It was our sixth year in a row that our group of anglers had spent a week on Rainy Lake. As we pulled into the landing at Island View Lodge, anticipation was running high. We knew that within an hour we would have the boats launched, gear packed into the cabin and be ready to head out for an evening of fishing.

After launching the boats, lodge owner, Ron Opp, stopped to welcome us back for another week of adventure. His words were encouraging as he said the walleye bite had been impressive. That type of news is never hard to take.

Once on the water, our boats split up and headed in three different directions. One of the advantages in working with a group of anglers is being able to check out different parts of the lake and then compare notes back at the cabin. This technique is very valuable and certainly shortcuts the information gathering process.

The small hump my fishing partner, Charlie Simkins, and I targeted yielded a number of fish. We slipped a couple into the livewell for supper and  photographed and released several others. It was a great start to another fabulous week on Rainy.

Rainy Lake is an impressive fishery that seems to get better every summer.  For six years it has provided us with such impressive walleye fishing we have felt no need to cross the border to look for anything better.

Our group has learned a lot during these six years. Unlike many anglers, we prefer to go during the summer months when the fish are setting up on the deep reefs. Although this midsummer pattern is a challenge for some, we find the deep reef fishing to be very enjoyable.

We have also learned a lot about the different presentations that work. Even though the jig is probably the most utilized presentation on the lake, we have had very good luck with live bait presentations as well as bottom bouncers and spinners.

For the standard live bait rig, we often use shiner minnows. Minnows work well on Rainy even during the summer months. We also take along leeches and crawlers and there are days when one of these other choices is clearly the favorite.

As for bottom bouncers and spinners, double hook crawler rigs, single hooks with three inch PowerBait tails tipped with live bait and smile blade spinners with slow death hooks all work. The key is to experiment to find what the fish want on that particular day.

Jerry Carlson: Quality walleye like this are plentiful on Rainy Lake.
Jerry Carlson: Quality walleye like this are plentiful on Rainy Lake.
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Although live bait rigging with Vanish fluorocarbon line is my favorite walleye presentation, being able to cover water and search out active biters with bottom bouncers is pretty impressive. The bottom bouncer strategy needs to be part of the game plan.

As for the reefs and other fishing locations, they aren’t hard to find. The key is marking fish in an area before spending time fishing. If we don’t find fish on a reef, we keep looking.

Naturally, quality sonar equipment is critical for the process of searching for fish. Our group utilizes LakeMaster map chips for identifying potential hotspots (www.lakemap.com).

There is a 17 to 28 inch protected slot on Rainy. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons the lake is so full of walleyes. We catch lots of fish in the 20 to 25 inch class but have no trouble finding fish for supper.

Rainy is also home to other species. We always catch quality northern during our stay as well as smallmouth bass.

Anglers are missing out if they are ignoring Rainy Lake. This water is a remarkable fishery that is well worth a visit.

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