Hi all,

I am taking the family up to Rainy July 5 - 11, staying at Island View and hoping to put my son on some nice Smallies. We are strictly CPR, good fisherman and respectful of others. However, this is our first time on this huge body of water so I was looking for some advice on current patterns, locations, and lure types/colors primarily for smallies. Any helpful suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

jazydog,

You'll be targeting post spawn smallies. The best places to fish them are going to be on the breaks coming off of points and rockpiles. Look to the Alder Creek/Lost Bay area...and the whole stretch from Harbor Island through the Brule, Dryweed Island, Around Red Sucker can be good, Finlander Island and some breaks and rocks in Saginaw.
Fox Island is also good, but since it is an eagle nesting site I am not sure when it opens to fishing.

As far as techniques go. I mainly fish with raps as a searching lure. Rapala SSR07, SR07, Xraps, and Husky jerk-baits are all my lures of choice when I am in search mode. Once I find the smallies you can work the area harder with the same lures or switch to plastics.

I would start working lures in the 4-6' range and gradually work lures deeper. It doesn't hurt to try shallower too. If there is an abundance of baitfish, or crawfish...smallies won't be too far behind.

Bill,

Thanks for the suggestions, I really appreciate it. It looks like we will be going right past your place so I will make sure to drop by and give you some business.


Cheers!