The Rainbow Lake Association Fishing Committee has done quite a bit over the years to help maintain a high quality to our fisheries here in the Rainbow Lake chain of lakes. The Rainbow Lake Chain contains a great variety of fish and among the species are: Bullheads, Crappie, Yellow Perch, Bluegills, Sunfish, Great Northern Pike, Small Mouth Bass, Large Mouth Bass, Whitefish, Walleye Pike and a variety of minnows.

The Rainbow Lake Association undertook a plan to stock the lake with Walleye Pike fingerlings for a period of years to try to establish a Walleye population. This stocking was financed by a combination of funds derived from individual member contribution with matching funds from the Association. A survey done by the D.E.C. proved that there was some success since several Walleyes were obtained of reasonable size in their netting process. The New York State Department of Environmental Services is now undertaking the Walleye stocking program and will stock the lake for five years to see if a decent fishery of Walleyes can be developed.

The Rainbow Lake Association has been stocking the lake for many years with Small Mouth and Large Mouth Bass along with the Walleye Perch and there have been some nice catches of Bass by our Association member anglers.

It will take about five to six years for the Walleye fingerlings that are being stocked now to mature. The size limit for Walleyes is 21 inches, but we are hoping that anglers will practice a catch and release program so that this fishery will be maintained and the population of all the species will multiply and be stable.

So, come on out and have some fun fishing, but fish sensibly and safely. Try not to handle the fish since removing the mucous film on the fish that helps protect them from illness can be detrimental. The "CATCH AND RELEASE" way of fishing will help to make sure that our kids and grand kids will have fun fishing in the future!

  Joe Deignan caught this 7 lb., 28" Walleye on July 10th, 2006