RAINY LAKE HOUSEBOATS
Bill Dougherty and his family have a long history of providing great fishing vacations on Rainy Lake. Past generations began the process in 1918, and today, Rainy Lake Houseboats continues to assist families and groups discover the beauty and excellent fishing that can be found on this tremendous resource.

Dougherty described his operation as your own personal getaway.

"We're in the private vacation business," he said. "Our guests don't have a cabin next door, no neighbors. You pull into a bay and you're secluded in a gorgeous wilderness area with your own private beach. All the interaction is with just those you have on the houseboat."

Many of the groups that go exploring in one of Daugherty's well-maintained houseboats stick to the Voyageurs National Park and the American side of Rainy Lake because there are plenty of places to explore in this region. But access to Canada is also an option.

"We have 95 percent of our people who stay in Minnesota," Daugherty said. "We have some people who get a remote-area border crossing permit and go into Canada, and they do whatever it takes to get onto fish, but it's a natural park that's not built up with cabins, so you don't have to cross the border to find a nice secluded spot."

Fishing is outstanding on Rainy Lake, with walleyes, big pike, perch and huge crappies in abundance.

"The fishing is better than it has ever been," Daugherty said. "I started in '65 when I was 9 years old. Fishing was good then, but now we have graphs, GPS and slot-limit management, and essentially we have a better fishery than we had 40 years ago."

For more information, visit www.rainylakehouseboats.com, or call 1-800-554-9188.

CAMPBELL'S LODGE
Campbell's Lodge on Sand Lake in Itasca County bills itself as a place to go for family fun and fishing, but they put the emphasis on family fun.

"You can get good fishing in a lot of places in Minnesota, but we cater to the family, and that's what we do," said Joe Campbell, who has owned the resort for 12 years. "But the fishing is great here, too."

Sand Lake has solid populations of walleyes, pike and perch, and the smallmouth bass fishing is good. But according to Campbell, you can't beat the crappie fishing.

"We have an excellent crappie population," Campbell said. "It starts around the 10th of July, which is not what you see typically in a Minnesota lake. Once they start hitting, it stays good throughout the year.

"The perch are about 10 to 12 inches," Campbell continued. "When you can't catch the walleyes, you can generally catch the perch. The northern fishing is great. They're small, but there are a lot of them."

Campbell realizes everyone won't want to spend the entire day fishing.

"For those who don't want to fish, we have weekly activities for the kids," he said. "We have a family activity planned once a day, and we're only 45 minutes from Grand Rapids, so if you want to shop there, you can do that. What we try to do is: If someone wants to stay at the resort for the entire week, there is always plenty to do; but if they want to go somewhere else, my wife maintains a three-ring binder that is loaded with things to see and do in the area."