Best GPS / Fish finder combo for novice on Rainy Lake

I’m preparing to purchase a retirement home on Rainy, and plan to fish constantly once I retire. I’ve already been told what size boat I need, and now I’m shopping for a GPS combo. I’m a novice when it comes to reading a sonar fish finder, and know nothing about traveling on Rainy. I need the easiest to read fish finder, and a very accurate GPS system, to help me avoid rocks and other things I could run my boat into. I think I like the Garmin that has LakeVu HD with Auto-Guidance, but even then, I’ve seen reviews that say it’s not that accurate. I really don’t want to ram my boat into an underwater rock. Thanks for any info you can give.

I run a Humminbird with the Lakemaster Woods-Rainy map card. I also have a Navionics card, but the Lakemaster is much better. Still, it has its inaccuracies. I don’t think there is a lake I’ve been on where either map card is perfect. Rainy has a lot of reefs and rockpiles, but there are tracks on the Lakemaster card to follow for those high-speed runs. It also is well-marked with buoys on the Minnesota side, but buoys can occasionally lose anchor. I haven’t spent a lot of time on the Canadian side, so no help there.
My rule for Canadian Shield lakes is if you’re in less than 20 feet, be careful. If you’re in less than 10 feet, be paranoid. And always carry a spare prop and the tools to replace it. I doubt there are many of us who have never hit a rock. It’s going to happen. Just don’t do it while you’re going fast.

I use the Lakemaster chip in my Humminbird too, very happy with it

Thank you for the info. The directive regarding the extra prop is something I’ve never thought of, but I’ll make sure I have an extra prop from now on.

We had a houseboat on Rainy for almost 10 years, Great lake but full of rocks!
We just started fishing again and this time I’m using Hummingbirds so I can use them with my Minnkota bow mount with spot lock. Spot lock is the best thing to happen for fisherman! The wife loves it too as she does not have to handle the front anchor anymore and I can also just push a button to launch or retrieve the motor.
We should get back there this summer as we’re retired and it’s been to many years…I still have all my marked charts of the lake, give me a shout if you need a partner.

I will get in touch with you, I will be in great need of a partner who knows the lake. Also, I have a Minnkota trolling motor with the anchor feature, I didn’t know it was compatible with the Hummingbirds. That may be enough to sway my decision. Thanks.

Kudos for asking to go out with a person with first hand knowledge.

Here’s the recipe mapping unit + use paper map + use polarized sunglasses all at the same time.

I’m a fan of lakemaster so that means humminbird. If you’re going to the Canadian side ready my warning thread from earlier this summer in this forum.

Thanks much

What brand boat and how big? Does it have a Marine radio with weather band, a must have on Rainy as it can be raining on one end and nice on the other.

What made you choose Rainy? May be we should have coffee and talk fishing one day this winter, are you living on Rainy now? I’m currently in Hinckley but make weekly trips to the cities.

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Here is my opinion for whatever thats worth.

Buy something that takes a chip where you can mark waypoints. Take your time motoring around searching out the lake. You aren’t on vacation and in a rush. You will be living there, take your time. Mark your danger spots as you discover them. Pulling the boat into a area and just observing others can lend insight to any underwater hazards. Break the lake down into sections. Fish and boat each section until you are comfortable that you know whats there. Again, you have nothing but time.

But first I would invest $1,000 towards hiring local guides. Tell them your situation and let them know what you are hoping to learn from them. Mike Williams would be a good guy to look up. He and his family have been on the lake forever. It would be a pleasant day for yourself and wife to learn the lake as well as some of it’s history.

I promise it will be the best money you spend up there.

Thanks Dutch. I appreciate your input. You’re right, I’ll be in no rush, so I might as well do it right. Last summer I went out for a few hours with Woody, a guide on Rainy. It was a blast, but I saw first-hand how there can be a pile of rocks just below the surface. He knows the lake like the back of his hand, so there were no problems, but I now know how easy it would be to destroy a prop, or worse.

Hi Charles. I’ve currently got a 17 foot Bass Boat called a Quantum. It’s a 1998 model, and works for now. I’m not on Rainy yet, but we plan to make an offer on a place in the next couple of weeks. If we get it, I’ll only be there for a couple of weeks during the next couple of summers, as I’m not retiring until summer of 2021. At that time, I plan to pick up a slightly larger boat, around a 20 footer. I’ll use the time on the lake before I retire to decide exactly what size, and type of boat to ultimately buy. For the short time I’ll be on the lake over the next couple of years, I can get by with the smaller 17 footer. I don’t plan to cross big water into Canada until I’ve lived there for a bit.
I picked Rainy because I want to be on a great fishing lake with lots of nature surrounding it. I like that there’s lots of islands and coves to hide behind when it’s windy. And, for a top notch fishing lake, it’s affordable, housing wise. I grew up in the Twin Cities area, and now live in Nevada. I’ve always wanted to end up on a lake in MN, and now it’s about to happen. And, No, I don’t have a marine radio, only Sirius / XM. That’s something I’ll have to make sure I get when outfitting my boat. I’d love to hook up and chat, I need to learn alot between now and the next couple of years.

Dutchboy wrote:

Mark your danger spots as you discover them.

Everything Ductch said and one addendum. Put these danger spots on your paper map too. If your electronics fail or if you change units then you still can figure out where they are.

Dutchboy wrote:

Here is my opinion for whatever thats worth.

Buy something that takes a chip where you can mark waypoints. Take your time motoring around searching out the lake. You aren’t on vacation and in a rush. You will be living there, take your time. Mark your danger spots as you discover them. Pulling the boat into a area and just observing others can lend insight to any underwater hazards. Break the lake down into sections. Fish and boat each section until you are comfortable that you know whats there. Again, you have nothing but time.

But first I would invest $1,000 towards hiring local guides. Tell them your situation and let them know what you are hoping to learn from them. Mike Williams would be a good guy to look up. He and his family have been on the lake forever. It would be a pleasant day for yourself and wife to learn the lake as well as some of it’s history.

I promise it will be the best money you spend up there.

Times 2 on what Dutch said.

The cool thing on the Birds with Lakemaster is you can color code the map, for instance 20 feet to 10 feet color green (use some caution) 10 feet to 0 color red (danger idle speed with trim up) Even with the Lakemaster maps there are spots within the green color that are less then 5 feet that can only show on the map when zoomed in. When you find them mark them with a danger icon then you will be much safer in those areas. Rainy is a big lake and when the wind blows smaller boats should seek out coves or bays where it is calm and should position their boat close to home so if it gets real nasty you have a short safe run back. On Rainy some days it’s best to play cards and wait for better conditions.

Good luck on your purchase of a lake home something many of us would love to have.

Wayne brings up a great point with the depth highlighting capabilities on Humminbirds with Lakemaster maps. That is a fantastic feature, but especially on lakes like Rainy with tons of structure and hazards.

Thanks so much for the info. I plan to review the thread when I actually am ready to hit the lake, because so much of the info here is very important to heed when trying to safely learn Rainy Lake.

Much appreciated. Keep the info coming, please.

Any electronics brand now a days will allow you to instantly map your own charts and save them on a SD card. Not too difficult to do either, you can map when cruising to each fishing spot to gain the most up to date map of the lake.
I personally like the Lowrance lake insight map on Rainy because I like the speed of the lowrance processor when zooming in and out when running the lake. I don’t think the Humminbird or Garmin can compete with speed of zooming in and out like lowrance, possibly by 2021 yes, but today no. In my opinion.
Guides are your friend like mentioned before, I suggest hiring one to speed up the learning curve.
Good luck to you and a quite jealous of your chance to live on a very special lake.

Thanks Cal. I’m not on the lake yet. Will be making an offer in a couple of weeks. Hoping the timing (middle of winter) may help us get the place.

Did you get the place on Rainy Lake? We’re looking for something south of Rainy like Black Duck or Elephant lakes north of Orr MN

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Our offer on the place on Rainy got rejected, so now I’m just shopping and waiting. I won’t retire for 3 years, so I’m in no rush to purchase anything, but if the right place and deal come along, I’ll do it. The plans have not changed, I will eventually end up on Rainy, at least that’s the plan.

On water pricing on Rainy hasn’t changed in 10 years. It’s expensive and will always be that way. On the flip side you can buy many houses right in the Falls for under $50,000 and just get a slip for the boat.

Thanks Dutch. I’m confident things will work out. I have been doing continuous research on the housing market up there for a few years. I’m sure that I know more about the properties in our price range than any realtor in the area. I’m not retiring for 2-3 years, so the only reason for us to purchase now would be if we found a screaming deal. For a run-of-the-mill deal, it’s smarter to wait until the actually retirement date is much closer. It will work out, it’s just a matter of finding the right place, right seller and right time.

Did you retire to Rainy Lake? Charlie