Last Memorial Day weekend, my son Nicholas and I rolled north out of the Twin Cities to one of our favorite summertime fisheries up on the border with Ontario. A historically early ice-out and decent weather forecast for the end of May in northern Minnesota had us optimistic we’d enjoy great fishing, as Rainy Lake always delivers.

Our primary targets were walleyes and smallmouth bass. When targeting these two species in springtime, pay attention to the variables Mother Nature throws at you.

For walleyes, it’s how far past the spawn they are (especially for the bigger females) and whether they’ve recuperated enough to start feeding. Smaller male walleyes typically hold around spawning areas (shallow shorelines and points with gravel, sand and rock) and are aggressive enough—even in cold water—to reward anglers casting to these areas.

For smallies, water temperature and weather conditions are critical. Water temps below about 53 degrees, especially when combined with overcast skies and generally gloomy conditions, will stall the bite, compared to 55-plus-degree water and bright. spring sunshine.

Our weekend fishing forecast was for sunshine, light winds and decent weather overall, and our first morning greeted us with brilliant sunshine despite crisp temps. We launched the Skeeter and headed across the picturesque lake into a bit more wind than we would have liked. Our optimism dampened a bit more when we idled into a large bay to try the first fishing spot. Expecting mid 50-degree water temps, we saw just 51 degrees. In May, this usually equates to a sluggish morning bite from both walleyes and bass, and this held true for us.

We pushed deeper into the bay, looking for a spike in water temps to help us. As long as the bottom structure remained rock/gravel/sand and not the mud bottom that’s typical for far back bays on Rainy, we hoped to contact fish. However, we were rewarded by only a few smaller bass and pike after an hour of fishing. So we U-turned and idled back out to the outer perimeter of the vast bay—shoreline structure much closer to the deeper, main basin of the lake.

When looking to gather info about fish location, try to eliminate water—or confirm locations are holding good numbers of fish—by exploring different locations and structure. Our first foray into the shallows—areas that should hold both walleyes and bass throughout the spring period—didn’t produce much success. But out in front of a small island close to the mouth of the bay, Nicholas caught multiple big smallmouths, plus a 5-pound walleye on his Rapala Deep Mavrik jerkbait.

For both species, locking a jerkbait in your hand in springtime is almost always your best bet. Second choice is a small swimbait. Despite Nicholas catching fish after fish with the Mavrik, I diligently kept pitching my swimbait, just to keep the fish honest.

Tip: If one presentation is performing well and catching most of the fish, other anglers in the boat should rotate through different presentations to find alternatives to the hot lure. Resist the urge to immediately tie on the same thing; instead, build your arsenal by finding other lures/colors that trigger fish.

Our exploration continued to other bays in Rainy Lake. This is a vast fishery—over 225,000 acres. While it’s easy to navigate with current mapping technology, and channels are well-marked, there’s more water here than a person could fish in 100 lifetimes. Literally every time I drop the Minn Kota on a new stretch of shoreline, I’m amazed by the quality of the structure beneath: endless miles of gravel, rock, and boulder structure, areas with lush cabbage weedbeds, deep underwater points and rock reefs for summer and fall walleye structure. Rainy Lake is one of the best smallmouth bass lakes in the nation; tremendous numbers are caught here. It also boasts one of the highest catch rates for walleyes of any Minnesota lake.

My kiddo and I enjoy putting in long days on this fishery. Our first day was full of fun, exploring favorite fishing spots from past trips, exploring some new areas, catching fish in big flurries; and then going dry for periods when we tried spots that didn’t hold fish, despite featuring the characteristics (location relative to main basins, bottom structure, wind exposure, etc.) of other similar locations that produced lots of fish for us. In spring, every bit of intel the fish provide is another puzzle piece to figuring out how to stay on fish and keep catching them!

A cloudy, cool morning and some blustery breezes greeted us as we launched early the second morning. Changing weather conditions threw us a curveball. But armed with the knowledge of how fish were staging given the water temps, we felt optimistic that we would build on the success of our first day. On day one, we had “clicked” 52 nice fish on the counter—“nice” being all walleyes, pike over 36 inches, and all smallies 15 inches or bigger. We release all fish. We’d been delighted to see nine smallmouths over 18 inches (trophy status) along with a good mix of healthy walleyes. The goal on day two: Do even better!

The walleye bite was stellar for us under cloudy skies on day two. Bombing a Deep Mavrik out on a long cast over a sloping breakline (especially wind-exposed) and aggressively snapping the lure back to the boat produced some dandy specimens. A 3-inch swimbait (Crush City Mayor rigged on a VMC Sleek Jig) performed well, too. While Nicholas fished the Mavrik almost exclusively (and continued to catch the most fish), I cycled through what I consider to be the traditional mix of early season lure choices for Rainy Lake (besides jerkbait and swimbait): VMC Moontail Jig (variety of color patterns, casted and snapped back to the boat aggressively), Rapala DT-6 (various crayfish colors), black marabou hair jig, and alternate jerkbaits such as #10 X-Rap or Deep Shadow Rap. When water temps start to brush 60 degrees, a topwater popper like an X-Rap Pop joins the lineup.

Nicholas and I enjoyed yet another stellar fishing day, despite overcast conditions making the smallies moody. We enjoyed more trophy-quality bass, a 36-inch pike, and a strong walleye bite the entire day. And when the sun came out later in the afternoon the bass really turned on. We clicked 85 fish, including a fat 28.5-inch walleye that Nicholas saw inhale his perch-colored Mavrik at boatside.

Rainy Lake is one of Minnesota’s top multi-species lakes. The resorts and lodges (and two houseboat operations) are some of the state’s most popular destinations. The towns of International Falls and Ranier offer great shopping and dining, hotels and motels, tackle shops, and complete community infrastructure. The community welcomes fishermen and their families in all seasons. I know we’ll be there fishing this year; the question is, will you?