an early water warm up I expect freak footballs this fall. BTW……..Get your team out here this fall!! On many outings we’ve mixed our “Hot oil” bath contestants finning right along side big slots, and other days we are making seperate runs to locate smaller fish for eating. We still have days open for anglers looking to get on the books. Our September and October Prime Monter Walleye/Slab dates are now about 1/2 full, so good dates are available there also!! See you on the water team!! We’ll be the boat with the Net out!!