Memorial Day Weekend Fishing Trip

I guided George Cochran and his son Chase on Saturday May 26. George and Chase wanted to catch some walleyes for Saturday evenings dinner. It was pretty a chilly ride on Rainy Lake, I even put the gloves on.  The forecast was for a 50 % chance of rain 35 degree early morning temperature and easterly 10-15 mph winds.  

I opted to stop on a point with a slight breeze blowing in to the shore. Chase and George started to catch walleyes right away on a jig and minnow. We fished three different spots catching walleyes on each spot. The wind was steadily decreasing to the point of dead flat calm.  I have guide George for twenty two years. We have become very close friends over time. His three boys Ben, Andrew and Chase fished with me as youngsters. There highlight on Fathers Day was to take a houseboat up to Cormorant Bay with their dad and grandfather Phil.  The boys are ardent sportsman. Ben worked on our Chairman II  guiding for several summers, Andrew and Chase both worked as dock technicians during summertime at Rainy Lake Houseboats. All three boys went to or going to an upstate New York college. Ben and Andrew started a Ducks Unlimited Chapter there, awesome!

I met George the first time on a Chairman II fishing trip. When fishing on the Chairman you let the guides know what you would like to fish for and they take you them! George has always liked to cast for fish so it was not hard to figure out something to do with the wind dropping to nothing. We went and fished for northern pike to start.  George used a 3/4 oz. Johnson Silver Minnow tipped with a 2" white twister tail, Chase was using a black silver bladed buzz bait. We started in a small bay casting dead pencil reeds. It took minutes for a large pike to make a go at the Silver Minnow. We switched George to a Glide Rap as the pike were missing the silver minnow or hitting short. The Glide Rap put a 36" pike in the boat for George. Chase had the buzzer going good. He was catching small pike and then a good one hit the buzzer, Chase set the hook and the rod broke right in half at the butt.  

 

Chase is an ardent smallmouth fisherman and proved his mettle with a Husky Jerk. We found bass starting to hang around their spawning beds. A perfect cast behind the nest and a couple jerks into the nest and fish on. 

We were supposed to fish again today. The weather caught up with us, 20 plus mile and hour wind and heavy rain. George politely asked for a rain check, first time ever. I will be out every day for the next eleven days.  We have the F.B.I. from Le Mars Iowa for the next few days, I will be guiding them the next three days. Fishing just keeps getting better and better.  

 

Great Fishing on Thirtieth Anniversary Rainy Lake Houseboat Trip

                                                                 Slip Bobber Walleye

Slip Bobber Walleye

Line change makes big difference

Really big difference

Don't forget about the contest



Every year for the past thirty years the Welsch party comes to Rainy Lake Houseboats for a week. I am lucky enought to guide for them a couple days each year. Todays pattern was similar to yesterday with one exception. We switched to a snap jigging technique. We cast back behind the boat about 50 ft. and snap the 1/8 jigs as we move either forward or backwards with the boat at a speed of .4 to .6 mph. The reason being the walleyes were spread out on a 1/2 mile stretch of shoreline. We tipped the jigs with chub mminnows, Gulp 3" Minnows, and Impulse Paddle Tails.  Our keeper walleyes all came on plastics. We fished 5-9 ft. of water. Nine of us put eighty walleyes in the boat in the Voyageur National Park of Rainy Lake.

I drove up the lake with a 10-15 mph NE wind. I stopped at the Welsches Lady Of the Lake houseboats and the wind died. About 8:30 a 10 mph NW wind started with a steady light rain. The walleyes were right where they were supposed to be; on a south east wind blown shoreline.

Back to the houseboats for the Sunday afternoon steak barbeque!

Master Chef Bob Welsch

Unbelievable May 19th Fish On! Snapping Turtle On!

I left the dock at 6:30AM to fish walleyes with the Bracken / Nevanen party. The forecast was iffy 70% chance of rain with possible thunder showers. We started fishing about 7:15, we were going to start by pitching 1/8oz jigs tipped with minnows into 3-6 ft of water. 

We started on a point, no wind no fish. We moved over to another point and had a little wind and caught three walleyes. We could see some ominous clouds building with a few rumbles. I saw a silent horizontal lightning bolt and thought may be shore would be a good idea. Right at that time my monofilament line started to lift towards the sky. Time for shore.  The lightning and thunder left as fast as it came. We moved on to another spot, rain was falling hard and first cast a walleye banged the jig, second cast the same.

I put my MinKota Terrova I Pilot trolling motor on anchor mode. We stayed on the same spot pitching the jigs along the easterly running spine  that ran underneath the water. We would target the side that dropped towards shore and also a last years dead weed bed. Walleyes were thick all over it. We boated at least forty walleyes off this spot. Look at the photos of the area and the electronics picture and you can see what we were doing. During the time period the weather got very nice with a nice walleye breeze.

Lead on rock pile on left extended towards the camera.

Weeds on bottom were straight behind us toward center

rock pile. We would cast as far back as we could and hop

 the jig and minnow back  only reeling to pick up slack line.

 

Weeds are the little blue flecks below the D on 

Hummingbird

Finding good spots are absolutely crucial for good fishing. Fish are a lot like humans they like a good restaurant to dine at. Pay attention to the bays, slow down and look at the surroundings. Choose structures that have inside turns, sunken boulders, weeds, points and number one a breeze blowing into the structure. I am sure Paul and Pat had one of the funnest mornings one could have. They not only caught fish, they became very comfortable using their rods like surgeons. By the end of the morning the rod, reel, and jig had become part of them. Once you enter the zone it awesome. It may feel awkward to begin but catch one and all awkwardness goes away. 

The action was ridiculous. We had a good size snapping turtle start hanging around us, I told Pat and Paul be ready he is going to try and feed and sure enough the snapper grabbed one of Paul's walleye's.

    

Paul and Pat with great walleyes!

On our way home we were saw six of our houseboats heading out for a wonderful week of spring fishing. May and June provide spectacular spring and early summer fishing! Next year don't miss out this great opportunity.

Opening Day of Walleye Season

Another opening day has come on gone. Friday night was the same as the past 50 years; trouble sleeping again, too much anticipation. It is a great feeling knowing a person can be excited at 55 years old so much so that you don't sleep well. Part of it is thoughts of openers past, the first time going with my Dad on opening day. That one was not on Rainy Lake believe it or not. We went to Lake Vermilion with a friend of my Dad's named Cubby Johnson. I remember it being pretty cold and damp. Cubby had  a boat with a hard covered bow. I found it pretty cool to be able to crawl up underneath to get warm and might of snoozed a little.

This year I opened the season with my friend Dan and his friend Bob. We left the dock at 7:30 AM. Dan asked if we could head up to Kettle Falls as Bob had only been there by snowmobile. Beautiful, a little cool ride up the lake. We arrived about 8:15. There was a half dozen boats fishing an old haunt called Jesse's hole. We proceeded up to my grandfather'ss old dock site at Kettle Falls. We fished for forty minutes or saw and had some good snags and no bites. My friends Patti Ross and Mark Bowe were in the area also. We saw them catch a couple of nice keepers, said they were using red and blue jigs. Good patriots! We moved down river and really did not see what I like to see on the Hummingbird.

We moved out of the river and looked on some deeper breaklines. Surprise, surprise, we saw a lot of fish in thirty four feet of water. We dropped the IPilot down and started jigging. Walleye almost right away then not a lot. I could still see the fish so I opted to switch from a colored jig to a plain lead color.  There were small clouds of bait fish in the area. Normally these baitfish are a small silvery grey baitfish less than an inch long. If those baitfish are what I am really seeing a lead color jig works better because it matches the color of the bait fish. I like lead for another reason too, it will never hurt you, often catching more than colored jigs.

My jig barely hit bottom and bingo a walleye hit right away. After a couple more and Bob and Dan switched to lead colored jigs and we were all catching walleyes. I moved the boat forward with my I Pilot and positioned the boat on the front edge of the school and hit my anchor button. It is really an amazing piece of equipment. The wind got up 10-15 miles per hour and the Minn Kota held us right in place. We casted straight back behind the boat as far as we could and let the jigs sink to the bottom. We jus barely hopped them along the bottom working them all the way back to the boat.  We caught twenty five plus walleyes using this technique. We kept twelve nice walleyes from 14-16 1/2 inches, and the largest we let go was 24 3/4 inches. When we got back to Rainy Lake Houseboats I cleaned the walleyes and sure enough full of the small silvery baitfish and a good amount of the chubs that came off our jigs as we would reel in the walleyes.

We stopped in a shallow bay on the way home and pitched jigs and minnows and also used slip bobbers and minnows with out success. All in all a great day on beautiful Rainy Lake. 

Fight is on!

The limit!

  

24 3/4" walleye

Hot Fishing You Are Missing It!

There are only four fishing seasons that close on Rainy Lake; walleye, muskie, sauger and lake sturgeon. Smallmouth bass, northen pike, crappies and white fish are open year around. There is spectacular fishing to be had. The Rainy River had a spectacular spring walleye run again and the sturgeon are really biting right now.

Rainy Lake has been unreal for large northern pike. Yesterday Tom Herzig and I took a ride up to the Kettle Falls area. Walleye season opens May 12th. Walleyes were in spawning mode. The water temp was 45.6 degrees. Current flows are excellent. There are two gates open on the Americam Dam and three gates open on the Squirrel Falls Dam. Bays had temps from 48 to 54 degrees. Fisherman will have good choices on where to go on the opener. The bay walleyes will have been done spawning a little longer but the current will attract alot of walleyes and hold them for at least a couple of weeks or more.

Tom and I fished northerns for a couple hours on our way home. The spotted critters acted like they had not dined in awhile! We caught plenty of pike from 30-39 inches.  It is amazing how they locate themselves. We were fishing in 1 1/2 to three feet of water.

Northern pike are very sensitive to the warmest water in the bay.  The bays are completely devoid of bait fish. The pike use the bays to digest the baitfish they eat in open water away from the shallows. The prey they have ate digests the quickest in warm water. 

Pike that hit a blue and chrome Glide Rap

We were casting Glide Raps up to the weed edges and into the pockets. You had to watch your temp readout closely. We were only talking three and four degree variations in temperature. The best way to find the warmer water is to fish the side of the bay that the wind is blowing towards or into, just like fishing walleyes; concentrate on where the wind is blowing. It is worth while to fish with a Rainy Lake Houseboat fishing guide. You will learn so much and have a great time catching large northern pike. Our guides have you catch the pike, not watch a guide catch them!

Tom Herzig with a thirty nine incher!

Hopefully I will get out once or twice more before the opner. I will keep you updated maybe test the crappies and smallmouth. Those pike are just like Sugar Crisp, just can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp!

Springtime Northern Pike Fishing

Rainy Lake northern pike begin spring movements long before the ice goes out. People fish them with dead baits (suckers or ciscoes) through the ice in late February and March. Most fisherman target mouths of bays that the pike will spawn in during late April and early May.

May and June fishing for pike will give you the best opportunity to hook up with the elusive 40” plus pike that every fisherman dreams about. Casting for pike is the single most effective technique during this time period. Let me explain why. Most of the pikes movements occur in or in very close proximity to the spring spawning areas. They set up on sunken shallow water reefs, points, deep water in the bay basin (5-6 ft. deep), shallow mud flats, dead pencil reed beds, and old cabbage weed patches and wild rice flats.

Morning fishing is usually different than the afternoon bite. Pike like to cruise in the morning actively feeding on whatever prey is available. The pikes prey accumulates on these structures during the night and remain into the early morning hours. I like to start on the entrance shorelines to the bays. Take a good look at the structures on both sides of the entrances with your polarized sunglasses. Often the best spots are secondary spots not always the most prominent. Pike love points and neck downs this time of the day. There is a common misconception that you use big baits for pike. They like smaller baits. Leave the musky baits home!

I usually start with a somewhat neutral bait ( baits with a tighter wobble) like a Shad Rap and cast it close to the bank and pull it down and pause using this technique all the way back to the boat. Swim baits like the Impulse Paddle Minnow work very well also. I cast them and reel slow to medium speed with a methodical lift of the rod tip and then a fall, all while reeling in. When I see follows and not bites I switch to inline spinners like the #3 Vibrax or Mepps spinners.

When I enter the bay I like to cast 3/4 oz. Johnson Silver Minnows gold in color tipped with a two or three inch white grub tail. Once again reel them about medium speed just enough to keep them a foot off the bottom. Pike like to lie in these four to five foot basins waiting for the sun to warm the shallow water. I fish these basins from the middle working my way towards the edges.

In the afternoon I target the shallow bays. Northern Pike will slide up into 1-3 feet of water. One of my all time favorite baits is single buzz bait. I like black with either red or silver buzzers. ¼ and 3/8 oz. Northland Buzzard Buzzers in either #38 Blackbird or #3 Bullhead are top colors. If you have not casted these before practice away from the bays first. A buzzer must be casted and retrieved in this manner: Cast it and as the buzzer starts it’s downward fall to the water start reeling when the bait is several inches above the water. The whole retrieve should be above water, don’t let it below the surface. Learn to retrieve the bait only fast enough to keep the buzzer on top on the water and you will here a methodical clacking of the buzzer blade. Pike cannot resist this presentation; learn to do it right before you target the pike. Buzzers’ work great in dead pencil reeds, muddy flats and sometimes even in the bay basins. The strikes can happen anywhere in the retrieve, the strikes are usually violent and startling!

How To Fish Impulse Swim'n Grubs

Open water is on the horizon on Rainy Lake. I am going to write some how to’s to help your fishing on Rainy Lake. Both live and artificial bait are very good presentations. I love to fish plastics; they work extremely well during spring and throughout the summer months.

I will discuss Northland Tackles new Impulse Swim’n Grubs. They are a new scent impregnated plastic grub that comes in 2”, 3” and 4” lengths. Scented plastics have been around for a few years, the Impulse series blows Gulp and other scented products out of the water. I had the opportunity to test these grubs and other offerings in the Impulse series during August 2011. Normally warm water times are not as effective as cold water for scented plastics. Impulse’s claim is fish hold the bait much longer than the other leading brands. It is absolutely true in my book. I would feel strikes, not set the hook, wait five seconds and then reel up slack and the fish would still be there. The other huge advantage is the excellent action and durability; I caught many fish on one single grub.

I love to cast grubs into shallow structure, big points, small points, inside turns, beside boulders or any cover that fish can ambush from. Polarized glasses are a must; they are the cheapest depth finder you will ever find. Seeing the structure is the most important factor when casting artificial baits. I like amber colored lenses. You will see where the brown colored water changes to darker or blue colored. After awhile you will see the subtle changes in water color enabling you to see the underwater extensions, inside turns, weeds, boulders, off shore reefs that are huge fish attractors. Polarized sunglasses cost as little as $15 on up to the big bucked glasses, they all work! Don’t leave home without them.

Below is a summer craw Swim’n grub, Gumball Jig on left, Vegas jig below, and Eye-Ball Jig on right. I am not particular about jig head color. One thing I know for sure plain lead color will never hurt you.

I use three main jig heads when fishing grubs; all Northland jigs; Slurp Jig Heads, Gum-Ball Jigs, Eye-Ball Jigs and Vegas Jigs. They all have bait keeper barbs on the hook shank. I really like the wire bait keepers. When I am fishing 2-6 feet of water I use 6 lbs. test monofilament and a 1’8 oz. jig head. Grubs don’t need a lot of action. You can straight reel them reel at a pace that lets the jig get down in the water column. At the beginning keep your rod tip pointed to 11:00 on a clock face, as you see your line approach the darker water lower your rod tip and slow your retrieve. Expect to get snagged in the beginning; adjust your retrieve accordingly. If the water deepens quicker or the point or rocks break sharply I go to a ¼ oz. jig and often switch to an 8 or 10 lbs. test mono line. The jig falls slower with the heavier line but lets you penetrate the deeper breaks.

Other excellent techniques to try is sharp short sideway jerks with your Impulse Swim’n Grub. The jig will fall when your jerk ends; this is when the fish often strike, I use this action all the way back to the boat. You can be the judge on how fast to reel, I keep my hand off of the reel handle during the jerk and just spin the handle a few turns to pick up the slack then jerk again. Practice makes perfect. Instead of jerking you can use a rise and fall action by lifting rod tip then dropping during your retrieve. Remember it is not a race to get the jig back to the boat. You will figure this out; you should get snagged once in awhile if you don’t you are reeling to fast. I like to lift with the rod tip, let it drop and then pick up the slack and lift again. 

Slip Bobber Fishing

Slip Bobber Fishing

For many of us our first time fishing may have been with a bobber. It is not only fun but also highly effective.  I use slip bobbers mainly for walleye and crappies but do catch smallmouth and northern pike from time to time. 

 I often use 1/8 jigs tipped with minnows or leeches underneath my slip bobber.  Setting up a slip bobber is very easy to do. 6 lbs. test monofilament is the best choice for line.  A slip bobber comes in different sizes and shapes. They all have one thing in common; a cylindrical channel runs through the center of the bobber from top to bottom. Along with the bobber you need a bead and a thread or string that is wrapped around a plastic sleeve. The beads and sleeve are often sold separately but in the same section at most tackle shops. Complete picture steps are shown at the end of the article.

I consider shallow water less than ten feet.  To rig your slip bobber slide the plastic sleeve with the thread or string up your line at least eight feet. Now grasp the sleeve and slide the string onto the line towards the rod tip.  Grab the ends of the string and pull tight so the string grasps the line tightly. I even use two forceps or needle nose pliers and snug the string tighter. Next slide the bead up the line, then slide the bobber up the line; very important to push the line through the bobber inserting the line into the smaller hole located on the top, on the bottom of the bobber the hole is large.  Next tie the jig on to the line using an improved clinch not or Palomar knot.

I hook a live minnow through the back or lips.  Be careful when you cast, make sure the minnow stays on the hook! Your bobber will lie flat or sideways until the jig pulls the bobber upright.  I like the jig to ride one to two feet off of the bottom.  How do I know if it is set right? If your bobber is pulled upright reel it in and slide the string knot up in one-foot increments until the bobber lies on its side. Once this happens reel it in and slide it down a foot, add your minnow or leech and cast it to your spot. The sliding knot allows you to change depths easily.  Generally speaking when you are fishing in 3-10 feet of water the jig cab be set from 6 inches to 2 feet of the bottom. When ever you slide the up or down keep track of how far you slide it either way.

I like to fish structure that is visible with your most important piece of equipment-polarized sunglasses, amber in color. Cast to edges, out from and around the structure. I like to fish the side that the wind is blowing into.

Earlier in the article I suggest moving the string up eight feet on the line and then slide the string off.  The reason for this is simple, if you tighten the string two feet up you have to slide the knot you have creates up to the desired depth, the knot will become loose and slide on the line when going through the rod guides.

Setting the hook on a strike is easy with a slip bobber. When you see the bobber going down start to reel the slack line keeping your rod tip close to the surface of the water, set the hook with an upward motion and reel at same time and the fight should be on!

Crappies are just a little bit different.  I still like a slip bobber but the jig is only set about 18 inches under the bobber. This is different from the technique above. I like four lbs. test line and 1/16 or 1/32 oz. jigs. The assembly of the slip bobber is the same as walleye fishing except the jig will be much closer to the bobber and the plastic sleeve will be removed just two feet from the end of the line. I sometimes tip jigs with a crappie minnow but find the most effective jig to be a small colorful tube jig. Crappies are found along the shallow rock piles, pencil reeds, dead heads on the Minnesota side of Rainy Lake.  Cast the jig and bobber to the edges of the rock piles keeping close a eye on the bobber it should float upright, sometimes crappies will swim with the bobber and it does not go down, it moves side ways or only goes down part ways.  When you see this pick up the slack and set!   

  

Plastic sleeve and string                                                        String slid off sleeve towards rod tip

   

String pulled tight on line and trim tag ends                        Slide bead on line below string knot

 

Slide bobber on line thru top of bobber                     Tie Jig on!

The needed components: sleeve, string, and beads are sold in packages.