nosdog2

Check out Sam Rardin fishing as well on Mille Lacs. I fished with him when I first moved here; super fun and he put me on small mouth.

Well my first time Rainy Lake trip was a success. I spent 5 days up there camping at one of the boat-in sites within Voyagers. We packed everything in and the fishing didn't disappoint. We couldn't have asked for a better week for weather, slight winds, 70-80s, and the rain waited until the last day to make an appearance as we headed off the lake. Caught a metric ton of Smallmouth and Northerns, and even kept a few walleyes for a nice mid-week evening fish fry. Capped off the week with a perfect showing (and first time seeing) of the Northern Lights. We anchored the boat out in the middle of the bay with a few cocktails and enjoyed the show, which was incredible to see. Can't wait to head back next year again.

So I decided to do a fishing trip to Rainy Lake 3rd week of Sept. Going to camp from my boat for about 4-5 days, and hopefully get into some fall smallmouth fun. Probably camp near Soboleski Bar area. Any recommendations from anyone who has fished there during this timeframe?

Made it out on a lake between Detroit Lakes and Itasca State Park. They were biting! Success came on a crank bait (2-3') over submerged spotty weeds in 10 ft of water and also on a drop shot on the same weeds.

Worst case is you are out $30 and about a half hour of time if you want to change it out if there is "break in" oil contained. It's all about the peace of mind for you if you can't find anything definitive.

Most manufactures say 100 hours or every year, whichever comes first. I usually do mine at the end of the year before I put it up for the winter. I usually do this to make sure there is no water intrusion or anything that need to be addressed over the winter.

Been itching like crazy to get out. My water pump took a dump and a coupler for the lower unit stripped out so I am waiting on parts for a few more days till I can get water bound. I guess I could grab the yak down and at least wet a line.

Dang! Great fish!

April 16th is my guess, I think we have some warm days ahead.

Sweet rig!

It would take a lot to stop @ww2farmer from fishing!

Looks great! Well done. I am eager to get out this year and figure out how/where to fish in this state after moving here late summer last year.

Thanks! That mapping is awesome; much better than my lake master charts that are giving me fits right now.

I know, really liking it here so far; we are really enjoying it. LG was surprising and gets a bit manic on the weekends with the boat traffic, but the top water bite has been great the past week or so. Not sure if I found the "ball sack" yet! LOL! I have been having graphing issues with my hummingbird units; I upgraded to a Fortrex and I don't think I have the right cable to contact it so I have been handicapped with finding stuff. Rum river is right down the street too, not sure where exactly or what section would be good to dip into it, sounds like fun. It looks to be only an hour from me; which at my NY house was my typical run to one of the bigger lakes, and in DC fishing the Potomac or the upper bay were also an hour, so that is par for the course of what I am used to.

About 2 months ago! The rona made the move and selling the cabin tough, but had a great work opportunity out here that I couldn't turn down. So far it's been amazing.