I’m going up to fish Rainy for the first time. Wondering if it is worth the hassle, time, and money to get all the paper work and forms needed to fish the canadain side. Even if u didn’t want to fish canadian shore lines, how strict are they of you are fishing in the middle of the river? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
If you are only going to fish the river then no. However if you plan to go back and fish the river and lake then yes it’s very nice to have.
When in the river just stay on the U.S. side, don’t try and be cute and run the center line. No matter what you think or say if you catch a citation from the Canadian DNR you will pay. No getting off.
If the Ontario folks are there, they’ll enforce.
I’ve done it both ways; it was nice to have the RABC and the Ontario license so you didn’t have to think about it, but it is certainly not necessary.
Very strict. Fish on MN side if you don’t have a Canadian license. Not something you want to mess around with. When navigating you can go into Canada.
I didn’t see one border patrol in the 6 days I was on the water. I was surprised every single day. Usually when I’m up there they are thick.
Regarding “middle” of river. That means nothing. Use your GPS and fish the MN side which is NOT dictated by the “middle” of anything.
I’ll second all of what FBRM said. I’ll add one thing.
Where the Minnesota side appears bigger on your GPS, I’d caution to the middle of the river, when fishing.
Again, you are allowed to navigate on the CA side, but do it within reason.
Also, you are not allowed to set foot on the CA shore with or without the RABC.
Living here I fish border and Ontario waters a lot. Without following the regulations that are in place you don’t want to fish in Canadian waters. Period. Don’t even wonder how close they patrol or how much they enforce it. They may not patrol an area for years and then receive information about traffic in a certain area or a different or new officer is in the area and boom.
There are those who do fish illegally and when (not if) they get busted there’s a hefty fine for each infraction – live bait not purchased in Canada, no RABC, no non resident fishing license, alcohol in the boat, missing some required safety equip and ….. I’m probably forgetting something. Plus you may lose your boat, trailer, gear and future privileges to enter Canada.
Oh and it’s illegal to fish for sturgeon in Ontario also and this along with the location of your boat in regards to the border is your word against enforcement. Those aren’t good odds.
A word to the wise.
Also, you are not allowed to set foot on the CA shore with or without the RABC.
Are you sure in that? I believe that to be false, as I have crossed the border countless times both winter and summer with an RABC and been on land plenty of times. I have been checked while on land many, many times and never once has an officer questioned that. I have been checked by MNR game wardens, OPP, and immigrations officers and have never had a single one question me about that point.
We did see a Canadian game warden yesterday go by our place so they are out there. I would make sure you have all the documentation as my husband had been called in before and the Canadian warden was there in no time to check him. Since we live on the river and like to fish both sides we always have our Ontario license and the RABC on us. And remember when fishing on the Canadian side you can’t have any live bait, alcohol, or fish for sturgeon. I am sure I am missing some other big rules they have but those are ones that I hear the most from people that have gotten tickets.
This link addresses entering to and returning from Canada by boat:
http://www.cbp.gov/travel/pleasure-boats-private-flyers/cbbl
Yeah they can really be dinks in Canada.
I watched a boat that was anchored by us and they were fishing on the MN side of the line, but they had a large sturgeon on and they had their anchor pull and they drifted in to Canada. They Canadians watched the whole thing and then once they landed the fish they pulled up to their boat and ticketed them.
Yeah they can really be dinks in Canada.
I watched a boat that was anchored by us and they were fishing on the MN side of the line, but they had a large sturgeon on and they had their anchor pull and they drifted in to Canada. They Canadians watched the whole thing and then once they landed the fish they pulled up to their boat and ticketed them.
Lol.
I’d say they better bring decent rods and reels next time.
I think the issue was more so the anchor. It was a little choppy that day and they were in the bay. There were a few of them in the back of the boat and I think they didn’t have a good enough anchor or enough line out.
That’s 8 of 10 boats up there.
It’s anchor fail sessions every day all day.
Honestly I’m not surprised though. I don’t see a bungee on anyone’s anchor rope. Continuous boat wakes requires a bungee to hold bottom. I also see a lot of miniature anchors. And lots and lots of short ropes. Lastly, many people tie off on a cleat so their boat is kitty wompus in the current. That just aggravates and already poor anchoring situation.
FBRM – I’m headed up on Thursday. Have a cat river anchor, 100′ of rope (maybe 150 can’t remember) and 30′ of chain. Will the chain absorb the boat wake without moving the anchor? Also have the drift sock in the boat to reduce sway if that’s an issue.
I have more rope I can throw in the boat if you think I’ll need more.
That 30′ of chain will do exactly that. It’ll absorb the bouncing.
I run a drift sock too.
The more rope needed the more sway can be introduced.
With that much chain you should be able to stay at a 45° to your anchor. 30″ or less sock is ideal.
I’ve got to get one of those anchors. They’re quite impressive for woody areas
Thanks, that’s what I was thinking with the chain but better to ask someone with first hand knowledge!
As for the anchor, I was fishing a tournament last summer where Cat River was a sponsor and had several on hand. It was one of my better spur of the moment fishing purchases. I’d be online ordering a new one right away if it went missing.
We use the following anchor and a 100 ft of rope and 3ft of chain.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Panther-Water-Spike-Anchor/43203369
We used the anchor rated for 22ft boats with our 18ft Sylvan Viper and the works pretty good. We bought the one rated for 35ft boats this spring and we used it on my buddies 21ft glass Lund and had no issues getting or staying anchored. The anchor isn’t compact, but it does break down for easy storage and only weighs 13lb.
I’ve got a water spike too, sat in the boat the entire 6 days on rainy.
It does not hold as good as my 30# and it requires more than a 45° to hold. Which means more opportunity for boat sway as well as numbnuts snagging your anchor rope. It sat in the boat for a reason. I don’t think 3′ of chain is helping any either as that little chain will more or less act as rope.
But hey, it’s light and a good back up in case I lost my good anchor
I have a water spike as well, it’s been replaced with another anchor for backup purposes and is currently collecting dust in my shed. If any one is looking for one let me know.
An effective way to run a water spike like you would a heavy anchor is to use 30′ chain, or what I’ve done is run 15′ rope from the spike to a 10# anchor and from that anchor to the boat. The 10# helps keep the direction of pull low and also absorbs shock from waves.
Running that much chain adds enough weight you might as well drop a 30#. But it’ll all work
To each their own. A water spike and 3ft of chain works perfectly fine for us, if we were to start pulling anchor I’ll consider getting a different anchor.
Have you ever tried anchoring perpendicular to the current? I’ve found this to be very stable and helps to absorb the waves from passing boats because they are running into the bow.
Could just be me but I don’t like to be perpendicular in a river, could get bad in a hurry if a tree hit an anchor line.
As for the water spike, at times it seemed like I spent more time trying to get it to grab than it was worth. Could have just been operator error.
That’s the issue with the spike. It has to grab and it can’t grab a lot of stuff… Until it eventually does find the right bottom content.
That’s why I fall back to a weighted anchor almost always. Just works no matter what combined with a bungee. Just every Darn time. Except this one time when bk dropped it 30′ from the rollers and tied off too soon 
To each their own is right.
I only fish sturgeon all the time and know what a stable boat can mean for success. Anchoring is step 1 in the process of catching big sturgeon
Worked for us in a little boat.
Now I just need to learn how to post a pic only one time.
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Your anchor is a lot closer to trouble if you catch a big one when it is anywhere but the bow of the boat.
Don’t have to take the advice by any means, but if this is something you do often and start to really dial in big fish you’ll eventually understand. In the mean time… Looks like your having a blast!! Keep it up Joe!
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