Well we have had the winter that just won’t end like the rest of the Midwest. Spring has arrived, we had good rains on Saturday, and temperatures are going to hit the high 60’s to 70 degrees today. Sand Bay is about 25% open basically from Ranier to Birch Point, the Sha-Sha- area is also open.
Ice out is official on Rainy Lake when you can drive a boat from Ranier to Kettle Falls. Many areas of the lake will be open before official ice out. I look for total ice out to be May 17th.
There will be areas to fish this Saturday, Sand Bay, Rainier Bridge to the boom logs by the paper mill, and the Shah-Sha area. The boat landing in Ranier is ice free as well as the Pat Roche Landing by Second Bridge and Voyageurs National Park Headquarters.
Houseboats start leaving the docks On Thursday May 16th. Walleyes will be congregating outside of spawning areas, either outside bays or the rivers. If they have not spawns they like to locate on the 20-35 ft break lines or humps right outside of the bays. The same goes for rivers and current areas. Kettle River will be very good this year along with the Hitchcock Bay and Saginaw Bay areas.
Pike fishing should be very good. They congregate in the shallow bays seeking the warmest water in the bay. A good rule of thumb to follow for finding the warmest water is to fish the side of the bay where the wind is blowing into. Fish the area where the wind is directly blowing into.
I will have fishing reports for you in the office upon your arrival.