Rainy Report from 10/19 thru 10/24

Fished the Rainy last week out of Clementson. Worked the river from a couple miles West of Clementson to
Pine Bend, Ontario just across the river and about 8 miles East. The tactic of choice , and most productive, was to anchor
just ahead of a deep hole in the river, and jig back into it. It seemed the fish were most active in 19 to 22 feet. The holes,
and productive areas were easy to find because most boats just played follow the leader and packed up in the areas where
fish seemed active. We found gold to be the absolute best jig color, followed by the glow Jig-a-Whopper in yellow/green, then the ordinary
green/chartreuse color. Heaviest jig we used was 1/4 oz because river is very low and current is slow….this also means the deadheads that are
normally hidden are very exposed so caution must be taken all over that river. They change from day to day so sharp looking is
necessary. We used both fatheads and shiners, with fatheads winning our favor, maybe just because they are so tough. Water temp started at 44
when we arrived, was about 38 when we left. Temps for the week did not break the freezing mark for highs, and were about 20 at night,
although one morning it was 14. Guide icing was common, hand warmers were necessary, and hot coffee helped keep the blood flowing.
We caught a large number (maybe 150 to 200) small walleyes of about 10-12 inches in length during our stay. An 8# EYE was our best to the boat, many many in the
3 to 3.5 range, a couple at 4.5 to 4-3/4. We feasted on walleyes three dinners, and found the accommodations at Clementson very nice as always. They may have an
opening for a cabin next Fall for the 3rd week of October…call if you are interested, they book fast and it almost takes a death to have a cabin open up during this time.
I used Power Pro 8# with the 1# diameter line on a St Croix Avid 63MXF rod. Found icing was pretty severe in my guides and the line was freezing to the spool so I switched to
mono 8#, not because I needed 8# but because I got better hang time with that diam line compared to 6. There as almost no hang time with Power Pro 8#, just fell like a rock.
The walleyes were lethargic so needed some enticing. I tried several colors of Super Doos, never found one that lit the EYEs into a frenzy. Cabelas Livin Eye minnows and tails did some
good, as did hair jigs. The Northern really liked red jig heads with white hair. Send me a PM if there is something you’d like to know that I forgot…
overall, good fishing up there but not like you’d expect for this time of the year. The lakers just aren’t into the river yet, and with the temps dropping they may not make it before
freeze up. Best thing to do before heading up there is to contact Clementson Resort, or look at their web site to get an accurate up to date status. Sandee posts daily with what is
happening from their resort.

Wow!! Nice report Frank. Great details…did you try pulling plugs at any time? Again, thanks for the report. Jon

Yes, tried pulling plugs for several hours across structure, on the flats, through the holes, and did not get bit once.
Tried all sorts of cranks, 5 raps to 11’s, huskys, rattlers, multitude of colors, just couldn’t get them interested. The one
method I did not try, even though all was in the boat, was rigging upstream (or down) with the T8 and floaters with either
minnows or crawlers. I saw very few other boats running cranks for very long and my observation did not see anyone in
my vicinity boat a fish who was trolling. The Pro version boats (big Crestliner 182s, Ranger 619 class) all anchored like we did.
As brutal as the weather was I’m recovered after 1 day at home and am ready togo again….just knowing there are some real
hawgs to play with on that river this time of year.

Thanks for the report Frank, nice job. Do you always go up on the same week or have you went at different times? Do you think that latter Oct or early Nov is better? I have always went up the week of MEA but I think I might try later next year.

Our week used to be the 3rd week in October, then got pushed to the right this year because of how the calendar
worked out. We have also tried the 2nd week and generally found it to not be very good. Later has always seemed to be better.
I don’t know which week might be better, last in October or first in November but the concensus of my team is the later,
the better. Last year the lake fish were not in the river during the 3rd week either. 2 weeks later they were in my the
boatload and those that braved the weather had some fabulous fishing. My guess is that this year the first week in November
will be the first “hot” week on the Rainy, then stay that way to ice up. The DNR has very nice ramps at Vidas and Frontier so
putting in has been very easy. I’d pack a pail of sand/ice melt though, from here on out because the trailers really ice up the ramps
with constantly below freezing temps.