Rainy Lake has an excellent reputation in the Minnesota walleye fishing world. Mid-May through June you can find the walleye in shallower areas, near the weed beds and rocky shorelines, where they are foraging for the bait fish. That’s also where the smallmouth bass are likely to be and aggressive northern pike will be near the weedy edges of the shallower bays. All in all, there’s a good chance to encounter a school of crappie too. You could fill up with four species on Rainy Lake and are welcome to try. The Minnesota Walleye opener May 13, 2017 make it all legal. Voyageurs National Park and the United State Coast Guard Lamplighters have completed buoy placement within the Park Boundaries. Voyageurs National Park encourages boaters to use caution due to low water levels. Hazards that are not typically visible or marked may be exposed. Meanwhile, Voyageurs has announced their summer hours and the start of the interpretive programs and boat tours. Through May 27th, the Rainy Lake Visitor Center will be open Wednesday-Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:30 PM. On Sunday, May 28, 2017 it will be open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Boat tours and Ranger-led interpretive programs will begin on May 25th. People are getting out on the hiking trails and finding songbirds, small mammals and other active wildlife easier to spot as the leaves are just starting to come in. In a week or two, the forest will be a dense green. Our area ATV trails are also getting some use, the trails were open to travel on April 1, 2017 but don’t usually start seeing heavier traffic until the trails have had a chance to dry in the lower spots. Koochiching, St. Louis and Itasca County are all very ATV friendly. In our tri-county region there are thousands of miles of legal, safe, marked trails to ride. We are ready to answer any questions you might have, contact information is listed at the bottom of the web pages on this site. If you’d like to get a regular update on our area recreation and events, subscribe to the e-newsletter, that option is also at the footer of this page. The ice is off of Rainy Lake and Rainy River is attracting anglers. The River attraction is the catch-and-release sturgeon season, pulling in one of these monster sized fish is quite a thrill. However, anglers on the lake and the river can also fish for northern pike, smallmouth bass and crappie. In the meantime, signs of spring and summer are popping up everywhere, things such as wildflowers, mushrooms, songbirds and more. This is the time of year Ruffed Grouse are drumming and American woodcock are peenting. These are fairly noticeable breeding activities that come with spring. Whitetail deer are browsing where they can get to new growth pushing out from damp areas well exposed to the sunlight, like the southern exposure of a ditch. Keep your eyes open while traveling our highways. It will be a month or more, but soon does will be giving birth to their fawns. Us humans are stirring more as well. This past weekend a group of 80 ATV’s toured through the western part of Koochiching County. Bike riders are getting out on the bike paths joined by roller bladers. It won’t be long before summer vacations start, and if you haven’t planned your outing, you should. We have information on Voyageurs National Park, accommodations ranging from Houseboats to Vacation Cottages to convenient motels near restaurants. Things to do both within and outside of the Park. If you’d like some information, just go to the bottom of the page and access our order form. We can also answer your questions by phone or email, those options are also listed at the bottom of the page. National Park’s Week is upon us, and Minnesota’s National Park is ready to celebrate. Here’s a quick look at what Voyageurs National Park is doing. On Friday, April 21, 2017 there will be a Native Foods Cooking Demonstration. Students from the Indus High School ProStart Foods Class will prepare a delectable meal using locally available native foods. Samples will be provided. Be at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center on Black Bay at 2:00 pm for the demonstration.
Take the Ethno-botanical garden tour on Saturday, April 22, 2017 and Ranger Lisa Maass will explain the importance of native plants to the Ojibwe culture. The tour will start at the Rainy lake visitor Center at 1:00 pm. At 2:00 pm, Park Biologist Bryce Olson will discuss the reasons behind a cattail invasion and the multi-year project to reduce the cattail problem and restore delicate wetlands. The “Invasion of the Cattails” talk will be at the theatre within the Rainy Lake Visitor Center. Sunday April 23, 2017 is National Park Prescription Day, and the prescription is to get out and hike in our park, it’s good for you and it’s fun. Hike to health passports will be available at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center all day. Voyageurs is a water-based park and is so named because of the French Canadian Voyageurs that plied these waterways carrying furs from the interior for export to Europe and trade goods for the natives. The Park was established because of the vibrant history, rich natural resources and spectacular scenery in this north American waterways crossroads. Boat tours will start on Rainy Lake in June and will take in some of the scenery, wildlife and history including a stop at Little American Island, the site of the biggest and most successful Gold Mine of the late 1800’s. You can hike the handicap accessible trail for about a quarter mile and see how the mine operated as your Ranger guide explains the process and the geology that provided the gold that was mined. |
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