Dear William T.,
Welcome to Rainy Lake Houseboats e-newsletter "Voyageurs Voice" Volume 8. In this edition, you will find a fishing report on Rainy Lake and information on saving money on your Rainy Lake Houseboats vacation. Enjoy, and see you next month.
William T. Dougherty
Rainy Lake Houseboats
info@rainylakehouseboats.com
Spring is here; first fishing report!
Rainy Lake has endured a long and cool spring. Ice out was May 14th, almost twelve days later than normal. On May 11th Cam Hardwig and I went to check the ice. We were able to get to Brule Narrows, it looked ice free in the distance. I motored through the Brule, no marker buoys on the United States route; once through the lake looked open past Manitou Rock. I told Cam I have a feeling we might be able to get to KettleFalls. We had to turn into Moose Bay, travel thru Cormant Bay and Friendly Passage to avoid large main lake flows of ice. Once we went through Friendly Passage and passed Lindoo Island we could see open water all the way to Sand Bay Island. We arrived at kettle Falls at 12:45 PM; the first travelers of the year to traverse Rainy Lake. It seems funny but once Rainy Lake freezes in December you can't wait for it to open back up. This spring the wait was a little longer than we like.
All of our houseboat customers receive a briefing once all gear is loaded and you are ready to embark on your houseboat vacation. Paying close attention to your briefing is critical even if you are a repeat customer. Our houseboats travel at rates between six and eight miles per hour. The rpms (engine revolutions per minute max out between 2500 and 3000). By reducing your rpms to say 2000 will reduce fuel consumption at least 20% or more. Your cruise may only increase by a half hour. Just by renting a houseboat you save money compared to resort vacation. By using a houseboat you are staying close to the fishing, beach and hiking areas, negating the amount of travel time to and from resorts..